April 16 1953
Vol. 3, No. 7, California Chess Reporter, Venice, April 16, 1953. L. Miliani opposes Dr. Kenneth Colby's Sicilian Defense. (Colby and McClain drew—Golden Gate's only score.)
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Kenneth Mark Colby, 1955
August 1955
U.S. Open Chess Championship, California Chess Reporter, August 1955. Golden Gate Chess Club. (Left to right) Imre Koenig, James Cook, Herbert Dasteel, Jr., Jerry Ets-Hoken, David Peizer, Edward Logwood, Norman Neilsen, Carroll Capps, Gilbert Ramirez, Ben Zeiler, Herbert Holden, Ted Eisenstadt, Robert Konkel, Henry Gross, Herbert Rosenbaum, Godfrey Lutz, Curtis Wilson, Eugene Lien, Willard Sprague, Edvins Simanis, Carl Huneke, Les Talcott, Henry King, William Addison, Russell Freeman, Dr. Kenneth M. Colby, Walter Pafnutieff.
U.S. Open Chess Championship, California Chess Reporter, August 1955. Golden Gate “A” Team (Left to right) Walter Pafnutieff, Dr. Kenneth Colby, Carroll Capps, Robert Konkel, Imre Konig, David Peizer, Henry Gross.
Kenneth Mark Colby, 1956
September 1956
Vol. 6, No. 2, California Chess Reporter, September 1956, Philip D. Smith (right) Dr. Kenneth Mark Colby
Kenneth Mark Colby, 2001
May 10 2001
The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, Thursday, May 10, 2001
Kenneth M. Colby; Psychiatrist Was Computer Therapy Pioneer
By Myrna Oliver, Times Staff Writer
Dr. Kenneth Mark Colby, who merged his backgrounds in psychiatry and computer science to become a pioneer in computerized psychotherapy and artificial intelligence, has died at the age of 81.
Colby, who created early computer programs to aid the depressed and the speech-impaired, died April 20 at his Malibu home.
A good computer therapy program, he assured naysayers, was simply the “ultimate self-help book.” Replacing a flesh-and-blood therapist with an electronic one was no worse, said the psychiatrist, who began practicing in the heyday of psychoanalysis, than the now outmoded analyst of that period who rarely spoke to a patient except to say the hour was up.
Educated at Yale and its School of Medicine, Colby practiced psychiatry for 20 years but became increasingly interested in the developing field of computer technology.
His first foray into combining the two came in the late 1960s, when he was working at Stanford University under a career scientist research fellowship from the National Institute of Mental Health. Heading a team of graduate students, Colby created PARRY, a computer model of paranoid thinking, in the Stanford Artificial Intelligence Laboratory.
He developed more sophisticated computerized psychology products, refining his fascination with computer comprehension and utilization of human language, during his tenure from 1974 to 1990 as UCLA professor of both psychiatry and computer science.
In the 1970s, Colby created what he called an “intelligent speech prosthesis” to aid the more than 500,000 stroke victims a year left with varying degrees of speech impairment.
Although he failed to obtain National Institutes of Health money or other funding to miniaturize his invention, Colby successfully built a one-of-a-kind laboratory model consisting of a voice synthesizer and computer, including keyboard and screen. But his device added up to $10,000 in commercially available components, weighed 30 pounds and had to be carted around in a shopping cart. Colby successfully tested it by having a double-stroke victim take it to restaurants and the supermarket to vocalize what she wanted to buy.
“It has to be developed further,” he told The Times in 1978, “if it's to be of any help to the people who need such a device. Otherwise it's going to remain a one-of-a-kind laboratory curiosity developed by some ivory-tower professor.”
In the 1980s, as computers became more affordable, Colby turned his attention to what he had yearned to do since the 1950s utilize the machines to treat the about 90 of people with mental illness who never seek professional help, either because of cost or social stigma.
With the assistance of his computer programmer son Peter, he created the personal computer program, first dubbed “Overcoming Depression,” that sold for $200. Later renamed the Good Mood Program, with a price tag of $99, the system has been used by Veterans Affairs, the Navy and Kaiser Permanente and has sold thousands of copies.
After his retirement from UCLA a decade ago, Colby and his family started Malibu Artifactual Intelligence Works to refine and market that program and a second program, PC Guru, which can discuss interpersonal relationships with the computer user.
