MARK RUBERY CHESS

Larry Melvyn Evans (1932-2010), one of the most prominent American grandmasters, prolific writer and reporter, passed away in Reno, Nevada at the age of 78. Evans wrote more than 20 books with ‘New Ideas in Chess’ (1958) being quite highly regarded and he also had a syndicated chess column that appeared in 50 newspapers. He made a large contribution to Bobby Fischer’s classic “60 Memorable Games” where he wrote entertaining introductions to each game. He was a good friend of Fischer, helping him to prepare for his world championship drive in the early 1970s. He visited this country in 1981 where he commentated on the games to large and appreciative audiences during the 2nd Oude Meester Grand Prix.

Taimanov, Mark E - Evans, Larry [E99]

USA-URS New York (4), 1954 1.c4 Nf6 2.Nf3 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 0–0 5.d4 d6 6.Be2 e5 7.0–0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.f3 f4 12.Bd2 g5 13.Rc1 Rf6 14.c5 Nxc5 15.Nxc5 dxc5 16.Na4 b6 17.b4 cxb4 18.Bxb4 Bf8 19.Rxc7 (“I literally broke out into a sweat! The eyes of over a thousand spectators, it seemed, were focused on our wallboard. It didn’t take very long to calculate that the upstart rook could not be captured,” Evans describes this critical moment of the game. Yet, it is a wrong combination. Taimanov overlooks Evans’s splendid reply. Increasing the pressure with 19.Qb3! was better-Kavalek) … Nf5!! (A beautiful counterpunch! 19… Qxc7 20 d6 was what the Soviet GM hoped for) 20.Bxf8 Qxc7 21.Ba3 Ne3 22.Qc1 Qg7 23.Rf2 Bd7 24.Nc3 g4 25.Bb2 g3 26.hxg3 Qxg3 27.Bf1 Rc8 28.Qe1 b5 29.Ne2 Qh4 30.g3 fxg3 31.Nxg3 Nxf1 32.Nf5 Rg6+ 33.Kxf1 Qh1+ 34.Ke2 Rc2+ 35.Kd1 Qxe1+ 36.Kxe1 Rg1+ 0–1

The Cape Argus chess columnist Nick Barnett wrote the following: ‘There are many obituaries to Evans on chess web sites, none mention that GM Evans was a successful gambler.

He told me he had been expelled from Las Vegas due his ability to count cards in blackjack.

He relocated to Reno Nevada where he made an agreement with a casino there to play for no more than 15 minutes a day.

The organisers of Oude Meester Grand Prix (where Evans was the commentator) challenged Larry’s claim that he could win $100 dollars in that time and drove him to Sun City to prove his point — which of course he did, but not before attracting the attention of the casino heavies.

My favourite trivia on Evans occurred during a visit to a Soweto sangoma. “Ah Mr Evans” said the sage “you descend from Welsh ancestors”, not one for tact Evans responded “Nonsense, my grandfather emigrated to the US from Lithuania with an unpronounceable name and was told by the official “From now on your name is Evans”.”