CyberPress.Sopron

It is a very much usual happening, that every month’s first Saturday becomes an international get - together time for chess title and rating aspirants, from all around the World. Site: Budapest, organizer: Laszlo Nagy, who’s name and reputation in his field spreads systematically among the chess fans. Players from Germany, from the USA, or Israel, or Vietnam, Sweden , England, Argentina, or even from China, yes, from China, are gathering there when the calendar’s date approaching to the „first Saturday" of the month!

Talking about China! Would you believe, that actually in this monthly event 6 players are participating from China, first time so many, from so far away! The Hungarians are having a world champion category player like Peter Leko, or the gentle, talented and World wide renown Polgar sisters, and some others too, nice and worthwhile to brag with or about! But I visited China, played friendly games with experts of Shanghai, up front of so many kibitzes as an audience of a theater, and I can witness, that the other side of our Globe, billions of people follow different names, visions, ideals. If 6 enthusiasts of such a sluggishly cultivated mind - game as chess at Far East rise and set off in China of traveling to the small Hungary, just to participate on a 2 week long event means something very special and deserves particular attention as a social ambassador between different cultures and historical backgrounds.

For the future of chess this is more significant than any isolated, personnel achievement of some real or would be „stars".

The chess project of „First Saturdays" therefore under such tide budget and generally named „financial" circumstances as chess has in Hungary, not only deserves more media and far reaching marketing support, but it has to be the seed of a continuous and permanent showing toward the chess world. Hungarians are tempted to follow a row of small nations in looking rather abroad for sensation in sport or just about everything. Look the small Netherlands! A chess superpower in any aspect of chess, with world aces mobilizing super tourneys, with glorious computer program of „Rebel", with unique WEB publications and from Kasparov till Karpov old and new world champions are happy to visit the small country and to play there. Many greater and richer European or on far Continents existing countries are far behind Netherlands.

„Hungary isn’t a Country of lower rank to anyone else!..." And knowing the stock of the high rated Hungarian and Dutch chess players, Hungary has a great advantage in this field...

Besides the stubbornly and continuously repeated international events, like of Laszlo Nagy „First Saturday", a well supported chess media has to repeat and repeat the tasks, results, concerns etc. of chess. Hungary is lucky. It’s chess media, the „Sakkélet" (which means: „Chess Life") one of the world’s best written, composed, and edited chess magazine. When for instance it’s article series about Bobby appeared, here in the USA many players approached me with the plea, that I shall translate it .

One thing surprises me! Why „Sakkélet" does not launch forces with the „First Saturday" organizers, the editors and contributors of the magazine are real masters of the pen, and I know that a Hungarian chess player would read with pleasure and curiosity about such competitions on the home board, where often 12-14 foreign nation’s players are present!