They’ve got game

Walk into a roomful of
tournament chess players and one thing is clear: these guys are serious. | Players
hunch over chess boards while nearby several other players watch games and talk
in whispers. A few players fidget, but it’s hard to tell if it’s because
they’re winning or losing. Their opponents, in a zone of their own, are taking
no notice as they plan their next move. Occasionally, someone will let out a
long-held breath, stand and shake out his arms. Game over. Welcome to another
Saturday night at the RochesterChessCenter. | The center, founded in
1989 by Ron Lohrman, is a mecca
for local chess players. There are about 150 members, but the center has taught
many more through its outreach programs. | “There are several hundred players
at the junior and high school level,” says Lohrman,
“and thousands of kids in grade school.” The center is unique in offering
tournaments, tutors, a chess camp, as well as a well-stocked store (with over
400 chess sets) all under one roof. | Despite the intense competition, there’s
an air of camaraderie at the club. Opponents generally shake hands after a game
while other players gather around to dissect it and offer advice. | “It’s fun,” says AndreyKozitsky, one of three Rochester
players rated master. “You get to compete with other stronger players.” | “Chess
involves practice,” says Lohrman, “and those who
don’t do that don’t progress.” Even people at the top of their game have to
keep playing. “Take two months off,” says Kozitsky,
“and you’ll get rusty.” | “You can never master it,” says Darrell Phelps, who’s
been playing for 20 years. “It’s about getting better, not just winning.” | Rochester
Chess Center, 221 Norris Drive,
800-ON-CHESS, www.chessset.com

— Joseph Sorrentino

Voter
tryouts

It’s
not every day you get to take the basic building blocks of democracy for a test
drive. You can do that this week, though.

The
Florida debacle during
the 2000 presidential election spawned the Help America Vote Act. As a result,
the old lever voting machines many of us are used to have become as welcome as
a hanging chad. Beginning this year, New York voters will
have to learn to use a new kind of machine, though exactly which one remains
uncertain.

If
you want to, you can help make that decision.

The
State Board of Elections gets to decide which machines the state will allow,
but within the list of approved equipment, counties can choose the particular
type they want to use. And Monroe County Elections Commissioners Peter Quinn
and Tom Ferrarese are seeking input from the public.

On
Thursday, January 5, they’re hosting an exhibit
of new voting machines to give citizens a chance to try them out and give
their opinion.

The
fun gets started at noon and lasts
until 6 p.m. at the Dome
Arena, Minett Hall, 2695 East
Henrietta Road. The presentation is free and
open to the public, but groups should call ahead; 428-5884.

Gordon RIP

It really wasn’t a
shopping trip down Monroe
Avenue
without a stop into Mercury Posters to give the shop mascot, Gordon, a ride on your shoulder.

The feisty cockatiel
passed away quietly Wednesday, December 28, in his owner Jim Malley’s hands. Gordon was 15.

The bird was an institution
with visitors. “They would just come in and have a little moment with him,”
says Malley. “He touched so many people.”

Gordon was buried in
a quiet ceremony in front of the shop.

Birth
of the cool

After
a few false starts, a coalition of seven Northeastern states has taken the lead
in curbing greenhouse gas emissions.

With
the federal government downplaying the problem of global climate change and all
but ignoring industry’s role, the governors of seven states decided to take
things into their own hands. The result is the Regional Greenhouse Gas
Initiative, which uses a market-style “cap-and-trade” system to create economic
pressures on industry and government to reduce their own emissions. Sources
that emit more than their fair share of carbon dioxide or other greenhouse
gases must buy credits from others that emit less than their allotment.

Environmental
groups are welcoming the move. But there’s also a political side to the
agreement negotiations. Notably absent from the pact is a major state smack dab
in the middle of the region: Massachusetts. At the last
minute, Governor Mitt Romney backed out of the accord. A few hours later, he
announced he wouldn’t seek reelection, prompting speculation that his
withdrawal from the agreement was meant to bolster his right-wing credentials
for a presidential bid.

Apparently
on this side of the Berkshires, our own presidential wanna-be
didn’t see the liability: New York joined Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine,
Connecticut, New Jersey and Delaware (Rhode Island, which had been a
participant in the talks, also demurred for now). Pennsylvania, Maryland, and the District of
Columbia have been closely watching the
process, but haven’t been a part of it so far. A group of West Coast states and
another of Canadian provinces are also keeping tabs on the agreement, with an
eye toward copying it.

The
plan goes into effect in 2009, “so there’s time for Massachusetts to come along
if the leadership changes,” says Christine Vanderlan
of Environmental Advocates of New York. You can find out more about the pact at
www.rggi.org/agreement.htm.

Ringing in the New Year

There’s nothing like waiting till the ball drops. In a
sparsely attended press conference at 5 p.m.
Friday — the day before New Year’s Eve — then Mayor-elect Bob Duffy announced his last 2005
appointee: Edward J. Ciaschi as human-resources
director.

Ciaschi, a long-time vice
president of human resources for Xerox, was one of four appointees named during
Duffy’s frenzied pre-inaugural week. The others were Molly Clifford as
Neighborhood Empowerment Team director, Jean Howard as chief of staff, and
Timothy Hickey as interim police chief.

Clifford, the former head of the Monroe County Democratic
Committee and chair of Duffy’s mayoral campaign, also worked as a public
affairs manager for Rural/Metro Medical Services from 1998 to 2002. Howard most
recently served as the executive director of the WilsonCommencementPark,
a self-sufficiency and life skills organization. Hickey has been deputy chief
of operations in the Rochester
police department for the last eight years. Hickey buys time for Duffy, who
hinted earlier that he may not fill the police chief position for several
months.

No more free love

Like every newspaper in the country, the Democrat
and Chronicleis looking for
ways to save money. One way to do it: print fewer articles and other items, and
thus print fewer pages.

Late last month, the daily dropped its stock tables. It was
an obvious hit: the internet provides more accessible, and more current, stock-price
listings.

A more interesting decision: wedding announcements. You can
still tell the world about your marriage — if you pay for it. The D&C isending its practice of publishing free wedding announcements in
its Wednesday “Our Towns” section. Replacing it will be a page called
“Celebrations,” on which readers can buy ads to tout weddings, engagements,
anniversaries, births, promotions, “state championships,” bar mitzvahs, “and,”
as the D&C puts it, “more.”

The price: a minimum of $10, plus $20 for a color photo.

This article appears in Jan 4-10, 2006.