Fischer Disappoints!?

     The year 1959 was an interesting one. According to Rod Serling there was a fifth dimension we didn't know about...the dimension of imagination. It was an area known as The Twilight Zone, a mix of horror, science-fiction, drama, comedy and superstition; Serling was the program's narrator. The wildly popular program first aired in October, but we never watched it at our house; my dad didn't like it.

     The most famous person in the country was probably Elvis Presley, but February 3rd came to be known as The Day The Music Died. On that date rock and roll musicians Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper (J.P. Richardson) died in a plane crash near Clear Lake, Iowa, along with the pilot, Roger Peterson. 

     They weren't the only celebrities to meet a violent death. George Reeves, who played Superman on television, died at the age of 45 from a gunshot to the head. He was found in the upstairs bedroom of his home in the wee hours of the morning on June 16, 1959. The official finding was suicide, but some believe that he was murdered or the victim of an accidental shooting. 

      The scandalous book Lady Chatterley’s Lover by D. H. Lawrence was creating a hubbub. Although it was first published in Italy in 1928, it was banned in the U.S. (and other countries) as being obscene. 

     The ban on it and another book, Tropic of Cancer, was overturned in court in 1959. According to a columnist with The New York Times, the ruling was going to set off an explosion of free speech. 

     In 1959, the first house with a built-in bomb shelter was shown in Pleasant Hills, Pennsylvania. Later, in October of 1961, President Kennedy advised American families to build bomb shelters to protect them from fallout in the event of a nuclear attack by the Soviet Union. Kennedy also assured the public that the country's civil defense program would soon begin providing shelters for every American. 

     It was just a year later that the world hovered on the brink of nuclear war when the Cuban Missile Crisis erupted over Russia's placement of nuclear missiles in Cuba. During the 13-day crisis, some Americans prepared for nuclear war by buying up canned goods and completing last-minute work on their backyard bomb shelters. 

The Blogmeister in younger days

     Speaking of Cuba, several years later, in 1964, on the 5-year anniversary of Fidel Castro's takeover of Cuba, I was with the Marine Corps and we were aboard an old WWII aircraft carrier loaded with helicopters that was circling off the coast of Cuba. We sat on deck all day with the helicopters running and shutting down only to refuel. We had been issued ammunition and our weapons were loaded as we were ready to board the choppers and be flown to the fence line at the Guantanamo Bay Naval Base in case the Cubans tried to invade the base. Nothing happened and towards evening we were told to stand down. 

 

       In testimony before congress, game show contestant Charles Van Doren admitted he had been given the answers and coached on his on-camera performance while appearing on the game show Twenty-One. 

     As a result, Congress added a law to prohibit the fixing of televised contests of intellectual knowledge or skill and quiz shows disappeared for a long time. 

     Bobby Fischer played in three tournaments in 1959. In Mar del Plata he tied for 3rd with Borislav Ivkov a half point behind Miguel Najdorf and Ludek Pachman who tied for first. Then, after an appearance in a tournament in Santiago, Chile, he tied with Paul Keres for 3rd in Zurich behind Mikhail Tal (1st) and Svetozar Gligoric (2nd). 

 

     The second Torneo de Arturo Alesandri Palma was held from April 20th to May 6th, 1959 in Santiago, Chile. According to a brief report in Chess Review, the sixteen year old Bobby Fischer's result was disappointing. Fischer, who was just beginning his international career, scored as many wins as Ivkov and Pachman, but he lost four games. Here is his win against the 1958 Chilean champion.

[Event "Santiago"] [Site " "] [Date "1959.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert Fischer"] [Black "Moises Stekel Grunberg"] [Result "1-0"] [Annotator "Stockfish 15"] [PlyCount "69"] [EventDate "1959.04.20"] {Ruy Lopez: Steinitz Defense Deferred} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 (3... d6 4. d4 Bd7 5. Nc3 Nf6 6. O-O Be7 {is the Old Steinitz.}) 4. Ba4 d6 {Also called the Modern Steinitz Defense, this line allows blacks the possibility of breaking the pin with ...b5 and so gives him more latitude than the Old Steinitz. White has many playable moves: 5.c3, 5.c4, 5.Bxc6, 5.d4 and 5.0-0.} 5. c3 Bd7 6. d4 g6 7. O-O Bg7 8. Bg5 Nge7 9. dxe5 dxe5 10. Qe2 (10. Re1 h6 11. Be3 b6 12. Na3 O-O 13. Qd2 Kh7 14. Rad1 {with equal chances. Zapata,A (2545) -Kamsky,G (2650) Manila 1990}) 10... h6 11. Be3 (11. Bh4 {is not so good.} g5 12. Bg3 Ng6 13. Rd1 Qe7 14. Nbd2 g4 15. Ne1 h5 16. f3 h4 {Black is better. Shceglov,M (1590)-Erokhin,A (1851) St Petersburg RUS 2019}) 11... Qc8 (11... O-O {can be played fiest.} 12. Rd1 Qc8 13. Nbd2 b6 14. Nf1 Be6 {is equal. Keres,P-Medina Garcia,A Gothenburg 1955}) 12. Rd1 Bg4 {This does not turn out well.} (12... b6 {is correct.} 13. h3 O-O 14. Bb3 Na5 15. c4 c5 {Nishimura,H (2285)-Kagan,N (2395) Malaysia 1995}) 13. h3 Bxf3 {The ignominious retreat 13.. .Bd7 was better.} 14. Qxf3 O-O 15. Bc5 Qe6 {A scintilla better was the exchange of Rs with 15...Rd8} 16. Nd2 Rad8 {As usual, this is the wrong R.} 17. Bxc6 {Had black played the other R to d8 he could have answered this with 17... Nxc6} bxc6 18. Qe2 Rb8 {There is little point ion trying to save the P, so black tries to use the open file.} (18... Ra8 19. Qc4 Qf6 (19... Qxc4 20. Nxc4 Rfe8 21. Rd7 {wins}) 20. Nf3 Rfc8 21. Rd7 Bf8 22. Rad1 {and black is in some serious trouble.}) 19. Qxa6 {White is clearly winning and it's only a matter of time.} Bf6 20. b4 Rfd8 21. a4 g5 {To his credit black is seeking a K-side attack even if it is doomed to failure.} 22. Kh2 g4 23. Qc4 Qc8 24. Nf1 { [%mdl 32] The beginning of a journey to f5.} Ng6 25. Ne3 gxh3 26. g3 Bg5 27. Nf5 {The N plays an important defensive role on f5.} h5 28. Kxh3 Rd7 29. Kg2 Qd8 30. Qe2 h4 {A frantic attempt at an attack, but there is no time to even get in ...hxg3} (30... Ne7 {There is just no way to get rid of the N on f5.} 31. Bxe7 Bxe7 32. Rxd7 Qxd7 33. Qxh5 {is winning easily.}) 31. Rxd7 Qxd7 32. Qg4 Qd8 33. Rd1 Qf6 34. gxh4 Bxh4 35. Be7 {Very precise play by Fischer. Black resigned.} 1-0