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CCLA Portraits
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The following column was originally published in the July-August 2001 issue of The Chess Correspondent, Vol. 74, No. 4. |
IM Herb Hickman
Herb Hickman needs very little introduction. Over the years he has served in just about every office available with the CCLA, as President, Vice-President, a board Director, Chairman of the nominating committee and currently as Secretary-Treasurer. "I was born in 1931 in Pittsburgh, and grew up in a suburb of Pittsburgh. I Learned chess when my dad taught my older brother. When I was 8 I could beat my 12-year-old brother, so I decided early that this was a great game. "At age 14 I joined Pittsburgh's main chess club. I also played for my high school, which won the Pennsylvania scholastic championship my senior year. From 1949 - 1953 I attended Havorford College, majoring in math, and was active in Philadelphia chess competition. This was about when the rating system was adopted by the USCF, and I started off in the 1900's. "During both high school and college I played a little correspondence chess with Chess Review and CCLA, but with mediocre results. "After college I was in the army, then at Harvard Business School, then an actuarial student with Prudential in Newark, New Jersey. I got married in 1958, and in addition to studying for actuarial exams was able to get an over-the-board masters rating around 1959. In 1960 I returned to correspondence chess with CCLA. I entered the 1960 CCLA Special (similar to today's Grand National) and managed to win it with an 18 - 0 score. After playing in an ICCF Master Class section, I played on the U. S. team in the preliminaries of the 6th ICCF Olympiad (somehow stumbling into the role of team captain when the original team captain was not able to play), and achieved a half norm toward the title of ICCF International Master. "This international background got me placed on a Committee on CCLA Tournaments and Titles in 1969, chaired by Walter Muir, which led to the formation of the US Correspondence Chess Championship in 1972. This involvement with CCLA's leadership got me interested in running for office, and in 1970 I was nominated for vice president and defeated the other candidate. Carl Diesen was president in 1971, but did not run for reelection, and I was elected president in 1972 and 1973. (There were one-year terms for officers in those days.) I was living in Arizona at the time; that was the only state I've lived in where I've been able to win the state over-the-board championship. The main issue during my presidency was CCLA's status as the official ICCF affiliate in the United States; this topic is well covered in Bryce Avery's recent book Correspondence Chess in America. "I served as a director in 1974 through 1976 and 1978 through 1981, and chairman of the Nominating Committee in 1977. During the 1980's I was fairly inactive in chess, except for being captain of the New Jersey team in the CCLA team championships starting in 1987 and writing a weekly chess column for the Newark newspaper, co-authored with Steve Doyle former president of USCF. I was appointed chairman of the Nominating Committee again in 1986, and held that position until 1990. In late 1990 Dick Vandenburg resigned as president. I was elected by the Board to complete Dick's term, and continued as president through 1999. Since then I have been serving as Secretary/Treasurer. "I retired from my actuarial career at Prudential at the end of 1991, which gave me more time for chess. Roy DeVault and I co-authored Play the Dutch Against 1 c4 and 1 Nf3, and I've been writing a series of articles entitled Opening Updates. I also managed to get my second "half norm" and become an ICCF International Master in 1994, and to tie for first in the 7th CCLA Championship. "However, there are always limits to the time available, and I have never felt that I had the time to learn many chess openings well enough for strong competition. For a long time I've opened with 1 c4, usually quickly followed by g3, and defended against 1 d4, 1 c4 and 2 Nf3 with 1...f5. Against 1 e4 I've tried 1...e6, 1...c6, 1...c5, 1...d5, 1...g6 and 1...Nf6. Over the board I tend to play 1 e4 d5 2 exd5 Qxd5 as the variations are fairly limited, while in correspondence play where I can consult books I tend to vary more. Still, there's a big difference between knowing or reading opening lines and really understanding the opening. For example, my attempts with 1...Nf6 have been disastrous because I don't have a good feel for that opening. "Some readers of my Opening Updates articles have indicated that they would like to see more variety in openings analyzed, and would especially like to see something on the Sicilian. I'd be happy to oblige if I knew anything about the Sicilian, but I don't (the only lines I've ever played were 1 e4 c5 2 Nf3 Nf6 and 2 d5 cxd4 3 c3 Nf6), and whatever I could come up with would be worthless. If anyone else can write a good article on the Sicilian I'll be happy to give his or her article priority over mine! "Another issue concerning Opening Updates is whether I should rely less