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14—The Sedalia Democrat. Friday. August 31.1973EDITOR S NOTE - Worldchess champion Bobby Fischer returned from Iceland on top of the world — and not only the chess world Offers poured in — television, hooks, appearances. records. Bobby could have made millions. Instead, he went into seclusion and someHis lawyers have been try• *mg to convince him to takesome ot those otter* *aidEvans, who writes a nationallyrhess players worn he mas be hurting his game.syndicated chess column from*hi* home in Reno. Nev1 think he feels that lending his name to something i* beneath hi* dignity He * just has irally lazy about thing* otherthan chess and he * basicallynow ski a longtime chess promoter said Fischer s mistrustof people ha* been known for same timeThe Germans have a wordfor it he sa\s “It's Verfol-#gung-swahnsinn I? mean* prosecution mania' and by that I don't mean to be-little Hobby It's just that chess in thi* country has never beenHis knowledge has reached such a point where he's so far superior to all other players in the world that if someonesprings something new on him. he'll be able to figure out the solution over the board Mavbe there's a reason why he's de-B DAN RERf.ERAssociated Press W riterLOS ANGELES lAPi Hecould he a television star a■suspicious of people he doesn'tknow ‘Fischer's friends know thequickest wav to alienate him is to talk about him to otheraccepted as a normal activity so he * had to tight public opinion Evans said Chess in thiscountry is not a normal thing.voting less time to the* game Evans says that reason isgirls“I understand he's been dating more since he got backfrom Iceland ”One place where Fischer seems always at ease is in Yu-Checking the masterA quizzical Bob Hope watches world chess champion But instead he has chosen to live a life of seclusion andBobby Fischer's reaction to his move, during rehearsalfor the Bob Hope TV special last year. After his victoryover Spassky, Fischer could have become a pop hero.mystery, turning down alltelevision appearances.offers except for a couple of(AP)noted lecturer, a famous author or simply a millionaire it he t hose He could dine with the president, trayel like a king tnd be toasted on every conti-people. especially the press.The driving force in Bobby's life mav be the most mentallynentInstead, world chess champion R-obert J Fischer has chosen to lead a life of seclusionami mvsterv *ince his smash-demanding of all games, but his approach to the rest of hislife is nearly non-cerebralit s a freak thing Bobby did it for intensely personal reasons. Before the World championship match. Bobbv told me:mg victory over Russia's Boris Spassky last summer Fischer. 30. came home fromthat triumph in Iceland with offers of every sort He couldhave become as much a pop hero as Olympic swimmer Mark Spitz Yet Fischer has remained in virtual hiding, turning down all offers except for a couple of television appearancesWhen he returned he lived with friends in nearby Pasa-dena. home of the WorldwideWherever he goes. he carries a transistor radio which blares rock music He walks through city streets at such a pace that friends jog to keep up At 6 feet 1 and 190 pounds, however, he looks like an athlete and approaches chess matches with the rigor of a boxer“ Chess will be very big in this country after I win the title This country doesn’t knowgoslavia. his first choice for the site of last year's title match with Spassky. Chess player andjournalist. Miro Radojcic wrote in 1970:“The truth is that wheneverwhat it's got I'm going to be a superstar.’“Why he has chosen not to accept that superstar statusonly Bobbv knowshe is in Yugoslavia he looks much more relaxed than anywhere else and I think I knowthe reason. He is so popular and loved here that I can’t find“But Bobbv is a con-•*tradiction. What he savs and what he does are very oftena proper comparison.Rader gave more clues as to why Fischer failed to capitalize on his fabulous offers.He swims and runs and bowlstwo different things “Toto stay in shape He plays a vicious game of tennis, darting around the court like a madmanIn his spare time, he goes to the movies and reads newsSome have suggested Fischer's game is in serious trouble because of his seclusion In fact. Sweden's Bent Larsen recently was asked who would be the next world cham-begin with, the Las Vegas offer wasn't exactly a firm $1 million offer,” said theattorney. “They said the offer was for a million but it wouldmagazines occasionallypi onhave turned out less, and Bobby didn't want to agree to anything less than a firm $1 million offer.Church of God a religion hefollows Recently, he has been*living in Denver Most of hisformer triends sav they haven't• *heard from him in months One said Fischer's reluctance“Why . me of course. said“The Warner Brothers offerWhen he studies the game of chess, his mind enters a different realm Fischer's depth ofconcentration is unmatched in chess history , some mastersthe optimistic Larsen“But you'd still have to beat Fischer. said his interviewer, aware that Larsen recently lostdidn’t satisfy Bobby's requirements. He wanted to be able toto accept the money offers is because he * the most principled person 1 knoyv I don't know what mot nates him muchsay. and they admit that probably no man has ever devoteda six-game match to Fischer by a score of t»-0of the time, but I do know he doesn't like his name attachedthe amount of time to all facets of the game