Chess, My Favorite Game

U.S. Armed Forces Chess Championship 1963, Washington D.C.

Mang Bading’s barber shop was very popular in my neighborhood when I was growing up. Mang Bading had only one barber’s chair but his place attracted many -- not for haircuts but for entertainment and amusement. There were benches and chairs outside the shop where the regular visitors would be playing dama (Filipino checkers) and chess while onlookers gathered around the games. I played dama with my Uncle Pelagio frequently but I wasn’t good enough to challenge any of the regular players at the barber shop. After school I would often stop by the barber shop to watch people play dama and chess. I wasn’t very interested in chess at the time. Although I knew the basic rules of the game, I thought it was too complicated.

I became more interested in chess when I was 14 years old. My high school friend, Eliezer Fortunato, and I liked to compete with each other on just about anything, so since we were both chess beginners of the same level, we were having fun playing the game. I remember we played chess in class at the back of the classroom while Mrs. Del Mundo, our history teacher, was lecturing about Jose Rizal.

Every time I lost to Eliezer I would try to analyze my mistakes. I started reading chess books from the library to learn more about the game. It didn’t take long before Eliezer could no longer beat me.

The Fernandez family was one of my mother’s customers in her laundry business. They lived close by. I came to their house often to pick up and deliver laundry. One day on one of my visits I saw Mr. Fernandez on the patio in front of a chessboard with no opponent. He was studying a chess book. I politely interrupted his concentration and asked him about the book. It was a book by Horowitz and Reinfeld titled “How to Think Ahead in Chess”. I think he was more interested in playing against somebody than studying a book, so he asked me if I played. I told him I was a beginner. He challenged me to a game, so we set up the pieces and started playing. I stayed at his place for hours. I knew my mother would be worried. I was having fun even though I was losing every game. Later he asked me if I would like to borrow his book and I gladly accepted. It was dinner time when I got home. I explained to my mother what took me so long to deliver laundry and I was surprised that all I got was a scolding and no spanking.

I studied Reinfeld from cover to cover. The book taught me strategy playing white or black from the opening to the middle game. To this date, I still play the Stonewall Attack, which I first learned in the book.

Mr. Fernandez and I became chess partners. He would frequently send a maid over to summon me for a chess game. Sometimes I would stay at their house and have dinner with the family so we could play more chess afterwards. My game had improved and the more I beat him, the more he was eager to play. By the time I left the Philippines to join the Coast Guard, Mr. Fernandez could seldom win a game.

After I was allowed to play a game at Mang Bading’s barber shop one day, knowledge of my chess ability spread around the neighborhood. The rule was that the loser gets up and another person challenges the winner, and I held my chair until it was time to quit. People in adjoining neighborhoods would come to the barbershop with the hope of being able to play me. I very seldom lost.

Mang Bading gave me a haircut just before I entered the service. His advice was to keep up with my chess. It would make me famous someday, he said. He also told me not to forget to bring him back an Oster hair clipper when I came home to visit.

In the summer of 1960 after completing my steward training in California, I reported to my first duty station at the Coast Guard Air Station in St Petersburg, Florida as a steward apprentice. I met three Filipino steward old timers there: SD1 Danny Busabos, SD3 Sam Manese and TN Bert Amano. Busabos was the boss. I found them very friendly and accommodating. With the old timers coaching me, I quickly learned my duties of cleaning the officer’s quarters and serving meals in the wardroom. Liberty was granted at 4 PM. Every third day I was the Duty Steward. That meant I had to stay on base to serve the evening meals and breakfast the next morning for the duty officers.

There was nothing much for me to do after 4 PM when I didn’t have the duty. I didn’t have a car and public transportation from the base was non-existent. I stayed on the base most of the time except on occasion when I was invited by other shipmates to join them on liberty to check out the bars in town.

Saturday night was a special night for the Filipinos. They would dress in suit and tie for and evening of ballroom dancing at the St. Petersburg Coliseum. Busabos asked me to come along one Saturday night. I bought my first suit to be able to attend the dance at the Coliseum. I had a great time. There were an abundance of women to dance with and many liked to dance with the Filipinos.

The Coliseum Ballroom is located in central St Petersburg across from the Shuffleboard Club. One Saturday night we were on our way to the Coliseum for another evening of ballroom dancing. Busabos was the duty driver. All the parking spaces on the streets around the Coliseum were taken so Busabos had to park a block away on the other side of the Shuffleboard Club. We took a short cut and walked through the Shuffleboard Club property to get to the Coliseum. It was around 8 PM and the property was dark. I noticed small a building on the property that had its lights on and I could see through the windows there were people inside playing chess. It was the St. Petersburg Chess Club. I was thrilled about my discovery. I knew I would go back very soon to see if I could play chess there.