on games that have been played and more on computer analysis. I've been thinking this over, and may try to do more computer analysis. I will not do this analysis on lines where I'm playing a CCLA game, as that would be in violation of CCLA rules. (Using a database of games is permitted just like using books, but as I understand the rules chessplaying software like Fritz is not allowed. "In the last few years I've had to cut back on correspondence chess games and to drop over-the-board chess, as my wife is in poor health. My other main hobby is teaching an adult bible study group (including church history), which I've been doing for almost ten years. My wife and I enjoy visits from our two daughters, their husbands and two grandsons. Neither grandson shows much interest in chess. The older one, age 11, is a little league baseball pitcher. I enjoy practicing with him, though I realize that my catching skills are meager enough that I won't be of much more assistance. "I've greatly enjoyed my forty plus years with CCLA, and am looking forward to more to come." The following is one of Herb's games. This game was originally published in the January-February 1998 issue of Atlantic Chess News, in the column by Peter Tamburro, For Mails Only . |
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White: Herb Hickman Black: Hugh Hart CCLA NA Championship-Master Class 1997 Reti Opening [A12] [Notes by Peter Tamburro (PT) and Herb Hickman (HH), unless indicated by ( RPM)] 1.c4 c6 2.Nf3 Also possible is 2.e4 which Lajos Steiner made popular in the 30s. It can transpose into the Pano-Botvinnik attack of the Caro-Kann after 2.e4 d5 3.exd5 cxd5 4.d4 (PT) 2...d5 3.b3 dxc4? Anti-thematic. Why play c6 and d5 just to capture away from the center? Not to mention giving White the possibility of seizing the b-file with an eventual Rb1. Apparently he liked the open lines that 4...e5 offered; however, after 5.Nc3 he has no aggressive squares to place the Black pieces. For novices, 5.Nxe4 is not good because of 5...Qd4. (PT) I agree with Peter, 3...dxc4 is simply a bad move based on bad plan. Better were: 3...Nf6 and 3...Bg4!? A recent practical example of a game where 3...Bg4 was played is: Sampieri - Mrugala, ICCF Email EM/M/GT/A005, 1997 which continued: 4.Ne5 Bh5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.g4 f6 7.gxh5 fxe5 8.Bb2 Nc6 9.e3 e6 10.Bb5 Qf6 11.Rg1 Nh6 12.Na3 Bd6 13.Qe2 0-0 14.Bxc6 bxc6 15.Rf1 Qh4 16.Rc1 Rac8 17.h3 Qxh3 18.Qa6 Ng4 19.h6 Qh4 20.hxg7 Kxg7 21.Qe2 Rxf2! 0-1.(RPM) 4.bxc4 e5 5.Nc3 Of course not 5.Nxe5?? Qd4. (RPM) 5...Nd7 6.d4! We like this move. Because White has all sorts of good squares to go to and Black is already cramped by the Queen Knight and c-pawn, and energetic thrust in the center is the perfect way to take advantage of the situation. 6.d4 exd4 7.Qxd4 is playable, but after 7...Qf6 8.Qd2 Bb4 9.Bb2, White is not as well off as in the game. There's no hurry as White leads in development anyhow. (PT) 6...exd4 7.Nxd4 Ngf6 8.e3 Bb4 9.Bd2 Avoiding 9.Bb2 Ne4. (PT) 9... 0-0 10.Be2 Qc7 11.0-0 Bd6 Losing a tempo. Black's opening strategy has failed. Just as 4...e5 was more apparently good than really good, so too is the kingside demonstration attempted in the next few moves. White is better developed and has control of the key central squares. How can Black succeed?] 12.g3 Ne5 13.f4 Neg4 14.Bf3 Rd8 15.Qe2 Bc5 16.Rfe1 (D)
 Talk about defining moments. Black's 15...Bc5 to be followed by 16...Bxd4 makes a total of four useless moves by Black. Hickman just keeps putting his pieces and pawns on their best squares in a highly efficient and simple manner. And because Black is still not developed of the back rank, he can't even take the d-pawn. (PT) 16... Bxd4 If 16...Nxe3? 17.Bxe3 Bxd4 18.Bxd4 Rxd4? Qe8+ (HH). 17.exd4 Qb6 18.Rad1 Be6 If 18...Qxd4? 19.Be3 (HH) 19.c5!! A great move. And what is great about it is that White, although, apparently ceding d5 to Black, is the one to use it as the jumping off point. Of course Black helps by ...Qb4, attacking d4, but overlooking Nd5. At this point, Black did not have any good moves. Even the reasonable looking 19...Qc7 gets punished by 20.h3 Nh6 21.g4 Ne8 (21...Nd5 22.Ne4) 22.f5. (PT) 19...Qb4 20.Nd5 Qa4 If 20...Qxd4+ 21.Be3 Qa4 22.Nc7 Nxe3 23.Qxe3 Rae8 24.Nxe6 (HH). 21.Ne7+ Kh8 If 21...Kf8 22.d5 cxd5 23.f5 (HH) because of if 23...Bd7 24.Bf4 followed by Bd6, and of course the threat of Bxg4 is there as well (PT) 22.d5 White could still go wrong with 22.f5? Bc4. You have to pay attention--continually. (PT) 22...cxd5 If 22...Qd4+ 23.Kf1 threatening 24.Ba5 (HH). 23.f5 Re8 If 23...Bd7? 24.h3 Nh6 25.Bxh6 gxh6 26.Qe5 (HH) 24.h3 Bxf5 Alternatives: 24...Nh6? 25.Bxh6 gxh6 26.Qe5 Kg7 27.Bd4 or 25...Rxe7 26.fxe6 gxh6 27.Qb2 Kg7 Rd4. (HH) 25.hxg4 Be6 26.Bc3 Of course: destroy the castled position. The Knight is expendable. 26... Rxe7 27.Bxf6 gxf6 28.Qb2 Kg7 (D)
 This is too passive. Black's only hope is to muddy the waters with 28...d4 29.Rxd4 Qa5. While White can keep the initiative (e.g. 30.Kg2 Qxe1 31.Re4 Qxe4 32.Qxf6+ Kg8 33.Bxe4), there's not clear winning line. (HH) 29.g5 Rc7 30.Qxf6+ Kg8 31.g6! hxg6 32.Rd4 Qa5 33.Re2 Bg4 If 33...Qxc5 34.Rh2 Qc1+ 35.Rd1 (HH). 34.Bxg4 Qxc5 35.Rh2 1-0. |