AND THERE WEREN'T TEN ROOMS--IT'S MAGIC!!

It seems like we're on a roll. Let's keep it going. Dale Suilmann from Minnesota has joined us as has Julian Wan (the man whose quote is on the front cover of the brochure I send out).

Ten people have either registered for the Chess Clinic (#6) this fall or have already reserved a room at the Clarion Hotel (563-391-1230, $74/nite). This is great news of course.

Soon I will be putting out another brochure with variegated info in it such as Conviviality and Rating madness. When I used to go to magic conferences (performing hang outs) in such cities as Wichita KS I met with and palled around with some pretty fantastic entertainers. I even played chess with the legendary Dai Vernon (he's all over YouTube, in books, and is now dead at 101 or something like that). Everyone was treated pretty much as regular guys. (BTW, Vernon was a tough competitor in chess even at 75 or so and I had to work for the win.) You were in the sanctum sanctorum as long as you paid the registration fee which I think was about $75 ALL those years ago (early-80s) and they had 150 people show up in that Hilton Hotel. (I even ran into Alex Haley and wife in the elevator.)

I was not a magic performer even though I ran a magic shop. Magicians loved showing you their stuff and fooling the pants off of everybody else. I even talked with the famous mentalism performer Kuda Bux who did such things as drive around town blindfolded. I asked him if he had a son name "Sousand!" (joke).

The point was three things:

1. Being around people just like yourself.

2. Having a great time.

3. And learning something.

It was a winner on all 3 counts and there weren't even any come ons, coupons, discounts, etc., just 150 people who loved every minute of this. "Room lectures/shows" were going on all day long, some repeated. The really well-known magicians had no problem showing up (try getting a grandmaster to show up anywhere these days in the USA with out it being a money tournament). The funny thing, there were "non-paid performers" if you want to refer to them as such, who were every bit as good as the MAIN performers it's just that they had separate lives (jobs). And to pull off some of these feats of legerdermain these men spent a lot of time practicing their craft while chess players today lament how little time they have. It really IS about your passion isn't it?

Rather than let the "little woman" discourage you from coming (are men such wimps when it comes to chess?), have her encourage you to come... she will reap the benefits later! Or bring her... there are plenty of places to shop (now all of a sudden chess seems like the least expensive form of entertainment doesn't it?).

The dates are: Oct. 22-23 and more can be found in the brochures or I can quickly email you the latest one. Bonuses are now being offered for early registration.

bob@thinkerspressinc.com