#8MEMOSTORY - Blind chess
Zvonko Springer (zzspri@COSY.SBG.AC.AT)
Sat, 10 Jan 1998 19:24:48 +0100
In this Memostory I'd like telling something out my student's life
experience in late 1943. I choose the following title #8MEMOSTORY reading:
HOW DID I LEARN PLAYING BLIND CHESS
This was my last school year of 1942/43 in by summer of 1943 we'd sit
for final exams of Great Matura (baccalaureate). With matura's examinations
we'd end our secondary education (K12) and be called into army service. The
war (WWII) was in its third year since it started on April 6, 1941 with
German's bombardment of Belgrade City. Kingdom of Yugoslavia has been
partially occupied with and another state had emerged: Independent State of
Croatia (NDH). The later state in liaison with Nazi Germany had a
government and an army fighting mainly against Tito's partisans (later
Yugoslav Army).
In fall of 1942 the partisans' activities spread into Slavonia. Its
fertile regions were at NDH's areas bordered by rivers Drava at North and
Sava at South. Partisans were attacking smaller townships and traffic lines
mainly the railways. Therefore, the army command in Osijek ordered that all
students of uppermost classes to go on security watches of rails during
daylights. The watchers had to report one hour before their two hours
patrol would start. We'd gather in one of station's waiting rooms where
everybody was trying not to think about that what could happen to us
outside. Explosives or land mines were the real danger for us walking along
rails stepping from one sleeper to the other one. Did you ever walk on
sleepers as they are placed at a rather unpleasant distance for a normal pace?
Several of my colleagues were members of the local chess club where
we've spent many hours. Chess playing was our favorite past time during
those gloomy war days besides other few ones like visiting cinema or
theater. We've learned many game openings, played internal tournaments
often and few inter schools or city ones. I became quite proficient playing
chess and brought my pocket size game box to the station's waiting room.
Playing chess even with these small figures didn't make any difference to
me but this wasn't so when my turn came to go out on the patrol.
Each patrol unit consisted of two students and one could choose its
partner. Of course, my partner was always a chess mate from the club and my
class. The patrols were taken out on open flat wagons pulled by a motor
driven working machine. We drove out from the station to the further most
point where the old patrol was picked up and the new one went walking for
one hour onwards and back to starting point for next hour. So each
patrolmen pair walked two good hours supposedly watching for any
disturbance of gravel under sleepers. Probably it would too late if you
didn't watch for this accurately. Fortunately nothing happened to anybody
of us during all our daylight patrols.
Soon it became obvious to us that we cannot proceed playing chess
keeping in hand that small game box with figures stuck in board's holes.
One had to watch each step from sleeper to sleeper and to search for
possible disturbances of gravel bed. How to balance that small box in one
hand, not loosing any of figures and looking at theirs placement on board -
to play next stride after all? The solution of all our problems was simple:
PLAYING BLIND CHESS. In time with some practice we've managed playing chess
this way but don't ask me how often we'd quarreled about position on board
or who was swindling about it. In most cases our game ended in a polemic
forgotten as soon we've been back on that flat wagon driving back to the
station and warm classroom or home.
End of #8MEMOSTORY