70 The Bobb y Fischer Kw aOhe r So es AL MO ONABR AAM K CH IK (. Champio ship 1 93 . KB3 Q4 2. Q4 KB3 3. B4 K3 4. KN3 xS. B N2 Q-Q2 6. NB3 BNS 7. 00 00 . Q-B2 B3 9. K4 BxI 0. xB -KR3 I. -Q2 -QN4 1 2 QR 4 - K4 I 3. N-B3 R- K I 1 4. Rx B xI S. N x xN 1 6. x- Q2 1 7. -B 4 - B4 1 . B-K3 Q- B2 9. Q-K2 B- 2! 2 0. BS ! 2 1. BB4 B3! 22. QK3 QR4 23. QRN I N 6 24. BxR QxB 2SQ6 RI 26Q- R7 BB 3 27 . KR -Q RS 2. R 2 KR2 29. R-KB2 - B4 3 0. RQ4 N-Q6 3 1 . R-Q2 -R6! 32. R /2xN xR 33. Qx NS 34. Q2 x3S . Qx R - 6 ! 36. QxR QxRch 37K- B I -Q7 3 B-B3 B-R S 39Q B7 Q=Qch 40Bx Q QxBch 4 1 . K-2 QK7c, White resg s o paphse D r . Jo so if Kpch ik had a acke d oe ths all prai se wol d be sperfl os. . L. OERABAM KCK (We st i de YM CA vs Mahat aCCet r opot ae ag e Match 1 942I. -Q4 -K B3 2 . QB4 -Q 3 3N- QB 3 QN-Q2 4. -K4 -K4 S. N-B3 -KN3 6. -KR3 B- 2 7. BK3 0-0 . B-Q3 x9 x N-B4 0. B-B2 R- K I I QB3 Q-K2 1 2. B NS QK4 3. BxN BxB 4. 0- 0- 0 -B3 I S. KR- K I -QR 4 1 6. K- I NK3 1 7. N/4 -K2 RQ I . Q-K3 B4 1 9. QQ3 Q- QB 4 20. R-KB I NBS 2 1 NxB x22K3 BK4 23-R4 Q-R2 24. -B4 B-2 2S-K4 -Q4 26xx27. NB3 B-QR3 2 . -K2 - S 29. Q-KB3 RS 30. -N3 QR B I 31. R B2 B 32 KxR xch 33. KxB-BSch 34. KxB Q-R3c3S. K-N3 R-QB I 36. -QR4 QBS, m a te hi s ga me re cei ved the b ri ll iacy prize f or the Me t ea ge seasoof 942.
Transcript
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It was a Saturday morning that we became friends. I arrived atthe club unusually early and only Max was there Although weknew each other we had never really talked. I tried to break the iceby showing him a chess problem that had fascinated me since age
3 As soon as I set up the pieces he shouted Reti" the composers name And we suddenly found ourselves talking like oldfriends
Over the next decade I saw a lot of Max and his wife Renee awarm butterball of a woman. On many occasions we all dined togeher. ter dinner Max and I usually stayed up most of the nightplayng and talking.
Somehow we fell out of contact. The need to earn a living the
time demanded by marriage and children a subsequent move to thesuburbsit's the same story for most people. Not until 975 afterretiring to Florida did I begin to miss the Manhattan Chess Cluband my old friends in the Big Apple And so I rented a smallapartment not far from the club
Th Ra Top Dog
I had not seen Max for almost 20 years and was otally unprepared
for the shock when we came face to face. Or rather what was leftof his face. ter Max was diagnosed as having cancer of theawbone the doctors removed it to save his life. His cusomarybuoyancy was gone along with much of the humor and wit.Although still in his 60s he looked much older. And no wonder. Tosee a deboned wrecked face every morning while shaving would beenough o crush anyones spirits.
Yet Max reained a wonderful way of expressing himself and
he brought me up to date I forgot about his looks. He seemed to
have made peace with himself and as he later proved over theboard his chess had not suffered. But I was sorely mistaken aboutMax enoying internal quiet as I learned at our next gettogether.
My marriage is falling apart" he confided and I cannot see away to save it When I first met Renee there was no one morebeautiful I was so deeply in love that nothing else mattered Shewas not as deeply in love but I made allowances for thisshorcoming so long as I did not have to share her Mind you we
had our differences but we got along most of the time.Max paused and sighed. During the past year" he continued
she has gone completely off the deep end. All she does is primpand fuss over hat silly poodle Bobo. He has replaced me in her
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ed and Ive been moved to a oom down the hall. When I ty toiscuss the issue, she says that Im acting sily I should have taken atand ight afte coming out of the hospital. Now it's too late.
Whst Whl You Work
We did not meet again fo seveal weeks. And when we did, Maxsyes shone bighty though not with the witty twinke of yoe.They wee like two seachlights peeing into the distance. His lipsquiveed amost convulsively. He was clealy in the gip of a geatmission and spoke ugently mopping his face and tying to containan excitement.
I have a plan he said feveishly, that will beak up this canineconspiacy to weck my home. On my way hee to the cub I passa pet shop; and I've been thinking what would happen if I boughtone of those silent dog whistles and blew it occasionally in the weemoning hous Chances ae that Bobo would come chaging intomy oom whee I can geet him with a piece of his favoite chocolate. Anold, you've head about conditioned eflexes and Pavlov'sdog What do I have to lose And if nothing else, it wil suelyupset Renee.
Max poved a pophet The plan is woking he beamed happilyome weeks late Renee is so upset that she is even consideing a
dog psychiatist fo Bobo.As the summe months woe on, Max became inceasingy
pleased with himself He seemed happy and expectant. Renee wasnevous and distaught The poo woman could not undestandwhy Bobo got up in the middle of the night and dashed fom hebedoom as if he had left a steak bone on the 5:15 to Yonkes
Renee fought back as best she could. Afte consuting a bakeepes wife, whom she came to know while out walking Bobo she
became convinced that he baby was possessed by evil spiitsLate afte payes and poultices applied by the bakeepe's wifefailed uttely, Renee looked fo a dog psychiatist. Finding noneshe began to seek advice fom eveyone she met no matte h owlimited the peson's expeience o emote his occupation. If sheeinquiy could save Bobo then the dog had nothing to woy hisculy head about.
On one occasion, Renee came to the club to pick up Max and
spoke about Bobos dilemma. Can you imagine a big city ike NewYok with no place to take a poo distubed animal like my BoboThey spend millions on litealy eveything, but nobody gives ahang about a poo dog's neves. Then tuning to Bobo andkneeling down to hug the hound and to tousle the wellcoiffed hai
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atop his head, she said Dont worry darling-us mommyus willfind someone o help you
Bobo's Sixth Sns
Help came quicy Strolling along Fifth Avenue a few days later I
bumped into Renee and Bobo She was wearing a large srikingblack lace hat that reached to her shoulders. Her dress was lacyblack as well, and several strands of pearls were intertwined aroundher neck like a boa constrictor. Even Bobo had gotten into thespirit of things by wearing a hat similar to Renees.
