OK, let's let the auto da fe flames die down a bit. After all, if we can forgive Mr Fischer for his many trespasses, why are we sharpening the cutlery quite so much for this guy?
because the victim couldav been your son
What??? How can you compare Fischer to Snyder? Fischer never did anything bad to anyone. He just had some over-the-top views about the world.
Looks like Robert Snyder has been caught in Belize, teaching chess and probably how to mate.
http://7newsbelize.com/sstory.php?nid=15681
What was odd about the AMW episode was that they stated in several promos that being good at chess is the sign of a devious mind. WTF?
That sounds like the Sherlock Holmes quote: "Amberley excelled at chess - one mark, Watson, of a scheming mind."
Wow, it does not surprise me in the least. Even when I was a kid at Chess for Juniors in I guess the late 80's, I knew about the allegations. I stumbled acrossed them when I was raiding my mom's room for christmas presents. Luckily when she walked in I was reading the fully disclosed court documents instead of searching for presents. Man, I can't wait to tell my mom this tomorrow. This ought to curry some later in life favor.
I joined Chess for Juniors in 1992 when Robert's school was located in Garden Grove next to a tasty Vietnamese Soup joint. I believe I was about 11 at the time and I remained a student of Robert Snyder for about 3 or 4 years. I do remember going to at least 4 national tournaments with Robert and some other Chess for Junior kids. First in Gilbert, AZ, Chicago, IL, St. Lous, MO, and then Orlando, FL. Never recalled noticing anything inappropriate by Robert towards myself or the others. I don't think he was ever alone with any of the kids either, plus some parents came along during those tournaments. I continued to play chess years after I left Robert's Chess for Juniors, but looking back though, I can say Robert was a nice guy, but a horrible chess coach. His group classes consisted of almost nothing but figuring out checkmate patterns, and his study guides were nothing more than openings that we had to memorize. His private lessons took place at the school and he would just go over a recent game and point out the mistakes. It was decent, but not worth the price.
He was definitely a spoiled child. He used to yell at his dad in front of the students over little things. He wouldn't even call him "dad", but Igor. I still remember one of his silly rhymes... "Knight on the rim is dim, it chances are very slim." I guess it works though because I still remember it whenever I move my knight on the edge. He was actually pretty funny at times and we all looked up to him, but I began to dislike him after a national school grade tournament in Missouri when I failed to win the last round which was for 1st place. I remember I was so devastated! Instead of cheering me up, Robert got on my case and made me feel guilty for losing. After I told my pop about it, we started looking elsewhere for coaching and I began to compete in non-scholastic tournaments. I played one last club tournament in 95 or 96, got 1st place, but got scolded by Robert for winning a game with the French Defense instead of the Ruy Lopez which he wanted us to memorize up to like move 20 something of a particular variation.
I still have about 15 of his club tournament trophies with that same stupid angel on the top of each one, and also the last copy of his Snyder Sicilian book which he signed before taking me to the nationals in Chicago.
This news about Robert Snyder definitely took me by surprise. A lot of people thought he was weird, but I didn't think it was anything like this. Never thought he would end up on America's Most Wanted (Season 23, Episode 9).
I wonder if any of my fellow Chess for Junior teammates know about this, such as FIDE Master Harutyan Akopian... Or even Asuka Nakamura, whose brother, Hikaru, is among the some of top grandmasters in the world.
He'll probably publish some more chess books again while he serves another 12 years or so in prison. I'm glad they caught him though. I think it's obvious he was going to do it again somewhere in Belize.
A National Master (2306 rated in 1990), Robert Snyder became better known as a chess instructor for children and teenagers under the rubric "Chess for Juniors," and also as an author of beginner's books. I was one of his pupils in the the mid-1990s for about a year, when he was located in Garden Grove, California. He later moved to Colorado. Looking up his name at sites such as this one fifteen years later, I'm not really surprised. From his puns about "ill eagle" moves to everything else, he seemed very creepy.
There's probably no point in bringing this up. In any case... in a couple weeks I will be playing rated chess again for the first time in over ten years, and for the first time ever in a non "scholastic" context. The most active club in Orange County seems to be the "Chess Palace" in Garden Grove. I will be checking it out this Saturday and possibly playing in a tournament on June 27th or 28th.
Isn't Snyder a foward in the Netherlands Soccer Team in this World Cup?
I don't know that its such a bad idea for white, I'm no master, I'm rated below 1600 and I try to totally avoid the sicilian I'm not a fan at all on either side I usually play d4. But if it was good wouldn't there be more books on it instead of just one? How about renaming it "the molester" variation. It's not like he made up this move anyway or was the first to play it. I have a 2 copies of the book by the way if anyones interested.
Scored that header against Brazil, but isn't he a midfielder?
On another note, I never even heard of this guy, so I am not trying to defend him. But having said that, I am familiar with the tendency to draw a bull's eye around wherever the dart happens to hit. Were there really signs all those years ago, or is this just creative memory enhanced by knowledge of how this would all play out? In other words, is it possible that any individual, if convicted of embezzlement, would then have old acquaintances saying "Yes, the signs were there, he was always greedy"? And for rape "Yeah, he was always a bit off"? For murder, "Yeah, he was always a bully"?
How strange this world is. I have a work colleague who is aiming for a high rank and so I was slowly drawn back into chess. Through our many discussions Snyder was brought up. I tried studying under him in '94 when he was in Garden Grove, CA but could not handle more than a few classes with him. It wasn't his usual class but more of a private class that he held for a handful of students for an acquaintance (friend?) of his. He was a complete creep, not positive or supportive - just hell bent on raising kids to do exactly like he says. I thoroughly disliked the fellow and am not at all surprised to find this here.
I didn't originally have the intent to necro this topic but I was looking for some info on this NM for my friend and this chess.com and a fugitive watch were the first links to pop up.
Oh yeah, the Snyder Sicilian sucks! lol I hated that opening...
Dang!
The whole conversation is taking a turn for the uncomfortable, and frankly, is there really all that much more to say to this?
I'm aware that there are arguments that child-molesters/paedophiles can't be rehabilitated. I don't know enough on the subject to judge whether those arguments are credible.
One might think that a child molester who has done his time and been rehabilitated should be less reviled. In this particular case, it's irrelevant, as Snyder has demonstrated his lack of rehabilitation by breaching his parole/post-release conditions.