Canada has lost an interesting chess star, FM Kevin Gentes. He was the best player in Manitoba from the 1980s on. I remember him because we were juniors at the same time; he was a master, I was a fresh immigrant to Canada. My family arrived on the prairies in 1980.

Once, Kevin stopped by Saskatoon before heading to a big tournament in Edmonton. The top player in Saskatchewan, Robert Sasata, arranged a match for us. Easy rating points for Kevin, right? Wrong! I actually held him over two games.

Sadly, Kevin never submitted the match form to the Chess Federation of Canada. That's because he was a wild spirit. I had no idea Kevin was a well-known Winnipeg delinquent. With more discipline, he could have been an IM.

RIP.


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Sometimes there are escape routes in chess endgames, if you're aware of them. Here White is losing his bishop because black wants to promote his d2 pawn to a queen. But, White isn't sweating about it: he eliminates both the e and d pawns and runs to the a1 square. Why? Because black's bishop can't check on a1, the white king is safe there and the black a pawn is useless.

1. Kxe4 Bxd1 2. Kd3 and Kxd2 next and then a quick trip to a1. Draw!