AThe Star Press Muncie, Indiana Sunday, July 09, 1972 - Page 42
Chess Club Members Prove You Got to Work Within the System by Susan Bonnell
Chess is a game with systems of plays and anyone who knows the systems can beat anyone who doesn't know them.
With this basic statement as their assurance the Ball State Chess Club challenged anyone willing to engage in a game of chess on the concourse of the Muncie Mall Saturday and beat almost everyone who took them on.
Their record at the end of 12 hours of chess was better than 115 wins, seven losses and three draws.
THE CLUB set up nine boards on tables loaned by Sears. According to chess club members, the boards were usually in use throughout the day. The club manned the booth with two members on two-hour shifts, though as many as six were on hand to play any of the shoppers who decided to get into the mood for the Fischer-Spassky matches by playing a game or two.
One club member, Homer Peterson, a New Castle resident, stayed at the boards all day, compiling a record of 31 wins and no defeats.
The main purpose of the match, including an exhibition of speed chess by Blaine Newcomb and his younger brother, Murry, was to inform Muncie area residents that there is a local chess club open to anyone, any age who wishes to join.
CLUB MEMBER Philip Newcomb said that though the club is named the Ball State Chess Club it has members of all ages and from Muncie and New Castle.
“The club is part of the United States Chess Federation, one of the groups sponsoring the Fischer-Spassky matches,” Newcomb said. Newcomb is a sophomore at Indiana University this fall.
The club is one of Indiana's most active clubs, sponsoring two major tournaments a year. Weekly attendance at club meeting is usually about 20 persons. The group meets at 3 p.m. every Sunday in Williams Hall at Ball State University.
At their Mall display, club members would often take time to explain to opponents why they had lost the game or if the opponent had been particularly difficult to beat or interested in his game they would urge him to come to their meetings and learn more about the club.
NEWCOMB SAID the club is especially interested in getting more women to join.
“International chess is overwhelmingly male. There's really no reason for it other than women just don't seem to have gotten interested in chess,” he said.
PHOTO CAPTION: 31 WINS, NO LOSSES—Homer Peterson played chess for 12 hours Saturday without finding someone who could beat him. Peterson keeps up a steady stream of talk and motion as he plays, commenting on moves, getting up and visiting with people or simply talking. One of Indiana's U.S. Chess Federation-rated Class A players, Peterson played almost all his games Saturday simultaneously, with two or more boards going at once. (Star Photo by Jerry Joschko)
Chess Club Members Prove You Got to Work Within the System 09 Jul 1972, Sun The Star Press (Muncie, Indiana) Newspapers.com
