Who was Bobby Fischer?
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11–0 score, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6–0 scores. After winning another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.
In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, chess's international governing body, over the match conditions. Consequently, the Soviet challenger Anatoly Karpov was named World Champion by default. Fischer subsequently disappeared from the public eye, though occasional reports of erratic behavior emerged. In 1992, he reemerged to win an unofficial rematch against Spassky. It was held in Yugoslavia, which at the time was under an embargo of the United Nations. His participation led to a conflict with the US federal government, which warned Fischer that his participation in the match would violate an executive order imposing US sanctions on Yugoslavia. The US government ultimately issued a warrant for his arrest; subsequently, Fischer lived as an émigré. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan and held for several months for using a passport that the US government had revoked. Eventually, he was granted Icelandic citizenship by a special act of the Althing, allowing him to live there until his death in 2008. During his life, Fischer made numerous antisemitic statements, including Holocaust denial, despite his Jewish ancestry. His antisemitism was a major theme in his public and private remarks, and there has been speculation concerning his psychological condition based on his extreme views and eccentric behavior.
Fischer made many lasting contributions to chess. His book My 60 Memorable Games, published in 1969, is regarded as essential reading in chess literature. In the 1990s, he patented a modified chess timing system that added a time increment after each move, now a standard practice in top tournament and match play. He also invented Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960, a chess variant in which the initial position of the pieces is randomized to one of 960 possible positions.
Early life
Bobby Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on March 9, 1943.[2] His mother, Regina Wender Fischer, was a US citizen,[3][4] born in Switzerland; her parents were Polish Jews.[5][6] Raised in St. Louis, Missouri,[2] Regina became a teacher, a registered nurse, and later a physician.[7]
After graduating from college in her teens, Regina traveled to Germany to visit her brother. It was there she met geneticist and future Nobel Prize winner Hermann Joseph Muller, who persuaded her to move to Moscow to study medicine. She enrolled at First Moscow State Medical University, where she met Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, also known as Gerardo Liebscher,[8] a German biophysicist, whom she married in November 1933.[9] In 1938, Hans-Gerhardt and Regina had a daughter, Joan Fischer. The reemergence of antisemitism under Stalin prompted Regina to go with Joan to Paris, where Regina became an English teacher. The threat of a German invasion led her and Joan to go to the United States in 1939. Regina and Hans-Gerhardt had already separated in Moscow, although they did not officially divorce until 1945.[9]
At the time of her son's birth, Regina was homeless.[10] For several years, she took jobs around the country to support her family. She engaged in political activism and raised both Bobby and Joan as a single parent.[11][12][13]
In 1949, Regina moved the family to Manhattan, New York City,[14] and the following year to Brooklyn, where she studied for her master's degree in nursing and subsequently began working in that field.[12]
Paul Neményi as Fischer's father
In 2002, Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer published an investigative report which stated that Bobby Fischer's biological father was actually Paul Neményi.[15][16][13]
Neményi, a Hungarian mathematician and physicist of Jewish heritage, specialized in continuum mechanics. His work applied geometrical solutions to fluid dynamics. He had been a child prodigy and had won the Hungarian national mathematics competition at the age of 17.
Benson and Nicholas continued their work and gathered additional evidence in court records, personal interviews, and a summary of an FBI investigation written by J. Edgar Hoover, which confirmed their earlier conclusions.[13]
Throughout the 1950s, the FBI investigated Regina and her circle due to her supposed communist views and due to her time living in Moscow.[17] FBI files note that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered the United States, while recording that Neményi took a keen interest in Fischer's upbringing.[15][18][19] Not only were Regina and Neményi reported to have had an affair in 1942, but Neményi made monthly child support payments to Regina and paid for Bobby's schooling until Paul Neményi's death in 1952.[20][13]
Chess beginnings
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In March 1949, six-year-old Bobby and his sister Joan learned how to play chess using the instructions from a set bought at a candy store.[21] When Joan lost interest in chess and Regina did not have time to play, Fischer was left to play many of his first games against himself.[22] When the family vacationed at Patchogue, Long Island, New York, that summer, Bobby found a book of old chess games and studied it intensely.[23]
In 1950, the family moved to Brooklyn, first to an apartment at the corner of Union Street and Franklin Avenue and later to a two-bedroom apartment at 560 Lincoln Place.[24] It was there that "Fischer soon became so engrossed in the game that Regina feared he was spending too much time alone."[12] As a result, on November 14, 1950, Regina sent a postcard to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, seeking to place an ad inquiring whether other children of Bobby's age might be interested in playing chess with him. The paper rejected her ad, because no one could figure out how to classify it, but forwarded her inquiry to Hermann Helms, the "Dean of American Chess", who told her that Max Pavey, former Scottish champion, would be giving a simultaneous exhibition on January 17, 1951.[25][26] Fischer played in the exhibition, and although he held on for 15 minutes, drawing a crowd of onlookers, he eventually lost to Pavey.[27]
