Author: Steven Schwartz
Date: 14:46:35 12/16/00
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On December 16, 2000 at 16:51:50, Fernando Villegas wrote: >Finally I visited the Meca of chess computer fans in America: ICD. [snip] >And nothing more by now, except publically express my feelings of gratitude >fort steven for his wonderfull reception, witty talk and tasty meal and wine. >Remember: Chile is waiting for you. >Fernando Thanks for the kind (I think) words. Interestingly, the day after you were here our newspaper ads appeared and we have been up to our ears in store customers. They seem to come out of the woodwork in November and do not disappear until January rolls around. After we left the store Fernando asked why he did not see any Rebel or Millennium or Fritz in my store, and I explained that the customers who come to the store are not interested in such programs but rather chess boards and sets and computers, so we have the professional software in the back. He also asked why we keep the CCC since it is sometimes such a pain and our business is not very dependent upon software sales, and I said that I liked the idea of having an association with the CCC - sort of like sadomasochism. Now, about Fernando... First his daughter Marianna. Fernando announced here that his daughter was as beautiful as Sandra Bullock. In person, she is far better looking and as sweet as can be. She allowed Fernando to tell me about his radio shows and his TV. shows and his newspaper articles and she did not say a word. When I asked if she though Fernando was conceited, she said he was not. I was excited to meet the "Larry King" of Chile. I was surprised that he was so tall - perhaps an inch or two taller than my 6' 2" frame. He has silvery hair that looks as if it needs a haircut or at best a comb, but it certainly adds to his character sort of like Howard Stern. His English is far better than he tells us here, and his sense of humor is excellent. In fact he had us all believing for a short while that he speaks 11 languages. He would blurt out something that sounded like Russian, and we, not knowing a bit of the language would believe that he was blurting something more than nonsense syllables as Sid Caesar used to do on TV when I was a young boy 200 years ago. When we sat down to eat, I asked Fernando if he wanted a drink. He opted for some Californian Merlot and I was polite in asking Marianna if she wanted a drink as well. I was surprised that she asked for the same. In the U.S., the drinking age is 21 but in Chile it is 18. We spoke about the CCC and the many varied personalities that attend and the philosophies of moderation. We spoke about the time Fernando said, jokingly, that he was going to kill himself, and we were all concerned, and he actually got a phone call from Enrique in Spain asking how he was. We spoke about my history in the business. It was a very interesting evening. The evening brought back fond memories of my times with Enrique whom I respect and whose company I enjoyed as much. There is something about Spanish speaking people that makes them special, in my mind. Nevertheless, I am happy you arrived home safely, and perhaps you will see me in Chile and you can buy me dinner. Next time in New York I will take you to my favorite, Thai food! Say hello to Marianna. If I were Chilean, 30 years younger, more handsome, not married, and did not have two lovely daughters, I might just get up the nerve to ask her for a date. Of course, if she were as smart as you, she would refuse. Steve
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