|
|
CCLA Portraits
|
The following column was originally published in the November-December 1996 issue of The Chess Correspondent, Vol. 69, No. 6. |
Fred R. Payne, PhD.Fred R. Payne was born on January 26, 1931 in the small town of Mayfield, Kentucky. He currently lives in Arlington, Texas. Fred is married and has three sons, all of whom have achieved a certain measure of success in their own rights. John Payne is an MD/PhD, a teacher and research cardiologist living in Texas. Kevin Payne is a PhD and assistant professor of mathematics living in Florida. And Joel Payne has a Bsc and was a First Lt. and tank platoon/company leader in the Gulf War. Today he is a police officer and accident investigator living in Texas. Fred is also proud of the fact that his wife is a master seamstress, which he characterizes "as more than a hobby but less than a business." In 1943, at the age of 12, he taught himself how to play chess from the Encyclopedia Britannica. Fred then needed to find someone to play with so he taught a friend how to play, something Fred feels may have been the start of a life in teaching others. he attended the University of Kentucky from 1948 to 1952 and in 1949 joined the school's Chess Club, eventually gaining enough knowledge and experience to become team Captain and coach; a post he held from 1950 to 1952. Their match record against other university teams was an impressive one, 3 wins and 1 tie with Purdue. In 1951 Fred became the youngest state Chess Champion of Kentucky in state history, a goal he set for himself a year earlier. After graduating from the University of Kentucky with a Bsc. in physics he joined the Air Force, where he served as an Aircraft and electronics officer, a commission he earned through the ROTC program, from 1952 to 1954. From 1954 to 1966 he was a jet fighter pilot and a pilot instructor, and from 1965 to 1966 he was a propulsion engineer. While serving in the Air Force, Fred continued his education by doing graduate and post graduate work in aeronautical engineering starting in 1961 at Penn State, and in 1966 he earned his PhD. For three years Fred was a Research Associate and Assistant Professor in the aeronautical engineering dept. at Penn State, where he taught aeronautical engineering. From 1968 to 1969 he was a design specialist in internal aerodynamics at General Dynamics at Fort Worth, Texas. The, in 1969, he joined the Faculty of the University of Texas at Arlington (UTA) in the Depts. of Aerospace and Mechanical Engineering, where he jointly taught both aeronautical engineering and mathematics, and taught part time in computer science, computer and engineering and engineering mechanics. Fred taught these subjects at UTA until 1992 and is still at UTA, where he is currently an aeronautical graduate advisor, a member of the UTA Senate and a member of a number of committees and will be in charge of a new "multi-media" engineering course this fall. In addition to his teaching responsibilities, Fred found time to found, organize and chair the first two international conferences held in 1985 and 1990 at UTA on "Intergral Methods in Science and Engineering." As one might expect, Fred found very little time for chess after graduation from the University of Kentucky and then embarking on his life long career in teaching. He did, however, resume playing chess again in 1972 in OTB play and entered the world of correspondence chess as well, not actually for the first time since Fred did play some cc in 1948. Some of Fred's OTB achievements included a 3rd place finish in the 1973 Texas State Championship, tying for first in the 1983 Lone Star Open and a 3rd place finish in the 1993 Texas closed Chess Championship, competing against a field of 30 masters and 14 experts. In 1972 he entered