Every summer the polio virus arrived and struck without warning. No one knew how polio was transmitted or what caused it. There were wild theories that it spread from imported bananas or stray cats. Worse, there was no cure or vaccine.
For forty years swimming pools and movie theaters closed during polio season out fear and parents stopped sending their children to playgrounds or birthday parties for fear they would “catch” polio.
Polio is a viral disease that affects the nervous system, causing paralysis. It spreads through direct contact with people who have the infection. The first major polio epidemic in the United States occurred in 1916 and reached its peak in 1952. Of the 57,628 reported cases, there were 3,145 deaths. Polio caused more than 15,000 cases of paralysis a year in the US, making it a feared disease.
Polio spreads by person-to-person contact; the virus lives in the throat and in the intestines and is spread through contact with the feces (fecal-oral spread) or by droplet spread in a sneeze or cough. It can also be spread by an infected person who has contaminated food or fluids by touching or tasting them. Like the coronavirus, a person can be infectious and transmit the virus even before they develop any symptoms.
There was an outbreak in 1916 that caused health workers in New York City to remove children from homes or playgrounds if they suspected they might be infected. Kids, who seemed to be targeted by the disease, were taken from their families and isolated in sanitariums.
Little was known about the mysterious disease that paralyzed and sometimes killed young children. Those who survived could end up with some form of paralysis, forcing them to use crutches, wheelchairs or to be put into an iron lung, a large tank respirator that would pull air in and out of the lungs, allowing them to breathe. Thankfully polio was mostly eradicated in 1955 by a vaccine developed by Dr. Jonas Salk and his team at the University of Pittsburgh.
Why this discussion on polio? Because I ran across a couple of photos from 1959 showing a 15-year old Bobby Fischer playing chess at the March of Dimes supported Goldwater Memorial Hospital’s respiratory center on Welfare Island, New York. Below is a picture of Fischer playing 22-year old Roger Duell Of Astoria, New York, while Bruce Campbell, 17, of Manhattan, watches in the mirror on top of his iron lung.
Fischer made the moves for both of his opponents and, naturally, won both games, but he was a huge hit at the hospital.
On January 4, 1959, Fischer again won the US Championship and pocketed $1,000. He was followed by Robert Byrne, Reshevsky, Benko, Bisguier, Weinstein, Seidman, Sherwin, Mednos, Bernstein, Denker and Ault.
Robin Ault (1941-1994), the US Junior Champion, played in the 1959-1960 US championship, but lost all 11 games. After that, the junior champion was not allowed to automatically play in the US championship. Ault was the first person to win the US Junior championship three times (1959, 1960 and 1961). He dropped out of chess and went on to a successful career in other fields.
The USCF had a campaign, Operation M, where they were trying to reach 5,000 members by July, 1960.
I can’t resist this photo of an 8-year old Sal Matera playing in the 1959 US Amateur! Frank Street won the tournament. Street was the first African-American to win a national chess championship.
In September, 1959, the three highest rated players on the USCF rating list were Reshevsky (2693), Fischer (2636) and Donald Byrne (2514).
National Master Dr. Erich W. Marchand (July 7, 1914 - August 29, 1999, age of 85) was a mathematician, from Rochester, New York who was a pioneer in gradient index research. This has something to do with the optical effects of materials and is important in the production of things like photocopiers.
A USCF Life Master, with so many titles it's impossible to list them all, he was also involved in developing the USCF’s rating system and was a columnist for Chess Life magazine for many years. At one time he was also involved in correspondence chess and was president of Correspondence Chess League of America.
A tireless promoter of chess, when he died he bequeathed his body to Anatomical Gift Program and requested in lieu of memorial service, that friends play chess games in his memory.
In the following game he shows how easily a Master can defeat even a strong amateur. One small opening slip and black was left with a fatal dark square weakness and his K was caught in the center.
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