I ipped my hat and remarked on how well they both looked,since it would have been impolite to exclude Bobo. She explainedthat the reason for he maching oufits was that Max had passedaway The very night of his passing she had been unable to sleepand as she paced the floor somehing drew her to Maxs room Helay on the oor near he threshold Arnold she whispered o n thebusy street, what do you think he was up to You could neverguess Can you imagine a man of his age playing wih a whistle andeating chocolaes in the middle of the night
She continued, When I summoned he doctor he said that itwas not unusual for some aging men to start acting silly They yearnfor their lost youth and make complee fools of themselves by
chasing after and blowing whistles at young women Poor Max hemust have been entering his second childhood
You know, she concluded, I should have had more faith inBobos sixh sense His insincts told him that there was somehingwrong with Max and that was why he couldnt sleep normally. Howelse can you explain that since Max died Bobo once again sleepslike a baby
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No account of chess in the 1930s and 1940s woud be completewithout mentioning Maurice Wertheim Like a knight in shiningarmor who gallops out of a mist, Maurice arrived unexpectedly onthe New York chess scene at a moment when there was muchwailing and gnashing of teeth The world famous Manhattan ChessClubas it was calledhad been reduced to summing in thecrummy cellar of the Pythian Temple somewhere on West 70th. Asa consequence many of the clubs illustrious chess citizens were
living solely by their wits because of a customer shortageWhat Damon Runyon wrote about guys and dolls also obtained
among us chess men during the Great Depression Now it comes onthe spring . . after a long hard winter, and times are very toughindeed what with the stock market going al to pieces, and banksbusting right and left and the law getting very nasty about this andthat and one thing and another, and many citizens of this town arecompelled to do the best they can. There is very litte scratch anywhere and aong Broadway many citizens are wearing their lastyears clothes and have practically nothing to bet on the races oranything else and it is a condition that wi touch anybodys heart.
ncluding as it happened the great heart of Maurice Wertheim,who was a one-in-a-milion man for sure. In August 1941, withoutfear or hesitation, he singehandedly moved the Manhattan to palatia quarters at 100 Central Park South on the corner of 6thAvenue and 59th Street. And suddenly, New Yorks professionalchess citizens began to thrive againthis time on gilt-edged custom
ers who had plenty of quarters to ose
Mauric th Man
Medium in height and not much to look at Maurice radiated awarmth and confidence that swept up even the gloomiest of uschess Guses. Those ruddy red cheeks, that bristling brown mustacheand those ever-friendly brown eyes brimming with enthusiasm energized everyone I never saw him negative or angry though a man in
his position must have had enemies. still believe that his sincerity75
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and positive outlook probabl won over even business competitorsAs one of his daughters wrote "M, as friends and famil calledhim almost alwas wanted to be in a position to give activities formand direction, to innovate and create
That gets it ust right N o Knight of the Sorrowful Countenance
heBorn in 1886 Maurice was head of the bankng firm of Wertheim
& Compan, which he founded in 1927. He was a multi-millionaireback when a dollar still had 100 cents. Yet he did not toss aroundmone. He believed that even cultura organizations ought to runon a business basis and that organizations lacking the support ofsociet had no right to exist. Maurice's earl experience as a founderand director of the then floundering New York Theatre Guild probabl brought this lesson home In his 1931 Report to the Harvard
Class of 1906 he described his handson approach M chief outside interest during these 25 ears he wrote has been thetheatre From the time of graduation until 1919 I was connectedwith various amateur theatre groups whose activities culminated in1919 in the New York Theatre Guild. Ever since its formation, Ihave been a member of the board of managers and active in its operations Up to date the organization has produced over 75 plas.I n the earl 1930s Maurice led the cultural battle to stage EugeneO'Neill's controversial dark and seminal trilog, Mouig Becoe
Elecra
Having gotten the Theatre Guild on its feet Maurice then insistedthat the child walk on its own And for the record the Guild didust that during his tenureas did the Manhattan Chess Club.
I think that Maurice was a believer in what we toda call toughlove though he also had a soft side. He was a trustee of theAmerican Wildlife Foundation, and in 194 7 this extraordinarilwealth man donated to the U.S. government his 2000acre LongIsland shooting preserve which is now called the Wertheim NationalWildlife Refuge and which extends along the Montauk Highwa allthe wa to Great South Ba. Its an ideal place for migrating ducksto rest Maurice said shortl after deeding over his propert, orwould be if I didnt shoot them.
When looking to relax and go for a swim or to attend to somebusiness for the Cuban Atlantic Sugar Compan (of which he was adirector) Maurice alwas repaired to his home on Cuba's Veradero
Beach. He also had a passion that bordered on a weakness forsalmon fishing The salmon Maurice wrote in Salo o he DryFly a privatel published and beautiful produced little book of500 copies is a lordl fish. He is not like our wee trout andknows that the bat cannot escape him. So he takes the fl as he
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Mauice kept a house up in Canada on the Gaspe Peninsula andleased the etire Ste ne des Monts Rive ust to toss in a lineduing the peak salmon season of June and July Fathe was a passionate fisheman, so much so that when his fst gandchild was
bon, ecals one of his daughtes, he announced that he had beenawake all night figuing out how old he woud be when the babyboy could take his fist salmon, in ode that he could teach himthe fine points of the spot Mauice once wote about his adventues in the Mach 1948 issue of Field Stream.
Mauric th Chss Man
If movie moguls ace cas and media men yachts, bankes go in fohigh cultue Beginning in 1936 at age 50, Mauice became withintwo o thee yeas one of the wold's leading collectos of FenchImpessionsts and Postmpessionists Paintings by Degas, DufyGauguin, Manet, Matisse Monet, Picasso, Renoi, van Gogh and thelike gaced the walls of his penthouse at 33 East 70th All told,Mauice puchased 43 paintings, dawings and sculptues, many ofwhich ae, as the citic John O'Bian states, standad points ofefeence in at liteatue He is talking about such immediatelyecognizable mastepieces as van Gogh's Self-Potait Dedicated toPaul Gauguin, Degas' The Reheasal and Singe with a GloveRenos Seated Bathe and Self-Potait at Thity-Five andGauguins Poemes Babaes The best book on Mauice's belovedcollection is O'Bian's Dega to Matie: the Mauce WertheimCollectio
Still Mauice loved most the thing that cost him least: coespondence chess He caied on games all ove the wold, and one in paticula with John J McCloy, an old banking buddy who becameHigh Commissione fo Gemany following Wold Wa I I like to
think that as a enowned banke, Mauce enoyed telling opponentsthat a check was in the mail Cetainly, he took the games seiouslyand oten discussed them with me in his study though only thosegames aleady concluded He neve pemitted comments on gamesin pogess
Playing unde the pseudonym of AC Chales Mauice scoedwell n the old Che Review postal tounaments of the ealy1940s In the Victoy Postal Tounament of 1943 he scoed +13 1
=4, good enough to snatch a pize and to ean him a ating of 1430which was the equivalent of a maste ating today Indeed, futuecoespondence wold champion Hans Beline was then ated at1418 Mauice late descibed his pefomance in this tounament the poudest moment of my chess caee And as Che Review
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described his postal routine: Every morning, on his way to WallStreet in a taxi he played over variations of his games on a pocketchess set. n the evenings, while waiting for dinner guests to arrive,he set up his board and studied his games. Wherever he went, hisPostal Chess Album accompanied him. Nothing was permitted tointerfere with this fascinating hobby.
Maurice had a feel for the French Defense and even inventedinteresting, if dubious ideas. Take, for example the rare line, . P4 P-3 2 P-Q4 P-Q4 3 N-QB3 B-N5 4 PQR3 BxNch 5 PxB PxP. Q-N4 Q-B3 ! 7 QxP As Black against Bela Rozsa a manytimechampion of Okahoma Maurice found the completely new move7. Q-N3! which led to a playable game after 8 BQ3 (theaternative is 8. Q-B4 QxBP 9 QxP N-3 0 B GrandmasterLarry Evans suests 0 N-2 here 0 . . NxP, when Black wins a
pawn) 8 . . . . Q 9. BxQ N-B3 0 B-B3 -Q2 PB4 ! (Evansbelieves that . B-B4! puts Blacks idea to the test) P-4!
I n the following Queenless middlegame Maurice outplays a NewYork master noted for his handing of just this kind of position:
Erch archad-aurce WerhemCorrespodece 1 943
Frech Defese
. 2 Q?!
Back in 945 this idea seemed bad Today it merely seemsbizarre
2 . . . Q . Q . QN Q
White probably expected 4 PxP 5 PxP BxP . PQB3 Bmoves 7. P-Q4, when the first player has a powerful center at theexpense of a pawn.
x QQ 6 Q2 NQ . x . N N2 9. Q 0-0 0 QNQ2 . x x 2. Q N
Black intends to work against White's backward QBP.
. NN
A more circumspect idea is 3 NB4 4. B2 and castles.