One of the spectators was Brooklyn Chess Club President[28] Carmine Nigro, an American chess expert of near master strength and an instructor.[29] Nigro was so impressed with Fischer's play[28] that he introduced him to the club and began teaching him.[30][31][32] Fischer noted of his time with Nigro: "Mr. Nigro was possibly not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher. Meeting him was probably a decisive factor in my going ahead with chess."[33]
Nigro hosted Fischer's first chess tournament at his home in 1952.[34] In the summer of 1955, Fischer, then 12 years old, joined the Manhattan Chess Club.[35][36] Fischer's relationship with Nigro lasted until 1956, when Nigro moved away.[37][38]
The Hawthorne Chess Club
In June 1956, Fischer began attending the Hawthorne Chess Club, based in master John "Jack" W. Collins's home.[39] Collins taught chess to children, and has been described as Fischer's teacher,[40][41] but Collins himself suggested that he did not actually teach Fischer,[42] and the relationship might be more accurately described as one of mentorship.[43]
Fischer played thousands of blitz and offhand games with Collins and other strong players, studied the books in Collins's large chess library, and ate almost as many dinners at Collins's home as his own.[44][45][46]
Young champion
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In March 1956, the Log Cabin Chess Club of West Orange, New Jersey (based in the home of the club's eccentric multi-millionaire founder and patron Elliott Forry Laucks), took Fischer on a tour to Cuba, where he gave a 12-board simultaneous exhibition at Havana's Capablanca Chess Club, winning ten games and drawing two.[47][48] On this tour the club played a series of matches against other clubs. Fischer played second board, behind International Master Norman Whitaker. Whitaker and Fischer were the club's leading scorers, each scoring 5½ points out of 7 games.[49]
Fischer experienced a "meteoric rise" in his playing strength during 1956.[50] Fischer's first real tournament success occurred in July 1956, when he won the US Junior Chess Championship in Philadelphia. He scored 8½/10 to become the youngest-ever Junior Champion at age 13,[51][52] a record that still stands. At the 1956 US Open Chess Championship in Oklahoma City, he scored 8½/12 to tie for 4th–8th places, with Arthur Bisguier winning.[53] In the first Canadian Open Chess Championship at Montreal 1956, he scored 7/10 to tie for 8th–12th places, with Larry Evans winning.[54] In November, Fischer played in the 1956 Eastern States Open Championship in Washington, D.C., tying for second with William Lombardy, Nicholas Rossolimo, and Arthur Feuerstein, with Hans Berliner taking first by a half-point.[55]
Fischer accepted an invitation to play in the Third Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy Tournament in New York City in October 1956, a premier tournament limited to the 12 players considered the best in the US.[56] Playing against top opposition, the 13-year-old Fischer could only score 4½/11, tying for 8th–9th place.[57] Yet he won the brilliancy prize[58] for his game against International Master Donald Byrne,[56] in which Fischer sacrificed his queen to unleash an unstoppable attack. Hans Kmoch called it "The Game of the Century",[59][60] and the game is still widely published and analyzed.[61][62]
In 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former world champion Max Euwe at New York, losing ½–1½.[63][64][65] When the US Chess Federation published its rating list in May, Fischer had the rank of Master, the youngest player to earn that title up to that point.[64] In July, he successfully defended his US Junior title, scoring 8½/9 at San Francisco.[66] In August, he scored 10/12 at the US Open Chess Championship in Cleveland, winning on tie-breaking points over Arthur Bisguier.[67][68] This made Fischer the youngest ever US Open Champion.[69][70] He won the New Jersey Open Championship, scoring 6½/7.[71] He then defeated the young Filipino master Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 6–2 in a New York match sponsored by Pepsi-Cola.[72][73]
Wins first US title
Based on Fischer's rating and strong results, the USCF invited him to play in the 1957/58 US Championship.[74] The tournament included Samuel Reshevsky, the defending US champion Arthur Bisguier, and William Lombardy, who in August had won the World Junior Championship.[75] Bisguier predicted that Fischer would "finish slightly over the center mark".[75] Despite all the predictions to the contrary, Fischer scored eight wins and five draws to win the tournament by a one-point margin, with 10½/13.[76][77] Still two months shy of his 15th birthday, Fischer became the youngest ever US Champion.[78] Since the championship that year was also the US Zonal Championship, Fischer's victory qualified him to participate in the 1958 Portorož Interzonal, the next step toward challenging the World Champion.[72] It also earned him the title of International Master.[79][80]
Grandmaster, candidate, and author
In 1957, Fischer wanted to go to Moscow. At his pleading, "Regina wrote directly to the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, requesting an invitation for Fischer to participate in the 6th World Youth and Student Festival of 1957. The reply—affirmative—came too late for him to go."[81] Regina did not have the money to pay the airfare, but in 1958, Fischer was invited onto the game show I've Got a Secret, where, thanks to Regina's efforts, the producers of the show arranged two round-trip tickets to the Soviet Union, for Bobby and his sister Joan.[82][83]
