Power and Control

I played a lot of chess at the DCC in '86-'87, improving all the time. My chess rating peaked in '87 at over 2000 (expert class). Not long after that the DCC 'lost its lease' in the basement of the Capitol Hill Community Center and temporarily 'disappeared.' I am sure 'the fish' (BOOM) was responsible for that because he dominated the 'politics' and also the treasury of the club. Almost certainly one of the reasons for this temporary disbandment was my success - and by contrast - his failure. He would continue to exercise similar power at the DCC through much of the '90s.

For example, on two different occasions, when I decided (after weeks or months of inactivity) to return to play a little chess at the club I would arrive there only to find that the club had suddenly moved (that same night!) to a new location. And 'the fish' suddenly developed a sense of class during the McVeigh trial and had the club moved to a downtown location with a view. He had previously preferred basements and the back rooms of VFW 'bars.' (Some of the players would gather in the bar for a few beers after the tournament games but I was not one of them. I preferred to go home and analyze the game at my leisure with my own beer.)

When the 'excitement' of the trial was over he moved the club to an obscure location a few miles away, 'suddenly.' In fact, the classy downtown location turned out to be a case of, 'suddenly in,' and 'suddenly out.' The fish had power and control of the club; unfortunately he had no power and control at the club in the sense of being able to dominate other players over the board.