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A Prodigy’s Progress – Bobby Fischer
IM John Donaldson gave this lecture at The World Chess Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 9, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryXC25T6U0U
A few jottings while watching the video:
It concerns the formative years of the World Champion when from December 1956 to the summer of 1958, Fischer went from being a master to a world-class grandmaster.
Early influences like Max Pavey, Carmen Nigro, Herman Helms and John Collins were mentioned.
The most eccentric chess organizer of all time is E. Forry Laucks. He organized long distance chess vagabond travelcades like Long Beach to Alaska. Bobby went on one from New York to Havana. Laucks liked driving while talking to his passengers face-to-face. This resulted in many traffic accidents.
Bobby’s de facto home from 1956-1958 was that of Jack Collins at 91 Lenox Road in Brooklyn. Collins had a huge chess library he made available to others. Strong players visited. Bobby was learning chess almost by just breathing the air there.
William Lombardy played Fischer at the Collins home at the Hawthorne Chess Club on Lenox Road.
John shows a photo of Fischer playing Samuel Skaroff in the 1956 U.S. Amateur Championship at Asbury Park, New Jersey. Judy Winters, who is also pictured, was the daughter of chess player Sig Haucks. According to her, she and Bobby were childhood sweethearts.
The Chess and Checker House in Central Park, located near the Manhattan Chess Club (100 Central Park West). Fischer first visited there in the summer of 1955.
A picture of the Max Euwe-Bobby Fischer match during the spring of 1957 is shown. Dr. Euwe was too much for Bobby to handle at that point.
In the summer of 1957 Bobby did a lot of travelling – like flying alone to the U.S. Junior at San Francisco.
Fischer’s real break-through was in Cleveland at the Manger Hotel. He tied for first with Arthur Bisguier. After his victory at the 1957 U.S. Open was followed by a win over Rodolfo Cardoso in a match sponsored by Pepsi Cola.
Bobby just missed playing in Dallas 1957 because his results weren’t quite high enough.
In the first half of 1958 he didn’t play. He was involved in school and wrote a book of his games from January through May of 1958.
The Marshall Chess Club was shown. It got money from memberships but also by renting out six apartments above the club – one rents now for $6000 a month!
Larry Evans was shown. He was a friend of Fischer. Bobby first got to know him on the ride from Montreal to New York after the 1956 Canadian Open.
During the hiatus mentioned above he played a matches with Collins and Saidy. The USCF was dirt poor in those days. Bobby appeared on an episode of I’ve Got a Secret. The episode aired on March 26, 1958.
He went to the Moscow Central Chess Club in the summer of 1958. He wanted to play Botvinnik at blitz but Botvinnik declined. Bobby beat everyone like a drum until they sent in Petrosian, who shut him down.
80 East 11th Street is the subject of another photo. It was the home of the United States Chess Federation in the late 1950s and early 1960s and Albrecht Buschke’s bookstore. There Bobby could browse through foreign chess literature. Buschke escaped Nazi Germany in the 1930s. He brought many rare books from centuries past that kept his family in money in the times after.
Raymond Weinstein, a cousin of Arthur Bisguier is shown as well as Bernard Zuckerman, both friends of Bobby. The latter knew a lot of opening theory and was called Zuck the Book.
Bobby’s bête-noire was Sammy Reshevsky. They had much in common though. When Bobby made his list of the top ten players, Sammy was right there.
The popular perception of Bobby’s mother is that she was a raving loony. She was a bright person, mastered seven languages. She went to the Soviet Union in the 1930s. She left in 1938 and that was not easy. Years later in 1960-1 she marched in the San Francisco-Moscow Walk for Peace.
She was 49 and was taken along because she spoke German and Russian. The walk went via England to Moscow. She ended having tea with Mrs. Kruschev.
She decided to start medical studies in East Germany in 1961. Later she went to Panama and Nicaragua.
The final picture is from the Fischer-Reshevsky Match of 1961. The score was 5.5-5.5 Bobby benefited from that match. The only serious match experience he had before the Candidates.
An interesting question period followed.