Fischer was invited by the Soviet Union to Moscow,[84] where Lev Abramov would serve as a guide to Bobby and his sister, Joan.[85] Upon arrival, Fischer immediately demanded that he be taken to the Moscow Central Chess Club,[86] where he played speed chess with two young masters, Evgeni Vasiukov and Alexandr Nikitin, winning every game.[86] Chess author V. I. Linder writes about the impression Fischer gave Vladimir Alatortsev when he played blitz against the Soviet masters:
Fischer demanded to play against Mikhail Botvinnik, the reigning World Champion. When told that this was impossible, Fischer asked to play Paul Keres. Tigran Petrosian was summoned to the club, and played speed games with Fischer, winning the majority.[88] Fischer was disappointed that he could not get more serious games against strong opposition, and his angry remarks appeared in the Russian press.[89] Yugoslavian chess officials offered to take in Fischer and Joan as early guests to the Interzonal. Fischer took them up on the offer, arriving in Yugoslavia to play two short training matches against masters Dragoljub Janošević and Milan Matulović.[90] Fischer drew both games against Janošević and then defeated Matulović in Belgrade by 2½–1½.[91]
At Portorož, Fischer was accompanied by Lombardy.[92][93] The top six finishers in the Interzonal would qualify for the Candidates Tournament.[94] Most observers doubted that a 15-year-old with no international experience could finish among the six qualifiers at the Interzonal, but Fischer told journalist Miro Radoicic: "I can draw with the grandmasters, and there are half-a-dozen patzers in the tournament I reckon to beat."[95][b] Despite some bumps in the road and a problematic start, Fischer succeeded in his plan: after a strong finish, he ended up with 12/20 (+6−2=12) to tie for 5th–6th.[97] Yuri Averbakh observed:
David Bronstein said of Fischer's time in Portorož: "It was interesting for me to observe Fischer, but for a long time I couldn't understand why this 15-year-old boy played chess so well."[99] Fischer became the youngest person ever to qualify for the Candidates and the youngest-ever grandmaster at the time, aged 15 years, 6 months, 1 day.[c]
Before the Candidates' Tournament, Fischer won the 1958/59 US Championship (scoring 8½/11).[101] He tied for third (with Borislav Ivkov) in Mar del Plata (scoring 10/14), a half-point behind Luděk Pachman and Miguel Najdorf.[102] He tied for 4th–6th at Santiago (scoring 7½/12) behind Ivkov, Pachman, and Herman Pilnik.[103][104] At the Zürich International Tournament, spring 1959, Fischer finished a point behind Mikhail Tal and a half-point behind Svetozar Gligorić.[105][106][107]
Although Fischer had ended his formal education at age 16, dropping out of Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, he subsequently taught himself several foreign languages, including Russian, so he could read foreign chess periodicals.[108][109][110] According to Alexander Koblencs, even he and Tal could not match the commitment that Fischer had made to chess. Recalling a conversation from the tournament:
Until late 1959, Fischer "had dressed atrociously for a champion, appearing at the most august and distinguished national and international events in sweaters and corduroys".[112] Now, encouraged by Pal Benko to dress more smartly, Fischer "began buying suits from all over the world, hand-tailored and made to order".[113] He told the journalist Ralph Ginzburg that he had 17 hand-tailored suits and that all of his shirts and shoes were handmade.[114]
At the age of 16, Fischer finished equal fifth out of eight at the 1959 Candidates Tournament in Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia,[115] scoring 12½/28. He was outclassed by tournament winner Tal, who won all four of their individual games.[116] That year, Fischer released his first book of collected games: Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess, published by Simon & Schuster.[117]
Drops out of school
Fischer's interest in chess became more important than schoolwork, to the point that "by the time he reached the fourth grade, he'd been in and out of six schools".[118] In 1952, Regina got Bobby a scholarship (based on his chess talent and "astronomically high IQ") to Brooklyn Community Woodward.[119] Fischer later attended Erasmus Hall High School at the same time as Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.[120][121] In 1959, its student council awarded him a gold medal for his chess achievements.[122][123] The same year, Fischer dropped out of high school when he turned 16, the earliest he could legally do so.[124][125] He later explained to Ralph Ginzburg: "You don't learn anything in school."[126][127]
When Fischer was 16, his mother moved out of their apartment to pursue medical training. Her friend Joan Rodker, who had met Regina when the two were "idealistic communists" living in Moscow in the 1930s, believes that Fischer resented his mother for being mostly absent, a communist activist, and an admirer of the Soviet Union, and that this led to his hatred for the Soviets. In letters to Rodker, Fischer's mother stated her desire to pursue her own "obsession" of training in medicine and wrote that her son would have to live in their Brooklyn apartment without her: "It sounds terrible to leave a 16-year-old to his own devices, but he is probably happier that way".[4] The apartment was on the edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood that had one of the highest homicide and general crime rates in New York City.[128] Despite the alienation from her son, Regina, in 1960, protested the practices of the American Chess Foundation[129] and staged a five-hour protest in front of the White House, urging President Dwight D. Eisenhower to send an American team to that year's chess Olympiad (set for Leipzig, East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain) and to help support the team financially.[16]