NN QxQ
Wite wants to doube Blacks Queen pawn but he deprives hisown pieces of the natural squares, 4 and 4 Al Horowitzsuggested 4. P-N3 as a better move
. . . xQ 6. N 2 . 2 1 . 2
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A moppingup line would be 44 PQ4 NQ6 45 BR PN 46 B3 PN6 47. 3 PN7, and Black wins By no means a glowinggame, but Mauice tuned in a steady positional effot As HemannHelms once wote of Mauices play, While not a top anking playein any sense, he still can give a good tussle to many mastes with
moe expeience
As we came to know each othe bette, Mauice talked oftenabout his youth. His fist maiage was to Alma Mogenthau adaughte of Heny Mogenthau Fanin Roosevelts secetay of theteasuy They poduced thee gils the most famous of whom wasBabaa Tuchman a Pulitze Pize winning histoian who wotesuch woks as The Gu of Augut and The Proud Tower Afte thegils gew up Mauice and his wife divoced He late maied a tall
and beautiful blueeyed Swedish lady who was the widow of GeneSeibeling of autotie fame Cecile who died in 197 4 was pefectfo Mauice I think that they wee the happiest couple that I eveknew.
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One evening after dinner Maurice told me the story behind hissuccess First his father made a lot of money with the United CigarManufacturers Company, sent him to Harvard whence he graduatedin 1906 and then left him almost half a million dollars He got intoinvestment banking in 1915 with Hallgarten & Company and became a partner in 1919 There he studied and mastered the fine art
of mergers, striking pay dirt when he convinced two banks thatthey would be better off as one Consummated in St ouis thismerger was his first million-dollar deal Maurice cried with oy onthe train all the way back to New York Other killings followed
Strange to say Maurice was a man of the political left He servedas owner and publisher of The Natio from 1935 to 193 7 and hisbreast fairly burst with an admirable passion for social ustice Henever confused being born on third base and reaching home on a
single with smacking a home run As president of the American ewish Committee in 194142 he produced a direct answer to Hitlerism by converting that organization to Zionism Barbara Tuchmandescribed this achievement as probably the most difficult and historically the most important action of his career
Maurice's minus side, along with that of The Natio in the 1930sand 1940s was imagining that Joseph Stalin was merely a tangierand spicier version of an American liberal Maurice and others likehim believed that Stalin was devoted ot to mass murder in the tens
of millions but to improving upon effersonian liberalism by ushering it into the sunny egalitarian uplands of economic and socialdemocracy I feel that no one should miss the present opportunity he wrote about a proected trip in the early 1930s to a SovietUnion ravaged by terror and mass famine, of studying there one ofthe most interesting experiments in the development of a new socialorder that has ever been attempted
Interesting Good grief More anon about how this fantastic
delusion indirectly helped not only my chess but also my bankaccount!
Maurc Maks Hs Mov
In May 1941, shortly after being elected president of the ManhattanChess Club Maurice made his first double-exclam move in chess bybankrolling a US championship match between A Horowitz thechallenger, and Sammy Reshevsky, the reigning champion since
1936 Ill never forget the first game of that hardfought strugglebecause the site was Maurices penthouse, which in its streamlinedmodernity, as one art critic wrote was without a sliver or stitchof the antique Virtually all of New Yorks top players attendedand the crowd numbered at least 150
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Maurice liked being around chess peopleno doubt about it.When I won the U S. Chess Championship in 1944, he went all outand gave a gala party. At east 75 people attended, and never had Iseen more champagne and caviar. Not even at the Russian embassy!To top it all off he presented me with a gold watch and platinumchain inscribed by members of the Manhattan. A unforgettable
eveningfor anyone.
In the summer of 41 a very strong New York State Championship was held upstate on the campus of Colgate University in Hamilton The field included the likes of Reshevsky Reuben Fine, AlHorowitz, Isaac ashdan and of course myself Maurice wanted tospend a few days kibitzing, and so the four of ushe and Cecile, mywife Nina and tossed our golf clubs and tennis rackets into awoody station wagon With Maurice's everpresent man at the
wheel we set off for what turned out to be a wonderful chess vacation. If memory serves Fine scored something like 82 to finishfirst. I ended in a tie for 2nd4th with Sammy and ash. Mauriceoved watching the action (He couldn't see a mate through a telescope was one of his favorite kibitzes) and got a big kick out ofmy explaining the chief ideas. He also competed in a lower sectionscoring a respectable 3.
On numerous occasions Maurice showed his appreciation for mysmall services by having Nina and me over for dinner a highlight of
which was getting to savor his great collection of Impressionistpaintings One of my two favorites was ToulouseLautrecs TheBlack Countess, a singularly witty canvas depicting a darkskinnedelegantly clad lady driving a carriage wildly along a Mediterraneanbeach near Nice My other favorite a much larger painting, wasPicassos Mother and Child from the artists Blue Period. It neverfailed to move me, and in a touching gesture typical of Maurice healways saw to it that I sat opposite the picture during dinner.
My admiration for Mother and Child was not however sharedby Anne Wertheim Maurice's youngest daughter. In a family memoir Barbara Tuchman describes a tiff between Father and Daughter:Later, they had a mighty battle when she refused to get marriedunder Picassos Blue Period painting of a syphilitic mother andinfant, which was hung over the fireplace and he refused to take itdown. The family lawyer resolved the deadlock with a diplomaticcompromisea smil curtain draped over the painting to be removed instantly after the ceremony.
On May 27 1950 Maurice Wertheim died suddenly o f a heartattack at his estate in Cos Cob, Connecticut. He left his collectionof Impressionist works to the Fogg Museum at Harard. During the1988 U.S. Open in Boston, I took the opportunity to visit Harvard
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and to renew my acuaintance with these old and haunting friends
To Russa with Lov
Maurice spent his life bringing people together, whether they werechess payers or international bankers. This talent came to the
attention of Franklin Roosevet, who made Maurice one of hisdollar-a-year men on the War Production Board He uickly becamean official goodwill ambassador conceiving the idea of and signingthe checks for the famous U.S.A.U.S.S.R. match held in Moscow in946. Maurice convinced Foy Bottom that a friendly chess matchmight help to thaw out the oncoming Cold War, harbingers ofwhich were Stains conuest of Eastern Europe and his frostytreatment of American envoys
Naive, true. But Maurice was right in one respect: No group evergot a grander reception than that accorded us upon arriving inMoscow. We were drowned in flowers at the airport and treated ikeroyalty if that is uite the metaphor At the playing site thecrowds were so huge that the teamflanked by secret policetypeshad to eave the theater via a side entrance. Still, Mauricesidea ultimatey counted for ittle because all the good will in theworld between the American and Russian peopes amounted tonothing in Stalins arithmetic As Maurice later stated in The NewYorker of August 4 948 I thought it was up to the private citizens of this country to do what they could to support the efforts ofthe State Department to encourage a reationship with Russia on abasis other than business or war. Im afraid I didnt accomplish mypurpose in a longrange way but I did a lot at the moment.
In retrospect, the chief beneficiary of the Moscow match mayhave been mysef Not only did I spend several months in Europesharpening my chess, I also indirecty benefited financially by beingin the wrong place at the right time
The wrong place was a sidewalk cafe in Paris where I was readingcatastrophic news in the Herald Tbue Billions Lopped Off U.S.Stock Market screamed a headline. Nina and I had worked hard tosave about $20,000 which we invested in stocks I was sick at heartand decided that the market was no place for a tyro and would getout once I got home. However the right time turned out to be thatve momet because Maurice, with whom we were travelling, suddenly came along and sat down for coffee
After some hesitation, I worked up the courage to tell Mauriceabout my dilemma Without skipping a beat, he replied I sendmy chauffeur for you when we get back, but be sure to bring meyour entire portfoio. He was as good as his word Not long
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afterward I found myself sitting in his office at 20 Broadway, waiting along with the then mayor of New York Soon a smiling Mauricestepped out from his private office to lead me inside. Flushed withembarrassment I stammered I beieve the mayor was here beforeme" To which he replied, Dont worry his business can wait"
Maurice sat behind a large desk and pored over my holdings.After a while he looked up and asked Who advised you to buysuch garbage" Although his firm never bothered in those days withaccounts under $00,000, he personally supervised my portfolio.Before he died a few years ater, he got back every penny I lostalong with a good deal more My small account sat at Wertheim &Company after his death until I decided to close it so as not toembarrass the firm any longer.
