Does anyone remember a gentleman named Robertson Sillars who wrote a column for Chess Life & Review back in the 70’s?
He wrote a column called “Readers’ Showcase”. An editor’s note in Chess Life & Review said “If you have an interesting, exciting game you can write about, or any other kind of chess experience, send it to: Readers’ Showcase, U.S. Chess Federation, 479 Broadway, Newburgh, NY 12550”.
Yes, indeed! I played Robertson Sillars in my very first tournament in 1968. He won. I played him a few times after that, too, with mixed results.
He was intelligent and sensible, and a perfect gentleman. If I recall correctly, I got one of my games published in his Chess Life column. My opponent (from Michigan) and I reached the following position after the exchange variation of the French Defense. There was a lot of move copying (I was black), including BxQd8 and …BxQd1 on successive half-moves. Needless to say, this game was starting to attract an audience at this point.
If there had been any justice, the game would have continued 12.Nxc7 Kxd8 13.Nxa8 Nxc2 14.Kxd1 Nxa1 15.Nxf7 Ke8 16.Nxh8 Nxf2 17.Ke1 Nxh1, but instead my opponent decided to win a pawn, although the game was eventually drawn.
Robertson Sillars had a daughter Kate and two sons David and Tony, all of whom were tournament chess players. I never met Kate, but around 1960 her picture was on the cover of the old Chess Review magazine after some kind of accomplishment as one of the few female chess players. I met David and Tony at several tournaments in the 1970s or thereabouts.
Ah, yes, those were the days.
Bill Smythe
Thanks for the replies! “Reader’s Showcase” - yes, that was it Bob. I couldn’t remember the name of his column.
Good information Bill. I played him in 1977 when I was a senior in high school at the National Open in Mobile, Alabama. I remember an elegant woman sat by our board and watched the game. I assume this was his wife.
I expected to see his name among those chess friends that have passed on especially since he wrote for the magazine. I was disappointed to see he was not listed.
I remember that article. Didn’t know it was your game! He was a gifted writer.
Robertson and his son Tony played at the Evanston Chess Club. I once got to play Robertson in a North Shore Chess League match, and faced Tony at least twice - once in the Illinois High School Championship and again in a regional college championship.
The president of the Evanston Chess Club was Cliff King.
Here is a game I played against Robertson - at the time I’m guessing I was around 1500-1600, and we met on board 8 for out teams.
[Event “Waukegan at Evanston”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1974.12.13”]
[Round “?.8”]
[White “Bachler, Kevin”]
[Black “Sillars, Robertson”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “A14”]
[PlyCount “151”]
- Nf3 Nf6 2. g3 e6 3. Bg2 d5 4. O-O b6 5. c4 Bb7 6. b3 Be7 7. Bb2 O-O 8. Na3 Nbd7 9. Rc1 c5 10. Qc2 a6 11. Ne5 Nxe5 12. Bxe5 Qd7 13. cxd5 Bxd5 14. e4 Bb7 15. Nc4 Qd8 16. Rfe1 Rc8 17. Bxf6 gxf6 18. Qb2 b5 19. Ne3 Qd4 20. Qc3 Rfd8 21.
Ng4 Qxc3 22. dxc3 Kg7 23. Red1 f5 24. exf5 Bxg2 25. Kxg2 exf5 26. Ne3 Kg6 27. Nd5 Bf6 28. Nxf6 Kxf6 29. Kf3 h5 30. Re1 Rd2 31. Re2 Rcd8 32. Rc2 R8d3+ 33. Kf4 Rxe2 34. Rxe2 Rxc3 35. Rd2 Kg6 36. Rd6+ f6 37. Rxa6 Rc2 38. Ke3 Rc3+ 39. Kd2 Rf3 40. Ke2 Rc3 41. Rc6 Rc2+ 42. Ke3 Rxa2 43. Rxc5 Ra5 44. b4 Ra3+ 45. Ke2 Ra2+ 46. Kf3 Rb2 47. Rxb5 Rb3+ 48. Kg2 Rb2 49. Rb7 Rb3 50. b5 Rb2 51. b6 Rb3 52. Rb8 Rb2 53. b7 Kg7 54. Kh3 Rb3 55. Kh4 Rb2 56. Kxh5 Rxf2 57. Rg8+ Kh7 58. h3 Rh2 59. Kh4 Kxg8 60. b8=Q+ Kg7 61. Qe8 Rh1 62. Qe7+ Kg6 63. Qf8 Rf1 64. Qg8+ Kh6 65. Qf7 Rf4+ 66. g4 fxg4 67. hxg4 Rf5 68. Qf8+ Kh7 69. Qe7+ Kh6 70. Qe3+ Rg5 71. Qe7 Rf5 72. Qe6 Rf1 73. g5+ Kh7 74. Qf7+ Kh8 75. g6 Rh1+ 76. Kg3 1-0
And a game against Tony:
[Event “Illinois High School Championship”]
[Site “?”]
[Date “1975.04.06”]
[Round “4”]
[White “Bachler, Kevin”]
[Black “Sillars, Tony”]
[Result “1-0”]
[ECO “D41”]
[WhiteElo “1641”]
[BlackElo “1856”]
[PlyCount “113”]
[EventCountry “USA”]
- Nf3 c5 2. g3 Nc6 3. Bg2 Nf6 4. O-O d5 5. d4 e6 6. c4 Be7 7. Nc3 O-O 8. cxd5 Nxd5 9. Nxd5 exd5 10. dxc5 Bxc5 11. Qc2 Be7 12. Rd1 Be6 13. Be3 Rc8 14. a3 Nb4 15. Qd2 Rc2 16. Qe1 Nc6 17. b4 Bf6 18. Rac1 Bc3 19. Bd2 Bxd2 20. Rxd2 Rxc1 21. Qxc1 Qf6 (At this point we each had about 2 minutes to make the time control at move 40) 22. b5 Na5 23. Rd1 Rc8 24. Qg5 Qb2 25. Nd4 Qxa3 26. Nxe6 fxe6 27. Bxd5 exd5 28. Qxd5+ Kh8 29. Qd8+ Qf8 30. Qxa5 Qe7 31. Qd2 h6 32. Qd7 Rc7 33. Qd8+ Qxd8 34. Rxd8+ Kh7 35. Rd2 Rc5 36. Rb2 a5 37. bxa6 bxa6 38. Ra2 a5 39. f4 Kg6 40. Kf2 Kf6 41. e4 h5 42. Ke3 g5 43. Kd4 Rb5 44. Ra4 gxf4 45. gxf4 h4 46. Kc3 Ke6 47. h3 Kd6 48. Kc4 Rc5+ 49. Kd4 Rb5 50. e5+ Ke6 51. Ke4 Rc5 52. f5+ Ke7 53. Kd4 Rb5 54. Rc4 Kd7 55. f6 Ke6 56. Rc6+ Kf7 57. Rc7+ 1-0
Larry Evans took over the column later - I believe Robertson had passed at that point.