as has Bobbv• •to productsAnother, however, savs Bob-Chess is his vocation, hobby , pastime and obsession When he wants to relax, he occasion-“No. 1 don't think 1 will have to play him. said Larsen. “He will not defend his title.” Larsen did not elaboratelook on those records in 20 years and be proud of them. Well, someone else was writing part of the material and also they were rushing them through to meet a Christmas deadline. Bobby thought the project needed more care and attention and so he backed•«bv yvants more than what has been offeredally plays chessChess devotees realized as“If someone *ays they'll give him a million dollars, he thinks there's a lot more available and he wants it all He's very immature in that respect. ' the friend saidearly as 15 years ago. when Fischer won his first U S title at 14. that here was a trueRader said however, that Fischer yvill definitely defend his title and “he'll make at least a million dollars this time.” Ra-chess genius He was unlike all other American players who pursued relatively simple lives and had conventional occupationsder said Fischer made only about $250.(XX) from his victory in Icelandout.Rader said the offers made to Fischer “probably would have produced well in excess of $4 million but generally he was reluctant to get involved in commercial ventures only indirectly related to chess.”Ross Soutenborough. 20. one of America's bright young chess stars, savs this inactivityThey just weren't his game. When he defends his title in1975. all of these problems will have been worked out and he'llThe offers would seem overwhelming:— The Las Vegas Hilton Hotel offered him $1 million to de-Fischer's obvious difference from the others was his fear ofon Fischer's part is not a badsignbe much better prepared to capitalize financially. Rader said.people he didn't know and his desire to satisfy his own.Sure, keeping up with thefend his title there against anyone. his lawyer. Stanley Raderenormous ego George Kolta-lafcst analyses is important for some people but not a Fischer.“But you should rememberthat money has never been hissole or even major pursuit.said— Warner Brothers offered him $1 million to turn out aof records which hadU.N. officialsenesbeen pre-sold. Rader said He estimates it would have cost Fischer about five to 10 hours of his time— A publishing company offered him a small fortune to write a book on his views of the title match.— A television producer wanted him to make a series of chess films which could be marketed throughout the world— An electronics firm want-uman rights progressUNITED NATIONS. N Ylt;APi — Philip E Hoffman describes himself as perhaps a nut on human rights.”A 64-year-old Jew who says he felt the stine of dis-Hoffman. yvho grew up in upper middle class circumstances in New York, savs he ran intory? Isn't it a contradiction to recommend the admission ofprejudice as a student at Dartmouth College.East Germany as a U.N. member without a single voice being raised in the Security Counciled to use a picture of Bobby, holding one of their radios, in its advertising Bobby admits he loves the radio and wouldn'town anv other brand, vet didnot agree to the use of the photo.— An automobile manufac-stingcrimination as a vouth. Hoff-man became prominent in civil rights causes President Nixon named him in August 1972 as the U.S. representative on the U.N. Human Rights Commission. the post once held by Eleanor RooseveltYou cannot have been Jew- about the Berlin Wall?ish in my day without havingsuffered, savs Hoffman, whograduated with a Phi Beta Kappa key in 1929 “I couldn't join any fraternities. At prom time, it wasn't much fun for me toturer offered Bobby $75,000 and a new car if he'd say he droveonlv that car. The offer was de-0clined.After a year in the job. Hoffman sums up his experience as a “combination of fascinationhave my girl up. to have to find a special place for her to sleep because the other girls slept at the fraternity houses. Itsand futility.♦ •awfullychanged Twenty-nine years later my son joined a fraternity that wouldn't have admitted me“I think that more and more — not quickly enough — but more and more, the nations are becoming loath to see themselves looked upon as barbarians in the mirror of international public opinion.” Hoffman responds “I think this definitely has a restraining in-' flue nee.”Larry Evans, an internationalwchess grandmaster and the man who helped Bobby train for the title match, says Bobby s Reluctance to take such offers is a bit strange but not unusual for Fischer.this area of human rights, he told an interviewer. “But I doeven as a guest* *have a very’ strong feeling that the emanations of the United Nations are effective This isProgress at home is apparent even to the naked eye Hoffman savs But how does heThe admission of East Germany, he adds, “is not neces-sarily a contradiction It might in the long range prove the very opposite Let them work here, then there is more chancesomething that just has to affect the conscience of nationsmeasure the impact, if anvU.N.ofpronouncements againstgenocide or apartheid or slave-of some of the aims and goals of the United Nations rubbing off on them.\I\ft(IIyf1Itt*it•iIir4fpvt1iIic22y1(PctlCngPPcnbPPcii\\1tttIctlll223llntrePrcaaaf.1t\1tc]4lt;(II((1i.*
Newspaper Details
Sedalia Democrat
Sedalia, Missouri, US
Fri, Aug 31, 1973
Page 14
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 23 Jul 2020
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