The controversial “Overcoming Depression” program combined a text-based tutorial, cognitive therapy techniques and an opportunity for the user to type in comments for a free-association exchange with the computer. Type in, for example, “How will you help me?” and the program would issue the text, “It is my job to help you learn to help yourself.”
Far more sophisticated than other early computer therapy programs, which seemed more like tests with only yes or no answers permitted, Colby's program still had conversational limitations.
Syndicated Computer File columnist Lawrence J. Magid, testing it in 1990, typed, “I think I would feel better if I were thin,” only to obtain the response, “Why are you thin?”
Little wonder he wrote for The Times and other publications: “If you weren't crazy when you start using it, you're likely to be driven there by the way the program responds.”
But Colby defended the glitches, insisting that users “even like the program's mistakes. As a patient, the doctor is in control. Here you can laugh at its mistakes.”
As health insurance programs cut therapy fees, he predicted, many therapists would employ computer programs to enable them to see several patients an hour instead of one.
A highly rated chess player, Colby wrote two books on chess and 10 books and more than 100 articles on psychotherapy and artificial intelligence.
Colby is survived by his wife, Maxine, son Peter, daughter Erin Johnson, and two grandsons.
Alfred Charles Klahre, 1936
June 09 1936
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, Tuesday, June 09, 1936
Alfred C. Klahre, Writer on Chess, Dies in Flatbush
Was Authority on Books About Game and Also on Rare and Historic Sets
Alfred C. Klahre, well known figure in chess circles in this country, died yesterday at his home, 922 Albemarle Road. He had resided in Flatbush for 25 years. He was 66.
Mr. Klahre, in addition to being a chess enthusiast, was internationally known as a writer and collector of chess books and an authority on the subject of rare and historic chess sets. In that connection he had correspondents in all parts of the world.
He had attended most of the major chess congresses in the United States. His writings included “Chess Potpourri” and “Early Chess In America.” He was long a leading member of the Marshall Chess Club, of which he was a governor.
Born in Jersey City
Mr. Klahre was born in Jersey City on Jan. 7, 1870. He was a retired chemist. Surviving are his widow, Mrs. Antoinette Klahre; two daughters, Mrs. Antoinette Gibbs and Miss Elizabeth Klahre, and two sons, Kenneth and Alfred C. Klahre Jr.
The funeral service will be held at his home tomorrow at 2 p.m. The Marshall Chess Club will be represented at the service. Burial will be in Cypress Hills Cemetery.
Hermann Helms, 1943
July 06 1943
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, Tuesday, July 06, 1943
Mrs. May Helms, Composer, Singer Was 'Cellist, Soloist In Mozart Sextet
Mrs. May Whitney Helms, composer, singer and 'cellist and a former member of the Mozart Sextet of Brooklyn, died yesterday in her apartment at the Hotel Windermere, 666 West End Ave., Manhattan. She was the wife of Hermann Helms, publisher of the American Chess Bulletin.
An accomplished musician since childhood, Mrs. Helms was born in Brooklyn, the daughter of the late George Morse Whitney, corporation lawyer and musician. In 1890 she became a member of the Mozart Sextet, which her father organized and conducted and in which were Mrs. Helm's mother, harpist and pianist; her sisters, Pearl and Estelle, who played first violin and viola, respectively, and a brother, Charles M. Whitney, second violinist. Mrs. Helms was 'cellist and soloist. The sextet made two tours of the United States and Canada.
In later years Mrs. Helms composed a number of marches, including “March of Freedom,” dedicated to President Roosevelt, and “Yankee March,” dedicated to the Red Cross.
Her daughter, Mrs. Thelma Helms Foster, assistant to the head of the Plainfield, N. J., chapter of the Red Cross, died in 1941. Besides her husband, Mrs. Helms is survived by her brother, Charles.
Funeral services will be held at noon Thursday in the Universal Funeral Chapel, 597 Lexington Ave., Manhattan. Burial will be in Northport.
Hermann Helms, 1963
Hermann Helms, latter years, unknown date. Original b/w photo by Alice Helms.
January 09 1963
The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, Wednesday, January 09, 1963
Herman Helms, 'Dean of Chess'
Herman Helms, former New York State Chess Champion and “Dean of American Chess,” died Sunday morning at his home. He lived at 309 E. 18th st.
