Bobby Fischer and The Worldwide Church of God

      Most players are aware that there was a time in his life when Fischer, like Reshevsky, would not play on the Sabbath (sundown Friday until sundown Saturday) but it had nothing to do with Fischer having been born Jewish.  It had to do with his membership in the Worldwide Church of God.

First, some background on the church:

      The church was founded by Herbert W. Armstrong (31 July 1892 - 16 January 1986) in the late 1930s.  He also founded Ambassador College with campuses in California and Texas.   Armstrong was an early pioneer of radio and televangelism.  His teachings eventually came to be known as Armstongism and they included the interpretation of Biblical prophecy in light of something called British Israelism.  This doctrine teaches that people of Western Europe, especially those of Great Britain, are direct descendants of the so called Ten Lost Tribes of Israel.  In addition he taught observance of parts of the Law including dietary prohibitions, and the covenant law, Holy Days as well as observing the Sabbath from sundown Friday until sundown Saturday.  He also taught many other ideas that were rejected by orthodox Christianity.
      Armstrong founded the Ambassador International Cultural Foundation which promoted the arts, humanities, and various humanitarian projects.  It was in this role that he met with heads of governments in various nations.
      Armstrong taught, and his followers believed, he was Jesus’ first apostle since the first century and that God only works through one man at a time and that he was God's man for his time.
       Eventually Herbert turned the organization over to his son, Garner Ted Armstrong (February 9, 1930 – September 15, 2003). Noted for his charisma, movie star looks, and for being a music enthusiast, he toyed with becoming a nightclub singer before following his father into the ministry. In radio and TV programs he mixed political, economic, and social news of the day with Bible-based commentary. Armstrong's voice, style and presentation attracted millions. Eventually Garner Ted got involved with disagreements with church leadership and his father and was involved in some sexual scandals and was disfellowshipped by his father in 1978.
       In 2009, the Worldwide Church of God officially changed its name to Grace Communion International, underwent major changes in doctrine, rejected the Armstrong’s teaching and claim to have embraced orthodox Christianity.
       During the time of the Armstrong’s great popularity their appeal to a lot of people was the free literature they offered.  Literature covered their ideas on prophecy and salvation, but the big attraction was their advice on how to handle things close to everyone’s heart: finances, marriage and family.  When a convert joined the church they discovered Armstrong’s teaching concerning tithing of one’s income.  He claimed the Bible taught paying three tithes.  If you can imagine paying, say, 20 percent of your income in taxes, then paying 30 percent (of the gross) to the church, you can imagine the hardship this would cause, but people were told that if they didn’t pay or left the church they would go to hell and it was this fear that held a lot of them.
       This brings us to Fischer.  He followed the church in the late 1960's to its headquarters in Pasadena and remained there despite his eventual break with the church.  After winning the World Championship he “tithed,” measured by today’s purchasing power, nearly a half a million dollars.

Further reading:

Chess Champion Becomes a Pawn

Bobby Fischer Speaks Out

Hastings 1977

     On January 21, 1977, President Jimmy Carter, in his first full day in office, fulfilled a campaign promise by granting unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War by fleeing the country or by failing to register with their draft board. 
     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. 

     In 1977, the International Computer Chess Association (ICCA) was formed and Chess Challenger 1 was the first chess computer on the market. In August the 2nd world computer championship was held in Toronto and was won by Chess 4.6. 
     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. 

     Bobby Fischer was just a nasty person. In the book Endgame by Frank Brady he describes Fischer’s ride home in which he shared a car with some other players after he won the US Junior Championship in 1957. 
     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.

Play Online Chess

[Event "Hastings 1977-78"]
[Site "?"]
[Date "1978.1.4"]
[Round "?"]
[White "George Botterill"]
[Black "John Fedorowicz"]
[Result "1-0"]
[WhiteELO "?"]
[BlackELO "?"]

