I'm writing a seminar paper on chess history in the 60's. Any resource to recommend?

Hi there!

I'm a history major taking my final class, The Global Sixties, at the University of Oklahoma. The class is basically just one big paper, and I'm writing mine on the history of chess during the 1960's, and how it coincides with the intellectual rivalry of the United States and the USSR in areas like the space race, technological advancements, and so on.

I've found that most historical scholarship regarding the history of chess during the Cold War mostly focuses around the iconic championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972. This paper intends to conclude with that event, however, I am looking specifically for sources regarding the sixties era (but of course, things in the late fifties or early seventies are welcome, to help me build a background and conclusion).

I have already found the digital archive of Chess Life magazine, which has been a wondrous help. Do you all have any recommendations of chess history during the sixties to broaden my resource pool? This can be primary sources (newspapers from the period, interviews with eyewitnesses, ect.) or secondary sources (people who write about it afterwards). If possible, also link where I can access this source. Thanks!

That's the plan! The paper will be centered around the Russian dominance in the early sixties coinciding with their intellectual dominance elsewhere, such as the space race. Then, as it progresses, the rise of America challenging the USSR in the technological sphere, culminating in the moon landing, will follow with the rise of Bobby Fischer's dominance in the late sixties and end with his win against Spassky in 72.

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Hey Igor! Do you know the author? Thanks!

Thanks for the help! I'll give'em a look!

Be sure to research Igor Vasilievich Ivanov - a fixture (and winner) in The American  Chess Grand Prix tours of the 80’s and later. Of a later period but he combines both countries , highly intelligent with unique abilities. Perhaps he could  be tied in by a mention.

Igor Vasilievich Ivanov was born in Leningrad, USSR. In 1980, after playing in Cuba as part of the Soviet team, he made his wild dash to freedom from the KGB in Canada during a refueling stop in Gander, Newfoundland. 

7th World Student Team Chess Championship, Leningrad 1960

I sent you a private message about your paper. 

With all due respect, you need the proper outline and focus to succeed.  You chose a great topic, and now you need to narrow the scope a little bit because there is a lot of information.  So, keeping the proper focus will be crucial.   

The best way to do this to make a research question (you can have up to 3 questions) and then go find the answers.  Along the way, you will be telling the story about the 1960´s Cold War as the backdrop for a championship chess game that changed the course of history.  That is the winning formula for a good paper. 

Because I enjoyed writing and doing research, I managed to ace all my university history courses and one of my term papers won a scholarship, which helped pay my tuition.   It's probably because my mom was an English teacher.  She loved literature and I grew up in a household where speaking and writing proper English was mandatory.  My mother was a good writer and somehow, a little bit of her stardust landed on my shoulders.

The only reason I'm willing to help is because I've been social distancing since JANUARY, so my "social life" is going to the grocery store, and the rest of my time is spent doing some remote consulting and surfing the web during coffee breaks.   So, I have time right now to help you write a great paper. 

Years ago, someone helped me once when I was in school and I felt stuck trying to finish a project.  So now, it's my turn to help someone. 

We can discuss your ideas here on the forum.  I also sent you a private message if you want keep it confidential. 

You're in Oklahoma?  My brother went to school in Texas.  I've never been out west - only seen the Grand Canyon from an airplane flying to Cali on a business trip!

By the way, your primary source materials should be the academic databases.  As a university student, you should have access.  If you don't, I have access through DeepDyne.

The magazine collection you have is a wonderful primary source material.  But to write an academic paper - especially if your grade for the class is dependent on it - you need to have references that also include peer-reviewed studies.

Finally, the outline of your paper is crucial.  We can discuss this more when you reply to my post here or the message I sent to you.

@TPFRecoil -

You don't need peer-reviewed studies.  You're doing it for a grade.  Your teacher is your reviewer.  No need to deal with ElMisti - he probably just wants your money.

An outline makes or breaks - is crucial as previously written. Academics start and finish by well planned ones before the details are filled. Too broad / too specific makes for mediocrity. The scope imo is vague- especially for the general public- just what is the relationship of the Cold War and chess anyway? A premise that one existed is likely rejected in the 1st place as simply made up propaganda and not taken seriously - where as “duck and cover” was very real. It will be a hard sell - the idea that chess played a real role in a “intellectual race.” Isn’t the notion nothing more than a political one? It’s fascination makes  for good drama - perhaps appreciated by chess players only. 
So - my point is the proper foundations need making otherwise the entire project can easily appear as an assumption. Historical accuracy not particularly relevant.

