Just heard that Larry Evans passed away at the age of 78 in his home town of Reno, Nevada due to complications from surgery. His contributions to chess, both as a player and as a journalist, will definitely be missed.
I was very privileged to work with Larry on some content for the Chessmaster series, including an excellent endgame test. And since Reno is fairly close to the San Francisco Bay Area (about a 4 hour drive), I got to meet him in his home to discuss his next project. His first question (after being a gracious host) was very interesting, and I believe it was a test for me:
"Do you believe chess is a draw or won for White?"
I thought for a bit, and said that I believed it is a draw. He grunted. I can only hope I passed the test....
JVMerlino wrote:Just heard that Larry Evans passed away at the age of 78 in his home town of Reno, Nevada due to complications from surgery. His contributions to chess, both as a player and as a journalist, will definitely be missed.
I was very privileged to work with Larry on some content for the Chessmaster series, including an excellent endgame test. And since Reno is fairly close to the San Francisco Bay Area (about a 4 hour drive), I got to meet him in his home to discuss his next project. His first question (after being a gracious host) was very interesting, and I believe it was a test for me:
"Do you believe chess is a draw or won for White?"
I thought for a bit, and said that I believed it is a draw. He grunted. I can only hope I passed the test....
jm
This is sad news. The chess community lost a good man.
Very Sad
as a USCF member for nearly 40 years i always turned to Larry's Column in the USCF mag first each month..then i read the rest of the mag
in a very poor move.. the USCF eliminated his column about a year or so ago,which greatly reduced the interest in the mag (at least for me)
he could not have been pleased about that
hopefully the USCF will run a tribute to his life and career in an upcoming issue
JVMerlino wrote:Just heard that Larry Evans passed away at the age of 78 in his home town of Reno, Nevada due to complications from surgery. His contributions to chess, both as a player and as a journalist, will definitely be missed.
I was very privileged to work with Larry on some content for the Chessmaster series, including an excellent endgame test. And since Reno is fairly close to the San Francisco Bay Area (about a 4 hour drive), I got to meet him in his home to discuss his next project. His first question (after being a gracious host) was very interesting, and I believe it was a test for me:
"Do you believe chess is a draw or won for White?"
I thought for a bit, and said that I believed it is a draw. He grunted. I can only hope I passed the test....
jm
One of his books, "Modern Chess Brilliancies" is in my current book rotation
Wasn't he also a friend of Bobby Fischer?
He will always be a part of chess history
“He knew all the tricks, dramatic irony, metaphor, pathos, puns, parody, litotes and... satire. He was vicious”
Ah yes... Larry Evans.... I remeber him from my Center Counter days from a book he wrote. A Chess Icon now passes into the realms of discussions by new players as to who played what role when. If I recall he fielded many questions for chess life about Fischer.
The man was a top flight player in his day, a known and respected theoretician, and one of the great chess writers and authors of all time. His content was always fresh and interesting. He was also a gentleman who didn't blow his own horn nonstop like many do today.