Mauric Mts YanklOnly once did Maurice permit Nina and me to take him and his wifeto dinner nowing their love for French cuisine I chose myfavorite restaurant a Toue Blanche. We all dined sumptuouslythough what I remember best are certain surprises later on. Forsome reason we got on to the topic of older players ike OscarChajes Charles affe and, of course, Frank Marshall. The subjectthen shifted to chess institutions on the lower East Sidejointssuch as the Cafe Royale and the Stuyvesant Chess Club Mauricesaid that he had visited neither of them and then added abruptlyLets leave the ladies to their dessert and coffee. We can be back inhalf an hour"
A minute later, Maurice's chauffeur was driving us to the Stuyvesant down on East 4th On the way I got a chance to ask thiskindest of powerfu men about the source of his understanding ofpeople and their problems. Maurice recaled a seemingly insignificant episode when he was a student at arvard A young woman
whom he barely knew approached him and began to pour out hertroubles. As he tried to get away she followed, telling him that herparents were getting divorced and that she was having problemskeeping up with her studies. He must have appeared bored becauseshe said angriy The least you can do is listen You wi losenothing and may gain a great deal in human understanding andstature. " Maurice said that this utterly banal encounter so microscopic in the macrocosm of massive human suffering stayed withhim and dictated his treatment of people ever after.
The Stuyvesant Chess Club was packed as usual Yet everyone inthe place looked up when we entered. Maurice was immaculatelygroomed as always and most of the chess players stared at him a
if he were the Messiah Almost immediately, the proprietor, acob
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Bernstein came to greet us Jacob or Yankele was short fat andalmost completely bald but he owned a smile as big as his chesstalent I introduced him to Maurice and before you could countthree, the two men wandered off, leaving me standing alone.
To my complete surprise they returned several minutes later,
chattng like old friends and sipping hot tea from glasses ensconcedin those ornate silver holders that Russians call podtakaiki
On our way back to La Toque, my curiosiy got the better of me.What were you and Yankele discussing so earnestly I askedOh, he replied, he told me that they played a lot of pinochle' upon the second floor, and I told him that my father was consideredone of the finest pinochle players in the cigar industry. By pinochle, Maurice really meant of course poker.
And then this captain of international banking and confidant ofhistorymaking statesmen began to stare distractedly out of thewindow of his limousine saying nothing for several minutes Youknow, he finally spoke up in a thoughtful and faraway voice, inspite of the squalid quarters, the smoke and the nose, everyoneseemed to be having a real good time"
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ndis of ChessFrom the 1920s into the late 1940s the Manhattan Chess Club wasmore or less run by Walter Stephens a rigid and humorless manwhom I once nicknamed Mr Faux Pas. He was best known to theAmerican chess public of the period as the perennial tournamentdirector of U S championship events
L Walter as he was commonly called was the kind of personwho never got a second look when he passed by on the street But ifyoure the kind of the reader who wants to get a second look thenrifle through old issues of the New York Time until reaching page23 of the edition for May 8 1944. You will find a photographshowing a virile and hirsute young Greek god elegantly accoutered (a buzz word in this story) in a three-piece suit. Thats meimpartially described I am holding a trophy for winning the U.S.Chess Championship and am staring as if I wished to wring the
scrawny neck of a dour bespectacled man of medium height andblotchy freckled complexion. This man who was born n 1883covered impending baldness by parting his hair ust above the leftear and plastering it across his narrow dome to the other ear. ThatsL Walter equally impartially described.
For years . Walter and wife Maude ran the Manhattan ChessClub as if it were the family plantation. The cub became theirsecond home. . Walter who had once been pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Oceanside Long Island was an economics andhistory teacher at the New York High School of Commerce. Maudewas a tall pencilthin lady with a weakness for flowered hats as lushand wild as any tropical ungle. She was also the club secretary(from 1942 to 1954) and performed her duties with quiet efficiencyin spite of her husbands occasional interference As for Walterwho had held the post of secretary from 1924 to 1941 he somehowassumed the role of club manager In said capacity and with noclearly defined duties this zealous tumor from Princetons UnionTheological Seminary managed to get into everything He directed
85
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tournaments, arranged team matches, set up rules for uniors, talkedto delinquents about dues and established a dress code
Yes, a dress code L Walter liked to spend his spare time thinkingup rules to drive people nutsa malignant talent that he doubtlessly honed while serving during World War I as a MCA chaplain
and athletic director at Camp Mills Long IslandDuring most of L Walters regime at the Manhattan uniors were
allowed to come to the club only on certain days and at specifiedtimes On one occasion in the 1940s, a future chess great came tothe club in his thencustomary Tshirt and blue eans L Walter,with foam forming on his lower lip demanded that the younggenius be tossed out at once Hes breaking my dress code bycoming here improperly accoutered screamed our fearless leaderFortunately, I garnered the support of a maority of the clubs
directors including Walters wife to stop him And forever afterMr Princeton '10, as he sometimes dubbed himself stared daggersat me whenever I came to the club
In truth L Walter was the last person to talk about beingimproperly accoutered, for he often sported outfits that wouldhave put Florian Slappey, the sepia gentleman of Octavus RoyCohen fame, to shame I still recall the St Patricks Day when heturned up wearing green suspenders purple trousers and an orange
shirt with shoes to match Bob Willman one of the wags remarkedMaude must be selecting his clothes to match her hats
You, You Patzer, You!"
Most of the younger club members barely tolerated L Walter andtold okes about him too offcolor to relate even in these pagantimes But the day that he got Oscar Tenners dander up was a reallulu Sadeyed Oscar was one of the oldtimers and a chessprofessional who married very late in life He came to the club withhis young son on the days that his wife worked Like most middleaged men who sire children he was particularly proud of hishandiwork Indeed the lad knew how to set up the pieces and athe youngster went from board to board fingering the men, LWalter began to see red
Oscar who was busy with one of his best customers at the farend of the room didnt notice what was going on until he heard hislittle vun cry As L Walter led the boy by the hand to his father,
Oscar rose from his chair ran to meet them and spluttered Takeyour hands off my boy you, you pazr you Greater insultgiveth no chess player
though Oscar meant to spear only Stephens, he also harpooned
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his wrier Now, L. Waler was a fish for sure, bu every minnow hashis day or ournamen as a shark. L. Walers ournamen was he94 Manhaan Chess Cub Championshp in which he defeaedBoris Bumin brillianly (a game ha he laer framed) and drewwih
L Wal Sphn-Aod nkManhatan C.C. Championhip 94 Sonwa Opning
A his poin I was probably daydreaming abou L Waler'snumerous ournamen debacles which he wags used o call slighcases of murder Fifeenmove losses were no uncommon for him
Lile did I suspec wha was in sore for meThough, o be mercilessly objecive I ough o have L Waler
knew nohing abou opening heory and he field of posiional paywas for him tea icogita Ye as Sherlock Homes once said of Dr.Wason L Waler possessed a cerain puckish wi ha requiredcauion. In 1908 he was good enough o pay firs board for a vicorious Princeon in he US naional collegae championshipPrnceon owed her success saed he Britih Che Magazie ofFebruary 1909, chiefly o he individual effors of her capain LWaer Sephens, a graduae of he Brooklyn Boys School whopayed a he op board and won every game [hree] he playedThere is even a picure of a young L Waler on page 32 of he samessue. That momen was he high poin of hs chess career unil thimomen
7 KB4 B4 B3 NB3 9 00 QB2 I 0. QB3 KR3 I I . BQ2 NKS1 2. RB I BS
To use one of L. Waler's favorie words, Gadzooks sillhurs
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Wrote H. L Menken How little it takes to make life unbearablea pebble in the shoe a cockroach in the spaghetti a woman'slaugh and overlooking a move such as 13. NxQBP! .
