New York Times, New York, New York, Wednesday, December 16, 1959
Fischer Dropped From Title Chess in Pairings Dispute
Officials Reject Youth's Demands
Fischer, ’59 Winner, Out of U.S. Event After Insisting on Redraw of Pairings
Bobby Fischer, the 16-year-old chess champion of the United States, will be just another kibitzer for this year's national tournament. It became official yesterday that he would not compete in the event which starts here Friday.
Fischer described his differences with the United States Chess Federation and the American Chess Foundation as “a matter of principle.” It began when he was notified by mail of the pairings for the tournament.
The Brooklyn high school student insisted that the pairings be redrawn in public. This, he said, was the custom in European competition and was required under international rules.
A five-man committee of the federation and foundation, the co-sponsors of the event, refused last Friday to change the rule, which had been in effect in all five previous tournaments. The committee gave Fischer until last Sunday to change his stand.
Negotiations a Stalemate
The deadline was later extended but, according to Maurice J. Kasper, treasurer of the foundation, negotiations yesterday with Bobby and his mother, Mrs. Regina Fischer, a nurse, produced no results.
The sponsors pointed out that they had no objections to a public drawing and that they would in fact be happy to have one for next year's tournament. However, they declined to set up a new drawing this year.
“It is a completely minor point,” said Hans Kmoch, the director of the tournament. “It has never come up in previous tournaments, and Bobby played in three of them.”
Fischer had won two straight national championships. In the previous tournament, which ended early last January, he posted a score of 8½—2½.
Meanwhile, Fischer's replacement in the field of twelve was announced. He is Anthony F. Saidy of Douglastown, Queens, a 22-year-old student at the Cornell Medical School. Saidy, rated as a national master, played on United States college teams in Sweden, Iceland and Bulgaria.
His opponent in the opening round will be Arthur S. Bisguier, a former national titleholder.
The tournament will start at the West Side Y.M.C.A. and matches will take place later at the Manhattan and Marshall Chess Clubs. Play in the round-robin ends Jan. 3.
A Frequent Dissenter
Fischer, who first achieved chess prominence at 13, has frequently been at odds with chess authorities. He and his mother have often criticized the financial arrangements made for leading players by the chess foundation.
The youth noted that he had refused to agree to the details of a fund-raising campaign to finance his trip to the world challengers' tournament in Yugoslavia earlier this year.
The cost of the trip, put at $3,500, was paid by Mrs. Fischer, a nurse who is divorced from Bobby's father, and in part by previous tournament winnings.
Mrs. Fischer asserted that the foundation, a money-raising group, was primarily interested in obtaining backing for Samuel Reshevsky, who is, like Fischer, an international grandmaster. She states that Bobby never accepted funds from the foundation.
However, Kasper stated last night that Bobby had received a check for $250 from the foundation in 1958 “as a gift for playing chess.”
Money frequently has been a cause of chess disputes here. In Europe the game is popular enough to permit the leading experts to count on at least a modest living from purses.
This is not the case in this country. Some leading players are not competing in this year's national tournament because they are unable to leave their work for two weeks in the hopes of winning a major prize and their requests for guarantees were turned down.
A total purse of $3,000 is offered for the tournament, with first and second prizes of $1,000 and $500. The Lessing J. Rosenwald and Frank Marshall trophies are also at stake.
