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ChessmThe perplexities Bobby FischerSuccess in America*•mayhave its ironies: especially if your name is Bobby Fischer. Although a legend for more *' than a decade, Bobby only earned a moderate income atbest. His professional life featured continual conflicts with cliess promoters and organ--*• izers. Once he forfeited an important match over sched-* * uling disputes.He lost a chance to becomeworld champion four years* earlier than he did because of another quarrel over sched-'m uling. He had bitter struggles tournament after tournament over playing conditions. His Z latter efforts have set higherw standards for grandmasterw tournaments and are appre-c i a t e d by Fischer’s colleagues).Z Now as world champion, he* can command literally mil-he wishes. He can have his demands for playing conditions satisfied down to the last detail. He is the idol and scapegoat of tens of millions of Americans who witnessed his escapades before and in Iceland and his relentless battering of Boris Spassky both 6ff and on the board. His foibles, his future matches, his refusal to garner a fortune (so far) are topics for articles, stories and gossip.Yet his essential accomplishment has not been fully appreciated: His extraordina-ry performance at the chessboard in Reykjavik. Although everyone knows that he defeated Spassky, few appreciate the magnificence of his effort. Fischer’s second,Father William Lombardy,aptly described one aspect of his achievement when he ob-ft*mtt,ft#a#•i*fe-Hughes urgesbombing end•lions of dollars in income if served while the match wasin progress that, “This is the j most exciting chess played in a world championship match since the days of Steinitz.According to some newspaper accounts, Bobby is now withdrawn, depressed and not on top of the latest developments in world chess. Is Fischer suffering a natural letdown after achieving his lifelong dream and raison d’etre? Bent Larsen, the Danish grandmaster, has suggested that Fischer is still affected, perhaps irrevocably, by the strain of the events of last summer.Spassky himself, although visibly recovered according to observers, confesses to still• WASHINGTON (UPI) -Sen. Harold E. Hughes, £ D-Iowa, said Friday Congress ** must maintain a “tough de-2 termination” to resist any ad-«* ministration pressures to con-2 tinue military activity - Cambodia after Aug. 15.J There must be no, but no,inv' china,resumption of American bom-m bing or other military operations, either secret or open, » either illegal or within con- stitutional bounds in Indo-” Hughes said in a Sen-* ate speech.•« As the Aug. 15 deadline Z approaches, the pressure will inevitably mount to bludgeon Congress and the American people to continue our milita-2 ry involvement.» As the hour of truth ap-proaches, will we have the* tough determination andhorse sense to do what has to 2 be done?”.mmin■to**Unions asked to support farmworkersHONOLULU (UP!) - The president of the International Longshoremen’s and Warehousemen’s Union Local 142 Friday urged all union members to support the farmworkers’ lettuce and grape boycotts on the mainland.Carl Damaso said, We are asking all ILWU members and their families to support the boycotts 100 per cent.”He said the farmworkers were fighting fordignity and fair that union field workers have in Hawaii.”Damaso told members of his union that the farmworkers faced “the gang-up oi growers, government, cops, ** hired thugs and certain trade union cannibals whichthe same treatmentmiMk«*aretrying to deny them a union of their own.”being depressed by his own defeat in Reykjavik.Bobby’s situation is different, of course. After all, he w-as the winner. But his role was even more frenzied; he i was perhaps even more subject tc extremes of emotion and tension.It is most unofrtunate that Fischer excites such relentless curiosity. It seems he will always be in the public eye. He will undoubtedly be forced over and over again to relive some of the more sensational and unpleasant aspects of his past as well as to have the slightest details of his private life subjected to scrutiny and inference.Such sketchy information as recent reports have been based on can furnish no more than a fleeting impression of limited validity. Those who look for Fischer to withdrawcompletely from the chess world had best remind themselves that he has refuted such predictions in the past. He has always returned to chess to take up play at an even higher level. The phrase “Fischer Fear” refers not to Fischer’s own fear of taking up the chess guantlet but to the psychological state of his opponents when they face the terrifying (to them) vitality and health, the superhuman force that Bobby Fischer presents at the chessboard.Copyright 1973 By Shelby Lyman
Newspaper Details
Pomona Progress Bulletin
Pomona, California, US
Sun, Jul 29, 1973
Page 10
Full Page
Clipped by
Los A.
CA, USA 26 Dec 2022
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