QR- I 23 -QR3 KR4 24. R-R -R5 25. RQB I 5 26. RB4 K-Q2 2.KB K-B3 2. R-R I BK5 29 -R4 K-Q4 30 K I BQ6 3 1 . R-QB I R-R232 B-K B-K5 33 B-Q2 RR2 34 BK R-K2 35. B-Q2 R4 36. 5 dwo move 43
After Black's blunder on move 12 White had a won positionThis kind of game serves as a reminder to every top master never tosay I wouldn't lose to this fish in a million years As the wagsused to reply How time flies!
Another of L. Walters habits was to subect guests to a thirddegree briefing. He loved to spell out rules and to pry That's howhe happened to ask the famous Hungarian master Laos Steiner ifhe played chess Many of us thought it a mystery why he neverasked Jose Capablanca to pay dues.
Hs On Clam to Fam
Let me lay my cards on the table I have an interest in overlooking
whatever virtuesuch as his willingness to endure endless defeats intournamentsL. Walter may have had Here's the story.
After scoring 4%% in the first five rounds of the 1942 U.S. Championship I met Sammy Reshevsky in round six The game featuredthe maddest time scramble of my creer until Sammys flag fell onmove 45 or so L. Walter rushed up grabbed the clock from behindturned it around so that the opponents dial was on my side andwithout the slightest hesitation forfeited . .me!
A near riot as Isaac ashdan described t broke out. Whenseveral witnesses tried to reason with L. Walter he retorted with hisnow famous query Does enesaw Mountain Landis ever reversehimself And that supremely stupid statement ended all possiblediscussion For Judge Landis the czar of baseball who had beenappointed to clean up the sport after the White/Black Sox scandalof 1919 was notorious for never changing a decision I played theremainder of the tournament to use Bernard Shaw's memorableimage like a squashed cabbage leaf
Still maybe old L. Walter Stephens was cannier than we thought.That statement became after all his one claim to fame following hisdeath on September 30, 1948.
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As a youngster, I never dreamed that I would one day see ollywood. My only contact with Tinsel Town came every Saturdayafternoon when the heroes of cliff-hanger serials were saved throughassorted miracles. But in 1946 erman Steiner, beloved by hisglamorous ollywod chess students, performed a miracle of hisown e raised the then unprecedented sum (for chess) of $5000 tochallenge me for the U.S Chapionship title that I had won in1944.
Although our previous results ran heavily in my favor, ermanhad sound reasons for believing that he could win (Or, at least hewas able to convince his backers that I was a stiff.) erman beatgor Bondarevsky P/2-% in the 1945 U.SA vs. U.S.SR. radio match,the single bright spot for the Americans. Then in January 1946 hescored 92 to take first place in the strong Victory International
in London. Among those who trailed were Ossip Bernstein andSavielly Tartakower. No wonder that ermans wealthy backerswere offering six to five on their star. I immediately telephoned afew friends in New York and they covered all bets.
Luckily I did not hesitate in contacting the boys back Eastbecause after the first game, the mood of the ollywood chesscrowd changed radically ollywood is that way and I suddenlybecame an official darling. eres why
Heman Seine-Aold DenkeU.S. Camponsip atc 946 (Game )
This move would not be possible if the White Queen were on2 because White could simply win a pawn with 9 NxN.
9. BKB4 Q-B3 0. Q-B2 0-0!
On this move and the next Black offers a pawn sacrifice thatcannot be accepted A sample line 11 BxN NxB 12 NxN PxN 13.P Q-R4ch 14 . N-Q2 B5 1 5 . QB2 PQB4 16 PxP P-3 ! ,when Black gets a powerful attack no matter how White wiles.
I I 00 BQ3! 1 2 BxB NxB 1 3 -K5 P-K3 1 4. QRK I ?
Herman opts for a ngside demonstration whereas he ought totry a minority attack with P4 P-QR4 and an eventual P-5.
Herman heeds the inunction about never striking at the ingunless intending to kill him In this position, however he ought toleave the ing alone and attend to the Queenside where the gamewill be decided
. P-KB4 1 9 Q-N3 K2 20. RK2 B3 2 1 . RB3
Wite is still dreaming of attack. Instead the correct move is 2 1 .R-B.
2 1 . . . . Q-N3 22. QB3 KRQB I 23. R-QB2 P-QR4 24 N-B I N/Q3K5 25.QK PB4
The decisive lineopening Whites ng Rook will be sorelymissed from the real scene of operations
In the second game Herman hung a piece on move 13. The finalmatch score in that sunny May of so long ago was 64 in my favor,though the reader ought not to shed too many tears for my opponent. His time came in 1948 when he scored 154 to win the national championship And while on the subect of Hermans overthe-board accomplishments he shared first prize at the 1942 U.S.Open and won that tournament outright in 1946
But most of us remember not the IM Steiner of Chess. We remember Handsome Herman of Hollood a dark and virile hunk ofHungaian humanity who could have passed as a leading man of thesilver screen. Arriving in Hollywood from New York in 1932 hewrote a chess column for the Los Angeles Times until his death in
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1955 at age fom a heat attack. Among his chess students weeHumphey Bogat ouis Haywad (who played the Saint in moviesof the 1940s) and Billy Wilde Fo Handsome Heman Hollywoodwas heaven. He enoyed budding stalets social pestige and an adequate income. Many wee the wam Southen Califonia eveningswhen he folicked at paties o as was fitting pushed chess pieces
until dawn. Heman Steine and Geoge oltanowski used to comeove to my place the late geat MGM chaacte acto Fitz Feldecalled ecently and we would play until six oclock in themoning
Chss in Od Holood
The peennial poblem with witing about Hollywood is to sepaate as the phase goes the eal facts fom the eel facts. And the
subect of chess in Old Hollywoodthe Hollywood of the 1930s1950s and its studiobed stasis no exception.
That thee was a lage chess following in Old Hollywood mayseem supising at fist thought. My theoy is that a colony of moeo less pemanently ensconced actos wites poduces and diectos needed divesions. Fo these ceative people endowed withfagile egos and questioning minds the pastimes of businessmenquickly palled. Chess wa doubtlessly used to claim intellectual cedentials.
Back in 1988 a wite in Che Le compiled a list of Old Hollywood geats who loved the game ew Ayes ohn BaymoeLauen Bacall umphey Bogat Chales Boye Chales Cobunose Fee athaine Hepbun Louis oudan and John Wayne. Tothis Osca-winning cast can be added Nigel Buce and BasilRathbone (D. Watson and Shelock Holmes espectively) ChalieChaplin Helmet Dantine inda Danell Myna oy Mitzi MayfaiRay Milland Magaet Sullavan Maueen OSullivan Fanchot Tone
and many moe.Academy Awadwinne Milland was an especial chess nut and a
stong playe. immie Fidle a gossip columnist of the 1930s and1940s once epoted Unless Ray Milland is suppessed he willhave all Hollywood playing chess in anothe month o two
Still Milland did not conside chess impotant enough to mention in his wondeful memoi Wide-Eyed i Babylo; and amongHollywoods liteati and glitteati Humphey Bogat's sta buned
most bightly ove the 64 squaes. As Bogat put the matte heleaned chess in those old shooting galleies when I was a kid inNew Yok He even held Sammy Reshevsky to a daw in a simultaneous at Romanofs in Hollywood. A suviving game against
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Kotanowski suggests tat at is best e was of epert or masterstrengt Tis game as been publised many times and wat follows is te esser-known draw wit Resevsky
Sammy Reshevsky-Humphrey ogaHollywood, 5
Two Knighs DefenseI . -K4 -K4 2. NKB3 -QB3 3 B-B4 N-B3 4. NS -Q4 5. x x 6 Q4 -B3!