Mr. Helms, who had turned 93 on Saturday, wrote chess columns for The Brooklyn Eagle for 61 years, until 1955. He was publisher of the National Chess Magazine for 50 years.
He was an honorary member of all the chess clubs in the country. In 1957, the United States Chess Federation conferred upon him the title of “Dean of American Chess.”
Mr. Helms covered soccer and cricket for The Eagle, The New York Times and The Herald Tribune. Of late, he owned and operated the Flannery News Service, at 150 Nassau st, Manhattan.
Services will be conducted today at 2 p.m., at Moatlinger Funeral Chapel, 1120 Flatbush av.
January 27 1963
The Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles, California, Sunday, January 27, 1963
Hermann Helms Dies
Hermann Helms, who for more than a generation was known as the dean of American chess, died in New York at the age of 93. He was active almost to the end, maintaining a weekly chess column in the New York World Telegram, which was suspended only because of the newspaper strike.
Helms edited a column in the Brooklyn Eagle for 61 years, starting in 1893 and continuing until the paper expired. He also wrote regularly for the New York Times and published the American Chess Bulletin.
He was a familiar figure in the New York chess clubs, always on the lookout for news, helping to discover and develop new talent. He was a fine player in his own right, winning his share in rapid transit tournaments up to very recently.
February 04 1963
The Napa Valley Register, Napa, California, Monday, February 04, 1963
Hermann Helms
Hermann Helms, uncle of Mrs. David Searle of Calistoga and formerly of Napa, died in Brooklyn, N.Y., at the age of 93.
Mr. Helms was at one time New York State Chess Champion and in 1957 was designated “Dean of American Chess” by the U.S. Chess Federation.
He was publisher of the American Chess Bulletin for over 50 years and wrote chess, soccer and cricket reports for the Brooklyn Eagle, New York Times and New York Herald-Tribune for many years.
February 24 1963
Fort Lauderdale News, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sunday, February 24, 1963
It is usually a pleasure to receive Chess life and Chess Review early in the month. The issues this month reported the passing on of Hermann Helms at the age of 93.
For over fifty years he edited the American Chess Bulletin, as well as handling some chess columns in New York, and doing much for chess in general. It is probable that every chess player in the United States who has not confined his interests strictly to back woods play has felt the influence of Hermann Helms.
His Christmas card is still stuck in a corner of my desk where I put it when it came in.
Well, this month my reaction was unpleasant upon receiving the usual chess publications. Weaver Adams also left us, notice being included in the same issue. We should try to see the other side of the picture, and be glad that they were around as long as they were.
They were appreciated and contributed to the pleasure that is needed to off-set the rigors of our paper work civilization.
March 17 1963
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Sunday, March 17, 1963
The King's Men
Helms Earned Fame As Writer On Chess
By MERRILL DOWDEN
In posthumous tribute to Hermann Helms, the “dean of American chess” who died in January at the age of 93, we are publishing today one of the many dynamic games for all-which he was famous.
But famous as he was as a player, Helms was even better known as a chess writer and editor. He was editor of the American Chess Bulletin from its inception in 1904 until his death.
He wrote chess columns for various New York papers, starting with the old Brooklyn Daily Eagle in 1893. He was a regular contributor to The New York Times, and was a familiar figure at almost all the important tournaments in the East.
As pointed out by Chess Review, Paul Morphy was alive when Helms was born, and MacKenzie became American champion a year later. He knew Harry Nelson Pillsbury and Frank Marshall, as well as such chess immortals as Lasker, Tarrasch, Schlechter, Marco, and Steinitz. And such latter-day masters as Capablanca, Alekhine, Reshevsky, Kashdan and Fine were among his friends.
James Ferguson Smyth vs Hermann Helms
Practice game (1915), Manhattan CC, New York, NY USA, May-28
Dutch Defense: General (A80) 0-1
March 25 1963
The Post-Standard, Syracuse, New York, Monday, March 25, 1963
Recalls Chess Dean
To the Editor of The Post-Standard:
Many older chess enthusiasts of Upstate New York well remember Hermann H. Helms who often visited Syracuse and Cazenovia conducting and reporting Chess tournaments. Mr. Helms passed away recently at his home in Brooklyn, the day following his 93rd birthday.
It was in Syracuse during the combined tournament of the New York State Chess Association and the United States Chess Federation, at a testimonial dinner in his honor that George Sturgess, then president of the United States Chess Federation, conferred upon him the title Dean of American CHess, Aug. 20, 1943.