%Created by Caissa's Web PGN Editor
{Modern Benoni} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. d5 e6 {The Modern Benoni has had its ups
and downs. Frank Marshall invented it in 1927, but his experiments were
ignored until the 1950s when Soviet players, especially Tal began playing
it.} 4. Nc3 exd5 5. cxd5 d6 6. e4 g6 7. Nf3 {Most popular although 7.f4 has
been tried.} 7... Bg7 8. Bg5 {Sharp! Other tries are 8.Be2, 8.h3 and 8..Nd2}
8... h6 9. Bh4 a6 10. Nd2 b5 11. a4 {This has not worked out at all well for
white. Better was 11.Be2.} 11... b4 12. Ncb1 Qe7 {In Vaganian-Hort, Niksic
1978 black played 12... g5?! and only managed a draw.} 13. Bd3 {13.f3 g5
14.Bf2 Nbd7 was played in Tomaszewski,R (2365)-Vilela,J (2410)/Polanica Zdroj
1980. and in Schmidt,W (2430)-Kuligowski,A (2495)/Warsaw 1979 black played
14.O-O and ...Nbd7. Both moves are better that Botterill's 13.Bd3 which is a
tactical mistake.} 13... g5 14. Bg3 Nxd5 {This is the problem with 13.Bd3.}
15. Nc4 Nf4 16. Bxf4 gxf4 {A P dowen with no compensation, rather than defend
his b-Pawn, Botterill tries to complicate matters.} 17. Nb6 Bb7 {There was
nothing wrong with 17...Bxb2 which likely transposes into the game.} 18. Nxa8
Bxa8 19. O-O Bxb2 20. Ra2 Bd4 21. Nd2 Rg8 {Black has plenty of compensation
for the exchange.} 22. Qf3 Qf6 23. Kh1 Kf8 24. Bc4 Bc6 25. a5 Bd7 {Much better
would have been 25...Nd7 and 25... Ne5 which would have left white helpless.
he loss of the a-Pawn is of no significance, but that is difficult to
determine over the board.} 26. Qe2 Qg5 { Maneuvering his N to e5 beginning
with 26...Nc6 was still a promising alternative.} 27. Rg1 Bc3 {Not good as the
B has not prospects here. Much better was 27.,..Bg4} 28. Nf3 {The a-Pawn isn't
going anywhere so bringing the N to the defense of the K is a good idea.}
28... Qg6 29. Bxa6 {Fedorowicz' next move turns the advantage over to
white...he should have eliminated the B with 29... Nxa6} 29... b3 30. Ra3 d5
{30...Nxb6 is still best.} 31. Bb7 {Better was 31.Rxb3} 31... b2 32. Nh4 Qf6
33. a6 {Even stronger was 33.Bxd5} 33... Be5 34. Nf3 Qg7 35. Rb3 {Now not
35.a7?? b1Q and wins. Now black's game is beyond saving.} 35... Nxa6 36. Bxa6
c4 37. Nxe5 cxb3 38. Nxd7+ Ke7 39. exd5+ Kxd7 40. Qb5+ Ke7 41. Qb4+ {White
mates in 12 moves. A nice game by Botterill.} 1-0

Gheorghiu Demolishes de Castro

     It’s been quite an ordeal recovering from the recent flooding. Cleanup, replacing lost items and dealing with the insurance company has not left much free time, but a few spare moments here and there have been spent looking around in the 1970s chess world. 

     The year 1973 was filled with events: it saw the birth of the first mobile phone, abortion being declared a constitutional right, and the Battle of the Sexes, the most-watched tennis match of all times, It was a match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs, the two greatest tennis players of the day. King won easily.

     Vasily Panov (1906-1973) died in the USSR at the age of 66. He was champion of Moscow in 1929. Al Horowitz (1907-1973), a leading US players in the 1930’s and publisher of the great Chess Review magazine, died at the age of 65 in New York. Hans Kmoch (1894-1973) also passed away in New York at the age of 78.

     Aleksander Lipenieks (1908-1973) died in Lincoln, Nebraska at the age of 64. He was the city champion 15 times and also published a number of chess books. FIDE President Folk Rogard (1899-1973) died in Stockholm, Sweden at the age of 73. 

     Three-time USSR Champion Leonid Stein (1934-1973) died of a heart attack at the age of 38 in Moscow. And, two-time Yugoslav champion Braslav Rabar (1919-1973) died in Zagreb, Yugoslavia at the age of 54. 

     At the beginning of the year the world’s top rated players were: 1) Bobby Fischer (2780), 2) Mikhail Tal (2660), 3) Anatoly Karpov (2660), 4) Boris Spassky (2655), 5) Viktor Korchnoi (2650), 6) Lajos Portisch (2650), 7) Tigran Petrrosian (2640), 8) Mikhail Botvinnik (2630), 9) Lev Polugaevsky (2625), and 10) Bent Larsen (2620). 

