Anatoly Misharlovik

From the fae angle, Anatoly looks a little different. He's a commoner leader, a troll, and head of the Central Park motley, all of which combine to make him a fairly important person in the city. It should be noted, though, that Anatoly considers fae affairs to be secondary to mortal affairs in practically all aspects. He gets his Glamour from his chess students, and from the Glamour that settles into Central Park itself.

Here's a picture of Anatoly at a simul in Prague, at the age of 16. The "Russian chess machine", as I depict it in my playing of Anatoly is both extremely generous and extremely demanding. He was noticed at a very early age, and because of his skill at the game, went to the best schools, had the best training, and never had to worry about where his next meal was coming from, something a lot of Russian children didn't have, particularly children whose parents were both in prison...(For the record, the picture is of the real Anatoly, Anatoly Karpov.)

But that's another story entirely.

Anatoly came to New York about a year and a half before the events of The Dreaming.

Chess Images

Paul Morphy, the first chess champion. This text is from the Chess Champions site, link below:

"Morphy took an aristocratic approach to the game of chess, insisting that it was a mistake to consider it anything more than an amusement. It is possible his opinion may have been influenced by an attractive New Orleans society girl. Legend has it that though Morphy was infatuated with her, she refused to marry a "mere chess player." Regardless of whether this is true, it is known that Morphy's chess career did contribute to his inability to establish a successful legal practice later in his life. Morphy eventually abandoned chess, and played no known games after 1869. He died in 1884."

Bobby Fischer. If you ever get a chance, see the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer". It's based on a true story, and the book is also incredibly good. It's not really a chess movie, it's more about gifted children and their parents. As such, it is stunning. And in many ways, a lot of us in American chess are 'searching' for Bobby Fischer, trying to figure him out. He's a vaguely mysterious figure, vaguely imposing, and he casts a long shadow, very, very long. In this picture, he sits at a chess table, ready to begin. Here, he's enjoying himself at a tournament.

Boris Spassky does his John Travolta impersonation. Well I think he looks like Travolta.

Bobby Fischer reads Mikhail Tal's palm. Again, text from the Chess Champions site:

"Fischer [right] reads Tal's hand, exclaiming "I see that you will soon loose your title to a young american", Tal immediately turned towards Lombardy next to him and said "Congratulations Bill"."

Chess Anyone? A photograph.

Chess Sites

Another place I got chess pictures from is Chess Pictures@Caissa.

The US Chess Federation, of which I am an out-of-character member in good standing. A fine organization with a fine page with lots of interesting stuff on it. Check it out!

Anatoly Update