Fischer's First Rated Tournament
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billwall on Fri, 03/14/2008 at 1:31pm.
Bobby Fischer played in his first rated tournament in May, 1955. He was 12 years old at the time (born in March, 1943). Carmine Nigro, President of the Brooklyn Chess Club took Bobby up to the 5th Amateur U.S. Championship (the last Amateur US Championship was held in 1945), held at Lake Mohegan in New York state. The event was restircted to players rated 2300 and below. In those days, a US master's rating was 2300 and above. Fischer only wanted to watch the tournament (he had lost his nerve about playing in the event just before the first round), but Nigro persuaded Fischer to play. The tournament was held on May 20-22 during the Memorial Day weekend. It was a 6 round Swiss-system event. Time control was 50 moves in 2 hours. Entry fee was $5 and rooms were $3 a night. When it was over, Fischer scored 2 wins, 3 losses, and a draw (tied for 33rd place). Fischer's first USCF rating from this event was 1826. The winner of the 75-player event was Clinton Parmelee, a fireman from Newark, New Jersey. He had beaten Shelby Lyman in the last round for a 5.5-0.5 score. 2nd place, on tiebreak, went to Russell Chauvenet with a 5-1 score. Other 5-1 scores included Harry Lyman, Roy Black, and Victor Guala who won the Class A trophy. Other players in the event included Florencio Campomanes (former FIDE president), Louis Persinger (the violinist), George Kramer, Erich Marchland, and Kathryn Slater, who won the women's prize. The Class B prize went to Eugene Salome. The 75 players came from 11 states. Fischer's only known game from this event was the drawn game with Albert Humphrey of Massachusetts. His rating at the time was 1780. Here is this game, a King's Indian Defense. Fischer had a slight edge in the final position, but took the draw, not wishing to play it out. Today, it would probably be an easy win for any master.
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