Chess

Tony Flamenco has taken his share of risks when he ends a day at the office with a game of chess at MacArthur Park. Over six years, he's been shaken down and forced to pay $10 "rent" to gang members, witnessed a stabbing and an assault, and seen the everyday transactions of gamblers and drug dealers who linger near South Park View and West 7th streets. But the 50-year-old accountant from San Dimas has continued to ignore his wife's warnings to stay away from the park.

Every Friday night, a group of noisy youngsters shuffles through a side door at First Baptist Church of Glendale. They laugh, shove and talk over one another as they enter a large, brightly lighted room with three long tables. Inside, silver-haired Armen Ambartsoumian waits for them to settle down so the session can begin. Ambartsoumian, an international chess master who is determined to groom Glendale's next generation of elite players, demands their focus. This can be a chore when dealing with more than two dozen kids ages 5 to 18. Once the players unpack their black-and-white boards and chess pieces, Ambartsoumian instructs them to pair up and play.

Martin "Amok" Thomas is jabbing a right, but Frank "so-cool-he-doesn't-need-a-nickname" Stoldt is as elusive as a ribbon in the wind. He can't be hit. Time. The gloves come off, and the men hurry across the canvas to the chessboard. (You heard it right.) Amok took a couple of body shots, and he's breathing hard, but he'd better focus.

Thirteen years ago, IBM built a chess-playing computer called Deep Blue that beat the world champion before being dismantled. The deep-blue-clad Indianapolis Colts have their own version, and he wears No. 18. When it comes to the NFL chess match, there's no better player than Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, and that's something Jonathan Vilma knows all too well. Vilma, the middle linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, is preparing for a mental and physical chess match with Manning on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV.

The elementary school at the edge of this rural town has a playground that boasts little more than a swing set. That's no problem -- the hot new game is inside. Chess, once used as a way to teach war strategy, is now being taught to second- and third-graders across Idaho once a week as part of a plan to make students better at subjects like math and reading. "At first I thought, 'You've got to be kidding,' " said Penny Lattimer, a Council Elementary School teacher. "We already have so much stuff to teach."

The second great tournament of 1999 began last Sunday, and already the unexpected has happened. British grandmaster Michael Adams, an outstanding player but a likely candidate for last place in this elite field, has taken the early lead in a double round robin in Linares, Spain. Adams has started with 3-1, notching wins over Peter Leko and Vassily Ivanchuk. The only other players to win a game, Russian standouts Garry Kasparov and Peter Svidler, share second place at 2 1/2-1 1/2.

Bobby Fischer won his $5-million chess rematch with Boris Spassky on Thursday when the controversial American star captured a 10th victory in the historic series in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, between the former world champions. Fischer, 49, who ignored warnings from the State Department that the match violated international sanctions against Yugoslavia, earned $3.35 million, the biggest chess prize ever. His comeback victory marks another remarkable chapter for the undisputed bad boy of chess.

It's recess. Yet rather than play soccer or tag, the two Montalvo brothers hover over a chess set inside Roosevelt Elementary School's cafeteria in Santa Ana. "Dang," says 8-year-old Ken as his older brother John knocks out a knight with a bishop. John, who is 9, rapidly dismantles all but Ken's king, but the game ends in a stalemate. Like dozens of other students on campus, the brothers have the chess bug.

Re "Ditherer in chief," Opinion, Oct. 18 It took President George W. Bush a number of years to put us in the difficult global position we now face. And, of course, as with so many others, John Bolton wants to conveniently blame this entire mess on President Obama by disingenuously asserting that by now the president should have all of his global chess pieces in place. By his logic, Bolton seems to think that the president, in less than one year in office, should fully understand all of the nuances of each world leader he deals with, and in turn, they should acquiesce to any pressure he should want to exert.

It is a curse upon a man. There is no happiness in chess. --H.G. Wells **** Every chess player has a ready, if somewhat defensive, analogy for the day when computer beats man. A Ferrari can cover a distance faster than Carl Lewis, yet that takes nothing from the runner. A mechanical basketball player with 18-foot arms could beat Michael Jordan, but so what? You don't invite forklifts to weightlifting competitions, do you?