     Walter Browne won the National Open in Las Vegas on tiebreaks over Laszlo Szabo and James Tarjan. He also won the World Open in New York City. Arthur Bisguier won the big Lone Pine tournament in California. Norman Weinstein, age 22, won the US Open, held in Chicago. 

     Bobby Fischer was making news. He was offered a million dollars to play a match in Las Vegas. According to his lawyer, Paul Marshall, Fischer had over $10 million in offers to or advertise, but he turned them all down...it was beneath his dignity to advertise any product. 

     He moved to Los Angles to continue his religious studies with the Worldwide Church of God. 

     In August, he announced his upcoming plans at a press conference in Beverly Hills, California with the chief lawyer for the Worldwide Church of God standing by his side. 

     In November, 1973, Fischer was the guest of Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos against whom he played an exhibition game that was broadcast on television. It lasted 5 minutes and a draw agreed after 8 moves. 

     Fischer also played Florencio Campomanes, President of the Philippines Chess Federation, a blitz game on television. Fischer won on time. 

     Ourense is a city in northwestern Spain known for its hot springs; they held an international tournament there in January of 1973. 

     From the beginning it looked like Romanian GM Florin Gheorghiu was going to win, which he did. The one point margin of victory was mainly due to defeat of Pal Benko in the very first round. 

 

 

     The tournament produce a number of interesting games, especially miniatures. Here is one of the more entertaining games in which Gheorghiu totally destroys De Castro. 

      Florin Gheorghiu was born in Bucharest on April 6, 1944. He won the World Junior Championship in 1953 and was awarded the IM title. In 1965 he became a Grandmaster. He won the Romanian Championship in 1960 (age 16), 1962, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1973, 1977 and 1984. At his peak in November 1980, he was rated No. 10 in the world. 

     Edgar De Castro was a Filipino player and International Arbiter and from the begin of 1960s to the mid-1970s was one of the leading Filipino players. Other than that nothing is known about him. 

[Event "Orense, Spain"] [Site ""] [Date "1973.01.14"] [Round "?"] [White "Florin Gheorghiu"] [Black "Edgar de Castro"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B87"] [Annotator "Stockfish 16"] [PlyCount "43"] [EventDate "1973.01.08"] {Sicilian Defense} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 b5 8. O-O Bb7 {Risky. Black delays castling and quickly experiences difficulties on the e-File. Much better was 6...Be7} (8... Be7 9. Qf3 Qc7 10. Qg3 O-O 11. Bh6 Ne8 {Black's defenses are adequate.}) 9. Re1 Nbd7 10. Bg5 Nc5 { This is a tactical error that allows white ti immediatley gain the advantage. Forcing white to make a decision with his B with 10...h6 was a reasonable try.} 11. Bd5 {Black is already in trouble.} b4 {[%mdl 8192]} (11... exd5 12. exd5+ Kd7 13. b4 Na4 14. Nxa4 bxa4 15. c4 {and white is winning.}) (11... Be7 { keeps the damage to a minimum.} 12. Bxb7 Nxb7 13. Nc6 Qc7 14. Nxe7 Kxe7 { White is better, but there is no forced win.}) 12. Bxb7 {Already white's position can be declared as won.} Nxb7 {There was no better alternative.} ( 12... bxc3 13. Nc6 Qc7 14. Bxa8 cxb2 15. Rb1 {is equally hopeless for black.}) 13. Nd5 {[%mdl 512]} exd5 (13... Rc8 14. Qf3 Be7 15. Nxe7 Qxe7 16. Nf5 exf5 17. exf5 {and wins.}) 14. exd5+ Kd7 15. c3 {White needs to open more lines.} b3 ( 15... bxc3 16. Qa4+ Kc8 17. Qc6+ Kb8 18. Bxf6 gxf6 19. Re8) 16. Qxb3 Nc5 17. Qc4 Rc8 {It's kind of hard to believe but up to here these moves were all played the previous year!} (17... Qc8 18. Nc6 h6 19. Bxf6 gxf6 20. Re3 Kc7 21. b4 Rg8 {Black resigned Tal,M (2625)-Mukhin,M (2420) Baku 1972}) 18. b4 Nce4 19. Qxa6 Nxc3 20. Rac1 Rc7 21. Qd3 {It's a moot point but there was a mate in 16 with 21.Rxc3} (21. Rxc3 Rxc3 22. Qa4+ Kc8 23. Nc6 Qb6 24. Qa8+ Kc7 25. Qd8+ Kb7 26. Qb8+ Ka6 27. b5+ Kxb5 28. Rb1+ Kc4 29. Qxb6 Kxd5 30. Qb5+ Rc5 31. Rd1+ Ke6 32. Nd4+ Ke7 33. Re1+ Kd8 34. Re8+ Kc7 35. Qb8+ Kd7 36. Qd8#) 21... Qc8 22. Nb5 {Black resigned} (22. Nb5 Ne2+ 23. Qxe2 Rxc1 24. Rxc1 Qxc1+ 25. Bxc1 {etc.}) 1-0

