Mike Nagaran

 

The North County Chess Club began as the Escondido Chess Club in the mid 60’s. Always a small club, sometimes only two players would show up to play. In the early years the main core players were Joe Saffiote, Mark Hoogervorst, John Wybenga, George Farly (President), Don Cotten and Dave Walker. In one early tournament an odd number of players were registered so Don registered as a player twice, playing two games simultaneously. He came in first and second! It was through their efforts the club slowly grew.

 

When I moved to the North County in 1973, the club consisted of about 6-8 regular members with only about 5-6 showing up regularly playing skittles. Soon it was decided that we should began playing rated chess, Mark became the first director but his business gradually kept him away. So I became the regular director for tournaments. By 1975 Alina Markowski appeared in San Diego. I first met her in a weekend tournament at the General Dynamics recreation center run by John Bernard and his Southern California Chess Association. Since she was moving into Escondido, she would become an important added to the club. Alina became the secretary, and I became the president. One of Alina’s first suggestions was that we begin numbering our tournaments. So the Escondido Chess Club inaugurated tournament #1. About this time, two more players joined giving the club a jolt of spirited play, H. Paul Lillebo and Bob Faust. The tournaments became constant, every five weeks with one week off. Later we would drop the “one week off”, no one would show up!

 

By the eighties, the Escondido Chess Club began wandering to different locations in Escondido before ending up in a Home Savings’ recreation room near the corner of Rose and East Valley Parkway in Escondido. Initially the club called the Joslyn Senior Center in Escondido home. However, when a new center was built the club moved to San Marcos. At San Marcos, the club became the North Chess Club, another suggestion of Alina’s.

 

At San Marcos, the club began the first weekend tournaments, the Red Barn Open. After we lost the Red Barn, the weekend tournaments continued at the NCR cafeteria in Rancho Bernardo, then at various hotels, under the name of North County Spring (Summer, Fall or Winter) Open. The tournament, usually well attended, featured local players from San Diego County, Southern California, Arizona and Mexico of all strengths. The stronger players included, at one time or another, current International Masters: Cy Lakdawala, Igor Ivanov, John Donaldson, John Watson, Kamram Shirizi, Larry Remlinger and Danny Kopec. Even IM Larry Evans showed up with his son Cory. I recall in one tournament at the NCR cafeteria, a film crew came down from Los Angeles to film a player or two in the tournament for use on a Japanese T.V. game show. Lakdawala was volunteered and had his few moments of T.V. fame. Also a division of labor began that would last until 2000, Alina organized the weekend tournaments, I directed. Alina would direct the regular weekday tournaments.

 

After another move back to Escondido, the club became infused with its first regularly playing master, Ken Fitzgerald. Later another master, Peter Graves joined and the club became a spirited small enclave of dedicated players. The “regular” tournament featured a round robin of the top 6 players and a lower section with Swiss pairings. Most of the time the round robin consisted of Fitzgerald, Graves, Faust, Nagaran and eventually joined by Mike Lamon, “the kid”. Many times the last spot was taken by a “A” or expert player, sometimes Fidel Gonzalez, Steve Lenores, or Joe Repecka. In one Southern California Chess Federation event, a team action tournament, Fitzgerald, Nagaran, Faust and Lamon won the inaugural tournament over 30 other teams from Southern Calfornia. Eventually the three experts, Faust, Nagaran and Lamon would become masters in their own right.

 

The “lower” sections were usually knockdown drag out affairs. There were too many players for me to remember, but they included at one time or another, regulars Bill Gary, Sam Glassberg, Jim Boyd, Mike Shanks, Randy Wood, Bill Griffrow, Bibak Sattari, Bruce Owens, Tim Collins, Mike Fellinger, Larry Furgeson, Don Eilmes, Mike Shaffer, Greg Sullivan, Paul Lane, Fred Gerlach, Ralph Pulver, George Schweiker, Dennis Sucuzzo, Mark Krowozyk, James Tennyson, and Bill Minter. We had our share of family members: brother and sister Daniel and Yvonne Krawiec; father and son, Cloydell and Jason Viseth; and all three Arnolds, Ken, Jeff and dad. The play was so spirited, two players once played from the start of the tournament, 7 p.m. until 7 or 8 a.m. No one knew they were still playing until Alina got a call from a worried wife. Of course, it wasn’t a single tournament game, rather a long series of blitz chess after the tournament. True dedication.

 

But all good things must end. In the late 80’s and early 90’s Graves was lost to a career change that affected his chess schedule. Faust had to move to San Luis Obispo. Lamon grew up, began college then grad school and a career. Fitzgerald gradually moved away from active chess play, playing sporadically throughout the 90’s and into 2000. Others came and went. Eventually the North County Chess Club had to move, again. Sam suggested Rancho Bernardo, but after a short time, the club found its present site in Poway. Exhaustion lead to the dropping of the North County weekenders (but every once in awhile I think about doing it again) and the club returned to an all Swiss format.

 

In Poway, the club again has a small, dedicated group of players. Each tournament is hotly contested. It wouldn’t be a tournament without Stephen Cunningham, Greg Sullivan, Tom Nelson, Mike Ross, Tom Fries, Sam Mahaffey (our webmaster), Joe Hawks, Charlie Cramer, or Alina. Every once in a while the lower rated players show that their play shouldn’t be disregarded. The mission of the club remains the same – have fun playing chess. Check out the games, come in and play sometime.