ANanaimo Daily News, Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, Thursday, January 15, 1959
Fifteen-Year-Old Chess Champ In World Finals
By Joseph MacSween, Canadian Press Staff Writer
New York (CP) — The thin shoulders of a Brooklyn schoolboy carry the main United States hopes of winning the world chess championship from Russia.
The boy is Bobby Fischer, 15, and victory for him would be one of the biggest upsets in the ancient history of chess.
“It would be nice,” is the way Bobby put it, with a rare grin at his own understatement.
Bobby — who would prefer the more dignified Robert when he plays chess — recently retained the U.S. crown without losing a game. He won six games and drew five, playing as usual against the best American grownups.
The world's youngest grand master of the game, he will next take part in an elimination tournament of international grand masters to decide who will challenge Mikhail Botvinnik, the 47-year-old Moscow electrical engineer who is king of them all
Called Genius
“Bobby may not look it — he doesn't look like an intellectual — but he's a genius,” says Hans Kmoch, secretary of the Manhattan Chess Club, where the U.S. tournament is held.
“He's professionally arrogant,” says one mildly critical associate.
“He's a nice, fine, modest boy,” says Mrs. Grace L. Corey, administrative assistant of Erasmus Hall high school, where Bobby is a student.
What does Bobby himself say?
“I'll talk about nothing but chess,” said the master, distrustful and slightly belligerent when approached by a reporter.
Tall and gangling, he has the typical adolescent slouch and harsh voice of the Brooklyn teenager. In looks he could well be a rock 'n' roll addict as a dedicated chess player.