Mr. Helms edited and published Chess Review, the first issue appearing in 1904 concluding with the final copy of the 59th volume December 1962.
A life director of the American Chess Federation, he was friend and companion of the well known chess masters, Alekhine, Capablanca, Emanuel Lasker, Maroczy and Frank Marshall.
A number of these masters played in United States Chess Federation tournaments conducted by Herman Helms. One of the tournaments was held at the Onondaga Hotel in 1934. It was at this tournament that I made his acquaintance.
Mr. Helms, assisted by his friend, Malcolm Sim of Toronto, Canada reported the United States-Russian Chess match held at the Roosevelt Hotel, New York City in 1954. Their Associated Press reports were carried around the chess world. A chess player himself, he won the New York State title in 1906 and again in 1925.
Hermann Helms' chess columns appeared in the New York Times for over 50 years.
JOHN C. CUMMINGS.
A Past President of Syracuse Chess Club.
Syracuse.
April 06 1963
The Gazette, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Saturday, April 06, 1963
Hermann Helms
Hermann Helms, who completed publication of the 59th volume of the “American Chess Bulletin” shortly before his death on Jan. 6th at the age of 93, also contributed to a number of newspapers in the N.Y. area. He started with the Brooklyn Eagle in the 90's and continued almost without interruption until that publication ceased a few years ago. He was also with the NY Post for some time, succeeding the late Dr. Em. Lasker who returned to Europe about 1908. Later he was with the NY Times and NY World, Telegra mand Sun. But this was only part of his contribution to help lay a sound foundation for progress in organized chess affairs. A key figure in the promotion of international tourneys from Cambridge Springs, 1904 to New York, 1927, he also managed the exhibition tours of American and European masters until 1930.
He was born in Germany, January 5th, 1870, and the family moved to New York soon after. His father died and his mother brought them to Halifax where they had relatives. It was in school that he learned the game and when they moved back to Brooklyn in 1889 he organized the YMCA chess club and helped in the formation of the Brooklyn Chess League. A member of the famed Brooklyn C.C. he was several times champion of it. He was picked for the USA team in some of the cable matches with Great Britain, and twice won the NY State championship. Long known as “The Grand Old Man of American Chess,” it is to be hoped that a more tangible memorial will be set up. He enjoyed speed chess almost until the end and the following shows his capacity in that branch of competition.
Hermann Helms vs Oscar Tenner
Offhand game (1942) (blitz), New York, NY USA, Feb-??
Italian Game: Evans Gambit (C51) 1-0
Hermann Helms, 1945
1945
Linda Darnell and Rosanne Murray Play Chess as Reuben Fine, Hector Rossetto, Mona May Karff, Hermann Helms, and Isaac Kashdan watch at the opening of the 1945 Pan American Tournament. Original photo by Nancy Roos, World Chess Hall of Fame collection.
Hermann Helms, 1936
May 16 1936
U.S. Chess Championship, Final Round, Hotel Astor, New York, May 16, 1936. Players and officials at the biennial U.S. Championship Tournament. At left center, Marshall hands the Frank J. Marshall Trophy, emblem of the title, to Samuel Reshevsky, winner of the tournament and the new champion. Seated, left to right, are tournament officials Hermann Helms, L. Walter Stephens, Harold M. Phillips, Fritz Brieger and Theodore S. Barron. Standing behind officials, left to right, are Sidney Bernstein, Samuel D. Factor, Milton Hanauer, F. J. Marshall, G. N. Treysman, Samuel Reshevsky, I. A. Horowitz (rear), Alexander Kevitz, Isaac Kashdan, Arthur W. Dake (rear), Abraham Kupchik. Standing at the top of picture, l. to r., are Reuben Fine, Arnold S. Denker, Albert C. Simonson and Herman Steiner. Reshevsky won the subsequent tournaments in 1938, 1940 and 1942.
