I have had many names and forms. ~ Chaitanya Neuhaus
Chai Neuhaus, an active chess player from Boulder Colorado recently passed away.
In the position below, from one of Chai’s games, it is White to move
Answer below.
- White to Move
I did not know Chai very well, but we did play some USCF rated correspondence games together. He was always very courteous, and seemed like a great guy. His handle was “Still Sky”, which reflected his spiritual nature You can see his USCF rating history here: http://www.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12611637
Ginny Gaige, another chess player from Boulder, posted:
“Chai was diagnosed with Leukemia a month ago, endured a week of chemo, which wiped him out, entered BCH a few days later, developed pneumonia, and passed away last Saturday, May 5th at 5:30 PM. There was a gathering at Chautauqua of his friends the next day, Sunday, for a reading of his poetry, and there will be a memorial on May 19th at the Silver Sage Cohousing”.
Chai was a poet, and here is one of his poems:
Ascension
I just keep
falling
backwards
off this cliff
heels over head,
earth rushing
up to swallow
my body
whole.
Hands clasped,
the prayer
knifes
through
the Void
and I follow
bleeding
gratitude.
You can read some of his other poems here: http://mysticpoets.us/chai.html
Here is the complete game:
[Event "2009 Monument Open"]
[Site "Monument, CO"]
[Date "2009.08.23"]
[Round "2"]
[White "Neuhaus, Chaitanya"]
[Black "Martinson, Michael"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "D03"]
[WhiteElo "1447"]
[BlackElo "1227"]
[PlyCount "73"]
1. d4 d5 2. Nc3 Nf6 3. Bg5 e6 4. Nf3 Be7 5. e3 Nc6 6. h4 h6 7. Bf4 Bb4 8. Be2
Ne4 9. Qd3 Qe7 10. O-O Nxc3 11. bxc3 Bd6 12. Rae1 Bd7 13. Bxd6 Qxd6 14. Nd2 e5
15. e4 O-O-O 16. exd5 Qxd5 17. Bf3 Qxa2 18. Ra1 Qe6 19. d5 Qd6 20. dxc6 Bxc6
21. Bg4+ Kb8 22. Qe3 b6 23. Ne4 Qe7 24. Bf3 Qxh4 25. Nc5 Bxf3 26. Na6+ Kc8 27.
Qxf3 e4 28. Qf5+ Rd7 29. Rfd1 Rhd8 30. Rxd7 Rxd7 31. Rd1 Qe7 32. Nb8 Kxb8 33.
Rxd7 Qa3 34. Qxe4 Kc8 35. Re7 Qc1+ 36. Kh2 Qg5 37. Qa8# 1-0
Answer:
Chai went a perfect 6 for 6 in this tournament, the 2009 Monument Open, and picked up over 100 rating points in part because he found brilliant moves like the surprising and creative 32. Nb8 adding a third attacker to the rook on d7 in an unusual manner.
Rest in Peace Chai.
I played Chai Neuhaus several times. His games were always very structured and he genuinely enjoyed playing chess. He was always willing to sit down and analyze a game after.