Many NorCal chess players recognize the name “Falconer” in reference to an annual award given to the highest rated youth chess player in Northern California. Established in 1999, the Falconer Award has been given to such notable players as GM Vinay Bhat and GM Sam Shankland. However, Neil Falconer was also a really good chess player in his own right.
Neil Falconer was captain of the University of California, Berkeley’s chess team and won the California Open Chess Championship in 1951 and the U.S. Senior Champion title in 1992. Despite a demanding law career, he was also an active club player at Oakland’s Castle Chess Club as well as the Mechanics’ Institute in San Francisco. In fact, Neil Falconer even defeated former World Champion GM Tigran Petrosian in a simultaneous exhibition at the Mechanics’ Institute in 1978!
Today’s puzzle worthy position comes from a 1983 game Neil Falconer played against Eugene S. Lien in Oakland, California. In the position below, Lien (black) has just played 22… Rf8. Falconer (white) can now force checkmate in four moves. Can you spot the mate in 4 combination that Neil Falconer instituted?
White to move and mate in 4 (Neil Falconer vs. Eugene S Lien, Oakland, California, 1983).
Chris Torres is a nationally renowned scholastic chess coach working in the San Francisco Bay Area. His classes have attracted players of strengths ranging from rank beginners to world champions. A chess professional since 1998, Chris is widely recognized as one of the main driving forces behind the explosion in popularity and sudden rise in quality of scholastic chess in California. Chris Torres served as the President of the Torres Chess and Music Academy from 2005-2020 and currently is recognized as a correspondence chess master with the United States Chess Federation. Since 1998 Chris Torres has taught 6 individual national champions as well as led multiple school teams to win national championship titles. In addition, Chris Torres has directed and taught at 10 different schools which have been California State Champions at chess. In 2011 and 2012, several former and current students of Chris Torres have been selected to represent the United States at the World Youth Chess Championships. Mr. Torres’ hobbies include playing classical guitar and getting his students to appear on the national top 100 chess rating lists.
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