Antiteoretical, but bod and not easily refuted
7. x x . QxN QxQ 9. BxQ BK2 I 0 00
ite escews 0 BN in fear of Blacks Bisops cewing im upin an open position
Unti tis move Black as played energetically Better is 6 N-B, wen te second player may ave just enoug for te pawn
1 7. BK3 QR4 1 . BQBS KR-K I 1 9. QR-Q I KR I 20. RxR RxR 2 1 KB INNS 22. -KR3 -K4 23 K-K2 BS
24. R-Q I
Resevsky, wo ad 69 oter opponents to face lets down intis difficult position Correct is 24 P3, wen Black cannotrespond wit 24 R-Q7c because of 25 KB NK4 26 B-Q4And if 24 N-Q7 ten Wite wins wit 25 BQ3 BP 26 R-Q
ere are two littleknown contests in wic Bogart is t at isbest Te first game against Belgian master Dr Paul Limbos wasplayed in 95 on te veranda of te Sabena otel in Stanleyvilete Belgian Congo, during te filming of The Afca Quee
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Of te next game Grandmaster Larry Evans notes tat Lauren
Baca coud ave ed off er mae attacker wit 24 QN 2 5 RxQ R
Humphe Boga-Laue Ba//taleville, 95 1
Ru Lopez
I -K4 K4 2. KB3 -QB3 3 B5 K3 4. Q3 -Q4 5. x Qx 6.-B4 B5ch 7. -B3 Bxch xB QQ3 9 -QR4 B-Q2 I 0. B-R3 QB3I I . Q-K2 -K2 1 2. BxK QxB I 3. Bx BxB 4. x Bx 1 5. RK I B
R6 1 6. R3 BK3 1 7. Q4 -QB3 1 . Q5 x 1 9. x Bx 20. QB4B-K3 2 1 R-K3 -B3 22. -Q3 K-B2 23. B4 QRK I 24. xB Q5ch 25.K-B I RK2 26. RK I KR-K I 27. Qch K-B I 2 RxR RxR 29 QxRch QxQ30 . RxQ KxR 3 . x, Blac esigns
Bogie was smitten wit Caissano doubt about it Not ony dide serve as a director of te US Cess ederation e aso pusedwood at every opportunity toug mainy on movie sets betweenscenes Numerous potograps exist of te great man matcing wits
wit te ikes of Cares Boyer emet Dantine and on te set ofCaablaca, Sydney Greenstreet
Te games against Greenstreet ed to is paying posta cessduring Word War II wit severa American servicemen in te SoutPacific eres te story as reported by ider in a New York oartice of eary 943:
umprey Bogart as started an idea tat e opes wi bewidey accepted Te Warner star is paying ong distance
cess games by mai wit boys in te service It a startedwen a private ten stationed in tis country visited te setof Caablaca sti at te oywood Teatre wen Bogartwas paying cess wit Sydney Greenstreet between scenesTe private offered to take on Bogart and a keen rivary
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developed en te soldier was transferred to te SoutPacific, e kept up te game by mail Since starting te gamewit te soldier Bogart as taken on several of is buddies bymail playing simultaneously
Toast of th Town
As was saying, my life in olywood canged for te better aftergame one of te Steiner matc Billy ilder took me to lunc at tecommissary in Paramount Studios e was a real cess fan wo letpeope know it As e wrote to Che Review in 944, Just nutsabout your magazine, but omigos wat are tose tree damesdoing on your AugustSeptember cover? Please, please"
At te commissary, ilder introduced me to several stars including Margaret Sullavan and Edward G Robinson, wo played tepart of a toug guy by pretending to mow us down wit a macinegun ilder ten trew a lavis party in my onor at legendaryCasens Restaurant out on Beverly Bouevard in est ollywoodat a starstudded evening it turned out to be And indeed, wynot? ounded in 936 (it closed on April , 995) , Casens wasone of Old ollywoods most stunning glamour spots along witte similarly vanised Mocambo Perinos and Romanofs Duringollywoods magic quarter century from 935 to 960, powerfulmen and golden women frolicked tere many an evening (Bob opeonce rode a orse into te place ) To my eye tese gods and goddesses seemed to glide rater tan walk yet hey wo seemed so incredibly vital and alive, are now nearly all dead or even moretellingly, confined to weelcairs and imprisoned in te dreams ofsenility
Among tose in our dinner party were Sullavan and Robinson,plus te ikes of Linda Darnell Louis ayward Mitzi MayfairGregory Ratoff and so on I espied Errol lynn and Bogie seated at
oter tables bot devouring tick steaks And speaking of steaks,altoug Casens was renowned for its traditional Americanstyedises it served only perfectly marbled, wellaged beef straigt fromte Argentinean pampa I selected te specialty of te ouse aobo steak," wic was a treeinc tink le mig baked insalt and ten sliced tableside and sauteed in butter Never was asteak more tender, sweet and flavorfuleac bite augmented by anever ceasing flow of Veuve Clicquo campagne and witty badinage en Bily ilder noticed tat my obo steak" was gone, a
second order materiaized as if from nowere Te great directormust ave ad a prearranged signal wit one of te waiters
Eac of te ollywood greats in our party gused over my cessplay and promised to invite my wife, Nina and me out on our free
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days Te pone calls never came, wic I discovered was typical ofollywood
Te sole eception was Joe Eisner, a screenwriter wom I knewfrom New York e and is wife were most attentive, wic did notsit too well wit Wilder You dont want to be seen in te company
of people wo earn only $3,500 a week," e scolded If you intendto make an impression in tis town, you better stick wit me, Bobope and Louis aywardpeople wo make at least $0,000 aweek or more!" And tere I was tinking all along tat $200 a weekwas a fine salary
One day, te Paramount publicity department asked me to posewit Wallace Beery, wom many believe was te greatest caracteractor of tem all Beery was on te set for a westernBascomb if memory servesand was wearing a big cowboy at On
eac of is uge tigs sat a scantily clad cowgirl Wile te propmen were setting up a cess board and pieces, e ollered at me inis trademark oarse, raspy voice, ey, kid, tis game anytinglike ceckers?"
My matc wit Steiner wore on, and Billy Wilder again invitedme to lunc Wen I arrived at te studio, e was in is privateoffce wit a secretary As e came out to greet me, tere waslipstick on is mout Innocently, I mentioned te adornment, and
witout batting an eyelas, e replied, Dont you realize tat agenius can do no wrong?" Im not sure about tat, toug no onecan deny tat Wilder was and is a genius Tis writer, director,producer made movies rangng from te film oir classic, DoubleIdemity to te sidesplitting comedy, The Se'e-Year Itch Andso, we bot went to lunc, and te lipstick stayed were it was likea medal of onor
Tere came a day wen Nina and I made some publicity stillswit Bob ope e was very friendly all troug te snapping untilmy wife, wo once played a small role in a film e made in LongIsland City, reminded ope of an ugly incident in wic e treatedall of te etras most ungraciously Of course, e denied everyting
Tanks to Billy Wilder, wo was a class act in is roguis way,Nina and I got a graduate scool education in ollywood friendsips We were all at dinner one evening, and tere must ave beenconsiderabe curiosity about te couple occupying te time andtable of a ollywood megamogu As my wife was on er way to
te ladies room, se was stopped by Josep Cotten, wo was somemorably murderous as Uncle Carie in Alfred itccocksShadow of a Doubt
Nina," Cotten intoned silkily, do you remember me?"
