Grandmasters Display Skills in 'Chessathon'

The sight of a large crowd huddled around a good chess match outside the 'Au Bon Pain restaurant in Harvard Square is a common one, but last Friday the crowd was larger than usual as four grandmasters participated in the Harvard Chess Club's fundraising "chessathon."

At the event, which was to benefit the Phillips Brooks House Association (PBHA), four of the best American grandmasters--Boris Gulko, maxim Dlugy, Michael Rohde and Patrick Wolff--played about 30 opponents simultaneously outside the restaurant.

Despite the windy weather, city councillors Jonathan Myers and Francis H. Duehay '55 and many schoolchildren were on hand to play against the grandmasters. In addition to local television reporters present, about 300 spectators gathered to watch the matches.

Seth D. Weisberg '90, the chess club's vice-president, called the vent "a tremendous success."

Weisberg, who was a spectator at the matches, was impressed not only by the grandmaster's skills, but also by their attitudes toward the exhibition. "They seemed like they really enjoyed it," he said.

The proceeds, collected from entry fees to the games and contributions made by dozen of local businesses, are estimated at between $1000 and $2000 and will go to an emergency homeless shelter fund operated by the PBHA, the campus' largest community service organization.