Eric Marchand has died
origi...@webtv.net
champion, Eric Marchand. Winner of numerous other tournaments, he has
probably played more rated tournament games than anyone else in the
country.
Sam Sloan
Eric Marchand was a Life Voting Member of the USCF.
I wonder how long it will take the USCF to figure out that he has
died.
Will the residual value of his Life Voting Membership now be
transferred to operations?
Sam Sloan
Mike Nolan
>Eric Marchand was a Life Voting Member of the USCF.
>I wonder how long it will take the USCF to figure out that he has
>died.
Someone from his family or involved in settling his estate has to send an
official notice to the USCF office. Otherwise it would be easy for someone
to send in fake notices, or mistaken notices for the wrong person.
The process is probably a bit cumbersome, but necessarily so. Hopefully
the folks doing the actuarial study have statistics on how many life members
have been removed from the membership rolls each year and compare that to
actuarial calculations to estimate the extent to which deaths are
under-reported.
>Will the residual value of his Life Voting Membership now be
>transferred to operations?
It doesn't work that way, Sam. The actuarial calculation ASSUMES that
some life members will die each year, and factors that in when determining
the assets needed to support those still living.
And as I understand it, there is a monthly transfer from the LMA for
each life member on the roster, so as soon as someone's death is reported
membership benefits and the payment to operations to support them both
cease.
--
Mike Nolan
stan
Mike Nolan <no...@gw.tssi.com> wrote in message
news:7r8rsi$433$1...@gw.tssi.com...
> samh...@mindspring.com (Sam Sloan) writes:
>
> >Will the residual value of his Life Voting Membership now be
> >transferred to operations?
>
> It doesn't work that way, Sam. The actuarial calculation ASSUMES that
> some life members will die each year, and factors that in when determining
> the assets needed to support those still living.
>
Yes and each year the liability should be recalculated and the amount
carried on the balance sheet adjusted accordingly. At that point we can
look at the LMA and determine if it is underfunded or overfunded. If it is
overfunded we can use the money or leave it as we so desire. The flip side,
if it is underfunded, is to fund it or not as we so desire.
> And as I understand it, there is a monthly transfer from the LMA for
> each life member on the roster, so as soon as someone's death is reported
> membership benefits and the payment to operations to support them both
> cease.
Or we could take all the money set aside for his membership then and there.
Traditionally, these adjustments are made at year end.
StanB
Anthony Mantia
Toledo Ohio. We were paired in the second round, he had unexpectedly lost in
the first round to Expert Louis Ihasz, and I was honored to be paired
against him. The game followed the famous Fischer -Tal Sicilian but Eric
didn't neglect to play a6 like Tal had done. He quietly out played me and
after the game he showed me the correct path and said you would draw this
easily. I am sure he was being kind. Several rounds later I defeated Ihasz
and Eric came up to me and said "Thank You for avenging my loss". Just a
nice man. Chess is just a little poorer now.
Bruce Leverett
was an important figure in amateur chess in this area for many years.
I remember especially a tournament in Buffalo in 1973, where he was the
favorite against a field of young players including Jon Tisdall (who
later became an IM and is well-known as an author and journalist on
the international chess scene), Barry Davis, Steven Schonhaut, and
Chuck Baden. It was impressive to see him hold off this obviously very
talented group. I also finished well, drawing my game against
Marchand, playing a good game against Tisdall, and tying for first.
During the 1960's and 1970's, Marchand wasn't always (or even usually)
the strongest player in Western New York, but he was a strong and
frequent competitor, and this made him the "man to beat" for many
young players.
I also played in the 1978 Rochester Open, where Marchand won a
baffling game from a difficult, probably losing position against Walter
Wolf, a visitor from Germany rated about 2400. I annotated that game
(and one other Marchand game, which I have forgotten) for an issue of
the New York State Chess Association newsletter.
I think that in "real life" Marchand was a professor of chemistry at
Rochester. He had gone to college at Harvard, some time in the 1930's.
Chesspride
I remember him as one of the toughest opponents in Western NY...especially for
folks working their way up the rating ranks to expert.
