2014 Tour Returns To Springfield; David Mote Remembered

The second stop on the 2014 Illinois Chess Tour will be held in downstate Springfield this weekend. The 11th Mote Memorial will be hosted by the Springfield Chess Club on Saturday, March 29. 

Competitors will battle it out for overall and class prizes through four rounds. A time control of Game/60 with a 5-second delay will be used. A $400 prize fund has been announced, based on 30 entries. Complete details are posted elsewhere on this site.

The event is held in honor of longtime Illinois Master and attorney David B. Mote, who passed away in 2003 at the age of 44.

A heartwarming remembrance of David was penned by longtime chess friend and fellow criminal defense attorney, Andrew McGowan. It makes for powerful reading and McGowan is quoted liberally for the remainder of this article: McGowan profile on Mote.

Writes McGowan, "According to Garrett Scott, a longtime tournament director in Illinois, David lost every game in his first two tournaments and only achieved a draw in his third. Even though these were adult tournaments and David was twelve years old, these results would have discouraged many." But McGowan observed that his friend did not discourage easily, and Mote went on to earn the title of Master while in college.

His last rated tournament was the March 2003 Greater Peoria Open where he entered the final round in a five-way tie for first with 3.5/4. Unfortunately in that round, he lost to someone named Aleksanda Stamnov who won the event. Seven months later, complications from surgery would claim Mote's life. Crosstables from the 2003 GPO can be read here.

McGowan recalls their mutual efforts at chess improvement, seeking guidance from various strong players, with David Sprenkle at the Central Illinois School of Chess in Champaign, and at the Chicago Chess Center administered by Jules Stein.

"Even as David became a better chess player, he had to overcome a tendency to lose important center pawns in the opening. He often observed that it was not a good thing to lose the king pawn in a king pawn opening. He would then proceed to demonstrate this proposition to me from his latest game. Often, he won these games. David was a really great defensive player when he had to be. He would consistently stave off defeat move after move until his opponent either ran out of time, or blew the attack. To be fair to David, he felt bad about winning these games. You could tell by the way he laughed about the game while he replayed it, readily admitting the various points during the game at which he was completely busted."

"David always appreciated stronger players taking the time to discuss the game afterwards...analyzing what went wrong and (considering) better alternatives. All through his chess career, he observed this tradition."

McGowan quotes a note from Doug Van Buskirk whom he describes as a longtime Mote opponent, suggesting David was "a very stubborn and confident player, never giving up on a line unless proven otherwise in GREAT detail... and always respectful of others' ideas."

In addition to his chess prowess, McGowan respected Mote's evolution as an attorney. He recalls David receiving a mathematics degree from Illinois State University in 1980 before working as a computer programmer for the better part of a decade.

"David abruptly decided to go to law school," making law review and graduating summa cum laude from Southern Illinois University School of Law in 1990. Thereupon, Mote landed the prestigious job of clerking for a US District Court judge.

Demonstrating a true chess-player's mind, David subsequently switched to consider the board from the other side's perspective, working in the Federal Public Defender's office. Mote was litigating on matters defining the recently-passed Patriot Act towards the end of his life. Said McGown, "As good a chess player as David was, he was a better lawyer."

McGowan called Mote's death a "blow to the members of the chess community and members of the legal profession. Had David survived the operation, who knows what else he might have accomplished? I will miss him because of our great friendship, his wonderful sense of humor, and his indomitable spirit. He really was one of the good guys."