Larry Parr had made himself such a familiar face on the local chess circuit that he will be missed by his friends in Malaysia.
IN the week that I want to share with you a few games from the recent national closed and national women’s closed championships, I received word that a familiar face in our chess circle had passed away on April 2.
Larry Parr, aged 64, was a rather enigmatic person. He guarded his privacy jealously and only a privy few were let in to meet his close-knit family of wife, daughter and son.
Many chess players worldwide would associate Parr with that well-known American institutional chess magazine, Chess Life, of which he was the editor from 1985 till 1988. He was also the author of a few books on the chess game.
However, many people locally would probably remember him better as the co-author of Never Say I Assume! which was the memoir of Datuk Tan Chin Nam. Tan is one of the pioneers of property development in Malaysia and the honorary life president of the Malaysian Chess Federation.
For his extensive research for that book, Parr would have stayed in Kuala Lumpur for at least the past 10 years to piece everything together but to people like me who have been involved in the game for quite a while, he had been seen on and off in this country as long ago as the mid-1970s.
I remember bumping into him in 1975 or 1976 and always, he would be deeply engrossed in discussing a chess game with any player who cared to sit down with him.
The more you know him, the more you’d learn that he had an elephant memory and could be very talkative. He had stories to tell and he’d tell them in so dramatic a fashion that you’d think there’d be scandals behind them but there weren’t. He wove fascinating tales around the chess personalities. His favourite subject was Bobby Fischer and he loved to talk and write about him.
Parr never considered himself to be a chess historian but clearly, he had a deep running interest in this subject. Once when I visited him at his old Tan & Tan office in Kuala Lumpur, he kept probing into the developments of Malayan chess in the 1950s and early 1960s but which, of course, I had no answer. That period was too long ago; it was way before my time.
Parr was very immersed in American and world chess politics. He had very strong views and was never afraid to speak his mind. He challenged people online and was challenged in return.
Anyone who had joined the rec.games.chess main and sub-newsgroups could not have missed the no-holds-barred exchanges that Parr had with other opinionated contributors. Usually, they were a pack of more or less the same people who dominated the news groups to voice their opinions. He could give as good as he received.
Even in the last years of his life, he was an active campaigner in other chess forums that had sprung up on the Internet. He continued sparring verbally with new people about perceived wrongs in the chess world. In his own unique way, he contributed much to the chess game.
All this will be missed. Parr’s death means that the chess world has become a little less noisy. His friends in Malaysia will miss him.
I shall end this week with two games from the recent national closed and national women’s closed championships. They were critical games for the winners of the two events.
Lim Zhuo Ren found himself paired against a formidable opponent in the final round. Though leading the pack of front-runners, he needed only a draw. However, Jimmy Liew took the game to him, and it was only with consistency and an alert mind that he weathered the storm.
Lim Zhuo Ren – Jimmy Liew
National closed championship, Round 9
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. g3 Nc6 4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 g6 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. Nxc6 bxc6 8. Nc3 O-O 9. O-O Qc7 10. Qd2 a5 11. Na4 Rb8 12. Qc2 d6 13. Rd1 Bg4 14. h3 Bf5 15. e4 Be6 16. Bd2 Nd7 17. Rac1 f5 18. b3 Rf7 19. Be3 c5 20. Kh2 Rbf8 21. Qd2 fxe4 22. Bxe4 Bd4 23. f4 Bxe3 24. Qxe3 g5 25. Bg2 Bf5 26. fxg5 Ne5 27. Nc3 Bg4 28. Rd5 Bf3 29. Rd2 Qd7 30. Nd5 Bxd5 31. Bxd5 e6 32. Bg2 Nf3+ 33. Bxf3 Rxf3 34. Qxc5 Qb7 35. Qd4 a4 36. Rb1 Rf1 37. Rxf1 Rxf1 38. Rg2 axb3 39. axb3 Qxb3 40. Rb2 ½-½
Nur Nabila’s path to the women’s title also took her through several obstacles. She had to negotiate carefully through the likes of the former champions, Fong Mi Yen and Tan Li Ting. Though her game with Tan ended drawn, it had its interesting moments. For one, there was Nur Nabila’s determination to win in a largely drawn game and the other, Tan’s dogged defence to keep her half point.
Tan Li Ting – Nur Nabila Azman Hisham
National women’s closed championship, Round 6
1. d4 d5 2. Nf3 Nf6 3. Bf4 e6 4. e3 Bd6 5. Bg3 O-O 6. Nbd2 b6 7. Bd3 Bb7 8. O-O Bxg3 9. hxg3 Nbd7 10. Re1 c5 11. c3 Qc7 12. Qc2 h6 13. Rad1 Rac8 14. Qb1 Rfd8 15. Bc2 b5 16. Rc1 Qb6 17. e4 dxe4 18. Nxe4 Nxe4 19. Bxe4 Bxe4 20. Qxe4 Nf6 21. Qe2 cxd4 22. cxd4 Qb7 23. Rc5 Rxc5 24. dxc5 Rc8 25. b4 Nd5 26. Qb2 a5 27. a3 axb4 28. axb4 Ra8 29. Nd4 Ra4 30. Nc2 Qa8 31. Ra1 Rxa1+ 32. Nxa1 Nxb4 33. Qxb4 Qxa1+ 34. Kh2 Qa6 35. Qd4 g6 36. Qd8+ Kg7 37. Qb6 Qa1 38. Qd6 b4 39. c6 Qc3 40. c7 b3 41. Qd8 b2 42. c8=Q Qxc8 43. Qxc8 b1=Q 44. Qc3+ Kh7 45. Qf6 Qf5 46. Qb2 g5 47. Kg1 h5 48. Qe2 Kg6 49. Qc4 Qe5 50. Qc2+ Kg7 51. Qd1 Kh6 52. Qd2 Qd5 53. Qb2 e5 54. Qb6+ Kg7 55. Qe3 Kg6 56. Qb6+ Qe6 57. Qd8 f6 58. Kh2 e4 59. Kg1 f5 60. Qd2 Qf6 61. Qd5 h4 62. gxh4 gxh4 63. Qg8+ Kh6 64. Qd5 Kg5 65. Qg8+ Kh6 66. Qd5 Kh7 67. Qd7+ Kh6 68. Qd5 ½-½
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(This story first appeared in The Star’s Section 2 on 8 Apr 2011)