Browne Crushes Ljubojevic at Tilburg

     The year 1978 saw the Grim Reaper harvesting the souls of a number of players. On March 17th, 57-year-old Soviet GM and Karpov's chief trainer Semyon Furman died in St. Petersburg. On March 19th, Carlos Torre (1904-1978) died in Mexico at the age of 73. A few days later, on March 23rd, problem composer Eeltje Visserman died in The Netherlands at the age of 56. 

     On June 11th, Finnish Champion (1974 and 1976) IM Pertii Poutianen (1952-1978) died in Helsinki at the age of 25. Finally, on December 12th, IM Ilya Kan died in Russia at the age of 69. 

     The reclusive Bobby Fischer was having his woes in 1978. He filed a $3.2 million lawsuit against the publishers of an article that was critical of the Worldwide Church of God. He claimed the writers published his conversations with them without his consent. He then accused the church of reneging on their promise to finance his lawsuit. 

     After winning the World Championship in Iceland, Fischer, who had become interested in the church's radio evangelism programs in the early 1960's and became a financial contributor, moved into a church owned apartment in Pasadena. The 34‐year‐old Fischer seldom left his apartment and then mostly at night. 

     Fischer had become involved in the legal dispute the previous year when two former Ambassador College students (a husband and wife team) claimed that Fischer had telephoned them and said he had heard that they and other dissident church members were planning to publish a report critical of the church and the Armstrong's (Garner Ted and his father, Herbert W.). 

     The two students claimed that over the next two months they met with Fischer and he criticized what he described as high living by church officials and complained that the Armstrong's teaching had made church members lose control of their minds and become what he called zombies. 

     Subsequently, a student group published a 90‐page report on the church and college that contained not only a long, purported interview with Fischer and his criticism of the church, but several articles accusing Garner Ted of sexual misconduct with the college co-eds. The report was also critical of the life style of key church executives who lived in expensive homes and flew in private jets. Questions were also raised about how the church was spending the $60 million in annual contributions it received. That's about $257 million in today's dollars. 

     In any case, Fischer filed his lawsuit against the student group, claiming that his privacy was invaded because he had not consented to publication of what he said.

     Things got even murkier. The original interviewers said Fischer had, before the publication of the report, asked him not to publish his remarks, but at the time of the interview Fischer knew they were going to be published. Further, when Fischer made his request not to publish his comments the report was already being printed. 

     Then in another twist, after the report was published a woman who was present when some of Fischer's remarks were tape recorded claimed that he had come to her apartment, assaulted her and made her sign a statement that his remarks were not meant to be published. As a result, a warrant was issued for Fischer's arrest on assault charges, but they were dismissed in court after he agreed to make a cash payment to the woman. 

     Meanwhile, Fischer was going ahead with his lawsuit against the couple who had interviewed him. He also complained that the church, to which he said he had contributed $100,000 (over $400,000 today) had agreed to finance his lawsuit and then reneged. Fischer also had been going around distributing letters attacking various attorneys involved in the lawsuits. 

     Ambassador College was also having their problems. Besides Garner Ted's dalliances, the church had fallen on hard times financially due to a drop in membership and contributions. In fact, the May/June issue of their magazine, The Plain Truth, was not published because of the financial problems. 

     In June of 1978, the church sent out a letter to members stating that for all practical purposes Fischer's lawsuit was dead because he had refused to testify when he disobeyed a court order to appear for questioning 

     Moving on, back to January actually, Viktor Korchnoi defeated Boris Spassky in Belgrade to become world champion Anatoly Karpov's challenger. In October Karpov defeated Korchnoi in Baguio City, Philippines by a score of 16.5 - 15.5.

     That match was not without its amusing intrigue when Karpov had a parapsychologist in the audience and Korchnoi claimed the parapsychologist was distorting his brain waves. Korchnoi then hired his own psychics to counteract the negative vibrations. 

