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Jul-03-06
 | | James Demery: I read about Israel Zilber in one of Fred Waitzkin`s books. He mentioned him in Mortal Games - the book about Kasparov and I think he mentioned him in Searching for Bobby Fischer. Sadly he wrote that Zilber was homeless. |
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| Nov-03-06 | | Maatalkko: Is this old bloke still alive? He was quite a character. |
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Nov-03-06
 | | WannaBe: <Maatalkko> Share some stories with us? You got my interest... |
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| Nov-03-06 | | Maatalkko: Zilber was a guy who sat in Washington Square Park in New York every day during the 1980's. He was written about in Fred Waitzkin's book "Searching for Bobby Fischer". Zilber was an aging, homeless man who was a bit mad. During his games, he would talk to the birds, trees, and voices in his head. He often sang lullabies in Latvian to inanimate objects around him. However, he was still an international-level player for a long time, even as he aged and got more zany. He was known as "The Sheriff" in the park because he was the best around. He was proud of this, and wore a large plastic sheriff's badge outside his ragged sweater. Once, for a few months Dzindzichasvilli came to the park, and Zilber knew he wasn't the Sheriff anymore. He picked up his bags sadly and moved to another park. Fred Waitzkin wasn't sure he ever had any opponents, but he nevertheless sat there and talked to the voices in his head just as before. When Dzinzi left Washington Sqaure Zilber walked back, and was the Sherriff there again. I have no idea how he lived through the winters, since he was always homeless and never worked. But, every spring he would show up at the park again, just as strong a player as when he left. Perhaps we could ask Susan Polgar for more information about Zilber. While she still lived in Hungary, she heard about Zilber and went to Washington Square to play against him. I think Zilber was an IM, but he surely would've become a GM if he held himself together. |
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| Nov-03-06 | | technical draw: Well, he played in Hastings and beat Tal once so there is no doubt about his strength. Too bad about his mental state. He'll be about 73 years old now. Wonder if he's still alive? |
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| Jul-19-07 | | Wilson H. L.: <technical draw: Too bad about his mental state. He'll be about 73 years old now. Wonder if he's still alive?>
I've read somewhere that poor Mr. Zilber ended in a mental asylum. That's bad news. |
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| Dec-06-07 | | Riverbeast: I remember Zilber from my teenage years, when I used to play in Washington Square Park with Vinnie Livermore (also portrayed in the movie) and all the other money players. I was a wanna be hustler myself back then, and I enjoyed playing for $$. I played Zilber several times. One of my greatest thrills was finally beating him in a slow game after he took my money countless times. I didn't mind losing my money to him though, I looked at it as helping support a great player. I always wondered if he was as whacked as he let on. One time I saw him walking around midtown in a suit. He nodded to me in recognition. It was a shock. He didn't seem 'out of it' at all. Was the wily old dude just putting on a crazy act the whole time? I hope he's okay. He has not been seen in the chess circle in many, many years. |
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| Dec-06-07 | | whiskeyrebel: If it was all just a work, well..he was a hustler after all. I hope he's retired living in a beach condo in Florida. |
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| Jun-25-08 | | brankat: Mr.Zilber, I believe, did have an IM title, and judging by his games, and some results, certainly could have become a GM. He did beat Tal (twice), Vasiukov, Tukmakov. Had draws against Spassky, Gipslis, Boleslavsky, Christiansen, Seirawan. Happy Birthday Mr.Zilber! |
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| Jun-25-08 | | Karpova: Zilber doesn't have a FIDE title. |
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Jun-25-08
 | | Benzol: Josif Israel Zilber is probably the same player. |
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| Jun-25-08 | | Karpova: Yes, "Iosif" is his original first name. |
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| Jul-02-08 | | samsloan: I just did a search and Zilber is not listed in the Social Security Death Index, unless you have his birth year of 1933 wrong. I think that it is quite likely that he is still alive, but just locked up in a lunatic asylum somewhere. Sam Sloan |
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| Jul-02-08 | | MichAdams: Maybe he's in Israel. He could be living on a decent pension as a Holocaust survivor. |
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| Jul-02-08 | | Gejewe: An Israeli player living in the Netherlands told me that Israel Zilber made it ( back ) to Israel after his hustling days in New York. But he also said that Zilber died a few years ago.
