AFebruary 25 1962
El Paso Times, El Paso, Texas, Sunday, February 25, 1962
Juarez Boy Cops Chess Honors Here
Chess experts, masters, and aspirants in fourth-round play at the Hilton Hotel fought several close games until a late hour Saturday, with Joachim Lobato, 11, of Juarez winning against a powerful opponent.
Henry Davis of San Antonio and Max Burkett of Albuquerque played a draw contest, while Jack Shaw of Albuquerque and Henry Morgan of Phoenix, Ariz., repeated.
The results found Hector Fabela of El Paso, Davis of San Antonio, Shaw and Burkett of Albuquerque, and Morgan in the lead with 3½ points scored. Fifth round play begins at 8 a.m. Sunday. Sixth, and final, round will come after the lunch break.
Tournament director George Koltanowski, of San Francisco, El Paso Times chess editor, said that young Lobato had displayed skill, daring and endurance to mark him for possible international honors.
“I have the feeling that he has the making of a chess master, and I hope the City of Juarez may recognize its opportunity and give the young man a chance for more tournament play. For this he needs backing.”
“A few years ago,” Koltanowski said, “Mexico had a famous chess master, Torre. Now, once again they have a possibility of a second Bobby Fischer and that is saying a great deal.”
Fischer, now 18, is one of the top players of the game in the world, and started only some five years ago. He lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.
February 26 1962
El Paso Times, El Paso, Texas, Monday, February 26, 1962
Three Tie For Top Spot In El Paso Chess Tourney
Max Burkett and Jack F. Shaw of Albuquerque, N. M., and Mike Brame of San Antonio each scored five points for a three-way win of the third annual El Paso Open Chess Tournament which ended Sunday.
George Koltanowski, international chess master who directed the tournament, said it was one of the best held in El Paso.
Players came from as far away as Seattle. Three of the 40 players were chess masters and a number of them were rated as experts.
Players who scored 4.5 points were Henry Davis, San Antonio; Charles T. Morgan, Phoenix; Kenneth R. Smith, Dallas, and William L. Kirk, Los Alamos, N.M.
Players with 4 points were Dan W. Denney, Dallas; Vernon Zeigner, Los Alamos; John Freeman, El Paso; Peter K. Cook, El Paso, and Clifford J. Roberson, Las Cruces, N.M.
Players with 3.5 points were Carter Ward, Roswell, N.M.; Hector M. Fabela, El Paso; Murray Projector, El Paso and Alfredo Berroteran, El Paso.
Players with 3 points were Joaquin Lobato, Juarez; Alfonso R. Almeida, Minneapolis; Armand Bosco, Scottsdale, Ariz.; M. Sgt. Lyle F. Oje, White Sands Missile Range, N.M.; Del Celani, San Antonio; Park E. Bishop, El Paso; Jack Galicia, El Paso; James R. Gallivan, University Park, N.M.; Robert Parmelee, Las Cruces, and J. R. Dodson, Gallup, N.M.
Players with 2.5 points were Phillip J. Dodderridge, Albuquerque, and Sostenes Pacheco, El Paso.
Players with 2 points were Robert Oppenheimer, El Paso; Yolando Lobato, Juarez; M. Sgt. Eddie Hadden, El Paso; Dan R. Carter, Midland, Tex.; Donald D. Brattin, El Paso; Francisco Contreras, Juarez, and Saul Gonzales, El Paso.
Players with 1.5 point were Thomas H. Massengale, White Sands and Howard Rosenbaum, Phoenix.
Players with 1 point were Baker Bonnell, Sayre, Okla., and Richard Aliaga, El Paso.
Max Burkett (Aug. 14, 2023) notes: “On Joaquim Lobato: His father was a Juarez barber, and his sister was a much better player than he was. His father's machismo kept her from becoming a contender.”
March 03 1962
The Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Saturday, March 03, 1962
The Pony Express By Dan Burrows
Perhaps when El Paso grows to be bigger it will get itself some chess players. There was an open chess tournament down there last week with 39 participants from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Juarez. Max Burkett of Albuquerque won first place, and Jack F. Shaw of Albuquerque won second. There is lots of brawn in El Paso but sometimes a tiny shortage of brains.
March 06 1962
El Paso Herald-Post, El Paso, Texas, Tuesday, March 06, 1962
Be Careful
SNIPING FROM THE SAFETY of that distant region in which he exists, Editor Dan Burrows of the Albuquerque Tribune makes this crack about El Paso in his column:
“Perhaps when El Paso grows to be bigger it will get itself some chess players. There was an open chess tournament down there last week with 39 participants from Texas, Arizona, New Mexico and Juarez. Max Burkett of Albuquerque won first place and Jack Shaw of Albuquerque won second. There is lots of brawn in El Paso but sometimes a tiny shortage of brains.”
