CHESS LIFE(Volume 8, Number 19, June 5, 1954) Juniors! Fun, Chess Beckon You Reading of the attractions offered to all junior chess players in the U. S. Junior Championship of Long Beach, California, adult players may well murmur a memory of Bernard Shaw's witticism that youth is such a wonderful time that it is a pity it is wasted on young people. But such reflections are merely the envious jealousy of those who wish they were young again. Long Beach is itself a paradise of recreation where the Long Beach Recreation Department proudly proclaims its slogan as being "Free Play for a Free People" and proves its belief in its own slogan with one of the most complete and diversified recreational programs in the USA. Among the list of recreations it promotes are baseball, basketball, softball, tennis, badminton, swimming, sailing, dance, music, drama, chess, checkers, lawn bowling, shuffleboard, etc. in the 645 acres of land devoted to recreation, including 6 2/3 miles of ocean beach. Most of these recreational facilities will be available to the junior players during their non-chess moments at the Junior Championship, and Lincoln Park, in the heart of the recreational area, where the tournament will be held is within walking distance of the ocean and the bath houses scattered along the beach. On the morning of June 30th, which has been declared Junior Chess Player's Day by the Long Beach Chamber of Commerce, the junior players will be guests of the Chamber of Commerce for breakfast, and on July 4th the Chamber of Commerce will be hosts again to the junior players in a boat trip around the Long Beach Harbor. Other breakfasts, lunches and dinners will be provided by various other Long Beach organizations during the tournament so that each junior player entered in the event will be provided with free room and board during the entire extent of the Junior Championship Tournament. Other plans for the junior players include a picnic, probably in Bixby Park which abuts the ocean. This adult, and many others, is murmuring: "Oh, to be a junior again! Just from June 29th to July 9th!" But we hope all these facilities for recreation are not too distracting and that the juniors attending the U.S. Junior Championship will still find time to play a little chess! So, get your entry in at once, juniors! Don't let this magnificent opportunity to combine fun, vacation, and chess go begging! |