I walked to the chess club from the base the next day. It was about a 2-mile walk. The club was open when I arrived. There were about 15 chess tables and several games in progress. Most of the players were senior citizens. I was welcomed by someone who introduced himself as the club’s secretary. He recognized me as a non-member and told me it would cost me $2 to play for the day. After I gave him my $2, he matched me up with another person who was looking for a game. I talked to my opponent a lot while we played. I told him I was a Coast Guard serviceman assigned at the Air Station. My opponent informed me that servicemen didn’t have to play a guest fee, so I got my $2 back after I showed the club secretary my military ID.

The St. Petersburg Chess Club became my regular hang out. The people there were friendly. I became a club member in no time. The club had chess books and magazines available to members and I borrowed many of their publications to help improve my game. The city library was close to the chess club. I also studied every book they had on chess. I joined the United States Chess Federation (USCF) so I could compete in rated tournaments in the area, including the Club Championship. The reigning club champion was Dr. Roger Carlyle, who had held the title for several years prior to my arrival. In 1961, I won the St. Petersburg Chess Club Championship and became an “Expert” as rated by the USCF. (An Expert has a numerical rating between 2000 and 2199. Above that, the next level is a Master. My current USCF rating is 2142). I maintained my Expert rating by winning many USCF-rated chess competitions all over Florida.

Somehow along the way, the Coast Guard learned about my chess skills. Early in 1963, the Coast Guard was looking for a chess-playing member to represent the service in the 4th Annual Armed Forces Chess Championship in Washington, D.C. I was offered a chance to play in a preliminary event in Norfolk to select the six team members for the Sea Services team to compete against the Army and the Air Force in November that year. I was the only Coast Guard participant in the Sea Services’ preliminary tournament. The other entrants were from the Navy and Marine Corps. After three days of play, I finished fifth place in a field of 20 players. Six top finishers were selected to form the team: four Navy, one Marine Corp and me.

The 4th Annual Armed Forces Chess Championship was held in Washington D.C. in the fall of 1963. There were three teams (Army, Air Force and Sea Services) competing for the team championship and 18 players for the individual championship. This was the first time the Coast Guard was represented in this annual competition. I received TAD orders to participate in this two-week event. Louise, who was pregnant with Tina at the time, accompanied me. Dave was one year old and the grandparents babysat him.

Each participant played nine games against players from the opposing teams. When it was all over, the Air Force won both the team title and individual title. The champion was CMSgt Irwin Lyon. He scored 7-1/2 (7 wins 1 loss and 1 draw). I came in 4th place with a score of 5-1/2 (5 wins, 2 losses and 1 draw).

A special award, the Brilliancy Prize was given to the player who played the most brilliantly played game as determined by the tournament director. I was given the award for a beautifully executed attack playing the Sicilian Dragon against Navy Commander Eugene Sobczyck. The Sicilian Dragon is a defense against white’s king pawn opening. I first learned this defense from the book “How to Think Ahead In Chess” that I borrowed from Mr. Fernandez when I was learning the game.

Following my return from Washington DC, I continued to play chess at the St. Petersburg chess club, where Louise’s parents had to track me down the night that Tina was born.

Although I did not win the championship on this first try, the Coast Guard was appreciative of my effort and was proud of my performance. The Coast Guard Commandant, Admiral E. J. Roland sent me a personal letter of appreciation. The event was covered in a Navy Times article, describing me as the “little Filipino giant killer, a stewardsman from the USCGC Nemesis in St. Petersburg, Florida” who beat three veteran players and drew with another veteran whose rating was slightly below Master level.

My participation in the 4th Annual Armed Forces Chess Championship became a stepping stone to many more. Year after year, the Coast Guard would give me TAD orders to play in this annual event. The Commandant even pulled me out of isolated duty at LORSTA Batan to play in this event in Washington. I always did well, finishing second or third place every time, but the Sea Services team would always come in last in the team competition.

On my eighth attempt in 1972, I became the Armed Forces Chess Champion, scoring 9 wins, 2 draws and no loss. The Sea Services, for the first time in the Armed Forces chess history, won the Team Championship as well. My performance earned me my USCF Masters rating. The Navy Times and other service publications covered this event and I was also featured on the cover of Chess Life, the United States Chess Federation official magazine.

I quit competing in the Armed Forces after 1972 as my career grew more demanding. As a Coast Guard officer, I took on more and more responsibilities as I gained seniority. I participated in tournaments when my work schedule permitted. I held my Masters rating for a few more years after winning the Armed Forces Chess Championship. In 1995, I retired from playing USCF-rated chess events as a USCF Expert.

Today, I still enjoy chess very much. I like to visit Market and Powell Streets in San Francisco to take on the chess hustlers for a dollar a game. I win more than I lose, and every time I win I still give my opponent his dollar back for playing me. I play speed chess on the Internet as it keeps my mind active and sharp.

Mang Bading was right when he predicted that chess would make me ‘famous’. When I went back to visit the Philippines in 1968, he was still cutting hair in his one-chair barber shop. I brought him an Oster haircutting kit as a homecoming gift.