Australian Champion's Varied Interests

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31224, 23 November 1966, Page 19

Australian Champion's Varied Interests

This Is the third in a series of profiles on players who will, be taking part in the Canterbury Chess Club’s centennial tournament starting on December 26

QUITE apart from the fact that she is the only woman entrant for the Canterbury Chess Club's centennial tournament, what makes Miss Marion McGrath a little different is that her interests fit so closely the popular misconception of a chess player. Miss McGrath’s interests are many and varied. She loves music; folk and classical particularly; and is deeply interested in the arts: painting, drawing, sculpture. Miss McGrath enjoys novels, short stories and poetry, and literature from all parts of the world. “Baffling things”—palmistry, astrology, alchemy and flying saucers intrigue Miss McGrath; science fiction she enjoys; and is “tremendously thrilled by man’s efforts to fling himself to the moon.” Her other interests extend from philosophy to the sea, swimming and fishing—but she hates to hurt and kill the fish. She is also the holder of the Australian women's chess title and her winning this championship about two months ago entitles her to compete in the world women’s championship. Miss McGrath learnt to play chess 16 years ago, at the age of 10, but played little

until she was 15. Then she spent a year engrossed in the game, at the expense of her schoolwork. Until this year she has not played often but has played over games from magazines. Before the first Australian women’s tournament this year, Miss McGrath—who was working then with the publicity division of the tourist department in Australia—spent several even-

ingsat the Chess Centre in Sydney practising. She was “consistently and monotonously slaughtered.” Also, not having punched a chess clock for some years, Miss McGrath was “nearly always in acute time trouble” in the championship and figured in many lightning games from about move 30 (or earlier). She finished the tournament thinner and surprised by the result. Miss McGrath is now employed by the Waterfront Industry Commission in Wellington doing analytical figures.