AThe Semi-Weekly Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Monday, January 01, 1979 - Page 7
Karpov-Korchnoi Rematch?
World chess champion ANATOLY KARPOV and his No. 1 rival, VICTOR KORCHNOI, may have their next encounter in April in Washington, D.C. The legendary BOBBY FISCHER has also been invited to join the planned World Cup Tournament, but he hasn't answered yet. Karpov said in a recent interview in a Soviet newspaper that the Washington tournament “will probably be my next official appearance,” but Korchnoi doubts it.
York Daily Record York, Pennsylvania Thursday, January 18, 1979 - Page 2
Fischer Asked To Play Match in Israel
Tel Aviv, Israel (UPI) — A parliament member who once helped arrange a spy swap is now taking on an even more delicate task — he's trying to arrange a chess match between former champion Bobby Fischer and Soviet defector Viktor Korchnoi in Israel.
A spokesman for parliamentarian Shmuel Flatto-Sharon said Wednesday an invitation was sent Tuesday to Fischer in Pasadena, Calif. Korchnoi arrived in Israel for a 10-day visit Sunday for a series of exhibition matches.
“We would very much like to secure your agreement to play four chess matches here in Israel at the time of your convenience.” the invitation said. Proceeds from the matches will be donated to the Israeli army fund, it said.
Flatto-Sharon helped arrange a swap in April of three persons jailed for spying in Mozambique, East Germany and the United States.
Viktor Korchnoi reported that Fischer accused him of ‘spying’ on him… well, this explains everything. Korchnoi may have been naive, but the Zionist spy-master, Shmuel Flatto-Sharon was not. Now WHY would Bobby Fischer want to raise funds for Israeli Army to murder Palestinian children and steal their land? Bobby Fischer will be infuriated when he reads such nonsensical, mockery “invitation” in a newspaper!
The Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Tuesday, January 23, 1979 - Page 48
Soviet defector and chess grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi says he intends to apply for Israeli citizenship and hopes to represent the Jewish state in international chess tournaments.
“The next time I come to Israel, I am going to apply for Israeli citizenship and settle,” the highly ranked chess expert said yesterday in Tel Aviv. “I feel such a good reception here,” Korchnoi said. “I feel I have a lot of friends here. I feel that I can help my family be released from the Soviet Union.”
Korchnoi defected from the Soviet Union in 1976 and now lives in The Netherlands. The Soviets have officially stripped him of his citizenship. His wife and 19-year-old son are still living in the Soviet Union.
Parliament member Samuel Flatto-Sharon, who brought Korchnoi to Israel for 10 days of exhibition chess matches, has invited former chess champion Bobby Fischer of the United States to Tel Aviv to play Korchnoi, offering a $3 million prize to the winner.
Fischer's good feelings toward Korchnoi (even telegrammed congrats to Korchnoi for defecting from USSR). But Bobby Fischer in 1979 is in the heat of his (RECENT) studies of USSR and the founding of the Israeli Apartheid regime… there's going to be MASSIVE hostilities from Fischer toward Korchnoi.
A Letter from Bobby Fischer to Pal Benko (26 February 1979)
The Anniston Star Anniston, Alabama Saturday, January 27, 1979 - Page 11 ★
Prophet Armstrong in Seclusion as Battle Erodes Church Empire
“Members give at least 10 percent of gross income. Many give more than 30 percent. Some people who are not (baptised) members have contributed heavily anyway, such as former world chess champion Bobby Fischer.”
Stanley Rader, is both the acting lawyer for the Worldwide Church of God, and acting as Fischer's lawyer, siphoned off Fischer's prize money from the '72 Fischer-Spassky match.
https://hwarmstrong.com/ar/Fischer.html
The Times Herald, Port Huron, Michigan, Wednesday, April 04, 1979 - Page 7
Fischer Comeback Urged
New York (AP)—Mayor Edward I. Koch got a visit from current world chess champion Anatoly Karpov of the Soviet Union and made a plea for the previous champ, Brooklyn-born Bobby Fischer, to make a comeback.
“Wherever you are, Bobby, come back and defend us,” Koch said.
“To meet him around a chess table, I'm ready now,” said Karpov, “but not to play.”
Karpov dropped in to meet Koch at City Hall on Tuesday and was greeted by a horde of chess masters and fans.
Asked if he would agree to a match with Fischer in New York City, Karpov, egged on by Koch to “say yes,” replied: “Of course,” but quickly added, “It depends on the terms.”
Chess promoters reportedly are considering New York as the site of match between Karpov and Fischer, who won the title in 1972 by defeating Boris Spassky in Iceland.
Democrat and Chronicle, Rochester, New York, Monday, May 14, 1979 - Page 28
Will Fischer Fight City Hall?
When Mayor Edward Koch of New York City received World Champion Anatoly Karpov at City Hall on April 3rd, he took advantage of the occasion to issue the following appeal to Bobby Fischer:
“Bobby, our city and our country look to you as our greatest champion. There is no American better able to meet the challenge posed by the top-level play of our distinguished visitor today. Bobby we need you back.”