Our advice to this brash fellow is that he should tread lightly and speak softly should he ever come to El Paso again. There is a possibility that one of the brawny boys at whom he sneers might shove him about in a rough chess lesson.
March 13 1962
The Albuquerque Tribune, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Tuesday, March 13, 1962
Chess Team Holds Trophy
The Albuquerque Chess Team retained the traveling trophy this year after the annual match with Los Alamos Sunday. The match was played in Santa Fe.
The final score was 14-14, but since Albuquerque was the defending champion the tro phy remained in possession of local team.
Fourteen players from each team participated in the match. The Albuquerque team was headed by Max Burkett, Jack Shaw, and Tom Heldt. Heading the Los Alamos team were Mark Wells, Tom Swihart, and Sid Brower.
Max Burkett (Aug. 15, 2023) notes: “I had a lifetime score of 12 wins, 1 loss, and 1 draw against Mark Wells. The draw came in the 1971 US Open and the loss came in the 1960 New Mexico Open (which I won with a 4.5-1.5 score), so I must have won both the games in the 1962 team match.”
March 28 1962
Tucson Citizen, Tucson, Arizona, Wednesday, March 28, 1962
Varis Tucson's Chess Champion
Tucson's first annual nationally recognized U.S. Chess Federation tournament produced an unusual winner who took three trophies, a rarity in chess circles.
John Varis of Tucson won three trophies winning a total of six games (from points tabulated from winning 4½ and 1½ games), and is officially recognized nationally as Tucson chess champ.
Varis placed third in the weekend tournament but was the highest scoring Tucson player.
Max Burkett, of Albuquerque, N.M., won the first place trophy winning six games with no losses. He is recognized by the Chess Federation as a master player.
Charles Morgan, of Phoenix, also a master player, took second place with five games. Edward Stacy of Tucson was first in the class, and Sgt. George Rybarczyk of Ft. Huachuca won the C class trophy.
E. J. McGuire of Yuma took first place in unrated classifications, and Frank Leffman, a former Tucsonian on leave from the Navy to play in the tournament won the special trophy.
Earl R. (Dick) Phillips, president of the Tucson Chess Club said 22 players took part in 2½ days of tournament play at the Central YMCA.
Phillips said there are at least 1000 chess players in Tucson, “and we should have had a much larger turnout for the tournament, but perhaps some were scared away.”
March 29 1962
Arizona Daily Star, Tucson, Arizona, Thursday, March 29, 1962
Varis Is Top Chess Winner
Tucsonan John Varis won three of the eight trophies awarded at the recent Tucson Open Chess Tournament.
Varis was named city champion, took first place in the class A competition and was third place winner in the open competition.
Max Burkett of Albuquerque, N. M., was the tournament winner. Arizona Champion Charles Morgan of Phoenix took second place. Burkett won all six of the games he played; Morgan won five and Varis 4½.
Tucsonan Ed Stacey was the Class B winner. Sgt. George Rybarczyk of Ft. Huachuca won the Class C trophy and E. J. McGuire was the first place unrated player.
Twenty-two players competed in the tournament which was directed by George Koltanowski, international master and leading director of tournaments in the United States.
June 24 1962
Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Sunday, June 24, 1962
Six Players Tie In Chess Open
After two rounds of play, six men remained atop the field in the Albuquerque Open Chess tournament, under way this weekend at the East Central Branch of Albuquerque National Bank.
Don Wilson, Albuquerque Chess Club president, listed the top six as Max Burkett, Jack Shaw, and Waltern Dorne of Albuquerque; William Bragg and Hector Fabela of El Paso; and Jack Gibson of Ft. Defiance, Ariz.
The six were tied for first place at the close of play Saturday night, Wilson said. Each had two points.
Tied for runner-up with one-and-one-half points each were Tom Heldt and Phillip Dodridge, both of Albuquerque.
The third round of the five-round tourney will begin today at 8 a.m., Wilson said.
June 25 1962
Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Monday, June 25, 1962
Shaw Recaptures Open Chess Tourney Championship Title
Jack Shaw Sunday night recaptured his title of Albuquerque Open Chess Champion, winning out over 27 other contenders to regain the crown he lost last year to Max Burkett.
The city's open chess tourney was held over the weekend at the East Central branch of Albuquerque National Bank.
Runners up were William Bragg of El Paso, second, and Tom Heldt of Albuquerque, third.
Bragg took the meet's upset trophy for his unexpected win over Max Burkett, the defending champion. Gary Anderson of Albuquerque took the junior trophy.
The next major event on the chess club agenda is the state tournament, to be in Los Alamos sometime this fall.
Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Monday, June 25, 1962
WINNER AND NEW CHAMPION: Jack Shaw of Albuquerque puffs on a cigar and ponders during the city's open chess tournament Saturday and Sunday at the East Central Branch of Albuquerque National Bank. Shaw won out over 27 other contenders to recapture the title he lost a year ago to Max Burkett.