the first United States Correspondence Chess Championship (USCCC), winning his preliminary section and advancing to the finals, where he finished in 6th place. Bypassing the 2nd USCCC he entered the 3rd USCCC prelims in 1976, once again advancing to the finals and once again placing a respectable 6th. He also earned his postal master's title in the same year. Fred held down board 3 for the USA in the first North Atlantic Team Tournament (1982-1985), scoring a solid 6.5-3.5, and in 1983 the USCF invited Fred to participate in the USCF "Absolute" Championship, where he finished in the middle of the field in 6th. In 1990 Fred played for the CCLA team in the first USA Team Championship, holding down board 23, where he scored 5-3. Fred is currently playing in two CCLA Grand National sections and a Leadership. In addition to playing, Fred was youth director of the Fort Worth Chess Club and a chess instructor at a local community center from 1972 to 1976. He also edited the Fort Worth Newsletter from 1973 to 1976 and was editor of the Texas State newsletter for a year. Besides chess, Fred counts among his other hobbies photography (not much in recent years), history, aviation, astronomy (a first love since 1935!), mathematics, classical music and some jazz, reading science fiction (something I can empathize with being a big fan myself) and computing in every sense of the word ... with his fingers, abacus, slide rule, pocket calculator and personal computer. In 1989 Fred entered the preliminary round of the Horowitz Memorial Open, where he won his preliminary section with an impressive score of 10.5-1.5, qualifying or the final, an event I directed. The final came to an end in March of 1996. Fred, unfortunately, came in a disappointing 11th in a strong field which included such notable players as ICCM Isay Golyak and ICCM Erik Osbun. Fred submitted the following game from this event for our enjoyment. |
|
White: Fred R. Payne
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 e6 4.Nc3 exd5 5.cxd5 d6 6.Nf3 g6 7.Nd2 Nimzovitch's "Knight Tour." 7...Bg7 8.Nc4 0-0 9.Bg5 h6 ECO gives 9...Qe7!?, RPM. 10.Bf4 Ne8 11.Qd3!? Simply to evade usual lines. It is a perfect psychological move; provokes Black to "punish" White for his temerity. 11...b6 12.Qg3 g5!? 13.Bd2! 13.Bxd6 is just bad. 13...f5 14.h4 f4 14...g4 looks better, keeping the position closed. 15.Qh2 Ba6 16.e3 b5 He must go for the Knight now, otherwise 17.a4. 17.hxg5! bxc4 18.gxh6 fxe3 19.hxg7! exd2+ 20.Kd1 (Diagram) Forced but OK. 20...Nxg7 21.Be2! Black's stripped Kingside was seen for several moves. Was it worth it? That is, his bare Kingside and 5 moves lost (Bc8-a6, b6,b5, bxc4) for a mere Knight? 21...Kf7 22.Bh5+ Ke7! 23.Qh4+ Rf6 24.Qg5! Qf8 25.Ne4 Bc8! 26.Kxd2 Nd7 27.Rae1 Kd8 28.Bg4 Kc7! 29.Nxf6! 29.Bxd7 is too greedy; 29...Rxf2+! really muddies the waters. 29...Nxf6 30.Bxc8 Rxc8 Material equality is nearly re-established. 31.Rh6! (Diagram) Sets two traps: 1) positional if either Knight retreat and 2) tactical if he pseudo-sacs Knight for pawn plus exchange. He must choose one. 31...Nxd5?! 32.Qxd5 Qf4+ 33.Kc2 Qxh6 34.Re7+ Kd8 34...Kb6?? self-mates. 35.Qf7 Double mate threat; Black cannot escape without serious loss. 35...Qh7+ 36.Kc1! Qh6+ 37.f4! Qh1+ 38.Kd2 Qxg2+ 39.Re2 The new mate threat Qe7 forces his Queen to trade for the Rook. 39...Qxe2+ 40.Kxe2 Rc7 41.Qf8+ Ne8 42.f5 Material again nearly equal, but the advanced f-pawn will cost his Knight. 42...Re7+ 43.Kd2 Kd7 44.f6 Nxf6 45.Qxf6 Games over; only a modicum of care is needed. 45...a6 46.Qf3! (Diagram) The Queen's power on the long diagonal is devastating. 46...Kc7 47.Qa8 Re5 48.Qxa6 Rd5+ 49.Kc3 Rd4 50.a4 d5 51.Qa5+ Kc6 52.Qb5+ Kd6 53.Qb6+ Ke5 54.Qxc5 Rd3+ 55.Kc2 1-0 |
Payne - Berry
Payne - Berry
Payne - Berry
|
