April 22 2006
Harbour City Star, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, Saturday, April 22, 2006
Chess Master Plays 12 Games at Once
by Mark Corbett/The Star
Imagine the skill it would take to play 12 games of chess simultaneously. Sounds pretty tough, right? Now imagine doing it blindfolded.
Not only has Nanaimo chess grand master, Jonathan Berry, done just that, but he won 10 of those games to boot. Now before you ask “how can that be?” keep in mind the Master of Ceremonies called out his opponents' moves. Still, it would take an incredible amount of cognitive thinking to keep track of 384 chess pieces without the aid of sight.
Berry, who has won the Mexican Open, the B. C. Chess Championships and the North American Correspondents Championships, says his feat actually tied a world record for anyone 50 years or older.
“To become good at chess, you need to be able to recognize and recall patterns, as well as have patience, perseverance and logical thinking,” said Berry. “And when you play 12 games at once you have to think 12 times as fast as your opponents.”
Berry, who has been playing chess since he was eight years old and writing about it for the last 26 years for the Globe and Mail, won't get blindfolded for his upcoming Chess Fest at Port Place Shopping Centre on the weekend of April 28, but he is planning to take on all challengers and will play up to 12 games simultaneously on Saturday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.
With an average of 40 per game, he'll have to make nearly 500 moves in total.
Besides playing chess against a dozen opponents at the same time, Berry will be giving a lecture to elementary students on chess strategy on Friday, April 27 from 10 a.m. to noon in the food court area of the mall. Following the lecture, Berry will then supervise the kids and provide feedback as they play some chess on their own.
Invented more than 1,400 years ago, most likely in Central Asia, chess is still popular as ever with children, says Berry. So far, 30 students have signed up for his Chess Fest.
Pre-registration and more information is available at the Port Place administration office, and a $5 donation, to be given to Literacy Nanaimo, will be accepted from each of Berry's challengers and then matched by the mall.