     Korchnoi also accused Karpov of cheating by receiving coded instructions, the nature of which are a mystery, in the form of different flavors of yogurt during the game. The arbiter catered to Karpov's accusations and set a fixed time as to when Karpov could get his yogurt.Additionally, the flavors had to be in writing to the arbiter. 

     In the midst of all this was the tournament at Tilburg in Holland. The event was established in 1977 and ran continuously through 1994 under the sponsorship of Interpolis, an insurance company. Fontys Hogescholen, a university of applied science, shortly revived the tournament from 1996 to 1998, when the last edition was played. 

     The 1978 tournament was the second tournament and it was an all grandmaster event. No Russian players participated as Karpov and Korchnoi were playing a match at that time and their proposed replacements were not accepted.

     Here is Walter Browne's game against Yugoslav star Ljubomir Ljubojevic in which Browne successfully introduced an opening novelty. Ljubojevic (born November 2, 1950) is a Serbian GM and former Yugoslav champion (tied in 1977 and 1982 outright). In 1983 he was ranked third on the world's rating, but he never succeeded in reaching the Candidates Tournament even though he defeated almost every top GM active during his career, including world champions Kasparov, Karpov and Anand.

Walter Browne - Ljubomir Ljubojevic

Result: 1-0

Site: Tilburg

Date: 1978

Nimzo-Indian: Rubinstein

[...] 1.d4 ♘f6 2.c4 e6 3.♘c3 ♗b4 4.e3 O-O 5.♗d3 c5 6.♘f3 d5 7.O-O cxd4 8.exd4 dxc4 9.♗xc4 b6 This move which was a favorite of world champion at the time, Karrpov, is difficult to make progress against and it has become the usual reply these days. 10.♗g5 ♗b7 11.♖e1 ♘bd7 12.♖c1 ♖c8 13.♕b3 This was an innovation by Browne. It was supposed to prevent black's routine 13...Bxc3, but it doesn't. 13...♕e7 Ljubojevic was hoping for complications after Browne played 14.Ne5

13...♗xc3 It's now known that this is a satisfactory way to meet 13.Qb3. Most of the games with this move have ended up drawn. 14.♖xc3 ♕c7 this loses. After the correct 14...h6 the chances are even. 15.♗xf6 ♘xf6 16.♗xe6! winning

13...♗e7 14.♗xf6 ♘xf6 15.♗xe6 fxe6 16.♕xe6+ ♔h8 17.♕xe7 ♗xf3 18.gxf3 ♕xd4 Kramnik,V (2770) -Kasparov,G (2849) London 2000. The position is equal here, but Kasparov soon blundered and lost in 25 moves!

14.♗d5 This move was overlooked by Ljubojevic.

14.♘e5 This is likely what Ljubojevic expected; it's not bad by any means, but it does not yield any advantage either. 14...♘xe5 15.dxe5 ♕c5 16.♗xe6 fxe6 17.♕xe6+ ♖f7 18.♗e3 ♕e7 19.♕xe7 ♗xe7 20.exf6 ♗xf6 with an even position.

14...♗a6 Some annotators thought the B's position on a3 may prove awkward, but this move is the best and it keeps the balance.

14...♗xd5 Risky and not quite correct. 15.♘xd5 ♘xd5 16.♗xe7 ♗xe1 17.♖xe1 ♘xe7 strongly favors white as black does not have enough compensation for the Q. In Shootouts white scored +3 -0 =2, so black may have some remote drawing chances.

15.♕a4 ♗xc3 16.bxc3 Capturing with the R was also good. 16...♘b8 17.♗b3 The threat is d5 17...b5 18.♕a5 Black still has to deal with the threatened d5 18...♕b7 This gets the Q out of the line of the R, but it allows white a decisive maneuver.

18...♔h8 A pass to demonstrate the threat. 19.d5 h6 20.♗f4 ♗b7 21.♕xa7 with a decisive advantage.

18...♕d8 Offering to trade Qs is offers tougher resistance. 19.♕a3 ♗b7 20.♘e5 ♘bd7 White stands well after performing a R lift beginning with 21.Re3 to be followed by Rg3. 21.♘xf7 is interesting, but not quite a strong as the R lift. 21...♖xf7 22.♗xe6 ♘f8 23.♗xf7+ ♔xf7 24.♕b3+ ♖c4 25.♖e5 (25.♕xb5 ♕d5 forcing the trade of Qs equalizes for black.) 25...a6 26.a4 ♘g6 27.♖c5 ♗d5 with equal chances.

