Additional Games
- Chessgames
- Game, Mayer vs. Ross Siemms, National Junior Championship Tournament, Milwaukee, July 1950.
Vol. 3, No. 10, California Chess Reporter, July 1954. Long Beach highlights: First prize winner Ross Siemms of Toronto, Canada (photo taken at Pan-American Open, vs. Herman Steiner).The Windsor Star, Windsor, Ontario, Canada, Mon, Nov 07, 1955
Toronto Chess Wizard Gives Spectacular Display
Mr. Ross Siemms of Toronto, one of the Western World's recognized chess experts, took on 20 members of the Sarnia 'Y' Chess Club in a simultaneous match Saturday. Mr. Siemms, playing at a furious pace, lost only three games. Interest in chess in Canada is highest it has ever been, he said, and Canadian players are providing stiff competition for the Americans, English and Russians. Photo shows Mr. Siemms, right, taking on Mr. Phil Haley, president of the Sarnia club, with left to right, Mr. Cor Wierenga, Mr. Herman Fischer, Mr. J. T. Carson, Mr. F. G. Pauschenwein, Mr. L. K. Smith, looking on.
Youthful Chess Artist Amazes Sarnia Group
From The Star's Sarnia Bureau
SARNIA—For three hours Saturday, a group of men huddled around a row of tables in the Y.M.-Y.W.C.A. in a silence so profound even a pencil scratch was a distraction.
Members of the Sarnia Y Chess Club, the wordless crowd, was engaged intently in a chess match with one of the Western World's most accomplished experts, 20-year-old Ross Siemms of Toronto.
Siemms, United States junior chess champion and runner-up for the Canadian senior championship this year, took on 20 of the best Sarnia players in a simultaneous match with results that astounded veteran observers. Moving at a “furious” pace from table to table, Siemms outmanoeuvred his opposition in all but four games, losing three and drawing one.
The youthful wizard limited himself to only a few seconds at a board, plotting his moves and deftly shifting pawns before moving on to another opponent. While the Sarnians scratched their heads and made frantic calculations with pencil and scratch pad, 16 dropped out of contention.
Only three who managed to beat the champion were Phil Haley, Chess Club president, and Peter Reavill, who did it with an “English Opening,” and Herman Fischer, who won on the black side of a “Giuco Piano.” Peter Ilnyckyj drew with Siemms on a “King's Indian” reversed opening.
It was not uncommon for him, sometimes, to take on 30 to 35 people, Mr. Siemms said. Sarnia chess players tested his memory and found he could “replay” any game he had completed.
Siemms said he began playing chess when he was nine years old.
His father suffered a coronary thrombosis and needed some company while confined to bed for a long period. Ross took up the game of chess with his father, liked it and soon became proficient at it.
In 1953, he went to Copenhagen as Canada's representative in the world's junior championship and placed 14th. In 1954, he won the U.S. junior championship and this year barely missed the senior Canadian title, coming in second in the national competitions.
“As far as I am concerned, I will continue to play until I die,” he told local Chess clubbers.
“Chess, like a good golf match, is a serious affair,” said A. R. Mendizabal, “but at the same time it is an enjoyable pastime.”
