KING’S KORNER 269 features
DON COTTEN
(A new editor for KK)
I am 70, live near San Bernardino, CA, and am a life member of USCF, The Fred Miller Chess Group, and CCLA. I was born and lived 17 years in Kewanee, Illinois. I learned chess from a small book, while in a reading program between the 5th and 6th grades. After the program, I checked out the three chess books from the adult library several times and read them thoroughly. I didn’t have anyone to play on a regular basis till I was a junior in High School, when a freshman and I started playing on a regular basis. After High School, I joined the Air Force, and started a pattern of reading all the chess books in each library on the Air Bases I was assigned to. After 3 years, I was sent to McClellan Air Force Base in Sacramento, California. Sacramento had an excellent chess club which was run by Ed Edmondson, who later became the first U.S.C.F. Executive Director. My chess play improved tremendously. I found a used book store in Sacramento, which was selling used Chess Review magazines for 10 cents each. The State Library provided a number of chess books, which could be checked out. Since the electronics technicians were on a rotating shift, I read chess during swing [4-12 P.M.] and midnight [12-8 A.M.] shifts, except when equipment broke down and we had to fix it. I also started playing postal chess through Chess Review and scored 6-0, 5 ½-½ and 5-1 in 3 tournaments. After a year of unrated tournaments, Sacramento had a U.S.C.F.-rated tournament and I scored 3-1 to get a 1937 rating.
After my enlistment ended, I came to Riverside, CA to attend college and join the Riverside Chess Club. As vacancies occurred, I became Tournament Director and then President of the club. I also won the Club Championship twice in 14 player round robins. I played 56 games simultaneously at the Montclair Chess Club to help their recruitment of members. I won 55.
A number of odd results followed. At Escondido in a double-round tournament I scored 26-0 finishing third behind two players that I beat twice each. It was a rating improvement tournament in which I started as the highest rated player. In San Diego I played in a tournament playing two games simultaneously in each round. I finished first and second, though I was only the fifth highest rated player. I think my higher rated opponents expected easier results since my attention was often diverted to the other game. Martin Morrison, then U.S.C.F. Executive Director, promptly changed the rules prohibiting simultaneous play in tournaments.
I was Southern California Chess League President and a U.S.C.F. delegate from California. John Barnard and I argued successfully that the U.S.C.F. should allow California to split into two state federation chapters. The result was that one weak Federation centered in Fresno became two strong state federations centered in San Francisco and Los Angeles. I later became president of the Southern California Federation.
After playing postal chess in C.C.L.A. and other organizations I entered a U.S.C.F. Golden Knights Tournament. Another odd thing happened. I won my first game in less than 10 moves after winning two pieces. Both my opponent and I were unrated in U.S.C.F. postal chess, so the rating statistician took the average of our over-the-board ratings 2213 for me and unrated for my opponent to assign a temporary rating of 2613 for me and 1813 for my opponent. We were both overrated. I then proceeded to win my next 31 U.S.C.F. postal games to make sure the rating became permanent. Games against unrated players add to your rating, but don’t count towards the 25 games needed to establish a rating.
In 1992 I retired from the U.S. Postal Service, where I worked as a clerk in Upland, California. Soon after, I sold my house in Ontario, California and moved into the Victor Villa Mobile Home Park in Victorville.
Later I joined N.O.S.T. (Knights of the Square Table), a postal group, that plays chess and many other games. As their NOSTmaster and later their editor retired, I took over those jobs to keep the organization going. With help from several contributors, I edited and published a 24 page magazine on a computer and a copy machine, sorting, stapling and mailing it. When all the contributors except Walt Roessner quit, retired or stopped writing columns and no replacements would volunteer, I merged NOST with the Fred Miller Chess Group which has its own bulletin. I occasionally write COTTEN TALES for their bulletin. When Robert Karch had to retire as editor of KING’S KORNER, I volunteered to take over the job as ASPCC needs a magazine.
Currently, I run a chess club that meets at the Victor Villa Clubhouse on Saturday from 12-4. We often have a tournament from 9-5 on Saturdays.
My biggest upset was against David Strauss in the U.S. Open. My best postal win was against Jerry Hopfer. These games are in Cotten Tales annotated on pages 11-12 in this magazine.
