Ivanka Maria Honlapja

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Maria Ivanka's new book.

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Coming soon! Silver Queen.
Maria Ivanka's new book about her life and carrer.

Coming soon!

The past 40 years of chess history
Chess Olympics, World Championships, Hungarian Championships
Gossips, intrigues, scandals
Games and photos
Family matters

Introduction

The turn of the millennium and the fifty years of my life inspired me to evaluate the past. As the years pass by, I think about my chess career with more and more nostalgia. It feels great to be lost in reveries of the nice old days, and the brightness of the successful years. After so many years, the intrigues and failures are less painful, and hopefully the old stories will not hurt the referred people’s feelings any more. As I wander back in time, once in a while I include quotes from my mother’s diary printed in Italic.

The fairytale-sounding title refers to the trophy I won a couple of times in Holland, and also to our ‘constant’ silver medals at the Chess Olympics. Along with my career I chronologically follow the last forty years of chess history, the important chess events, Olympics, individual world championships, spiced with almost 100 decisive games. Even if you do not feel like replaying the games, it might still be interesting to look behind the scenes, to know what happened ‘around’ the chessboard! Besides skirmishes, I cover a wide range of events, from fantastic travel experiences to the birth of my children, from my inner struggle to the delicate connection between sport and politics. The color inset at the end of the book contains pictures about many memorable occasions.

Why did I write this book? Because of an inner drive, because I could not overcome my doubts, I was seeking answers to countless questions. Maybe this will be another needed drop in the bucket, which can help to reverse the spreading moral decline that is quite alarming, since our children and grandchildren are growing up in that environment.

As I review the events systematically, I might get closer to the ‘solution’. Our life is like a coordinate system. As the years fly by, we come nearer to the ‘axis’, but never can come to a rest. I wrote my book under difficult circumstances, since the majority of the work was completed in Austin, while most of the information resources – newspapers, magazines, albums, - happened to be in Hungary. While writing, I recalled the witty quote from Mark Twain: “When I was younger I could remember anything, whether it happened or not; but I am getting old, and soon I shell remember only the latter.” However, my book is based on my intense correspondence, therefore my adventures are not dim memories, but revived, fresh experiences.

Maria Ivanka

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