Chess in the Marines

 

     While in the Marines, I had little time for chess. Mostly I read and reread Pachman’s Modern Chess Strategy and one other small paperback, the name of which escapes me…that was over 45 years ago! Anyway, I got back from chow one evening and was told there was some guy looking for me. He said he heard I was a chess player and was looking for a game.
      We met several times a week, swilled coffee and played offhand games.  This went on for a few months until I was discharged. Fortunately, I recorded some of them. He had never played in a tournament and didn’t have a rating, but he wasn’t bad…maybe 1500 or so. I won the vast majority of the games and thought they were pretty well played…that is until years later when I got and engine and put all my games in a database. It turned out most all of my games had major flaws…it was a painful experience!
      Here’s one of the better ones I played with “Mike” who went on to become, I think, a dentist.