19.♗xf6 gxf6 A somewhat better, but still inadequate, defense was offered by 19...Nc6 20.d5 exd5 21.♕b4 ♕d7 22.♕h4 ♔g7 23.♘d4 Ljubojevic's resignation here was not premature.

23.♘d4 ♖fe8 24.♗c2 There is no defense satisfactory against the threat to h2 24...♖e4 25.♗xe4 dxe4 26.♖xe4 ♖c5 27.♖g4+ ♔f8 28.♕h6+ ♔e7 29.♖g8 ♖c8 30.♖e1+ ♔d6 31.♕f4+ ♔c5 32.♖xc8+ ♕xc8 33.♕xf6 White has a mate in 10.

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Zita Rajcsanyi, Bobby Fischer's Girlfriend

    Zita Rajcsanyi (born 1972) is the young Hungarian girl who brought Bobby Fischer back to the board in 1992.  She was able to do it because she had the nerve to write a letter to Fischer, her hero.
     Raiczanyi was a 17-year-old fan and Hungarian junior champion when she sent a letter to Fischer, care of the American Chess Federation. A year later, he wrote back and they entered into a correspondence that quickly led to Fischer's inviting her to stay with him in Los Angeles. It was generally assumed that she and Fischer were lovers because during their relationship Fischer referred to her as his fiance, but Raiczanyi denied that their relationship was sexual. 
     She described her first meeting with him at the Los Angeles airport by describing Fischer as “very kind,” adding that he was friendly with strangers and often got into conversations on the street. Raiczanyi said she stayed with a male friend of Fischer's in Los Angles who shared Fischer's beliefs about Jews, the same guy who forgot to pay the rent on Fischer's storage space. She later added that at the time the man was not aware that "officially" Fischer himself was Jewish. 
     Fischer had collected what he claimed was millions of dollars' worth of personal memorabilia which was stored in a ten-by-ten-foot Bekins storage room in Pasadena, California. 
     When Fischer left for Yugoslavia in the summer of 1992 to play the rematch with Boris Spassky he entrusted his friend Bob Ellsworth, who was not a chess player, with making sure the payments on the storage space were kept up to date. The two had met in the early 1970s when both were involved in the Worldwide Church of God. See my post on Fischer and the World Wide Church of God HERE. 
     In 1998 the storage facility changed ownership and Ellsworth learned of the change after a payment had been missed and Fischer’s stuff was put up for auction. Ellsworth attempted to buy it all back, spending over $8,000 of his own money, but was unable to buy everything. Fischer was devastated and said Ellsworth was worthy of death. In a radio interview in the Philippines, Fischer claimed Ellsworth was in cahoots with Bekins and it was all orchestrated by the Jewish world governments. Fischer never got over the "theft." 
     In a 2002 radio interview in Reykjavik he described the "robbery" as one of the biggest, if not the biggest robbery, in the history of the United States. He also encouraged Iceland to close the US military base and if the US refused to leave then they should be sent letters laced with anthrax. 
     In reality, according to Ellsworth, Fischer's material was not worth hundreds of millions. A lot of it was things that were of value only to Fischer: old magazines, books on conspiracy theories, pornographic Mexican comics, etc. 
     Harry Sneider, Fischer’s former physical trainer attended the auction with Ellsworth and arranged to have twelve boxes of Fischer’s stuff they had rescued sent to Budapest where Fischer was then living. Later, after Fischer's death, collector David DeLucia bought much of this material from Pal Benko, who somehow had managed to remain Fischer’s long-time friend. Fischer claimed his property was stolen in a secret plot involving the Rothschilds (Jews), Bill Clinton (whom he called a secret Jew) and Bekins executives whom he called CIA rats who work for the Jews. 
     At a 1996 press conference Fischer claimed he was being persecuted night and day by the Jews, for telling it like it is. They wanted to put him in jail, were robbing him of everything and continuously lying about him. He added that the “God-damn Jews in America have just gone and grabbed it all.” 
     When Raiczanyi was asked if Fischer ever explained his hatred of Jews she stated that he had told her that in his childhood his mother had lots of Jewish friends who hung around the apartment talking a lot and to a 12-year old, such activity seemed abnormal. Of course that never prevented Fischer from taking advantage of the kindness of Jewish people. For years Jewish “friends” allowed him to stay with them for weeks or months at a time and when he was in Hungary he stayed with Lazlo Polgar and even in Polgar's home, Fischer ranted against the Jews. Polgar put up with it because he allegedly made money selling Fischer autographs and his company benefited from Fischer's presence. 
     While she was in California, Raiczanyi met Fischer's mother, Regina, whom she described as a “very nice, a strong lady.“ When Fischer started ranting against Jews, his mother asked him why he thought he was so “pure.” 
     Raiczanyi said Fischer, using the pseudonym Robert James, had a one-room apartment in downtown Los Angeles and she described him as being very poor and she occasionally loaned him money. At that time she persuaded Fischer to return to play by suggesting that she would find a sponsor. 
     After returning to Hungary Raiczanyi met Janos Kabut, a newspaper publisher, who put her in touch with Serbian millionaire Jezdimir Vasiljevic. Between them, they worked out a deal with Fischer despite his outrageous demands. He wanted 15 bodyguards and insisted that the nose of the Knight should be a certain length. A couple of months later Rajcsanyi, along with Kubat and two of Vasilyevich's attorneys, returned to Los Angeles where it took four or five days to discuss details of the rematch with Spassky and get a contract signed. 
     In 1992 Raiczanyi attended the Fischer-Spassky rematch which took place in Belgrade and Montenegro. She rarely saw Fischer, but after the match he began calling her in Budapest and saying they should get married and have children. At that time she was seeing the man whom she eventually married, but Fischer told her to dump him. She refused and when Fischer persisted, she broke off contact with him in 1993. 
     Then on his birthday in 1998 she called him and arranged a meeting. And, as it was right after the sale of his possessions, a badly upset Fischer was ranting about the sale of his stuff in Pasadena. At that time he was also under the threat of a jail sentence and a $200,000 fine if he returned to the US as a result of an indictment for breaking the US embargo on Yugoslavia. Of course, to him it was all a Jewish conspiracy. It also intensified his already virulent hated of the United States and he told Raiczanyi that the American soldiers held captive in Yugoslavia should be executed. He also complained that a new edition of My 60 Memorable Games published by Batsford had deliberately given his moves incorrectly in yet another Jewish plot.  Editor Graham Burgess conceded that there had been one particular error, but that he had corrected many others that appeared in the first edition. Burgess was sympathetic to Fischer and suggested the conversion to algebraic was partly responsible. Burgess also advised that he was not Jewish. 
     Raiczanyi, studying to be a psychologist, thought Fischer's persecution complex was due to the fact that because he could not confess his own mistakes he projected them on others. She described Fischer by saying, "He's like a child. Very, very simple." 

