Street Legends Battle in New York!

yes I played po some many years back, we used to have some pretty intersting games, I surprised like I did not know what speed chess was in the washington square , and he bought it hook line and sinker, I then proceeded to colect small amounts of american currency for my trobble, we met again at the new york open when it was at the ramada or the penta hotel, I had the advantage becasue he did not know me and gave me a little more credit than my game deserved, we drew, both were around 2000 then, I know I had to see him in the skittles rom, and he cleaned me pretty good, 7 – 4 po, but back then I was a bit of a legend:-)

Don’t forget Dan Harrington, Bill Robertie and on the British scene there was Stewart Rueben. I am not sure of Robertie and Rueben in poker results but they do have books on poker.

legend huh, in my mind brother daaim and that is all that matters, I too have not really played speed chess over the last 10 years however I might show up for the world open out of respect for the game and just to see all the brothers from all over . But po was always good at poker also even before it was popular, but his chess game was pretty strong in the late 80’s and early 90’s. My claim to fame is just simply setting back and letting the “hustlers” challenge me because of my quiet none aggressive persona , but that was back in the day, now I am just happy to observe all the energy coming towards the chess community! I think I still need to clear a few issues up with you daaim, will be in the south soon, looking forward to checking your game!

hummm, for my young brothers, please visit all of the east coast, more stronger players seem to be located there. New York, New Jersey and Baltimore, and D.C . Host a lot of the talent, although there are a few upstarts who have earned there street creditability in the midwest also, indy is slow but a few hard hitters there also, you stay there long enough tate might be in front of you:-)

Hi everyone,

I am Shaala L. Hill, the host/sponsor of “Sammy vs. Po,” the St. Nicholas Park Blitz Match, held on September 19, 2009, in NYC.

I would like to share with you, a part of the beauty I enjoyed while interacting with Brad, “the Bradinator” Ivey and Eric Schacter, the film-maker, the “synchronicity,” of which I spoke.

On Thursday night (September 17th), just as I was about to exit St. Nicholas Park, Brad spoke to me about the significance of what I proposed and the necessity of having it documented. I remember him saying that this was “an historic event” and would be “the beginning of something.” He gave Eric my phone number and Eric and I set up a meeting for Friday.

On Friday (September 18th), while talking to Eric, he said, “I would gladly engage in documenting the match, the excitement and diversity of the/your chess community and the rich ambiance of the park itself. As you are the orchestrator of this event, I give you co-ownership of the footage.”

As Eric described to me his cinematic design for the project, I saw and felt his heart. It was so beautiful, I felt that I was living a piece of poetry or sitting in the middle of an artists’ best work; having been painted on his canvas…….. I said to myself, “He loves what he does and he is very good at it! Wow! I needed someone like him and he appeared on the scene, just in time!”

On Saturday (September 19th), Eric, from beginning to end, moved through the park, face radiant, assembling the pieces of his newest masterpiece, “Sammy vs. Po.”

The match, on Saturday (September 19th), spawned five new, instantaneous chess-fight promoters, who were excitedly setting up possible battles between rivals they knew…..who would play 21 games, at 5 mins. each. For a second, it felt like I was standing on the floor of the stock exchange, at trading time.

Brad looked at me and said, “This is all you! You’ve brought excitement back to the park!”

Humbly, I say, “I would like to believe that it was the energy of Sammy and Po, the guys who came through for me.” As the winner, Po is being challenged repeatedly by players who want a one on one match with him, to fight for his title…..Winner of the “Bragging Rights” Match.

Thank you Brad!
Thank you Eric!
Thank you to all who participated, by attending!
Thank you to all who donated to the purse!
Thank you to the USCF for your donation of books!
Thanks to all who offered suggestions…and are offering suggestions for future matches!

THANK YOU DAAIM SHABAZZ FOR YOUR FORUM AND GREAT WORK! YOU ROCK!

I can speak on Adonis Turner… He’s from the Pittsburgh area … He gained a lot of points recently… In fact about a year and half ago he wasn’t even 1600. We played in the first round of the 2008 National Chess Congress, under 2000 (he was about 1760 then…all his points hadn’t come in yet)..and he beat me..nice game. I followed him throughout the tourney and saw him get out of some tough positions..We ended up tying for first at 5-1..Not sure how old he is, but he’s around 17.
I like the few youngsters we have now, because to be honest we haven’t produced a lot good young players in years!…But I’m truly excited about the young ladies!..This is unprecendented…can’t wait for the First African American female chess master. she will undoubtedly inspire a lot of litte geniuses.

Hi everyone
I Po wish to thank everyone for their great support on behalf of the match of the street legends. And a very warm thanks too Mrs Shaala Hill for looking it through.

Wonderful, thanks Shaala and Po for accepting the offer, im ready any Saturday from the 3rd to the 10th or 17th of October please blog here and let me know where and when ill be there! Po you funny, good to hear from you again, i thought you were a movie star not a chessplaya! hehe PEACE.

Thanks Daaim..I guess Po is still in shape…Good to hear Poker didn’t hurt anything.

You can’t underestimate the “PO.” This was a classic matchup. Too bad I missed it. They say style makes the fight. Well, here you have totally different styles at play. Sammy is a positional player. He doesn’t want to start complications until all the pieces are developed, every square accounted for. Po on the other hand is a tactician at heart. He plays for mate from the first move. He’s a piece player while Sam is a pawn player. Sam likes small moves that take away squares, Po on the other hand likes big moves which cause high blood pressure. This match was similar to the Capablanca/Alekhine match at least in style. In that match the most dynamic player also won. Would like to see Po/Sam 2.