During the question period that followed the Mayor's statement, Karpov reaffirmed his often stated desire to play Fischer, but admitted that negotiations were not currently being held. He also said that although he had great respect for Fischer's play, he also had “confidence in his own strength.”
In a recent issue of the Soviet magazine Nedelya, Karpov describes his meeting with Fischer a year ago: “He (Fischer) suggested that we play an unofficial match. We talked about the rules and regulation, but no compromising solution acceptable to both sides was found. Naturally, it would be interesting to play with Fischer, both for me, and, I suppose, the whole chess world. I would welcome his return to the major chess league.”
Unfortunately a Fischer match with Svetozar Gligoric, scheduled for this spring seems unlikely to materialize. The Yugoslav grandmaster confessed privately at the Lone Pine International Tournament a few weeks ago, that a million dollars in prize money is available, but Fischer is not.
The Courier Waterloo, Iowa Monday, May 14, 1979 - Page 8
Great Moments for Pepsi
Bobby Fischer-retired at age 32 from playing chess after being considered the greatest Grandmaster of all time. He has an I.Q. of 187 and became at 15 the youngest ever International Grandmaster!…
(This figure has never been officially confirmed but has been repetitively cited as if it is a matter of fact. No official documentation is provided to support the claim.)
Austin American-Statesman Austin, Texas Wednesday, June 13, 1979 - Page 57
Bobby Fischer Not Fond of Journalists
When sportswriter and TV personality Dick Schapp recently requested an interview with Bobby Fischer, he received a standard rebuff. He could interview Fischer, he was told, but he would have to pay $50,000.
Schapp's experience reminds me of an incident described to me, a couple of years ago, by the eminent Soviet grandmaster, Alexander Kotov, an ardent admirer of Fischer:
Several years before, Dimitri Bjelica, a Yugoslav chess journalist on assignment at an international tournament, was awakened from a deep sleep by an insistent pounding on his door. It was 3 a.m., but Bjelica somehow managed to get to his feet, stagger across the room, and open his hotel room door. Standing in the hallway was a very awake and a very angry Bobby Fischer.
“Could you answer a question for me?” Fischer inquired of his friend. “I suppose so,” the semi-comatose Bjelica replied. “Do you think it is possible,” Fischer asked, “that a court of law might, on the grounds of extenuating circumstances, find a person not guilty — if that person had murdered a chess journalist?”
Bjelica paused, while he furtively looked at Fischer's face — as to ascertain whether he was the journalist in question. Finally he answered: “It's possible Bobby.”
Whereupon he closed the door and staggered back across the room to his bed.
Democrat and Chronicle Rochester, New York Monday, July 09, 1979 - Page 15
The Fastest Gun In The West
One of Bobby Fischer's most psychologically devastating weapons is his quick grasp of positions. It is not unusual for him to use 40 percent less time than even his most accomplished grandmaster opponents.
The following anecdote by a veteran Brooklyn player of expert strength is, therefore, of great interest.
“Back in 1957, I was playing first board for the Civic Center Chess Club in a match against the Brooklyn Chess Club, held at the Brooklyn YMCA.
“I was paired with a 14-year-old kid, who seemed small for his age. All of us thought the Brooklyn club was pulling a fast one by putting their ‘weakest’ player at first board. We played, I made an error, dropped a piece and resigned.
“The game over, my opponent rose to his feet, visibly angry. ‘You don't really play faster than me. You didn't even think.’ he said. Playing my usual rapid, impulsive style, I had in fact used appreciably less time than he.
“There was an older companion of my opponent there, about 35 years old. He came over to me afterwards. ‘You have to remember this about Bobby,’ he apologized. ‘He's lost games, but no one has ever beaten him on time’!”
A few months later, Bobby Fischer, not yet 15 years old astounded the world by winning the U.S. championship in chess.
The Herald-News Passaic, New Jersey Sunday, July 29, 1979 - Page 21
Petrosian Waits For Foe's Mistakes
The Soviet chess magazine, “64,” paid tribute to Tigran Petrosian on his 50th birthday by printing some of the former world champion's memorable victories against all the world champions of recent times — Euwe, Smyslov, Botvinnik, Spassky, Fischer, Tal, and Karpov.
Petrosian is usually thought of as a cat-versus-mouse player — a chess tactician who waits for his opponents to make mistakes. But he can display great strategic skill. In one of the games in his match with Bobby Fischer in Buenos Aires in 1971, Petrosian showed not only that he could deal with the complexities Fischer sought but also that he knew exactly when to sacrifice.
It was a notable triumph, and it taught Fischer a lesson. Thereafter he ceased to trifle with his experienced opponent, and went on, by a score of 6½ to 2½, to win the right to play Boris Spassky for the title.
Petrosian is one of the world's outstanding grandmasters and fully entitled to the space given him by “64.”