     The Original Toiletgate
     At the pre-match press conference, when asked if he was worried about the threat of the US government, Fischer pulled out the Treasury letter and spit on it. He then announced that he hadn't paid taxes since 1976, was going to write a book that would prove that Russian players, whom he described as “some of the lowest dogs around,” had destroyed chess through “immoral, unethical, prearranged games.” Fischer added that he wasn't really an anti-Semite, because he was pro-Arab and Arabs are Semites too. He also explained that that Soviet communism was a mask for Bolshevism which was a mask for Judaism. 
     There was also a Toiletgate of sorts when Fischer informed tournament officials that he wanted the toilet in his bathroom to be elevated. This may seem a weird request, but probably not so much in Fischer's health conscious mind. 
     Like may people, Fischer probably got some of his best ideas while sitting on the throne. And, getting up from a regular toilet is not much different than getting up from a squat and squats are bad for your knees. Also, being a tall fellow (6 feet, one inch) it makes sense; if he didn't already have knee problems, a taller toilet would help prevent future problems.
     Generally referred to as “handicap” toilets, some call them “comfort” toilets. Advocates claim they have a preventive effect on our kneecaps and over a lifetime it might reduce the number of visits people make to orthopedic surgeons.  On the downside, they are uncomfortable to really short people. 
 

