Unknown Fischer photos posted on YouTube

In the week that YouTube let the world know about their new milestone of 1 billion views per day, we discovered several videos posted on the site which are of considerable historical value to the chess world. The videos contain unknown photos of Bobby Fischer visiting Japan and the Philippines in 1967 and 1973.

Fischer defeated Spassky in their Match of the Century in Reykjavik in 1972, but then the American didn't play an official game for twenty years. After unsuccessful negotiations with Karpov and FIDE he lost his title by default in 1975, and soon completely disappeared from the chess world, until the famous 1992 rematch against Spassky in Sveti Stefan. In 1973 the 11th World Champion paid a visit to Japan and the Philippines and as we read on both the Spanish and German versions of Chessbase, photos from Fischer's travels to Asia have appeared on YouTube.

As it turns out the user nirocal posted these videos already in June of this year. Besides, there are two more videos, one about Fischer visiting the Philippines already in 1967 and one in which the America legend meets a number of Heads of State in a South-American country (we assume it's in the province of Entre Rios in Argentina).

At the start of the first video it is suggested that the photos are part of Fischer's belongings which were stored in Pasadena for decades, before they were eventually auctioned on June 10, 2009 and purchased by Rex and Jeanne Sinquefield. Therefore it is well possible that the Sinquefields didn't obtain the full contents of the Pasadena container, and that more photos and / or other Fischer material will show up.

Below the four YouTube videos are embedded, including the information given by the uploader.

Bobby Fischer visit to the Philippines in 1967 for "Beat Bobby Fischer" chess matches

"Photos of Bobby Fischer's first visit to the Philippines in 1967. This album was a gift from the sponsor of the tournament (Meralco) to Bobby Fischer, and was part of his estate that he left behind in Pasadena when he left the country. His only official visit to another country after becoming world champion in 1972 was the Philippines in 1973, and that was because of this 1967 prior visit where he was treated like a world champion even before he became one. This is according to an article titled "A Month in Manila with Bobby Fischer" by Casto Abundo."


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Bobby Fischer Meeting with South American? Heads of State

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Bobby Fischer's Visit to the Philippines 1973 with President Ferdinand Marcos

"Photos of Bobby Fischer's visit to the Philippines in 1973, hosted by President Ferdinand Marcos, to open the International Chess Tournament. These came from albums that were a personal gift from Marcos himself to Fischer to commemorate his trip. Fischer abandoned a storage unit in Pasadena when he fled the United States, and these albums were part of his belongings left behind. Many of his chess memorabilia were in that storage and ended up in a local flea market in LA."


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Bobby Fischer's Visit to the Philippines, Tokyo, Hong Kong 1973

"These are the last of the photos I have of Bobby Fischer. He opened the first Philippines International Chess Tournament in Manila in October 1973. There are pictures of him visiting Corregidor and the provinces. He then went to Tokyo and Hong Kong.The last picture is of Bobby in Pasadena dated 4/19/1974, taken by Svetozar "Gliga" Gligoric, Yugoslav Grandmaster, a longtime friend of Bobby's."


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