Thirteen years ago, IBM built a chess-playing computer called Deep Blue that beat the world champion before being dismantled. The deep-blue-clad Indianapolis Colts have their own version, and he wears No. 18. When it comes to the NFL chess match, there's no better player than Colts quarterback Peyton Manning, and that's something Jonathan Vilma knows all too well. Vilma, the middle linebacker for the New Orleans Saints, is preparing for a mental and physical chess match with Manning on Sunday in Super Bowl XLIV.

Position No. 6082: White to play and win. From the game Yun Fan-Rusudan Goletiani, U.S. Women's Championship, St. Louis 2009. Solution to Position No. 6081: Black wins a piece with 1 . . . d5 2 Ne3 d4 3 Nc4 (or 3 Rxc7 dxe3+) b5. Former world champion Vladimir Kramnik of Russia won the Tal Memorial in Moscow by scoring an undefeated 6-3. The round robin featured 10 of the world's top 13 stars. Kramnik, in his prime at age 34, seems fully recovered from losing the 2008 world championship match to Viswanathan Anand of India.

Re "Ditherer in chief," Opinion, Oct. 18 It took President George W. Bush a number of years to put us in the difficult global position we now face. And, of course, as with so many others, John Bolton wants to conveniently blame this entire mess on President Obama by disingenuously asserting that by now the president should have all of his global chess pieces in place. By his logic, Bolton seems to think that the president, in less than one year in office, should fully understand all of the nuances of each world leader he deals with, and in turn, they should acquiesce to any pressure he should want to exert.

Every Friday night, a group of noisy youngsters shuffles through a side door at First Baptist Church of Glendale. They laugh, shove and talk over one another as they enter a large, brightly lighted room with three long tables. Inside, silver-haired Armen Ambartsoumian waits for them to settle down so the session can begin. Ambartsoumian, an international chess master who is determined to groom Glendale's next generation of elite players, demands their focus. This can be a chore when dealing with more than two dozen kids ages 5 to 18. Once the players unpack their black-and-white boards and chess pieces, Ambartsoumian instructs them to pair up and play.

Alcohol and chess do not mix, as a leading French chess player discovered in an international tournament in India. Grandmaster Vladislav Tkachiev turned up drunk for his match against India's Praveen Kumar and fell asleep after just 11 moves. Tkachiev could barely sit in his chair and once asleep, rested his head on the table. Indian newspapers carried photos of the player, ranked No. 58 in the world, sleeping and organizers' futile attempts to wake him. The game was eventually awarded to Kumar when Tkachiev was unable to complete his moves within the stipulated time of 90 minutes.

USC fans skewered Lane Kiffin on Internet message boards. Steve Sarkisian did not fare much better. So any USC play-caller not named Norm Chow , it seems, is in for a tough go with the Trojans faithful. Jeremy Bates is not worried about it. USC's first-year quarterbacks coach and play-caller plans to tune out whatever criticism might come his way after Saturday's opener against San Jose State and beyond. "This is a game of entertainment," Bates said Wednesday.

Tony Flamenco has taken his share of risks when he ends a day at the office with a game of chess at MacArthur Park. Over six years, he's been shaken down and forced to pay $10 "rent" to gang members, witnessed a stabbing and an assault, and seen the everyday transactions of gamblers and drug dealers who linger near South Park View and West 7th streets. But the 50-year-old accountant from San Dimas has continued to ignore his wife's warnings to stay away from the park.

It's checkmate for the L.A. production of "Chess." Reprise Theatre Company says it has scrapped plans to stage the 1980s musical at UCLA in May and will instead mount a production of "The Fantasticks," which is already enjoying a revival off-Broadway. Jason Alexander, artistic director of Reprise, said "Chess" was undone by the death Nov. 25 of Gerald Schoenfeld, president of the Shubert Organization, who he said had "commissioned and brokered" the Reprise revival of the musical that features music by Bjorn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson of ABBA, with lyrics by Tim Rice.

The elementary school at the edge of this rural town has a playground that boasts little more than a swing set. That's no problem -- the hot new game is inside. Chess, once used as a way to teach war strategy, is now being taught to second- and third-graders across Idaho once a week as part of a plan to make students better at subjects like math and reading. "At first I thought, 'You've got to be kidding,' " said Penny Lattimer, a Council Elementary School teacher. "We already have so much stuff to teach."

"Mamma Mia!": The Hollywood Brief column about "Mamma Mia!" in Wednesday's Calendar section said that Benny Andersson, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice had worked on the 1983 musical "Chess." The "Chess" album was released in 1984 and the musical premiered on stage in 1986.