JAN-OLAV BERGLUND
(Photo by Bessie Rave)
GETTING TO NOW MR. JAN BERGLUND
PALAU CHESS Federation Secretary/Treasurer Roberto Hernandez got an email from Mr. Jan-Olav Berglund on September 27, 2007 stating: "Dear Roberto, Please tell me some brief information about chess in Palau. I found your email address at one of World Chess Federation (FIDE) web pages. Jan berglund_jan@hotmail.com
That's the start of regular communications between the two chess journalists by emails and long distance phone calls.
With his second email in October 5, 2007, Hernandez sent him a copy of his email about his lost wallet during the 2nd Palau Invitational Chess Championship.
He replied: "I'm sorry for the sake of your wallet. Have you gotten it back? Does it mean that you have a fair amount of crimes on the islands? I am curious to know as me and my wife have some plans to visit Palau for a longer period of time in the near future. Both of us hate crimes. As I am a chess player/trainer/organizer/author/etc. I am curious to know if there are some chess activities for us when coming around.
Mr. Berglund was born in Sweden on Nov. 10, 1946 but have resided for quite some time in the US. He has US Green card but not a US citizen.
He has a license as a US Commercial Pilot Land Sea Single and Multi Engine. He also carry an FAA Ground Instructor license and have of couple of university degree in language and mathematics.
He had been working as a firefighter/paramedic when in Europe as well as a journalist. He is a member of US Chess Federation and also a member of FIDE Computer and Internet Chess Committee. Everyone can check http://fide.com/official/officials.asp?f=26
Earlier he had been a member of other FIDE committee like Rules Commission. He had been for many years an International Arbiter, International Tournament Organizer, an International Chess Coach and several times team captain at Chess Olympics.
He offered to captain the Palau Team to the 2008 Dresden, Germany Chess Olympiad for free as he believe he can contribute some to Palau's chess community while being or away from the island.
He is also playing chess but gave up his own career pretty early to help others. He also had a private chess library of 16,000 volumes. The Asian Chess Federation President Sheikh Sultan Bin Khalifa Al-Nehyan is interested in his private library and negotiations are currently going on.
The Oceania Zone President Mr. Gary Bekker of Australia have no place to put Mr. Berglunds chess library (almost complete in English, German, and Swedish literature up to 1980) plus various chess items from all over, which could make up a fairly collection to display in a combined chess library/museum.
In his New Year email to Hernandez dated Dec. 30, 2007, he said he is right now very busy around the clock being an arbiter at the Hastings Chess Congress in England. That is the oldest, still running, annual chess congress in the world. It goes on for another week. See http://hastingschess.org.uk/congress%20history.htm
That year, the congress especially commemorates chess organizers who have dedicated their lives to chess and who passed away during the last years.
That is why he wanted to volunteer to be an arbiter at this very event. He also played there himself once upon a time. It was in the 1979-1980 event.
THE SECOND PART OF MR. BERGLUND'S CHESS LIFE WILL BE PUBLISHED NEXT ISSUE.
Source: Chessmate by Roberto Hernandez
Tia Belau Newspaper
January 05-11, 2009
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