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Date: 28 May 2007 19:22:40
From: samsloan
Subject: E. Forry Laucks
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E. Forry Laucks was one of the great patrons of the game of chess from the 1930s until his death on July 31, 1965 during the US Open Chess Championship in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico. In 1934, Laucks established the Log Cabin Chess Club in his home at 30 Collamore Terrace, West Orange, New Jersey. All the top players played there for the substantial cash prizes he offered at the major tournaments held there. Fischer, Lombardy, the Byrne Brothers, Benko, Evans, Bisguier and all the other big names in chess played there. Sometimes Laucks would decide to take a trip. He would call up a bunch of chess masters, say "Let's go to Europe" and soon thereafter they would all be assembled at the airport and on the flight. Laucks took Bobby Fischer and a bunch of other chess masters on a junket to Cuba. He also drove them around the country. Apparently, Laucks was a relative, perhaps the son, of S. Forry Laucks, who was said to be the richest man in York, Pennsylvania and was the owner of the Lauxmont Farms. S. Forry died in 1942 and was said to have been even more crazy than E. Forry Laucks. E. Forry Laucks was not a strong chess player. I played him in the 1959 US Open Championship in Omaha when I was 14 years old and I beat him easily. He was a 1500 player. Laucks drove me and a car full of other chess players to take a tour of both Boys Town, which is near Omaha, and the Omaha livestock yards. Among the others in the car were Gilbert Raich, a tournament checker player. I remember Laucks turning around and talking to us while driving. Whitaker told me that when Laucks would drive a bunch of chess players across the country, he would not take of the car. He would never change the oil. Then, when the engine finally ground down because of no oil in the motor, Laucks would just go to a local used car dealer, buy another car, and then the merry group would speed on their way again. Laucks died after completing the first six rounds of the US Open Chess Championship in Puerto Rico, while he was leading a group of chess players on a tour of San Juan. He collapsed and was pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. As to why a picture of Laucks is so prominently displayed in Whitaker's, book I can only speculate that Whitaker either had received some money or was hoping to receive some money from Laucks for publishing the book. Sam Sloan
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Date: 29 May 2007 04:26:22
From: Offramp
Subject: Re: E. Forry Laucks
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On May 29, 3:22 am, samsloan <[email protected] > wrote: > E. Forry Laucks was one of the great patrons of the game of chess from > the 1930s until his death on July 31, 1965 during the US Open Chess > Championship in Rio Piedras, Puerto Rico... It sounds like someone with a poolball in his mouth trying to say, "He's Larry Storch."
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Date: 28 May 2007 23:43:27
From:
Subject: The slate of Jones, Goodall, Lux and Sam Sloan
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This is the Leroy Dubeck Dream Team! Vote for them!
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