Grad Sets Up 3-Day Chess Tournament

Harvard graduate is organizing a three-day event that will bring the top-ranked female chess player in the world to Boston for games with the governor and with American chess masters.

A Boston press conference yesterday previewed what will be known as the Boston International Chess Exhibition.

Daniel H. Edelman '91, a member of the Harvard Chess Club and a spokesperson for the United States Chess Federation, is managing the three-day exhibition, which is set to run August 11 to 13 in the Copley Square area of Boston.

Judit Polgar, a 17-year old from Hungary who is the number-one female chess player worldwide and the youngest person ever to become grandmaster, will play Patrick Wolff, the current U.S. champion, and Gov, William F. Weld'66, among others.

Parts of the event, though will occur around Harvard. Edelman, who manages Polgar and her two sisters, also internationally-ranked chess players, said he does not know if the Polgars will visit Harvard while in Boston.

But he said that ESPN, who will film some of the matches, will be shooting scenes of chess players around Harvard Square. Edelman also said that some of the visiting grandmasters may come to the Square to play against local players for the cameras.

"They loved the idea of blitz chess," said Edelman, referring to the high-speed chess that will be played for some of the matches "Speed chess is good for TV,"

This is not the first time that Edelman has brought famous chess players to the Harvard area. While still an undergraduate in 1989, he said, he orchestrated a visit by Gary Kasparov, The Russian grandmaster and then world champion.

In 1990, he brought Boris Karpov, another world-champion grandmaster, to Harvard to play a match against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, the world's most powerful chess-playing computer.

The three-day exhibition will also include matches with grandmasters open to the public for a tee, as well as a few matches on a giant chess set.

The designer of the giant chess set. Dr. Michael chess to runs program promoting chess to inner-city children, a branch of which is run by Phillips Brooks House.

"We have chess sites at over 100 places in Boston--public libraries, boys' and girls' clubs, teen centers," Charney said

But he said that ESPN, who will film some of the matches, will be shooting scenes of chess players around Harvard Square. Edelman also said that some of the visiting grandmasters may come to the Square to play against local players for the cameras.

"They loved the idea of blitz chess," said Edelman, referring to the high-speed chess that will be played for some of the matches "Speed chess is good for TV,"

This is not the first time that Edelman has brought famous chess players to the Harvard area. While still an undergraduate in 1989, he said, he orchestrated a visit by Gary Kasparov, The Russian grandmaster and then world champion.

In 1990, he brought Boris Karpov, another world-champion grandmaster, to Harvard to play a match against the IBM supercomputer Deep Blue, the world's most powerful chess-playing computer.

The three-day exhibition will also include matches with grandmasters open to the public for a tee, as well as a few matches on a giant chess set.

The designer of the giant chess set. Dr. Michael chess to runs program promoting chess to inner-city children, a branch of which is run by Phillips Brooks House.

"We have chess sites at over 100 places in Boston--public libraries, boys' and girls' clubs, teen centers," Charney said