I saw the man play in Biel 1980 when he won the open masters. Always impeccably dressed and accompanied by a tall and gorgeous lady. In the blitz tournament he destroyed the opposition in spite of the simple openings he played ( like Caro Kann with 5..exf6 ). Reading Waitzkin's book it was hard to imagine this was the guy who seemed to be doing so well just a few years earlier ... |
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| Jul-02-08 | | Strongest Force: <Gejewe>, i heard that the "sane" Zilber always had a beautiful woman with him, even in his NYC days. The story goes that he went crazy when he lost her. This reminds me of another (very young) IM who hasn't been heard from in a very long time by the name of: Larry Evans. The story goes, he opened a art shop and sold some bogus stuff for which he was sent to jail. This was confirmed to me by his lovely wife a few years later as she told me the whole sad story when i passed her on the street one day. Her amazing model-like visage haunts me many years later as i remember how sad she became when told me the whole story. There are so many sad stories i remember about so many different people from so many walks of life whom i would like to be there forever just to make my own life seem more secure. Zilber was one of those and improved my chess greatly. |
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| Jul-03-08 | | Gejewe: I just remembered an opening that I saw Zilber play, not only in his blitzgames but also in his serious games. The moves 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.c3 Nbd7 7.Nbd2 look quite harmless, but after 7..e5 8.dxe5 Nxe5 ( 8..dxe5 9.Nc4 Re8? 10.Nfxe5  was seen in Zilber's blitzgames in Biel 1980 ) 9.Nxe5 dxe5 10.Nc4! he was often able to develop some pressure, as in Zilber-P.Scheeren, Biel 1980, a game he won in quite impressive style. The more because Scheeren shared first place with him in that event so evidently was no walkover.
I was able to use "Zilber's system" in quite a few of my own games, with succes. Unfortunately there is not a single gamescore left, and I also misplaced Zilber-Scheeren ... |
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Jun-25-09
 | | FSR: Check out this crazy game in which Zilber uses his aforementioned pet line against Seirawan: J I Zilber vs Seirawan, 1979 |
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Jun-25-09
 | | Richard Taylor: I also read about Zilber in Waitzkem's book "Searching..." - also in his book about Kasparov - There are two photos of him playing in book I have. It is called "Play Better Chess" (1980) ed. by Leonard Barden The caption under the second picture says: "Tension at Hastings as, left to right, Michael Stean and I. Zilber ponder while Nigel Short writes his move on the score sheet." There is a larger picture of him earlier in the book. It says: "Isaraeli Chess master Zilber, at the ICL Hastings Premier, ponders the aggressive white queen..." It is a good introductory to middle level book - still very useful. |
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| Jun-25-09 | | WhiteRook48: well it's spelled the same way |
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| Jun-25-10 | | wordfunph: Israel Zilber was Latvian Chess Champion in 1958. He defeated Tal in 1952 and once made a living in a park with a sign, "For $5 a photo or a game with the man who beat Tal." happy birthday Josif! |
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| Jun-25-10 | | MaxxLange: A real chess genius, who did not compromise with "the real world" hbd! |
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| Dec-01-10 | | samsloan: I played Zilber for a few dollars when I did not know who he was. I was shocked when he played the book line against my 1. d4 e5 in a second. He obviously knew the line, the only opponent I ever had who knew it.
This was in 1985 or 1986. I played him in a chess club that existed briefly at about 100th Street and Broadway in New York City. I played a few games with child prodigy KK Karanja and won most of the games. Then Karanja said "Why don't you play that guy over there", pointing to a crazy man talking to himself wearing a Hell's Angles type jacket. I asked Karanja how good he was. Karanja said "about an expert". I did not believe that the crazy guy could possibly be as strong as an expert so I decided to test this. I do not remember the score but he probably won all the games. If I had known that he was a famous player I would have kept playing. Instead I assumed that I was just having a bad day so I quit after a few games. It was not until months later that I found out who he really was. Sam Sloan |
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Dec-01-10
| | kingfu: This is the stuff of legends.
I wonder how many people walked past him and said, "Who is Tal?" The movie should be called , simply, "Zilber." |
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| Dec-01-10 | | samsloan: It was KK Karanja who suggested that I play Zilber, saying that Zilber was "about an expert". KK Karanja was a 12 year old black kid from Kenya. He was at least 2100 strength at age 12, but he disappeared from chess shortly after that. His father was a diplomat from Kenya, the birthplace of Barak Obama. |
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