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BGonline.org Forums
Herb Gurland, Former Giant, Passed Today
Posted By: Matt Reklaitis In Response To: Herb Gurland, Former Giant, Passed Today (Paul Weaver)
Date: Tuesday, 5 May 2015, at 7:03 p.m.
I first met Herb in 1996 at Linc Bedell's tournament in the Berkshires. I have a bad memory, but this I remember because this was the first time given the choice of division that I'd chosen to play in the open, and Herb was my first opponent. Linc brought me to his table, and I got crushed.
If I was visiting friends in Boston, I would always check if there was a NEBC monthly, and would occasionally pop in. Herb was always there, and was a welcome face.
I got to know Herb much better after moving to Boston in 2005, and seeing him weekly at the club. By this time, the NEBC had lost its cherished space at the Sheraton Commander hotel in Harvard Sq, and Herb worked hard to keep the club at a location. The club moved around several times until finally securing its current place at the Dockside in Malden, where Herb kept us welcome by maintaining a very good relationship with the staff.
Herb was the NEBC president and hopefully everyone in the Boston area appreciates his tireless efforts keeping the club running. He scheduled events, collected entries, tabulated points, and wrote the monthly snippets which get posted to the website.
On a personal note, I thank Herb for inviting me to the weekly chouette, which has not only helped my game, but provided me countless hours of enjoyment. I looked forward to it every week. We joked alot, commonly quoting from the The Color of Money and Seinfeld. The strangest game I remember involved the fire alarm going off. Nearly everyone else in the coffehouse had left before we decided to leave the game in the middle. After the fire dept gave us the all clear, we returned to the table - position intact - and the game continued. Herb made a few blunders not realizing that a checker he was bearing in against which was slightly mispositioned on its point was really a blot, and not a made point. Clearly that oversight would not have happened had the game not been interrupted, so a very improbable loss of equity!
Some of Herb’s favorite sayings - not saying he came up with these, just that he liked saying them: “Nein!” “Pizzeria Uno”, “Cinco de Mayo”, “The Sex is Bad”, “Bad Take Only Cost Me a Point”, “Back in the Shitter”, and upon saving a G: “The Duke!”. I haven't known Herb long enough to know the history behind these, but I know I will miss hearing him say them.
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