Chess
in Gijón - decade of the 1940's
( Author: ©
Eugene
Salomon )
It
was the house where I was born on
September 29th 1928
, in
San Bernardo Street
, across from the
Begona
Park
.
It
was there in 1941 when my father taught me how to play
chess. Those were the difficult years after the Spanish
Civil War when everything was cast as white or black.
The only gray tonalities on the landscape were the clouds
with their usual dark grey that the chess poet Dr.
Casimiro Rugarcia would write about.
In
those days all the good things were described as being
from "before the war" all the people had
reportedly been from the left or the right...red or
blue...pro
Germany
or pro
England
.
In
a few months, as my father could not longer win a game
against me, he decided to invite my uncle, Dr. Casimiro
Rugarcia, a strong club player... It just took a few weeks
for me to play as an equal with him so he decided to
invite me to to his club, "El Casino de la Union de
los Gremios" where he used to play every afternoon.
Standing:
Gene Salomon and Juan Fernández Rua. Seated: Félix Heras
(organizer and president of FEDA,
later
Vice
President of FIDE), Dr. Alekhine, Dr. Muñiz and
his son, and local player Morán.
To
talk about Chess in
Gijon
in the decade of the 1940's, one has to refer to "El
Casino". Every afternoon you could find in there from
the "regulars" like my uncle "tio
Casi" playing against his great friend the eye doctor
Pedro del Rio to players like Mr. Delgado always
looking for inexperienced players that would not see his
simple "double checks"... The two strongest
players of the time (Manuel Clotas and Antonio Rico) were
of true national master caliber and would visit
occasionally. It was exciting to be able to play against
them. The Profesor Juan Fernandez Rua, the Psyquiatrist
Dr. Salas and the creative player Vicente Gonzalez were
frequent visitors and very strong players. Other regular
members that I remember well were Dr. Muniz and Madreira
and Gallego. Occasionally two strong players, Bonet and
Mampel would visit the club and always present was the
extraordinary cheer leader and organizer Felix de las
Heras.
The
above description refers to the years 1942-1943. Soon
afterwards (I believe it was in 1944) when a new star of
Spanish chess -Roman Toran- arrives to Gijon (with
his natural talent and total dedication to study chess
would become not only a local but a national star...
Probably, I have the best record in the world among all
the players that Toran ever faced -the secret for
success is to play against them at the beginning of their
career!-).
Other promising local young players appear at the same
time: Ramon del Olmo y Pablito Moran and later on some
others that would become great players like Maximo Lopez.
It
was in June 1943 when I played my first chess tournament:
"Educacion y Descanso" , third category. I took
first place, followed by Benigno Arriba and Ramon del
Olmo. A month later, I played the same "Educacion y
Descanso" Tournament of
the "second category"... Jose Luis Leicher, a
very promising young player, won the tournament with 10
points, followed by Guell and myself with 9 1/2 points and
then Mori in fourth place.
I
fondly remember those days when Jose Luis Leicher and I
would walk (chess pieces and board under the arm) to catch
"the tranvia" to spend the afternoon playing
chess on the rustic benches of
Somio
Park
.
In
August 1943, the new Spain's champion-Jose Sanz- gave a 25
Boards simultaneous exhibition and I won my game against
him. The newspaper "El Alcazar" of Madrid in a
display of typical "sensational" news would
write: "A new Arturito Pomar surfaces in Gijon, he is
14 years old and has already defeated Spain's champion
,Sanz".
At
the end of 1943, my family moved back to Madrid, although
we would continue coming back to Gijon and my chess roots
every summer until 1947, when a couple of months after
playing the "IV Gijon International Tournament"
I left Spain for Cuba.
Poesía
del Dr. Casimiro Rugarcía (1944)
"Ajedrez
romántico"
I
Es
el Ajedrez sin par
imagen
fiel de la vida
desesperada
partida
contra
el tiempo y el azar;
lucha
donde suele hallar
nuestro
débil corazón
además
de humillación
una
amargura tan fiera
como
si al perder muriera
su
mas hermosa ilusión.
II
En
el triunfo hay que imitar
al
hidalgo caballero
que
saluda con su acero
y
vence sin humillar.
Siempre
se debe ganar
como
el invicto marqués
en
Breda: sin altivez,
sonriendo
al enemigo,
tiende
su mano de amigo.
Así
es el noble ajedrez.
III
Como
en la vida se advierte
que
es juego de azar, y cada
movimiento,
una jornada
en
su marcha hacia la muerte.
No
basta el saber, la suerte
le
domina y de tal modo
que
a veces se hunde en el lodo
un
rey, cubierto de gloria,
y
otras, injusta victoria,
logra
venciéndolo todo.
IV
Lleno
de ilusión empieza
como
la vida este juego.
Igual
que el amor es fuego
y,
como el arte, belleza.
¡Cuantas
veces su grandeza
se
humilla y su ardor se abate!
Porque
este juego o combate
también
tiene su agonía,
en
breve o lenta porfía,
que
termina en jaque-mate.
V
Es
contra el tiempo partida
de
duda ansiedad y ensueño,
pero
siempre loco empeño
a
lo largo de la vida.
Hoy
gloria; mañana herida...
en
eterno retornar,
terco
anhelo de ganar
contra
todo...y al fin nada:
agua
en la mano encerrada
que
no podemos guardar.
VI
Yo
siempre lo jugaré
con
tanto amor y ansiedad
como
en la temprana edad
frente
al destino luché.
Ayer
al tiempo gané,
y
le gano también hoy.
Nada
puedo y nada soy.
Eugene
Salomon
(March
28, 2017)
|