Talk:Durkin Opening
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[edit] Old talk
The Oxford Companion to Chess doesn't have much information on Robert Durkin, so I tried googling for him. All I could find is that according to one widely copied chess timeline created by Bill Wall, he was born on May 9, 1923 in Milwaukee. The Oxford Companion agrees with the birth year but places him in New Jersey, presumably where he live(s/d) as an adult.
On the Durkin Opening itself, Bill Wall says it is sometimes called the Sodium Attack from Na, the chemical symbol for sodium. (Wall's geocities site is frequently unavailable, so I got it from the google cache searching for cache:http://www.geocities.com/siliconvalley/lab/7378/wallna3.htm). There is some google support for this amusing name, and apparently Eric Schiller's Unorthodox Chess Openings also mentions it. (I don't have Schiller's book, but you can search inside it at amazon.com.) Quale 16:40, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)
Michael Amper <amper@mac.com>: Durkin was a long-time member of the Ventnor Chess Club, which met at the Ventnor Public Library (or, possibly, Community Center) in Ventnor, NJ, just south of Atlantic City. My father, Rodolfo Ylaya Amper, MD, who at one time was a relatively highly-rated chess player, enjoyed many games with Mr. Durkin. I have a copy of a club photograph that was taken sometime in the 1970's which includes, my father, my brother, and myself (making a silly face), as well as Mr. Durkin, along with the members of the club. Unfortunately, some 30 years later, I cannot recall which of the people in the photograph is Mr. Durkin, but I do remember that Mr. Durkin was one of the best players in the club.
It would be interesting to get some games played by Mr. Durkin featuring this opening. (There are 3 at Chessbase (http://www.chesslive.de/. In all three he answers 1...e5 with 2. Nc4, although he also played other moves.) Are there any records from the Ventnor Chess Club around? Is Mr. Durkin still alive? Cjpuffin 20:07, 16 Apr 2005 (UTC) --Durkin died several years ago. I had long been considering writing a new book on 1. Na3 & wanted to have read his; unfortunately, i could never find a copy. At once time i had an ad in Chess Life, & thought i was about to get one when i was answered from a correspondent in NJ who claimed to have it. But after a single exchange he never answered my letters. --graywyvern (PS i have collected a dozen or so of his games, & intend to make them available eventually, but too many other projects have intervened. I am, however, still playing 1. Na3 religiously at http://www.letsplaychess.com)
- Is it true that 1.Na3 is the most rarely played of all White's possible moves? 84.69.191.87 14:25, 10 July 2006 (UTC)
- According to http://www.chessgames.com/perl/explorer, it is. 88.122.16.225 18:14, 11 January 2007 (UTC)
