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| A Chicago legend |
Richard Verber (June 3, 1944 – Dec. 10, 2001) passed away at the age of 57. Suffering from obesity, his later years were plagued with health issues and he was confined to a wheelchair. His passing was attributed to complications of diabetes.
Verber had been playing chess competitively for only two years when in 1961, at the age of 17 while a student at St. Ignatius High School, he achieved the Master title. He achieved the Senior Master (2400+) title in 1971.
He received his undergraduate degree from Loyola University in 1966 and did graduate studies in art history at the University of Chicago.
He won the 1962 Chicago Open and 1966 North Central Open, and tied for first in the 1970 Illinois Open. He represented the United States at the World Student Team Championships in 1967, 1969, and 1970. In the 1970 event in Haifa, Israel, his 5½-1½ score won the gold medal on fourth board and helped the US win the championship.
Verber served as president of the Chicago Chess Club during the early 1970s and was responsible for organizing the 1973 US Open at the La Salle Hotel in downtown Chicago; the event drew more than 700 players.
He declined two invitations to the US Championship. In 1974, even though it was held in Chicago and the 1975 tournament in Oberlin, Ohio. The 1974 event was won by Walter Browne who went undefeated. Benko and Evans tied for second. I got to witness every round of the 1975 tournament which was also won by Browne. Kenneth Rogoff was second and the popular local player, Dr. Milan Vukcevich, was third.
Also a National Tournament Director, he organized many important events in Chicago including multiple US Opens, US Championships, international title tournaments and simultaneous exhibitions.
Verber ran for the USCF Policy Board in 1975 for the only time and was expected to win, but he was upset by Fred Townsend of Connecticut.
As an organizer Verber’s enthusiasm was sometimes excessive and occasionally he promoted his tournaments to the point that entry fees didn’t cover expenses, including prizes.
In one event he was unable to pay much of the guaranteed prize fund and player complaints resulted in the suspension of his Director certification. He eventually was able to pay all the winners in full and his certification was reinstated.
Verber’s talent talent for the game was as both a tactician and strategist. National Master John Thomas, a friend and former US Amateur Champion stated that rather than relying on calculation Verber relied on intuition. Thomas added that Verber always knew that while he would be a good player, he'd never be a great one and so there were many other things that interested him. With his background in art history, he read widely in a number of languages.
For some reason Verber did not save his score sheets and as a result almost all of his games are unknown. In the beginning he played highly theoretical and often risky lines. By the early 1970s, after realizing that he would not be a professional player, Verber changed his openings and began playing by rote solid openings that had little theory attached to them, but often they contained sophisticated traps in which he could catch unwary and less talented opponents.
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| James Warren |
His contribution to Illinois chess as a player, organizer, patron and volunteer was unparalleled and along with his wife Helen he founded the Illinois Chess Association.
Warren was instrumental in the implementation by the USCF of the Elo rating system in 1960. He also served as USCF's Rating Statistician and wrote a computer program for calculating ratings. It was at his suggestion that the terms Master, Expert, Class A, Class B, Class C be used in conjunction with the Elo system.
Besides selling chess books, organizing tournaments and being involved in the ICA, Warren and his wife organized American Postal Chess Tournaments, the Warren Junior Program and the once popular Midwest Masters tournaments.
Thank you for reminding me of Dick Verber and Jim Warren. They were titans of the Chicago chess scene when I was just learning the game.
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