Intellect and chess has long been debated. Is the paper just another attempt to prove one exists? 
My suggestion is to greatly narrow it’s scope. Select a few specific examples as being representative of the bigger picture. Leave room for the readers to draw their own conclusions. Neither side “won” the race - or did they? Wasn’t the idea of a ”race” existing forced on us by the politicians?  How many of us were believers - except to know it’s real nature $$

Ivanov’s play was later. However- he was born and raised in Russia before the time period. Know of any other chess player who defected? He was somewhat a prodigy- a Master Pianist besides his Chess. It is said he was the best player ever - to never be awarded the GM title. Surely it was a forgone conclusion- but  for his health getting in the way. I knew him on a casual basis for many years. A true gentleman and sportsman. We played many a game in his later years. He had an eidetic memory - could recall every move of every serious game he played. Yea ... to bad his chess was of a later time period - his story would have been a nice fit.

Hey guys! Thanks for the help!

I already have an outline for my paper, my research question, and all that! I'm just specifically looking for resources. Thank you for the extra support though!

Hey Long_Quach!

I haven't written the paper yet, and therefore I don't have the grade! But, I'll be sure to post it when it's finished come this December!

You mentioned "Chess Life." I'm assuming you also know about "Chess Review."
Daniel Johnson's "White King and Red Queen" is an excellent resource.  There's also "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" by David Edmonds and ‎John Eidinow and "The KGB Plays Chess" credited to Boris Gilko, Yuri Felshtinsky,  ‎Vladimir Popov and Viktor Korchnoi. 

Personally, I don't see the US and the USSR using chess as a Cold War weapon during the 1960s.  After WWII when American and the Soviet Union became political enemies, chess was actually used, at least on the American side, as a hopeful bridge between the two nations.  There was a friendly or at least civil rapport between chess players from both sides.  Although Fischer, starting in the early 1960s had a personal beef against the Soviet chess machine, in the USA chess was a flyspeck politically....no one, other than those intently involved in the game, cared about about chess, let alone thought to weaponize it. If anything, the government, who kept a dossier on Fischer, did more to repress chess than support it.  It wasn't until the 1970s that Fischer's potential as a Soviet slayer came into the government's crosshairs and they tried to use him as a political pawn. Unable to use Fischer himself, they still used his success. 

It might be interesting to note that as late as Sept. 1968 the USSR  saw Fischer as a potential risk, but still a low risk.  Here's an article from "Soviet Life" (a rather charming periodical) by Kotov. 

("Soviet Life" Sept. 1968, p.27)
TWENTY YEARS ON THE CHESS THRONE

By GRANDMASTER ALEXANDER KOTOV

  The finest Chess minds of my country long dreamed of the world crown belonging to Russia.
  Efforts to ascend the throne were made in the last century by Mikhail Chigorin, but they failed. Only in Soviet times did our Grandmasters make this dream come true.
  When Alexander Alekhine, the greatest chess genius of our time, suddenly died n poverty in Estoril, a fashionable resort just outside Lisbon, in 1946, the chess world remained without a sovereign for he first time in 60 years.
  A five-man tournament was arranged to find the successor to Alekhine.
  The five best aspirants—Mikhail Botinnik, Vasili Smyslov, Paul Keres, Max Euwe and Samuel Reshevsky—got down to business in the spring of 1948. 
  One part of this titanic battle took place in the Hague, the other in Moscow. The streets of Moscow saw scenes of great jubilation on May 9, 1948, to mark he third anniversary of VE-Day.
  That day chess fans in the Hall of Columns of the Trade Union House saw Botvinnik move his QKt Pawn, after which he and his opponent agreed to a drawn game and the chief umpire Milan Vidmar, prolaimed Botvinnik the new world chess king.
  Twenty years have passed since our Soviet fellow-countryman made our dream reality.
  Immediately after his victory, Botvinnik proposed that the world champion defend is title every three years.
  He retained the crown for nine years and then relinquished it to Smyslov, who returned it to him in a title match a year later.
  Smyslov's feat was repeated in 1961 by that Chess wizard Mikhail Tahl, who also surrendered the throne to the original Soviet holder.
Botvinnik was beaten for the third time in 1963 by yet another fellow countryman, Tigran Petrosyan.
  Unfortunately for Botvinnik, the rule of the return matches was annulled by this time, so Petrosyan has remained on the throne for the last five years and has no intention of relinquishing his seat.
  Naturally all of us in the USSR are proud that world chess honors have been held by our countrymen for the last 20 years.
  Although formidable foreign opposition is looming up in Robert Fischer, Bent Larsen and others, Soviet fans feel confident that this pressure will be rebuffed on the far approaches to the throne by their chess stars—Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tahl, Victor Korchnoi and Efim Geller.