Frank Brady - Endgame

42 He then spat on the letter, and applause broke out. NYT , September 2, 1992, p. A1.

43 His anti-Americanism was lambasted NYT , September 2, 1992, p. A18.

44 “I am bored and disgusted with him” Ottawa Citizen , August 28, 1992.

45 “Yes, Fischer betrayed chess and everybody.” NYT , September 2, 1992, p. C14.

46 Denying that he was an anti-Semite Wire service reports of first press conference, September 1, 1992.

47 “They have absolutely destroyed chess” First press conference, September 1, 1992, reported in The New York Times , September 2, 1992.

48 “I like geniuses or crazy people” Chronicle-Telegram , “The Man Behind the Chesspiece,” September 23, 1992, p. A–7.

49 Twenty years of rust aside, Bobby played as masterfully as he had in 1972 NYT , September 3, 1992, p. C22.

50 Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan wrote Seirawan and Stefanovic, p. 32.

51 “Playing forcefully, the American chess genius seems to be in top form.” NYT , September 3, 1992, p. 622.

52 “This was maybe an off-day for me.” Second press conference, September 3, 1992.

53 Lilienthal had never met Fischer, and at the conclusion of the fourth game, they were introduced at the hotel’s restaurant http://eidard.wordpress.com. (Fischer was also to have said: “Pawn e5 takes __6!” giving the precise moves.)

54 “My general approach was not to think about the result of the match” Letter from Boris Spassky to the author, May 31, 2010.

55 “I think I am doing quite well, considering that I’ve been blacklisted for the last twenty years by world Jewry.” New York Daily News , September 2, 1992, p. 1.

56 “No, I have no regrets about spitting at that letter.” New York Daily News , September 2, 1992, p. 1.

57 “That man [Kasparov] is a pathological liar, so I wouldn’t pay much attention to whatever he says.” New York Daily News , September 2, 1992, p. 2.

58 “So I consider that the United States government and Time Incorporated went into a criminal conspiracy” Wire service reports for second press conference, September 2, 1992.

59 the greatest comeback since Napoleon Bonaparte sailed a single-masted fleet from the island of Elba in 1815 Time , September 28, 1992, p. 78.

60 “somewhere in the top ten in the world” Seirawan and Stefanovic, p. 283.

61 “True, the match with Spassky was not all that great” Interview of Arnold Denker by the author, December 2000, Boca Raton, Florida.

62 At this time Vasiljevic was making an arrangement for another match for Bobby Letter from Isodoro Cherem to Bobby Fischer, August 5, 1992, FB.

63 Bobby had met Ljubojevic. Vecerne Novosti (Yugoslavia newspaper), November 6, 1992.

64 Five hundred thousand depositors had funneled $2 billion into his sixteen bank www.attacktheking.com.

65 Years later he was extradited to Serbia March 29, 2010, NYT , p. A11.

66 On December 15, 1992, a single-count indictment in federal court in Washington, D.C., was handed down by a grand jury against Bobby Fischer Copy of indictment from the U.S. District Court against Bobby Fischer, December 15, 1992.

67 “I have no friends here; only Gliga and the bodyguards” Letter from Bobby Fischer to Zita Rajcsanyi, June 14, 1993, in DeLucia and DeLucia, p. 191.

68 “He was rough,” she said. Kurir (Budapest daily), September 13, 1993, p. 20.

69 She left a good-bye note indicating that her affair had nothing to do with why she didn’t want to marry him . Undated letter from Zita to Bobby Fischer, circa summer 1993, in DeLucia and DeLucia, p. 191.

70 “I was surprised to see how tall and big he was” Interview of Zsuzsa Polgar by the author, May 23, 2009, Princeton, NJ.

71 She added that there he could socialize with some of the great Hungarian players he knew Interview of Zsuza Polgar by author, May 23, 2009, Princeton, NJ.

72 The Polgars, thinking of everything, had taken a chance on their way across the border Lubbock Avalanche-Journal , January 18, 2009.

73 “I think the Hungarians may arrest me as soon as I cross the border.” Faxed letter to Miyoko Watai from Bobby Fischer, June 19, 1993, in DeLucia and DeLucia, p. 192.

74 Entering the sparkling city of Budapest Undated postcard from the Hotel Gellért, from Bobby Fischer to Regina Fischer, circa summer 1993, MCF.

Chapter 13: Crossing Borders

Interviews of Pal Benko, Olga Lilienthal (by Dimitry Komarov), Kirsan Ilyumzhinov, and Zsuzsa Polgar, in addition to others that appear in Tivadar Farkasházy’s book Bobby Vizzatér , were invaluable sources for this chapter.

1 “You don’t need bodyguards in Budapest” Interview of Pal Benko by author, summer 2008, New York.

2 To protect himself, he bought a heavy coat made of horse leather Interview of Pal Benko by author, summer 2008, New York.

3 As soon as he was settled at the Hotel Gellért, Bobby was invited to spend part of the summer with the Polgars Interview of Zsuzsa Polgar by author, May 2009, Princeton, NJ.

4 about thirty-five miles north of Budapest, in the verdant Danube Bend section of the Slavic Hills of Hungary “Seeking the Fischer King,” New York Daily News , August 22, 1993.

5 All of the sisters played chess with him, but acceding to his preference, they played Fischer Random Gligoric, Shall We Play , p. 86.

6 Zsuzsa played him “countless games” Interview of Zsuzsa Polgar by author, May 2009, Princeton, NJ.

7 “I tried to convince him in the beginning about the realities” Interview of Zsuzsa Polgar by author, May 23, 2009, Princeton, NJ.

8 “He was like a big kid,” Zsuzsa fondly remembered Interview of Zsuzsa Polgar by author, May 2009, Princeton, NJ.

9 Even after living there for years, he referred to himself as a “tourist” Calypso Radio interview of Bobby Fischer, January 13, 1999.

10 Although Olga was almost the same age as Bobby Interview of Olga Lilienthal by Dmitry Komarov, circa 2008, letter courtesy of Magnus Skulasson.

11 “You are a good man, a good person, so you are not a Jew.” Farkasházy, p. 97.

12 Andrei had surreptitiously taken a photograph of Bobby at a New Year’s Eve dinner party Interview of Pal Benko by author, May 2010, New York.

13 He relayed a message to Lilienthal that he’d deliver the $100,000 in American cash to Bobby personally Interview of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by author, August 2002, Cherry Hill, NJ.

14 “I was struck by how Fischer was up on everything that was happening in our country.” Vladimir Linder and Isaac Linder, “From Morphy to Fischer—Who’s Next?” Unpublished essay, Russia, no year.

15 Ilyumzhinov suggested that Bobby move to Kalmykia Interview of Kirsan Ilyumzhinov by author, August 2002, New York.

16 Bobby thanked the president and asked about Kalmykia’s medical care program Sports Express , December 20, 1995.

17 Ilyumzhinov also offered to put up millions for another Fischer-Spassky match Kasparov, p. 489.

18 “The old Jewish scoundrel Andrei Lilienthal” From a book in progress by Bobby Fischer, What Can You Expect from Baby Mutilators? November 18, 1997. Extracts appeared in DeLucia and DeLucia, pp 248–61.

19 Incredulous, Bobby asked Sofia: “How can you even talk to those people?” Farkasházy, p. 269.