Hermann Helms, 1915
April 22 1915
CHESS MASTERS OFF ON THREE WEEKS' GRIND
With Capablanca and Marshall showing the way, the eight experts in the chess masters tournament are playing their third round at the Hotel Grenoble, in Manhattan, today. In the photograph herewith, showing the opening of the congress, the following well known players and enthusiasts appear: Seated in front (left to right) J. R. Capablanca, Eduard Lasker, J. Bernstein, F. J. Marshall. Seated in rear (left to right) A. Kupchik, O. Chajes, A. B. Hodges, E. Michelsen. Standing (left to right) G. Koehler, R. J. Brown, L. Rosen, F. P. Beynon, John L. Clark, Hermann Helms, Frank I. Cohen, Julius Finn, Hartwig Cassel, W. M. de Visser, A. Martinez, Frank Rice Marshall, Mrs. F. J. Marshall. (Courtesy of Pathe News.)
Hermann Helms, 1910
1910
Hermann Helms, Chess Editor, unknown date.
Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, November 20, 1910.
William Wallace Moore, 1934
March 30 1934
The Courier-Journal, Louisville, Kentucky, Friday, March 30, 1934
William W. Moore Death Held Suicide
A former vice president of the Inter-Southern Life Insurance Company, William Wallace Moore, was found dead in a bathtub at his home, 1831 South Third Street, at 7:40 o'clock Thursday night, with a bullet wound in his right temple and .32 caliber Spanish revolver at his side. He was 64 years old.
Deputy Coroner M. Rodger Dougherty said Mr. Moore committed suicide. The act was attributed to illness. He had been in failing health since shortly before he resigned his position with the insurance company more than two years ago.
His wife, who found the body, said he left home shortly after noon and returned while she was away.
Born in Brownsville, Tenn., he attended public schools there and later was graduated from the University of Tennessee. Accepting a position with the Kentucky Military Institute at Lyndon as an instructor, he later resigned to become editor of the Asheville Citizen at Asheville, N. C.
From Asheville, Mr. Moore came to Louisville and became associated with the Citizens-National Life Insurance Company, becoming a vice president when the company was merged with the Inter-Southern Life Insurance Company.
He was a member of the Louisville Chess Club, and the author of the series of chess problems which have appeared on the sport pages of The Courier-Journal on Sundays.
Besides his wife, he is survived by a son. Maj. W. C. Moore, stationed at Fort Davis, Panama; a daughter, Mrs. Julien Erwin; two brothers, Roy Moore, Brownsville, Tenn., and E. L. Moore, Birmingham, Ala.; two sisters, Mrs. A. N. Bloodworth, Holcomb, Miss., and Mrs. J. N. Alvis.
William Wallace Moore grave marker, Cave Hill Cemetery, Jefferson County, Kentucky, USA
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'til the world understands why Robert J. Fischer criticised the U.S./British and Russian military industry imperial alliance and their own Israeli Apartheid. Sarah Wilkinson explains: Tweets by swilkinsonbc |
 “What a sad story Fischer was,” typed a racist, pro-imperialist colonial troll who supports mega-corporation entities over human rights, police state policies & white supremacy. |
To which I replied: “Really? I think he [Bob Fischer] stood up to the broken system of corruption and raised awareness! Whether on the Palestinian/Israel-British-U.S. Imperial Apartheid scam, the Bush wars of ‘7 countries in 5 years,’ illegally, unconstitutionally which constituted mass xenocide or his run in with police brutality in Pasadena, California-- right here in the U.S., police run rampant over the Constitution of the U.S., on oath they swore to uphold, but when Americans don't know the law, and the cops either don't know or worse, “don't care” -- then I think that's pretty darn “sad”. I think Mr. Fischer held out and fought the good fight, steadfast til the day he died, and may he Rest In Peace. Educate yourself about U.S./State Laws -- https://www.youtube.com/@AuditTheAudit/videos After which the troll posted a string of profanities, confirming there was never any genuine sentiment of “compassion” for Mr. Fischer, rather an intent to inflict further defamatory remarks. |
This ongoing work is a tribute to the life and accomplishments of Robert “Bobby” Fischer who passionately loved and studied chess history. May his life continue to inspire many other future generations of chess enthusiasts and kibitzers, alike.
March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008The photograph of Bobby Fischer (above) from the March 02, 1956 The Tampa Times was discovered by Sharon Mooney (Bobby Fischer Newspaper Archive editor) on February 01, 2018 while gathering research materials for this ongoing newspaper archive project. Along with lost games now being translated into Algebraic notation and extractions from over two centuries of newspapers, it is but one of the many lost treasures to be found in the pages of old newspapers since our social media presence was first established November 11, 2017.