I played Marchand twice...first a terrible loss...and then this game, in the
tournament that capped my high school career:
Johnson-Marchand: Jamestown, NY 1983: Sicilian: 1. e4 c5 2. Nc3 e6 3. Nf3 Nc6
4. d4 cxd4 5. Nxd4 Qc7 6. g3 a6 7. Bg2 Nf6 8. 0-0 Nxd4 9. Qxd4 Bc5 10. Qd3
(later I learned that Bf4 was more accurate) 0-0 11. Bf4 d6 12. Rad1 e5 13. Bg5
Bg4 14. Rd2 Be6 15. Bxf6 gxf6 16. Qf3 Kg7 17. Nd5 Qd8 18. Qh5 Rg8 19. Bh3 Kh8
20. Bf5 Rg7 21. Qh6 Bxd5 22. Rxd5 Qb6 23. Qxf6 Qxb2 24. h4 Kh8 25. Kg2 Qb6 26.
Rfd1 h5 27. R1d2 Bb4 28. Rxd6 Bxd6 29. Rxd6 Qc7 30. Rd7 1/2-1/2
As I offered the draw...Marchand looked at me and said "Yes...you're killing
me." He suggested 28. c3!
This game (and the rest of the tourney) marked a turning point in my chess
career. I was proud of this game...for the first time, I was discovering
positional plans (even simple ones like Qf3-h5, Bh3-f5) and drawing
experts/masters on a consistent basis.
At the time, making a draw against Marchand felt like doing the same against
Alekhine himself (no, I do not look like Klaus Junge...).
The nice thing about chess...is that the games are like postcards...they are
remembrances of places and people.
Everyone who knew him...however briefly...will miss Eric Marchand.
Eric C. Johnson
Mr Peabody
Upstate New York in the 70's and 80's to my recollection. I believe a chess
tournament organizer started a tournament call the Erich Marchand Memorial Open
while Dr Marchand was still alive. In Erich's self-effacing nature, I think he
suggested the tournament should have been organized at a later date. But he was a
big name New York State chess.
I'm curious, do they still have this Erich Marchand Memorial chess tournament in
Upstate New York? If not, it was a good idea back then and a better idea now.
Funny, I remember the way Erich Marchand would sit at the chess table during his
games with his hands together and his thumbs moving around a bit while he found a
resourceful move in his games. He won a lot of games. And was a very nice man.
peabody
Mr Peabody
Mr Peabody wrote:
An apology to a kind man and his honorable memory,
One cannot post a retraction of unintended meaning on news groups. But when I first saw
the announcement of Erich Marchand's passing, I felt sadness. And I posted a reflected
memory of a boy that had lost several games of chess to Erich Marchand. When I spoke of
Erich's funny habit of moving his thumbs, it was from the perspective of a boy that had
played the man several times and always lost until our last game. I was so proud to
have beaten Erich Marchand in chess. He was gracious in defeat and we both agreed that
I was lucky to have escape defeat. You see, as a great chess player once said, all
chess players are thieves. But it is a custom to stand up and shake hands in victory
and in defeat. The man shook my hand and I beamed.
Since those days, I have lived far away from NY State chess. But I remember years
ago, there was a tournament held in honor of the esteemed chess player and man. As I
said in the original post, it was said of Dr. Erich Marchand that he had reservations
or mixed feelings about playing in a tournament called the Erich Marchand Memorial. But
he was a worthy man in life and death to have such a tournament put on in his honor.
When I first posted this boy's memory, my memory, I hit that send button too fast.
When I saw the wording of the posting appear on the news groups, I felt a bit sick. It
did not serve the memory of the Dr Marchand very well. Two things came to mind, how
long before this post would expire and was there some way to erase the post. I told a
friend of the posting and we both shook our heads sadly. You see, words can be so
injurous. Even losing in chess is less brutal than the expression of poor words. I have
no cruelty in my mind for Dr Erich Marchand. As I have said, he was a good man and now
I will say he is a better man than I.
For me, this game of chess seems so tragic. The contest is too brutal. Two people
challenge wits and the better player wins, there is no room for anything but honor. But
we live to another day. If we have enough courage to face our chess foes, we may sit
down at the table of Kings and Queens and pit brains and nerves and even physical
strength against one another. Dr Erich Marchand played more games of tournament chess
than anyone I know, he won more than just a lot of games, he won tournaments and the
honor of his rivals. I can only aspire to be as good a man as Dr Erich Marchand. It is
said we can never surpass our own fathers, but we must work hard to approach their
honorable positions.
I do thank truth that I am not a man that writes the epitaphs of men. I do my best to
correct the foolish words I first wrote. They were written from anonymity and too
lazily to contribute to the memory of such a man as Dr Erich Marchand. I do feel tears
and a measure of thanks to someone. But I will stand betwixt truth and hypocrisy, I am
human.
Don Chandler
