Robert "Bob" Cyr (formerly known as Robert Kozlowski) joined the New Britain Chess Club family on July 28, 1987, at the age of nine. His father, Reginald Cyr, taught him the game and brought him to the club for many years. As the club's youngest member, Bob literality grew up with his chess family, and he soon adopted a mentor, Arkadijs Strazdins, to emulate and learn from.
By the mid-1990s, Bob was so inspired and impressed by Mr. Strazdins' labor of love for the club that he decided to begin volunteering. Bob's early roles included setting up equipment and tables prior to meetings and providing support to the tournament directing staff. After learning from Mr. Strazdins about how to direct tournaments, Bob took on his first major role in the club as a USCF certified tournament director in 1998. To date, he has successfully directed over one-hundred events. In 1999, Bob became club librarian. His responsibility was to maintain a huge collection of chess books that were donated by a former member. At the turn the century, Bob created the club’s first e-mail distribution list and worked with Mr. Strazdins to convert all records to electronic format.
After many years of loyal service to the organization, Bob eagerly took on his next major role as vice president in 2003. While most people ask themselves what absolutely needs to be done to fulfill the roles that they have taken on, Bob asks how that role can be expanded to provide its maximum benefit. As club vice president, this meant taking on many of the tasks formerly assigned to the president. During this time, Bob also devoted his efforts to the preservation of the club archives, a job that Mr. Strazdins passionately performed for decades. In 2005, Bob pursued his own historic work for the club by writing the first newsletter, which he still publishes annually.
The years between 2007 and 2010 were a critical time for the club. Having to deal with both the loss of its strongest and longest leader and the need for a new location, the club’s future was hardly guaranteed. Bob’s experience in working with Mr. Strazdins proved key to ushering in new leadership and re-establishing a solid foundation for the future.
In 2010, after deciding not to continue as vice president, Bob created the new position of club historian. In 2011, Bob received a lifetime membership achievement award for his many years of service and loyalty to the club. In 2015, Bob created the book, "NBCC Highlights and History: 1900-2004," and wrote the NBCC story, both of which were published, along with most of the club's history, on the internet in 2016.
Even though Bob is not as active in club management today because of his massive responsibilities as historian, he continues to be one of the club’s most staunch advocates and contributors. In 2017, Bob submitted a story to the USCF for their contest on what chess means to people. Bob’s story focused on how the people of NBCC have been his guiding forces on and off the chess board and how this warm and welcoming community has truly enriched his life. Also that year, Bob hosted a party and tournament for the membership to celebrate his thirty years as a member of the NBCC. In 2018, Bob was presented with an engraved crystal plaque in recognition for his many years of service as NBCC historian.
Bob is a lead senior accountant at Women's Health Connecticut in Avon and is a graduate of Central Connecticut State University.
Photo caption
1) 1987 - Robert Kozlowski and Hermann Zickfeld (left photo); Arkadijs Strazdins (right photo) - 1988 New Britain City Chess Championship Qualifier - Photo courtesy of the New Britain Herald
2) 1997 - Robert Kozlowski and his father Reginald Cyr - 1997 Townsend Cup (at the Holiday Inn in Southington) - Photo courtesy of Rob Roy
3) 2015 - Andris Strazdins, Luis Delgado, Robert Cyr, and Richard Lee - 65th annual New Britain Chess Club Championship - Photo courtesy of Luis Delgado
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23.Ba6 -4.72/20 23...Re8 23... b5 24. Nd4 Qe5 25. Qxe5 fxe5 26. Nc6 Rd6 27. Bb7 Re8 28. Nxa7 Rd7 29. Bc6 Rxa7 30. Bxe8 Kxe8 31. Rxd5 f6 -7.32 Stockfish 24.Bb5 Rac8 25.Bxe8 Qxe8 26.Nd4
23.Bd3 Kg8 24.g3 Rac8 25.Kg2 Kh8 26.Rf1 Rg8 27.Rd1 Qe6 28.Nd4 Qe5 29.Qxe5 fxe5 30.Nf5 Rgd831.Ne7 Rc7 32.Bxe4 Rxe7 33.Kxf2 Kg7 34.Ke3 Red7 35.Bf5 Rd6 -5.10 Stockfish
23…Qe5
24.Qh6+ Kg8
25.Nc6?! -6.85/23
25.a4 -5.87/22 25...a6 25... Rac8 26. g3 Rc4 27. Nf3 Qf5 28. Kg2 Rb4 29. Bd3 Rxb2 30. Rf1 Rc8 31. Nd4 Qg4 32. Qf4 Qxf4 33. gxf4 Rd2 -7.49 Stockfish 26.Be2 Re8 27.g3 Kh8 28.Qh4 Rg8 29.b3 Nc330.Rd2 Rae8 31.Nf3 Qe3 32.Qxf6+ Rg7 33.Qd4 Nxe2 34.Qxe3 Rxe3 35.Kxf2 Nxg3 36.Kxe3 Nf1+37.Kd4 Nxd2 38.Nxd2 Rg1 39.Nf3 Rd1+ 40.Kc3 f5 41.Kc2 Rf1
25.Be2 Re8 26.g3 Kh8 27.Qh5 Rac8 28.Kg2 Rg8 29.Qxe5 fxe5 30.Nf3 Rc2 31.Bf1 f6 32.Rxd5 Rxb233.Rd1 Rc8 34.Nh4 Rb3 35.Ba6 Rc2 36.a4 Nd2 37.Bf1 Kg7 -7.02 Stockfish
25…Qxb2
26.Nd4 Kh8
27.Bc6? -13.63/24
27.Be2 -7.19/22 27...Qxa3 27... Re8 28. Qc1 Qxc1 29. Rxc1 Rac8 30. Ra1 Rc3 31. Bf3 Kg7 32. Bg4 Rd3 33. Bd7 Rd8 34. Nf5+ Kf8 35. Bb5 Rd2 -8.12 Stockfish 28.Bf3 Qa6+ 29.Be2 b5 30.g3 Rab8 31.Bd3 Qa432.Nc2 Rb6 33.Qh5 Rc6
27.Qc1 Qxc1 28.Rxc1 Rac8 29.Ra1 Rc3 30.Ba6 Rg8 31.g3 Rg4 32.Nf5 Rg5 33.Nd4 Re3 34.Nc2 Rb335.Nd4 Rb2 36.Be2 Re5 37.Rc1 Ra2 38.Kg2 Nc5 39.Bb5 Re1 40.Rc2 Rxc2 41.Nxc2 Ne4 -8.00 Stockfish
27…Rac8
28.Nf5 Rg8
29.Bd7 Rxg2 0-1
Now if 30.Kg2 f1Q 31.Kf1 Qf2#
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