Chess king defeats eight players in just two hours

Published 1:00 pm Wednesday, April 11, 2007

CLINTON — When the dust settled, chess master Bill McGeary was the undisputed king of the game on South Whidbey Saturday.

In a “chess simul” arranged by members of the Rockhoppers Chess Club, McGeary faced eight fairly seasoned players all at once.

Within two hours, the master had proven his ranking by winning; there were no draws.

When the event started, the eight men were relaxed, sipping lattés and checking out their neighbor’s opening moves. They speculated if McGeary would employ a King’s Indian Attack, the Benko Gambit, a Chigorin Defense or one of the dozens of moves available to him.

But with his initial strategy — white pawn to black king’s 4 — McGeary casually took charge.

Ten minutes later, the idle chatter had faded as everyone got down to the business at hand, focusing with great intensity on their boards.

McGeary moved from one player to the next, watched as a move was made and then countered.

“I made one silly error at the start,” club member Roy Billings said. “I brought my knight out and refused his gambit. It was my worst defeat in the last 10 years.”

McGeary has maintained a U.S. Chess Federation master rating for more than 20 years, playing in tournaments since 1972 and was the Washington

co-champion in 1982 and the Alaska champion in 1995.

When he was 6, McGeary’s dad taught him how to play the game of chess; he and his friends played a lot over the years until 1972 when he spotted an ad for a tournament.

McGeary decided to give it a try and got hooked.

“It was the time of Bobby Fischer and there was a huge interest in chess,” McGeary recalled. “I started playing in tournaments and got better. It takes time and patience.”

He’s played against, and won, up to 50 players at a time.

McGeary finds a good deal of crossover between his avocation and his “real world” job as a computer analyst.

“Both require following a logical chain of thought akin to math and music,” he said. “People who start playing regularly discover there are mental rough and tumble aspects.”

Not to mention weight loss — serious players can lose five to eight pounds over a two-day tournament. “It can wear you out,” he said.

Before the match began, McGeary discussed some previous chess masters, focusing on the “Game of the Century” between Fischer and Donald Byrne in 1956, which Fischer won at age 13.

There are good arguments to be made for describing chess either as an art, sport and science, McGeary said.

“In any case the player is the variable, the one responsible for what happens as the game progresses,” he said.

McGeary concedes that the best player in the world today is, regrettably, a computer program that calculates moves with lightning speed.

Club member Grant Anderson said it was clear from the start that McGeary knew his stuff.

“The guy didn’t even break a sweat,” Anderson said. “A lifetime of study showed in his skill and enthusiasm.”

Regardless of his skills, McGeary still enjoys playing a “pick-up” game when he can.

Rockhoppers owner Rene Schlangen remembered the first time McGeary stopped in.

“I asked if he’d like to play and after he won a few games he admitted he’d been playing for a very long time,” she said. “He’s really good.”