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The Elman/Fischer Connection
Somewhere in this pile of papers I call my den are the notes on Dan Elman’s trip to Montreal in February 1964, when he was asked to fetch Bobby Fischer from the airport.
It all started when the sole chess clock was stolen from the Saint John Chess Club. Dan phoned Al Horowitz of New York asking about clocks. Horowitz said he was shipping some to Moe Moss, chess editor of the Montreal Star. If Dan was willing to drive to Montreal, then Moe could fix him up. Dan had relatives in Montreal he hadn’t visited in awhile, so it worked out fine.
When Dan arrived in Montreal, Moe asked Dan if he could pick up the young American champ from the airport who was in town for a simul and drive him to his hotel. Apparently no one else with a car was available.
The American Chess Review had just run a piece on the Maritime chess conquests of 12 year old Paul Selick. Fischer was delighted to meet one of Paul’s mentors. The other mentor was Dan’s father Maurice. Naturally, on the drive to the hotel, Bobby wanted to know everything that Dan could tell him about young Selick, especially how good of a chess player he was.
At the hotel Bobby and Dan continued to talk chess, then Bobby set up a complicated position he was working on and asked Dan’s opinion of it. Dan could not crack it. Later at the simul Dan sat down to play, but he left the room for a moment and another player took his seat. As Fischer rounded the room he saw Dan standing and motioned for him to take a seat, but Dan made a ‘that’s okay’ gesture and Fischer continued on.
When Dan returned to Saint John he made a point of impressing upon the players at the club the importance of being well dressed for a tournament, to take it seriously, like the American champion did. Even when Fisher started to unravel, so strong were the impressions from that early meeting that Dan would jump to his defence: He wasn’t like that then; he was a polite and reasonable young man who loved chess; you could talk to him.
At least that is the way Fischer acted around Dan.
(Notes for self: What simul – or both – did Dan attend? Find out what clocks – made where? – were used at the Montreal simul. Were any of these same taken to Saint John? Nice to find a clock or a picture. What was Moe Moss like? Need anecdotes – they make the story. Has Dan read or have a copy of Moe Moss’s book Blunders and Brilliancies? Apparently only game to survive the clock simul a Two Knight’s Fritz, Fisher vs. Allan. Big write-up in The Unknown Fischer. Must read section. What other players were present? How much money was $15.00 – the cost to play – in 1964? Also, what were weather/driving conditions like during those few days? Did Dan travel alone? Must re-confirm everything.)
Somewhere in this pile of papers I call my den are the notes on Dan Elman’s trip to Montreal in February 1964, when he was asked to fetch Bobby Fischer from the airport.
It all started when the sole chess clock was stolen from the Saint John Chess Club. Dan phoned Al Horowitz of New York asking about clocks. Horowitz said he was shipping some to Moe Moss, chess editor of the Montreal Star. If Dan was willing to drive to Montreal, then Moe could fix him up. Dan had relatives in Montreal he hadn’t visited in awhile, so it worked out fine.
When Dan arrived in Montreal, Moe asked Dan if he could pick up the young American champ from the airport who was in town for a simul and drive him to his hotel. Apparently no one else with a car was available.
The American Chess Review had just run a piece on the Maritime chess conquests of 12 year old Paul Selick. Fischer was delighted to meet one of Paul’s mentors. The other mentor was Dan’s father Maurice. Naturally, on the drive to the hotel, Bobby wanted to know everything that Dan could tell him about young Selick, especially how good of a chess player he was.
At the hotel Bobby and Dan continued to talk chess, then Bobby set up a complicated position he was working on and asked Dan’s opinion of it. Dan could not crack it. Later at the simul Dan sat down to play, but he left the room for a moment and another player took his seat. As Fischer rounded the room he saw Dan standing and motioned for him to take a seat, but Dan made a ‘that’s okay’ gesture and Fischer continued on.
When Dan returned to Saint John he made a point of impressing upon the players at the club the importance of being well dressed for a tournament, to take it seriously, like the American champion did. Even when Fisher started to unravel, so strong were the impressions from that early meeting that Dan would jump to his defence: He wasn’t like that then; he was a polite and reasonable young man who loved chess; you could talk to him.
At least that is the way Fischer acted around Dan.
(Notes for self: What simul – or both – did Dan attend? Find out what clocks – made where? – were used at the Montreal simul. Were any of these same taken to Saint John? Nice to find a clock or a picture. What was Moe Moss like? Need anecdotes – they make the story. Has Dan read or have a copy of Moe Moss’s book Blunders and Brilliancies? Apparently only game to survive the clock simul a Two Knight’s Fritz, Fisher vs. Allan. Big write-up in The Unknown Fischer. Must read section. What other players were present? How much money was $15.00 – the cost to play – in 1964? Also, what were weather/driving conditions like during those few days? Did Dan travel alone? Must re-confirm everything.)
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