IM John Donaldson gave this lecture at The World Chess Hall of Fame on Thursday, April 9, 2015.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ryXC25T6U0U
A few jottings while watching the video:
It concerns the formative years of the World Champion when from December 1956 to the summer of 1958, Fischer went from being a master to a world-class grandmaster.
Early influences like Max Pavey, Carmen Nigro, Herman Helms and John Collins were mentioned.
The most eccentric chess organizer of all time is E. Forry Laucks. He organized long distance chess vagabond travelcades like Long Beach to Alaska. Bobby went on one from New York to Havana. Laucks liked driving while talking to his passengers face-to-face. This resulted in many traffic accidents.
Bobby’s de facto home from 1956-1958 was that of Jack Collins at 91 Lenox Road in Brooklyn. Collins had a huge chess library he made available to others. Strong players visited. Bobby was learning chess almost by just breathing the air there.
William Lombardy played Fischer at the Collins home at the Hawthorne Chess Club on Lenox Road.
John shows a photo of Fischer playing Samuel Skaroff in the 1956 U.S. Amateur Championship at Asbury Park, New Jersey. Judy Winters, who is also pictured, was the daughter of chess player Sig Haucks. According to her, she and Bobby were childhood sweethearts.
The Chess and Checker House in Central Park, located near the Manhattan Chess Club (100 Central Park West). Fischer first visited there in the summer of 1955.
A picture of the Max Euwe-Bobby Fischer match during the spring of 1957 is shown. Dr. Euwe was too much for Bobby to handle at that point.
In the summer of 1957 Bobby did a lot of travelling – like flying alone to the U.S. Junior at San Francisco.
Fischer’s real break-through was in Cleveland at the Manger Hotel. He tied for first with Arthur Bisguier. After his victory at the 1957 U.S. Open was followed by a win over Rodolfo Cardoso in a match sponsored by Pepsi Cola.
Bobby just missed playing in Dallas 1957 because his results weren’t quite high enough.
In the first half of 1958 he didn’t play. He was involved in school and wrote a book of his games from January through May of 1958.
The Marshall Chess Club was shown. It got money from memberships but also by renting out six apartments above the club – one rents now for $6000 a month!
Larry Evans was shown. He was a friend of Fischer. Bobby first got to know him on the ride from Montreal to New York after the 1956 Canadian Open.
During the hiatus mentioned above he played a matches with Collins and Saidy. The USCF was dirt poor in those days. Bobby appeared on an episode of I’ve Got a Secret. The episode aired on March 26, 1958.
He went to the Moscow Central Chess Club in the summer of 1958. He wanted to play Botvinnik at blitz but Botvinnik declined. Bobby beat everyone like a drum until they sent in Petrosian, who shut him down.
80 East 11th Street is the subject of another photo. It was the home of the United States Chess Federation in the late 1950s and early 1960s and Albrecht Buschke’s bookstore. There Bobby could browse through foreign chess literature. Buschke escaped Nazi Germany in the 1930s. He brought many rare books from centuries past that kept his family in money in the times after.
Raymond Weinstein, a cousin of Arthur Bisguier is shown as well as Bernard Zuckerman, both friends of Bobby. The latter knew a lot of opening theory and was called Zuck the Book.
Bobby’s bête-noire was Sammy Reshevsky. They had much in common though. When Bobby made his list of the top ten players, Sammy was right there.
The popular perception of Bobby’s mother is that she was a raving loony. She was a bright person, mastered seven languages. She went to the Soviet Union in the 1930s. She left in 1938 and that was not easy. Years later in 1960-1 she marched in the San Francisco-Moscow Walk for Peace.
She was 49 and was taken along because she spoke German and Russian. The walk went via England to Moscow. She ended having tea with Mrs. Kruschev.
She decided to start medical studies in East Germany in 1961. Later she went to Panama and Nicaragua.
The final picture is from the Fischer-Reshevsky Match of 1961. The score was 5.5-5.5 Bobby benefited from that match. The only serious match experience he had before the Candidates.
An interesting question period followed.