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The Evening Independent, Massillon, Ohio, Monday, July 11, 1960
Chess Champ at 16!
Bobby Fischer ponders his next move.
by GERALD S. SNYDER
Central Press
Association Correspondent
BROOKLYN —A blond, gangling, 16-year-old boy from Brooklyn may soon become the foremost master of one of the world's most difficult mental activities.
He is Bobby Fischer, United States chess champion for the third consecutive year, who, experts agree, has the best chance of any player in the Western Hemisphere of taking away the title now held by Mikhail Botvinnik, 49, a Russian.
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FISCHER, a normal youngster who gets just average grades in school, is himself optimistic about someday winning the world crown. “The Russians have the edge on us right now,” he says, “but give us a few years and we'll be better than them.”
The talented youth, who says he plays chess simply “because I like to,” admits that Americans have little popular interest in the game (“I guess we're not artistically minded”) but notes that the ancient art is receiving more and more publicity and, at least, seems to be coming out of the doldrums of years gone by.
“What's so amazing,” he says, “is that our players are so high.”
He rates only Russia as being ahead of the United States. Hungary, Yugoslavia and Argentina, in that order, are just behind us.
Fischer became the youngest international grand master of all time at the age of 15 — nine years and many tournaments after his sister, Joan, who was then 11, first taught him the moves.
Taking to chess like a baby takes to candy, the Chicago-born youth studied all the books on the game (he's now written one himself) and played against his betters until there were no more betters to play against.
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FISCHER ENTERED his first tournament at the age of nine and won the U.S. junior championship in a walk when he was 13. The next year, he defeated most of the country's top adult players to become the U.S. open champ, and he been playing at the height of his form ever since.
The credit for his success? Chalk it up to plain hard work and determination. Fischer says, “There's no luck involved in chess. You just have to work at it.” He admits, though, that a little talent helps.
The young Brooklynite has played against the world's best. At his last big European tournament, in Belgrade, some 3,000 fans turned out for the games and the newspapers were full of news about the outcome.
The lad from Brooklyn was hailed as a hero. His picture was widely printed and his autographs came into great demand. However, in this country, Bobby Fischer is an unsung hero. Nobody stands in line to buy tickets. There are no fan clubs. Nobody asks for autographs.
Still, the Americans play, Fischer, who plays best of all pays no attention to jibes which aim to paint chess players as strange or neurotic — gestures, the players say, which generally stem from plain anti-intellectualism.
Playing chess has helped Bobby Fischer see a lot of the world and he's still traveling. However, there's one trip he's waiting for most -- to Moscow and a chance to beat the Russians at their own game.
Chess Champion at 16! 05 Mar 1960, Sat The News-Messenger (Fremont, Ohio) Newspapers.com
