The Longhorn Gambit

I take no pleasure from insisting that IGM Gregor “The Cowboy” Lamar is a fraud, product of an extensive marketing campaign, national celebrity frenzy, and a personal gift that, while quite miraculous in its own right, amounts to cheating in chess. The exact nature of Gregor Lamar’s gift I shall explain in due time, but first I want to set the record straight regarding my motivation in opposing his renown – to collude in this sham mars the purity of chess, and will ultimately lead to its demise. USCF denounced my story as the jealous babbling of an old man, threatened me with lawsuit and revoked my membership, but as you shall see, I do all for the good of the game.

I am Gregor’s grandfather. Since his parents untimely passing, I have raised him on our ranch and developed his love of the game. It was also me who sought out Bobby Fischer in Istanbul and arbitrated 14-year old Gregor’s private victory over the former Grand Master in 2006. Of the many and varied myths of The Cowboy, I can bear personal witness to this event (see my report in Chess Life, “The Match of Madness” pg. 14, June, 2015). In fact, the so-called Longhorn Gambit (24 Nc6?) in the decisive game 4 of that match was my first realization that Gregor’s impeccable tournament success owes much to something other than his talent for chess and my tutelage. But I digress; all I wish to say now is it should be plain that I of all people should enjoy my grandson’s fame, and have toiled to shape it in his nascent years.

But what became of my beloved Gregor was the doing of the scoundrel Bud McFarland. Chess in those days had fallen on hard times. US Chess Federation struggled to promote tournaments; the International circuit was dominated by such as Kramnik and Topalov, who, prodigious though they were, lacked the personality and marketing appeal of Capablanca vs. Lasker, or Fischer vs. Spassky. This desperation in the game at large turned out to be the ticket to riotous riches for McFarland. Himself a mediocre tournament player in the Southwest, McFarland witnessed Gregor’s lightning-round exhibition victory (20:20) against twenty Expert rated opponents at the Austin Convention Center in 2007. That weekend began three months of shameless pursuit to be my grandson’s promoter, to which I lamentably relented. The Cowboy is the construct from Bud McFarland’s hands – Gregor’s innocent joy of the game became The Cowboy’s unbearable arrogance, and of course there’s that ridiculous hat.

The Cowboy’s following grew with his antics, as did the USCF coffer and McFarland’s extravagances. I, on the other hand, became more suspicious of The Cowboy’s method, and in 2016 announced my separation from him, repaying my share in his winning as his manager. The upcoming 2020 FIDE Olympiad features the strongest field of competitors in the history of the game to vie for US$5,000,000 in total prizes. My hope here is to raise awareness and call upon all students of the game to lobby for the disqualification of The Cowboy from that event.

Chief among the crimes of Lamar/McFarland is, of course, the fact that The Cowboy does not in fact win tournaments by playing superior chess. Next, I shall outline proof of my allegation, and how I came to that conclusion.

H. von Gott

Bastrop, Texas