At the time, the blanket amnesty generated a good deal of criticism from veterans’ groups and others who disapproved of the idea of letting unpatriotic lawbreakers get off free. On the other end of the political spectrum, the pardon came under fire from amnesty groups for not having addressed deserters, or soldiers who were dishonorably discharged or violent civilian anti-war demonstrators.
In all, about 100,000 Americans went abroad in the late 1960s and early '70s to avoid being drafted. Some 90 percent went to Canada where, after some initial controversy, they were accepted as legal immigrants. Before Carter issued his pardon, those who had fled to Canada faced prison sentences if they chose to return to the United States.
In the end, an estimated 50,000 draft dodgers chose to settle permanently in Canada. Thousands went into hiding at home, sometimes changing their identities. In addition, about 1,000 military deserters found their way to Canada.
At first Canadian authorities indicated they would be prosecuted or deported, but in practice they were left alone and Canadian border guards were told not to ask too many questions.
In other news, Star Wars opened in theaters, while on television the immensely popular mini-series Roots aired. Apple II computers went on sale, the precursor to the GPS system in use today was started by US Department of Defense and the first commercial flight of the Concord took place. On July 13th, New York City was hit with a blackout.
The French film director, producer, writer, actor and sleazeball Roman Polanski was arrested in California for raping a 13-year-old girl. In January 1978, the day before sentencing, Polanski fled the country on a flight to London and the next day left for France where he has been protected from extradition.
The biggest news concerned Elvis Presley who died while sitting on the toilet and even today there’s something of a mystery surrounding the incident. Read more...
The year 1977 had no major chess activity. In one ill-fated experiment FIDE organized the first Telechess Olympiad with games played over amateur radio, telephone, or telex that was won by the USSR. FIDE also introduced the Woman Grandmaster title and the first World Cadet championship for under-17 was held.
The year got off to a depressing start when on January 13, 1977, Anthony Santasiere (born 1904) died at the age of 72 and then on February 15th Isaac Boleslavsky (born 1919) died in Minsk at age of 57 after a fall on an icy sidewalk resulted in a broken hip which became infected during during his hospitalization. Two days later, on February 17th, Newell Banks (born 1887), a famous chess and checkers player, died in Detroit at the age of 89. More players followed when on September 14th, the German-Argentine IM Paul Michel (born 1905) died in La Plata, Argentina. On October 1st, Czech IM Fantisek Zita (born 1909) died in Prague at the age of 68. On November 2nd, the Czech IM Ivan Rohacek (born 1909) died in Serbia at the age of 68.
In May, at the age of 11, Nigel Short became the youngest player to qualify for the finals of a national championship when he defeated Irish champion Alan Ludgate in a zonal playoff for a spot in the British championship.
Bobby Fischer played three games against the MIT Greenblatt computer program. He turned down $250,000 to play one chess game at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas and $3 million to play in a tournament in the Philippines.
At the end of 1977 he cut all ties with the Worldwide Church of God claiming that the church was taking orders from a satanical secret world government. For for details on his involvement with the church see one of my most popular posts ever, Bobby Fischer and the Worldwide Church of God.
Earlier in the year, on February 20, 1977, Fischer’s mother was arrested in London while protesting a government deportation order against two American journalists. She was sentenced to one year’s probation for obstructing the sidewalk outside a British government office.
The car kept breaking down and everyone chipped in for repairs. There was no air conditioning in cars in those days and it was hot, tempers grew short and there were some petty arguments.
More serious was the fist fight that broke out between Fischer and Gilbert Ramirez who had finished second. Fischer got a black eye and he bit Ramirez on the arm leaving permanent scars which Ramirez displayed as a souvenir of the trip. Eventually, the car broke down entirely and had to be abandoned.
Fischer was the Hannibal Lecter of chess...years later during his arrest in Japan he bit one of the Japanese police officers.
But, we’re talking about 1977 and in October, Fischer was involved in another incident. After Fischer left the Worldwide Church of God he took part in a taped interview with a magazine published by church dissidents in which he charged that church founder Herbert W. Armstrong and his followers had taken not only his money but his mind.
Later he tried to get the tapes back and forced his way into the apartment of a woman named Holly Ruiz who was present at one of the interviews. She alleged that Fischer threatened to hurt her and told her, “I’m going to smash your face in.” At least she didn't get bitten.
Ruiz filed an assault charge and Fischer reached an out-of-court settlement with her then sued the magazine for $3.2 million which was never settled because he also was unable to get along with his lawyers.
In November Viktor Korchnoi and Raymond Keene were in a car accident when their taxi collided with a Swiss army truck. The car rolled over three times leaving Korchnoi with a broken right hand and other injuries. As a result, he asked for a postponement in his world championship semi-final match with Spassky. Keene was not seriously injured.
At the end of the year the 53rd Hastings Christmas Festival took place in int the Premier section the final standings were:
1) Dzindzichashvili 10.5
2-3) Petrosian and Sax 9.5
4) Hort 9.0
5) Mestel 8.5
6) Tarjan 8.0
7) Sveshnikov 7.5
8) Speelman 7.0
9-10) Nunn and Shamkovich 6.5
11-12) Fedorowicz and Webb 5.5
13) Tisdall 4.54
14-15) Kagan and Botterill 3.5
Although the two players featured in the following game didn’t fare especially well in the tournament, they played an exciting game.
FM George Botterill (born January 8, 1949) is a Welsh player, writer and philosopher. He learned chess at the age of seven and from 1969-1972 played for Oxford University, and became one of Britain's leading young players. He is best known as a chess writer, especially for his opening collaborations with Raymond Keene.
Botterill won the 1974 British Championship by winning the playoff over William Hartston after a seven-way tie for first. In 1977 Botterill won his second British Championship. He won the Welsh Championship in 1973 (jointly).
In 1974 he became a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Wales at Aberystwyth, and began to play for the Welsh international team. He moved to Sheffield in 1988. His professional research interests are in the philosophy of psychology and the philosophy of science.
GM John Fedorowicz was born September 17, 1958 in New York City. He learned to play chess in 1972, inspired by the Fischer–Spassky World Championship Match coverage on television. He made rapid progress to become co-winner of the 1977 U.S. Junior Championship and outright winner in 1978.
"The Fed", as he is known, continued to pile up victories both in the U.S. and in Europe. He has also captained the U.S. Olympiad team on two occasions and has frequently acted as a second to World Championship candidate Gata Kamsky.
He has written or co-written a number of chess books and many articles for magazines and on-line publishers. Besides chess he enjoys reading, cooking, playing, and watching sports and a number of other board games, including Monopoly, Risk and Scrabble. He is also a popular teacher for children’s chess and lecturer at chess camps.
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