ADaily Press Newport News, Virginia Sunday, August 26, 1962 - Page 14
Expose 26 Aug 1962, Sun Daily Press (Newport News, Virginia) Newspapers.com
Expose.
A postscript to Curacao is an article by Bobby Fischer, America's 19-year-old controversial but brilliant grandmaster whose performance at Willemstad was disappointing in the light of prior achievement.
It's no secret to chess fans that throughout the Curacao tournament two comments popped up more than others: 1. “What's happened to Bobby Fischer?” 2. “This is chess?”
The first puzzler had to do with the way Fischer was boxed in as far as scoring was concerned. The second involved the many grandmaster draws.
Fischer presents his explanation in a copyrighted article in Sports Illustrated (Aug. 20 issue). A report on Fischer's views also appeared in the New York Times on Aug. 18 under the by-line of Harold C. Schonberg.
Fischer charged that the Russian grandmasters kibitzed openly on his games and that their drawn games were prearranged. One draw particularly, he points out, the last of four between Keres and Petrosian, actually could have been a victory for Petrosian, who played black. Fischer sums up his appraisal of the Russians' performance with the harsh phrase “open collusion”; in short, they play as a team.
Schoenberg notes in his article in the Times, “These are grave charges that are almost impossible to substantiate . . .” However be that as it may, Fischer's allegations echo what other Western masters of the world championship caliber observed in past years: Competition for the world title under new ground rules has not worked out to the best interest of chess.
