Alumni speaker to recall his friend and Clark chess champ
In 1996, then-world chess champion Garry Kasparov won a six-game series against IBM’s Deep Blue supercomputer. A year later, Kasparov and Deep Blue faced off in a rematch, and the computer prevailed. It was the first defeat of a reigning world chess champion by a computer under tournament conditions.
But Kasparov wasn’t the first chess master to lose against a computer in a tournament. That honor belongs to Allan Savage ’73 (pictured above), who was roundly defeated by HiTech, a computer developed by Carnegie Mellon University, at the 1987 Pennsylvania State Chess Championship.
That wasn’t Savage’s only chess first — he was also the first person to teach a for-credit college course in chess. And he did it at Clark in 1972 while he was still an undergraduate. About 70 students enrolled in the winter session course.
Mark Wieder ’72, a good friend of Savage and co-founder of the Clark Chess Club, is coming to campus on Thursday, October 30, to share his memories of Savage, who passed away in 2022. He’ll also discuss the history of chess at Clark and the current state of the game (including the impact of AI).
The event is co-sponsored by the Clark Chess Club and University Advancement, and celebrates a gift from Savage’s widow, Donna, that includes a new chess table and chairs for Goddard Library and resources to purchase books on gaming and game theory.
Wieder says that when he arrived at Clark in 1968, he didn’t know much about chess. But he soon met David Lane ’71, who was the U.S. Junior Open Chess Champion as well as the Ohio state champion. “I basically spent my freshman year majoring in chess,” Wieder says. “By the end of that year, I was probably a top 50 junior — that’s how much David was able to transfer to me.”
Lane was a strong player, but when Savage arrived at Clark in 1969, Wieder realized he was “more professional and serious and stronger” than all of them. Wieder, Savage, Lane, and another friend, Glenn Erickson ’72, ended up creating a Clark team.
The four teammates played in tournaments in the Boston area and also traveled to Evanston, Illinois, for the Pan Am Intercollegiate Tournament, the foremost college team chess championship, featuring competitors from North America, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean. “People would refer to Clark as ‘the worst team nobody wants to play,’ ” Wieder says.
Clark finished eighth, with Savage winning the individual title, Wieder recalls. “Not bad for a school of Clark’s size.”
Savage went on to earn status as a National Life Master (U.S. Chess Federation), International Chess Federation Master, and Correspondence International Master.
During his Oct. 30 talk, Wieder plans to share not only his memories of Savage and the Chess Club, but examine some of their more dramatic matches. He’ll also talk about how he and Savage telephoned Bobby Fischer after he had dominated the 1970 Interzonal Tournament in Palma de Mallorca.
“He took the call,” Wieder says. They talked for 20 minutes, and Wieder ultimately became good friends with Fischer’s coach.
“I’m excited to learn more about the legacy of chess at Clark,” says Olivia Thompson ’26, an executive board member of the current club.
The psychology major started playing the game in high school, taught by her grandfather. “I’ve learned a lot from watching other people play,” she says. “People aren’t just born good at chess. It’s something you have to practice and devote a lot of time to.”
The Chess Club hasn’t played in any tournaments during her time at Clark, but Thompson says some members have played well in individual competitions.
All Clark students are welcome in the Chess Club, Thompson says, adding that a purely analytical mind isn’t required.
“Chess is for everyone.”