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Nina ad played varous radio parts on Orson elles MercuryTeater program Se got to know Agnes Mooreead, oward daSilva and elles imself Cotten was of course an illustrious member of te Mercury Teater group and e eercised is fine memoryin recalling my wife Given tat we were wit lder e must avetougt tat Nina was married to an angel" or a producer Wen
se said tat I was a cess player e vanised almost instantly
Masm-Holywood Style
One of erman Steiners entusiastic backers was Al Bisno, a generous supporter of cess wo later became president of te Manattan Cess Cub en I arrived for te matc, e immediatelynvited me to s ome for some bridge To my surprise Cico Marand George Raft were on and
As a brdge payer I wasnt My great claim to fame was to avepayed for a tent of a cent per point wit A orowitz SammyResevsky and occasionally Dr Emanue Lasker Ts atter wortywo was a GM at te game used to climb te walls wen I was ispartner Once I ad im tuing at is gray tufts of air and yelling,y cant you just play out te and simply and not give me aeart attack? Aways making wit te combinatons"
And so wen Cico and George announced tat we were playng
for tree cents a point wit doubling permitted I went intoconference at once wit A Bisno Big Al told me not to worry ontwo counts irst, e would back me; and secondly Raft was sucan unbelievably awful player tat e always landed up seling outte dollars Still better tis famous actor insisted on doublng inorder to get evenand ost more money in te process
Cco Mar was as zany wen playing brdge as e was backingup Grouco in te movies e wore te clotes of an Italian immigrant cracked one joke after anoter and leered ludicrously at youwit tose bg pop-eyes I like to tnk tat e representedMarsmollywood style Toug guy George Raft wo supposedly ad Mafia connections, conducted imself like a gentleman ellmannered, gracious treated us like royalty My only regret is tat Inever found a pigeon ike im back in New York
I would not ave ad to work again
A Boge Battle
Humphrey Boga: Caissa's Supetar
GORG KOLAOWKHUMPHR BOGAR (Bindfold Game aFrancisco Marc 5, 952: I . PK4 PK3 2. PQ4 PQ4 3. PxP PxP 4. B-Q3
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KB3 S -K2 B-NS 6. 00 B-Q3 7. KB3 BK3 . B-KB 00 9 N-Q2 N-B3I 0 -B3 N-K2 I I . BxB QxB 1 2. KB -B I 3. -B3 -B! 1 Q-Q2 KS S. Q-B I QRB I 1 6. x Qxch 1 7 /2-Q Nx NxN R-B2 1 9. BS BQ2 20. Bx xB 2 1 QB R-K I 22. QR-K I R-K 23. Rx RxR 2.QxR/ B-B3 2S QK3 RK2 26 Q-3 RK I 27 -B6 -K3 2 Q-R -KR29. RK I RxRch 30. QxR Q-Q3 3 xB QxN 32. Q-K7 Q-B 33 . -KR3
Q-B3 3. -QN QxQB 3S. QKch K-R2 36. Qxch K-R3 37 Q-K7 QBch 3 . K-B2 Q-BSc 39. K-K2 Q-BSch 0 K-B3 K- 1 . -B7dis.ch.,Black resigs Black cold probably have dw by keepig up te checks. aidKoltaowski of Boga, A eal meace. This guy is dageros ad 'm otkiddig" Repied Bogie ha's rght bub.
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Bobby iscer I first met im in 952 wen e was only nineyears old Bobby was a blond faircopleioned goodlookingAmerican boy wo was always dressed in a T-sirt and corduroypants Wen we were introduced, I noticed tat e never looked upI tougt tat e ad peraps dropped someting and was stilllooking for it But later wen e joined te Manattan Cess ClubI noticed tat e still could not make eye contact e invariablyattracted attention by tuing at my trousers wic was a prelude
to a question tat also never varied: Wanna ave a game?"or an as yet undiscovered reason most great cess players in
teir early years arbor a burning anger Bobby was no eceptionYou could literally see te killer instinct in is eyesow teylased wit anger and deepseated atred wen e lost and owtey flooded wit maniacal glee wen e won In Edward Laskersprase, Bobby played cess for blood" Wic is to say for metaporical bood spilled during te symbolic war of cess Like many
of te indoor Marmen at our universities, Bobby was a revolutionary and crusader against injustice so long as e did not ave tosoot anyone and endure te sickening sigt of real blood
Al psycologists agree" writes rank Brady in Bobby FicherProle of a Prodi tat cess provides an outlet for ostile impulses in a nonretaliatory situation" Bobby imself as said tate enjoys most te climactic moment wen is opponent's egocrumbleswen as e described in My 60 Memorable GameGrandmaster Artur Bisguier slumped and [is cest collapsed"
after blundering in teir game at te 963 New York Open Or fortat matter wen it finally dawned on Laszlo Szabo tat e wouldnot draw te folowing dead draw"
Wrote GM Bisguier in te October 970 Che Le Just weneveryone tougt Szabo ad acieved a easy drawing position itturned out e was completely lost. Only te world's very greatestcess players acieve tis kind of ting." Black can now maneuveris Rooks to te sevent rank and Fiscer soon commits anoterto use George Steiners prase psycic murder."
30. RQBS R-Q I 3 B-R3
If 3. R-K3 Black as 3 RQ8c 32. RK /8-Q7.
3 1 . . R I Q7 32. RBch KN2 33. R-K3 -Q 34. RKB3 Pch 35 RxRRxRch 36. K I R-K7 37. B4 RxKP White resigs
Dsignr Gns
Everyone knows tat Bobby Fiscer ad a very difficult cildood.
No fater a arried moter you name it. Many a nigt Reginaiscer teleponed me in worry about were Bobby was. Se didnot understand until too late tat cess was is savior because itelped im to dissipate pent up aression
Wenever Regina came to te Manattan Cess Club Bobby always bolted for te door in embarrassment Mind you Bobby wasnever rowdy. Far from it. e beaved well but wen sometingappened wit wic e couldn't cope e eaded for te ills like a
spooked orse ter one suc incident an elderly club directortried te old L Walter Stepens routine and made an attempt toban Bobby because e was not properly accoutered." Tis ol dfuddyduddy wo imagined tat e was still living in te Edwardian era ad is glasses focussed on Bobby's Tsirt and corduroys.
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But as a cub director myself and as a former US campion I admy eye not on Bobbys blue eans but on is designer genes and succeeded in reversing tis decison
In my role as a pop psycologist I ave always cung to tesimple-minded idea tat to understand an adolescent or adult male
is to know wat came eary on Bobby never ad a ome life tateven remotely served a young boys inner needs and one suspectstat te deficiences e found in is moter were transferred towomen in genera Certanly e was aways uneasy n te companyof femaes To te best of my knowledge e never ad a gir friendunti we nto adultood And consdering te andsome unk tate became te absence of women must ave been is coice Afterall ow many females could resist a predatory yet boyis genius?Bobbys longis face" wrote arry Markey in a memorable de
scrption tat appeared in Che Le is a vertical compostion ofbony segments grouped around te ecamation mark of a longprominent nose and eld n submission by a low foreead Te cinis aressively stubborn is boys looks are empasized by tecarelessly combed air parted on te sde"
ow many ladies coud resist Bobby? Not many I wager
An Angry Chess God Incarnate
iscer payed to win even wen te tournament score no longerdemanded it Moreover unlike any world campon before im eplayed to win as Black against even te most dangerous oppositionAnd succeeded repeatedly
I first felt te almost pysica impact of iscers wil to win inis first US Campionsip back n 95 We reaced a cearlydrawn ending but iscer continued to play down to skin andbones e was so upset over surrendering a alf point to someonewo ad been away from cess for a decade tat it ust flipped ime even refused to analyze te game afterwards wic was rarebeavior on s part But two years later in te 960 US Campionsip e trew is arms around me after I defeated is arcrivaSammy Resevsky Tat was iscers way of saying Im sorry"
greatest genius to ave descended from te cessic sky" RaymondKeene described iscer as a kind of angry cess god incarnate waging total warfare on te cess board" My friend Miguel Najdorfsaid tat iscer simply trows te pieces up in te air andsomeow tey land on te rigt squares" My dear departed friendIsaac Kasdan opined tat in iscers ands a sigt teoretical
