Gareev – The Maverick: Play Hard, Party Heartily
By Marck Cobb
Grandmaster Timur Gareev began his 1000-mile journey at the Gateway to
the West in St. Louis, Missouri, then traveling to Lindsborg, Kansas, and
finishing his travel in Chicago, Illinois. During this fantastic adventure
he accomplished several major feats. First, upon arriving in St. Louis,
Gareev provided an exhibition of blindfolded chess by playing 33 players
from the St. Louis Chess Club, winning 29 games and drawing four.

The 33-board blindfold simul in Saint Louis
took ten hours and 39 minutes.
His final score was 29 wins, four draws and zero losses. ChessBase
reported.
The very next day, Timur began his challenge with 24 of the top US Grandmasters
to compete for the US Chess Championship. To prepare for this major event,
the Uzbek GM maintained a heavy diet of fruits and vegetables to supply
his energy combined with some yoga to help supply the physical and mental
endurance needed to compete in nine rounds of chess. The result was a tie
for third place.

During his visit to St. Louis, he enjoyed the beauty of nearby Forest Park
with its water fountains and lakes as well as its zoo and museums. Gareev
found a wonderful connection with nature and adventure. He was probably
the only one of all the grandmasters to fully and truly enjoy the warmth
of the natural grasses and the cold waters of the lake in Forest Park.

In addition to his visits to the park, he also found time to tour the Chess
Hall of Fame located across the street from the St. Louis Chess Club. The
Hall of Fame is noted for its recognition of outstanding chess players,
as well as the world’s largest wood-carved chess piece, which is recorded
in the Guiness Book of World Records.

Timur also found time to conquer the “monstrosity” outdoor
creation at the St. Louis City Museum. This feat involved climbing through
a maze of metal cylinders and platforms to reach the top of the structure
that connects with two airplanes.

The trees are part of the structure that elevates above three floors. To
return to ground level a steep slide is available to assist for a quick
descent down one level. This is definitely a must stop for the adventurous
traveler. The experience will give you a source of true inspiration that
will never let you forget your visit to St. Louis.

Rather than end his visit to the West in St. Louis, Gareev drove further
west to the center of the United States – known as the “Land
of Oz” in Kansas, to play yet, in another blindfolded chess exhibition
with 40 games involving 40 students from central Kansas who receive classes
from the World Champion Anatoly Karpov International School of Chess (the
Karpov Chess School in Lindsborg).

Food for thought – the diet of a US Championship
and blindfold simul player
Gareev provided the participating students with his healthy foods of apples,
clementines, oranges, and bananas with plenty of water. The students enjoyed
eating the best foods with one of the best chess players!

One of the 40 games was represented via Skype interaction with students
from Demidov University in Yaroslavl, Russia. This added a unique international
twist for the players in Kansas to meet players sitting in Russia. The 40-
game blindfolded exhibition was allowed to progress for 3.5 hours before
switching to a faster completion of the 40 games by open simultaneous play
by Gareev with the students.
The students gained a tremendous amount of respect for the focus and concentration
needed to play 40 games blindfolded. When the simul was finished, Gareev
had won all 40 games, after 4.5 hours of total playing time. The student
participant who played the longest game was a sixth grader from Manhattan,
Kansas, Jack Easton, who is currently rated about 1600.

Gareev with Gabriel Purdy and Marck Cobb, President
of the Karpov Chess School
After the event, Gareev ventured through Lindsborg, a town of about 3,000
people and enjoyed some local refreshments at the “Ol’Stuga”,
a former popular establishment visited by former President Mikhail Gorbachev
and former chess World Champion Anatoly Karpov during the time they visited
Lindsborg and the Karpov Chess School. Gareev also took time to climb to
the fort at the top of Coronado Heights, which commemorates the place in
Kansas that Coronado reached in 1541. The Kansas winds atop the Coronado
Heights provided an exhilarated feeling of peace and happiness for Gareev
after the intense concentration required to win his 40 games.

For students interested in attending the summer chess camp program at the
Karpov Chess School in Lindsborg (picture above) from July 7th-12th, 20103,
with Grandmaster Varuzhan Akobian as the guest instructor, visit the school
website here.

Chess on the streets of Chicago
Finally, Gareev arrived in Chicago to attend another meeting of national
chess enthusiasts to discuss national programs to further chess education
in the US. After his 1000-mile journey to the West and to the Heartland
USA, Gareev returned to his home in San Diego. He is now able to reflect
on his experiences to provide one more step toward reaching his goal of
playing 64 games of blindfolded chess by the end of 2013.

Gareev (above with kids and the instructor at the Naperville Chess Club)
can be described as one of the most energetic mavericks in the chess world.
He has the passion and persistence to remain a stellar grandmaster for many
years. He is truly representative of the new generation of grandmaster chess
players.

The latest: Timur Gareev is currently three
jumps away from his "skydive A" license. On Monday he spent six
hours learning how to pack a parachute. Today he will will be jumping with
a parachute he packed himself! Energetic maverick is probably a very apt
way of describing this chess grandmaster.
Previous reports