The American Meteor Society received more than 100 reports from several states including Ohio, Kentucky, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Illinois, New York and others.
According to NASA, a 6-foot diameter 7-ton asteroid was first spotted about 50 miles above Lake Erie moving at over 40,000 miles per hour.
The meteor traveled about 34 miles through the atmosphere before fragmenting 30 miles high over Valley City, Ohio, a small community about 30 miles SW of Cleveland. NASA said the meteor unleashed an\\rhe energy of 250 tons of TNT when it fragmented, causing a boom that was loud enough to even shake houses.
Correspondence chess isn’t what it used to be. Before computers postal play involved post cards (you could buy them pre-printed), or if you were playing international chess, airmail sheets. The latter were ultra-lightweight blue paper sheets designed to keep international postage costs low by minimizing weight. They were folded to form their own envelope.
You also needed rubber diagram stamps, lots of postage stamps, a notebook, blank score sheets, postal recorder albums (known as Glichers), knowledge of the ICCF Numeric Notation Grid for international play, books and magazines for researching openings.
You often had positions jotted down on scraps of paper and stuck in your pocket so you could analyze when you had a few spare minutes. I remember finishing up 2 or 3 correspondence games while in boot camp by drawing diagrams in the notebook we were required to carry to take notes about “military stuff” we were taught in class.
After mailing your move you had to wait a week or two for an opponent’s reply or even longer if you were playing international CC. Most games took a year or more.
That was correspondence chess at its best. Engines, databases and computer programs have destroyed a lot of the magic.
In the following game, played in 1955, white mishandled the opening and soon got a lost position. Black’s play was aggressive and impressive. The game appeared in print with superficial notes which were based more on the result of the game than on accurate analysis...a common fault in those days. Both players were what Chess Review called Class A postalites...about 1800-1999 Elo, or perhaps a bit higher.
[Event "Chess Review Postal Tmt."]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1955.??.??"]
[Round "?"]
[White "G. Williams"]
[Black "M.H. Cha"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "D85"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 18"]
[PlyCount "66"]
[EventDate "1955.??.??"]
{D85: Exchange Gruenfeld} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3
6. bxc3 c5 7. Be3 {[%emt 0:00:07] While this move is not really a mistake it
has not served white well. Either 7.Nf3 or 7.Bc4 are better.} Bg7 8. f4 {
This is too weakening. 8.Bc4 was better.} Qa5 {Black gets the advantage after
8...Nc6, but black is determined to play aggressively.} 9. Kf2 {One would
expect 9.Qd2 which offers equal chances, but, oddly, this move is also equal
because there is no way for black to take advantage of the K's position.} Nd7 (
9... Qxc3 {Black wisely avoids this Pawn grab.} 10. Rc1 Qb2+ 11. Rc2 Qb6 12.
Nf3 O-O 13. d5 {White regains the P and has a space advantage and is better
developed.}) 10. Qb3 O-O 11. h3 {This is way too passive.} (11. e5 {results in
equal chances after} cxd4 12. cxd4 Nb6 13. Nf3) 11... g5 {Highly unusual, but
not at all bad! Clearly black intends to attack at all costs.} 12. fxg5 {
Risky play exposing his own K. Safer was 12.g3} e5 {Not as accurate as 12...
dxc4 because the text allows black to close the center cutting down on blck's
attacking chances.} 13. d5 f5 {Black continues his aggressive play, but a
commentator of the day described this move which opens a file as being much
stronger than it is. In fact, the position offers equal chances.} 14. d6+ Kh8
15. exf5 {White is on the road to losing after this move which opens up his
K's position. Safer qa 15.Rd} Rxf5+ 16. Kg3 (16. Ke1 e4 17. Rc1 Nb6 18. Ne2 Nd5
{Black has a decisive advantage.}) 16... e4 {The same commentator described
this as a door opener for black's pieces. That's a good description.} 17. Ne2 {
With his K exposed am.i his development lagging white has no adequate defense,
but after 17.Kh2 he could have held out and hoped for a miracle.} Be5+ 18. Bf4
Rxf4 {[%mdl 512]} 19. Nxf4 Qd8 {The addition of the Q to the attack finishes
off white.} 20. h4 Qf8 21. Kf2 Qxf4+ 22. Ke2 c4 {Making room for the N to join
the attack.} 23. Qc2 Nc5 24. Kd1 Be6 25. Be2 Rd8 26. Rf1 Rxd6+ {Beginning a
King hunt.} 27. Ke1 Qg3+ (27... Qxh4+ {forces mate.} 28. Rf2 e3 29. Bh5 Nd3+
30. Kd1 exf2 31. Qe2 Ne1+ 32. Qd3 f1=Q 33. Qd4 Qxd4+ 34. cxd4 Qd3+ 35. Kxe1
Bg3#) 28. Rf2 e3 {[%mdl 64] Pin} 29. Bf1 Rd2 30. Qxd2 exd2+ 31. Ke2 Qd3+ 32.
Kd1 Bg4+ 33. Be2 Ne4 {White resigned. It's mate in 4. Aggressive play by black.
} (33... Ne4 34. Rf8+ Kg7 35. Rf7+ Kxf7 36. g6+ hxg6 {Mate next move.}) 0-1
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