Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) was bom in Chicago and learned the chess moves early in 1949 from his sister, Joan, who was 11-years old. She often bought different games at a local candy store to keep Bobby amused. For the next year or so he occasionally played against the boys in the neighborhood whom he had taught the game.
By 1950, the family was living in Brooklyn, New York and in November his mother sent a postcard to the chess columnist of the Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Hermann Helms, asking if he knew any boys Bobby's age that he could play chess with.
Helms suggested Bobby go to a chess exhibition held on
January 17, 1951, where he played in a simultaneous exhibition given by Max Pavey.
Bobby lost quickly, but Carmine Nigro, President of the Brooklyn Chess Club was watching and invited him to join the club. The rest is history.
Although Fischer started his tournament career in 1953, his earliest known games games only date back to the summer of 1955 when he played in the U.S. Junior Open in Lincoln.
Few games from that event are extant and it seems that Chess Review gave it no coverage while the coverage in Chess Life was more about the local organizers than the players.
In the following game, Fischer got defeated by Kenneth Warner, who also finished with a 5-5 score and took 12th place on tiebreaks.
The 17-year old Warner has slipped through the cracks of chess history. All that is known of him is that he was the Bakersfield, California High School champion in 1954 and 1955. He tied for 36th-38th place in the 1954 U.S. Junior championship in Long Beach, California. And, he won the Fresno, California Junior Championship in 1955.
During the event some of the players, including Fischer, were staying at the homce of one of the organizers, Alexander Liepnieks and Fischer was on the receiving end of taunts by a couple of the other players. You can read an excellent account in the Nebraska State Chess Archives HERE. The article also has some rare photos
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[Event "US Junior Open, Lincoln, Nebraska"]
[Site "Lincoln, NE USA"]
[Date "1955.07.15"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Robert Fischer"]
[Black "Kenneth Warner"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B58"]
[Annotator "Stockfish 16"]
[PlyCount "56"]
[EventDate "1955.??.??"]
{B76: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4
Nf6 5. Nc3 d6 6. Be2 g6 7. Be3 Bg7 8. f3 O-O 9. Qd2 a6 {The best way for black
to equalize here is with the sharp 9...d5} 10. O-O-O Qa5 (10... d5 {is still
the best move.} 11. Nxc6 bxc6 12. exd5 cxd5 13. Nxd5 Nxd5 14. Qxd5 Qc7 {
Here, too, white is better, but Korchagina,V (2176)-Solovjov,S (2419) St
Petersburg 2008 ended in a draw.}) 11. Kb1 {This safety precaution covering
the a-Pawn is better than the immediate 11/g4} Rd8 12. g4 (12. Bc4 {was a good
option. Then after} Nxd4 13. Bxd4 b5 14. Qe3 {Threatening Bb6} Rb8 15. Bb3 {
white stands slightly better.}) 12... Nxd4 {A good nove. Black wants to place
his B on the more active square e6.} 13. Bxd4 Be6 $1 14. Qe3 Nd7 {This
prevents 15.Bb6, but a better way of neutralizing the threat.} (14... Rdc8 {
This sets a trap.} 15. Bb6 Rxc3 {Watch this...} 16. bxc3 Nxg4 {Threatening ...
Qxa2#} 17. Bxa5 Nxe3 18. Rde1 Rc8 {with the advantage.}) (14... Rdc8 15. g5 {
This is the best reply. Now after} Nh5 16. Bxg7 Nxg7 17. Nd5 Bxd5 18. Rxd5 Rc5
{The chances are equal.}) 15. f4 {[%mdl 32] White's chances on the K-side are
more promising than black’s on the Q-side.} Bxd4 {15....Rdc8 was still a
promising alternative.} 16. Qxd4 {aiming for f5.} Nf6 {This move is a poor
one that should have resulted in Fischer gsaing a decisive advantage.} (16...
f6 {This unlikely looking move had to be played, but white still comes out on
top.} 17. Bc4 {Much stringer than 17.f5} (17. f5 Bf7 18. Nd5 Bxd5 19. exd5 {
White is clearly better.}) 17... Bf7 18. Bxf7+ Kxf7 19. h4 Rdc8 20. h5 {
and white should win.}) 17. f5 Bd7 18. h4 {White is still better after this,
but 18.g5 was even better.} (18. g5 Ne8 19. Nd5 {and there is no way to defend
e7.}) 18... Bb5 19. Bf3 {It was still preferable to play 19.g5} Rac8 20. Nxb5 {
The following moves involve some imprecise play by both sides, but it must be
remembered that at the time both players were non-Masters so it's hard to be
too critical. Also, some of the moves required a Stockfish level of abilty to
go deep into the position to find the best moves.} axb5 {Black is unaware of
any danger and plays to open the a-file for an attack, but a better plan would
have been 20...Qxb5 and then ...Qc5 hoping to exchange Qs} 21. h5 {This is the
wrong P push and it allows black right back into the game. However, after
Stockfish's top choice of 21.g5 which lead to an eventual win, the position
gets very complicated and precise play would be required.} Rc4 22. Qe3 Ra8 23.
a3 {Black should now play 23...b4 and the chances would then be equal. Instead,
his next move gives Fischer a chance to regain the advantage.} Qa4 24. c3 (24.
Qc1 {Fischer could hardly be faulted for not seeing this unlikely retreat!}
gxf5 25. exf5 h6 26. Rhg1 {and black's position is quite precarious.}) 24...
Nxe4 {[%mdl 8192] Obvious...and bad.} (24... Qb3 {keeps the upper hand.} 25.
Rd4 Rxa3 26. Rxc4 bxc4 27. hxg6 Qa2+ 28. Kc2 Qb3+ 29. Kb1 Ra2 30. Qe2 Qa4 31.
Kc1 {with a slight advantage.}) 25. Bxe4 {He should have played 25.Rc1 when
the threat of hxg6 would lead to a winnning position.} Rxe4 26. Qh6 (26. Qd2 {
stays on course, but that's hard to see!} Rxg4 27. hxg6 Qe4+ 28. Ka1 Qxf5 29.
gxh7+ Kh8 30. Rhf1 Qg5 31. Rxf7 {is equal.}) 26... Re2 27. Rd2 {[%mdl 8192]
This was no doubt played to prevent ...Qc2+, but it's a losing blunder.} (27.
Qc1 {is the only good defense.} Qe4+ 28. Ka1 b4 {and white can hang on with}
29. hxg6 bxa3 30. gxf7+ Kxf7 31. b4 {Black has a slight advantage, but
probably not enough to win.}) 27... Rxd2 28. Qxd2 Qe4+ {White resigned because
the R is lost.} 0-1
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