advantage is as good as being a Queen aead"
As for iscer imself, e seldom ad a good word to say aboutis cess And tats to is credit in my book am satisfied witte result" iscer observed after winning te Palma Interzonal by3% points but not wit my play" On anoter occasion, e won atournament by two points and regretted not winning it by four
iscer strode te cess landscape wit te abandon of a famised beast loose among defenseless prey Not always a pretty sigt
but te most compelling vision tus far in cess istory
Th Natur of Gnius
Bobbys natural feel for cess reminded me of te gift grantedanoter boy to wom fame came early in life Wen Jasca eifetzwas ittle more tan a baby," te great cellist Gregor Piatigorskyonce told me, e was finising up in te batroom wit is faterwo careessly let te toilet seat drop Stil alf asleep, te little
boy wo was born wit perfect pitc, automaticaly responded, Bflat
Ive always wondered about te nature of genius And for tatreason and because Bobby was someow likable worked at knowing te lad better e was most definitey a loner wo sunnedpeople outside cessespecialy journalistslike medieval peasantsavoided lepers I came to know im as a man of te igest eticalstandards If not parfaitement gentil in is social abits e was al
ways a knigtan peur et an reprche
in moral mattersBobbys utter unconcern for money is not well known Most
people remember is incessant demands for larger prizes witoutrecaling tat e turned down millions of dolars in commercialendorsements after winning te world campionsip e sougttose larger prizes only because e accepted implicitly te capitalistprinciple tat value is wat buyers freely bid Te iger te bidte greater te wort of ones calling ang te money per se
Once, wen offered $5 milion to play a matc, e termed teproposal totally inadequate because Muammed Ai received $0milion for a mere 60 minutes work Yet wen smal povertystricken cess organizers labored to create good conditions formasters Bobby often sent tem tank you" notes e also gener-
8/13/2019 The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories-3
ously contributd tns of thousands of dollars to Gar TdArmstrong's Worldwid Church of God Th maids who cland hisroom in Rykjavik, Icland during th 972 world titl match canattst to Bobbys disrgard for dollars According to Frd Cramr,who was with Bobby constantly in thos days th grat man lftmony vrwhrin his pajamas undr pillows undr th bd
and so on. Such scorn of Mammon" wrot New Yrk Time chsscolumnist Robrt Byrn would b difficult to qual for a saint"
Bobby possssd a high sns of loyaty to frindsso long
thy nvr actd on his bhalf without prmission Whn h was ayoungstr usd to tak him and my son, Mitch to s th NwYork Rangrs at Madison Squar Gardn Bobby njoyd thostrats and nvr forgot thm. Yars latr, whn askd him to playfor th Manhattan Chss Club tam against th arch-rival Marshall
squad and in th procss inquird about his f, Bobby nvr hsitatd. I wouldn't charg you anything" h said, bcaus you'r afrind." owing chss profssionals all too wll was stupfid bythis rply
And so on Saturday vning Bobby sat down to play IMnthony Saidy in a contst that was latr votd by a panl of intrnational judgs to b th scondbst gam in th first half of 969During th tam match, I spnt mor tim analyzing Bobby's gamthan my own ffort against Andy Soltis. And for good rason
Bobby playd a novl and stunning sacrific as arly as mov six.Whn told him aftrward that th sacrific smd sound h rplid with his customary clippd objctivity No it was unsound,"and procdd to show us why.
Fischr finds an original and intrsting pawn sacrific on thsixth mov Morovr it mts Rudolf Spilmann's critria for binga real sacrific th consquncs ar incalculabl and th compnsation dbatabl.
7 KPxP 0-0
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Bobby pointd out that Whit ought to play 8 PxP!, lavingBlack with a dubious position atr 8 . . RK 9 PB4 PQ3 0 BxN! PxB PQ4!.
8 -K I 9 . 0-0
I now 9 PxP, Black has 9 . N-KN
9 . . P-3 I 0 N-R4
Putting a Knight on th rim usually invits a trim. But I cannotadvis anything bttr Whits xtra pawn is uslss, and his Qunpawn is wak. Black clarly has xcllnt compnsation or th
button.I 0 . . B-5 I I . NxB PxN 2. P-KR3 P-KR4 3. PR3 PR4 1 4. P-N3 -N31 5. N-N2 BB4 I 6. -B2 N-2
Black builds up against th Qun pawn
1 7 RK I N-B4 1 8 BB RR3!
A mov that sparats th champs rom th chumps. At irstglanc, Black is putting his Rook out o play.
1 9. B-2 R-N3 20 BxP RxP 2 1 B2 RR I
Rlntlssly dirct. Th ky to playing grat chss is to hav thability to ormulat sound pans and th courag to pursu thmunblinkingly.
22. PR4 RR3 23. PR5 KR2 24. K - P-N3 25 B-K I
Whit might b abl to hold out a bit longr with 25 PxP 3xP
At th 963 Wstrn Opn in Bay Cty Mchigan, Bobby bcam nvovd in a spd chss marathon wth Norbrt Lopod a local advrtising man and strong mastr Th two wr hard at it by 7 p.m.,immdiatly aftr round four on th scond day of th tournamnt.Bobby bgan by offring pawn and mov and latr uppd th oddsto pawn and two movs. Thy continud throughout th night,oftn doubling and rdoubling th staks. By 9 am. th followngmorning, Bobby was up $3500
For Bobby, that was th good nws Th bad nws was that hhad to rush to his morning tournamnt gam without any rst Stlwors, h won that strul only aftr a hard ndgam grnd Bynow xhaustd h droppd nto a chair to play GM Bisgur in thsxth round:
Athu Bsgue-Robet j. FscheWeste Open 963Kings Indan Defense
I . P4 NKB3 2. PB4 PKN3 3. N-B3 B-N2 4. N-B3 0-0 S. P-K3 P-36. BK2 N2 7. 00 PK4 8. PN4 R-K I 9. B-N2 P-KS I 0. N-2 NB II I . B2 BB4 1 2. P-S PKR4 I 3 N-NS P-RS 1 4 N-4 B-2 I S. P-R3P-R6 I 6. PN3 -K2
Whit njoys a Qunsid spac advantag whl Black banks onmat.
7. KRB I BNS 1 8. B-B N/ -R2 1 9. P-R4 N-N4 20. PRS PR3 2 . R-N I
Hrabouts Bobby fll aslp at th board but instad of lttnghim dram until his fag fll Bisguir awaknd him. Blacks Qunsid may b n runs but h has chancs on th opposit wng ifWhit plays inaccuratly
29 -B3 BB I 30. R-NS xP 3 1 . R3 32. xP NB6ch 33 KR I B3 34. xP?
It would hav bn bttr to lt a slping Fischr li. Whit hadto play 34 RN2, whn his Kingsid is scur.
34 NxP 3S KxN?
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Thr is no dns against . . B-B6ch. A possibl inal is 37 N N 38. QB2 B-B6ch 39. KN1 PR7 mat.
Th Comback Trial
At about th tim that I rtird to Florida in th arly 1970s, Ibgan snding Bobby opning analysis to hlp out in his candidatsmatchs. O cours h didnt nd my advic but at last I ltgood. And, prhaps did hlp to rinorc a conclusion that h hadprobably alrady rachd: not to rpat a variation o th TaimanovSicilian that h playd in his irst match gam against Ptrosian.
Manwhil I stard studying chss again with th objc orturning to srious comptition. Easir said than don. Th comback trail bcam a comback trial. Opning knowldg had xpandd gomtrically and n th vrnacular o th ight rackt, myootwork had slowd down. It took m two yars to l a littl bttr about my play and by that tim Bobby was alrady worldchampion, having datd Boris Spassky in 1972
Unortunatly, Bobby did not liv and play happily vr atr. Hll out with many o his rinds and surrndrd to rligious nthu
siasms. His good rind Anthony Saidy approachd m at on o thon Pin tournamnts and sustd that I call him You'r an oldrind" Tony said to m and think hll b glad o har romyou."
Wll why not. I tlphond Bobby that vry day, and w bganchatting as i it wr only ystrday hat w spok H told mabout owning a pic o land in Florida and said that h might comto visit us on day Whn I askd him why h was not playing at
on Pin, h cut short our convrsation, though h did tak myphon numbr and promisd to call. Bobby's rluctanc to answrmy qustion brought to mind th prvious vning whn ouisStatham, our hos at on Pin complaind hotly about his lack ocoopraion. I committd th srious mistak o arguing hat onhad to mak allowac or gnius. To which Statham rplid instantly I too am a gniusan invntorand do not wan anyonto mak allowanc or m."
Back in Florida I got a call rom Bobby concrning a lgal qus