Fischer, So and Short on Religion

     Back in 2013 the late James R. Schroeder, never one to mince words, called Nigel Short a “walking dung-heap” who “exceeded his reputation as being vulgar and crude by dropping his trousers.” 
     What got Schroeder’s dander up was a New In Chess article in which Nigel Short wrote about sexual activity among chess players and included the “f” word. Schroeder also added that “Short didn’t publish that putrid crap; the editor, Jan Timman did.” Schroeder also claimed Timman “(degenerated) into being depraved” and is “long known to be sleazy.” 
     I recently ran across and article in Christianity Today from a couple of years ago (2018) in which Short ridiculed Wesley So, at the time the US champion, who has made a habit of praying before every game. 
     After So had lost a game, Short mocked him saying, “So the Lord deserted Wesley So today. Apparently, he didn't pray fervently enough.” Short added, “It may well be a dearly held belief, but that does not mean it is either sensible or worthy of respect, does it?” and “The problem with praying to the Lord on Sunday is that it is his day off. Paradoxically this is the very day that he is inundated with requests. No wonder he couldn't be bothered with the scores in the Berlin Candidates.” 
     Prior to that, in an article an article also appearing in Christianity Today in 2017, So stated that he follows Jesus publicly, even though people warn that his career will suffer. 
     So stated that if anyone discovers that you’re one of those “superstitious,” “narrow-minded idiots,” you’re likely to see nasty comments accumulate on your Facebook fan page. He stated that on a regular basis he receives emails on his Facebook page lecturing him about the dangers of following Jesus. They wonder how one of the world’s best players can be so weak-minded. People have told him that spending time reading his Bible, praying, and going to church will inevitably weaken his performance. People plead with him to at least keep quiet about his beliefs because thanking God publicly makes him look ridiculous. 
     Atheist Nigel Short’s fulminating against Christianity reminded me of Bobby Fischer’s rants against Jews. In a live interview on Hungarian radio, before launching into a Holocaust-denying rant, Fischer stated, "As Adolf Hitler wrote in Mein Kampf, the Jews are not the victims, they are the victimisers!" It seemed to escape Fischer that he was born a Jew and if Hitler had had anything to do with it, Bobby would have been gassed, too. 
     It’s well known that after winning the World Championship in 1972 that Fischer belonged to and donated a large percentage of his winnings to the Worldwide Church of God. But by 1975 he had abandoned the sect, believing it to be part of "a satanical secret world government.” 
     He then turned his attention to The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated anti-semitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. It was shown to be plagiarized from several earlier sources, some not antisemitic at all. It was first published in Russia in 1903 and translated into many languages. 
     According to the claims, the Protocols are the minutes of a late 19th-century meeting where Jewish leaders discussed their goal of global Jewish hegemony by subverting the morals of Gentiles, and by controlling the press and the world's economies. 
     Henry Ford funded the printing of a half million copies that were distributed throughout the United States in the 1920s. Ford did a lot of admirable things, but he became convinced that bankers and the Jews were responsible for a whole range of things he didn’t like ranging from the world war to short skirts to jazz music. 

Henry Ford

     He used his newspaper, the Dearborn Independent, to carry on an active anti-Semitic campaign. Between 1920 and 1922 a series of articles denounced all things Jewish. Ford Motor Company pressured their car dealers to buy multiple subscriptions and hand out copies to customers. The newspaper was popular and circulation reached 900,000 in 1926. 
     Nigel Short wrote that in time pressure a player’s heart rate can double and when that happens you should be physically moving, but chessplayers can’t. Short thought that resulted in players “getting some sort of mental injuries that are not necessarily detected” and “you can develop neurotic ideas in chess and they're just never treated." 
     Fischer didn't believe in doctors and certainly not psychiatrists. When Fischer was about 19-years old it was suggested to him by Robert Byrne that he see a psychiatrist, to which Fischer replied that "a psychiatrist ought to pay [me] for the privilege of working on [my] brain." And, Pal Benko commented, "I am not a psychiatrist, but it was obvious he was not normal.” Benko’s suggestion that Fischer get help also fell on deaf ears. 
     In his book, Searching for Bobby Fischer, author Fred Waitzkin interviewed National Master Ronald Gross, who told him Fischer had stated to Gross that he'd had a dentist take all the fillings out of his teeth and didn't have anything put in their place because he didn’t want anything artificial in his head. Fischer had read about a guy wounded in World War II who had a metal plate in his head and was always picking up vibrations, maybe even radio transmissions and the same thing could happen from metal in your teeth. In the early 1950s National Master Dr. Harold Sussman was Fischer’s dentist. Dr. Sussman said, “He had a great set of teeth.” Like many other things about Fischer, that changed. 
     To me, the attitude of Short towards Christians and Fischer towards Jews is appalling, but as Samuel Reshevsky once said of a discussion on religion he had with Fischer, “He has his views. I have mine.” Other that that, there’s no real point to this post. Thanks for reading!

Further reading: 
Mecking's Fight for Life - HERE  
Gutmayer and Diemer-Loathsome Men - HERE