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Friendly, personable, a family man, successful businessman, club mate, Chess Olympian: these are some of the many faces of Tony Bouchaaya
 "Among my souvenirs!" These are some of Tony's chess trophies. Others were left behind in Lebanon. |
Tony was seventeen when he learned to play chess a year or two after Fischer defeated Spassky at Reykjavik. He was still at school in his native Lebanon. Within two years his playing strength was estimated to be around 2000-2100—it was only an estimate because Lebanon didn't use ratings at that time. A year later he was the leading player in the country.
During the remainder of his stay in Lebanon (he migrated to Australia in 1990) he won many tournaments.
Asked about his rapid rise in the game Tony said that once he learned the moves he so enjoyed chess that every night when he came home from school he studied. He would spend an hour doing homework and three or four hours studying chess. His program included openings research, master games and memory work. Among other things he memorised all the games from the Fischer-Spassky match.
 Tony and Friends! With World Champion Gary Kasparov – Dubai 1986 . . . |
 . . . and former World Champion, Vassily Smyslov. |
Because there was no rating system in place, Lebanon conducted qualifying tournaments to find representatives to send to the Olympiads. It was by winning such a tournament that Tony found himself representing his country at La Valetta.
In all he represented Lebanon at four Chess Olympiads. These were at La Valetta 1980, Lucerne 1982, Dubai 1986 and Thessaloniki 1988. Overall he played forty-five games for a score of 22.5 or 50%. His best result was at Dubai in 1986 when he played twelve games for eight wins, two draws and two losses, or a winning performance of 67%! Of those two losses one was his first-round game against Vitaly Tseshkovsky who was, at that time, champion of the USSR.
The Olympiads weren't the only opportunities for Tony to represent Lebanon. He played in the World Under 26 Team Championships at Gratz in 1981 and in the Asian Cities Teams Championship at Dubai in 1990. At this tournament he won the silver medal for Board 3.
In 1990 Tony married Youssra, a charming lady with a quick sense of humour and mischievous eyes. They honeymooned at Dubai where Tony was playing in the tournament. When asked why she would ever marry a man who played chess on his honeymoon, she laughed and said, "It was wonderful! He only had to play for a few hours, four days a week, and the rest of the time we could do whatever we wanted."
 Tony Bouchaaya vs USSR Champion, Vitaly Tseshkovsky |
One game that comes in for special mention is his loss to Tseshkovsky at Dubai. The game was very even and during play Kasparov came across to look at it, went away to discuss it with Karpov, then came back for a second look. Tony was feeling confident, played for a win, and let Tseshkovsky break through. Reminiscing, he shook his head a bit ruefully and said, "You should never try to win an even game." You can play through the game by CLICKING HERE.
These days Tony's chess is at a more social level and it's inspiring to have such a player at Rooty Hill.
When he's not playing chess Tony operates AAA Action Refrigeration, specialising in domestic repairs and service. Next time your fridge breaks down give him a call. His phone number is 0414 321 385. He can tell you chess stories while he does the repairs.
—Story: David Evans
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Following are Tony's games from the Dubai Olympiad. Click on the links to view them:
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To read newspaper articles and other stories about Tony Bouchaaya, click on the links below:
 Tony giving a simul at his chess club, October 1986 |
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