Frank Brady - Endgame

33 It was at this club that Cuba’s brilliant José Raúl Capablanca gave his last exhibition Archives of the Marshall Chess Club, MCF.

34 Bobby’s habitual mufti of T-shirt, wrinkled pants, and sneakers was considered an outrage by Caroline Marshall Author’s conversation with Caroline Marshall, May 1964.

35 Dark-haired, elegant in speech and dress, the twenty-five-year-old Byrne invariably held a cigarette between two fingers Observation of author, and Golombek, Golombek’s Encyclopedia , p. 52.

36 “The onlookers were invited to sit right next to you” BFE, p. 3.

37 Then, suddenly, he moved his knight to a square where it could be snapped off CL , December 1956, p. 374.

28 “It was extraordinary: The game and Bobby’s youth were an unbeatable combination.” Interview of Allen Kaufman by author, March 16, 2009.

39 As the game progressed, Bobby had only twenty minutes remaining on his clock to make the required forty moves CR , December 1956, p. 374.

40 He wasn’t absolutely certain he could see the full consequences of allowing Byrne to take his queen Fischer, My 60 Memorable Games , p. 65.

41 “Impossible! Byrne is losing to a 13-year-old nobody.” Hammond Times , February 24, 1957, p. 15.

42 Yet, other than the rapidity with which he was responding to Byrne’s moves, Bobby showed little emotion NYT , October 18, 1956, p. 44.

43 “Bobby Fischer’s [performance] sparkles with stupendous originality.” CR , December 1956, p. 374.

44 Bobby’s game appeared in newspapers throughout the country and chess magazines around the world Kasparov, p. 213.

45 The British magazine Chess relaxed its stiff upper lip, calling Bobby’s effort a game of “great depth and brilliancy” Chess , November 9, 1956.

46 Chess Life proclaimed Bobby’s victory nothing short of “fantastic” CL , November 5, 1956, p. 3.

47 “I just made the moves I thought were best.” AP wire story, February 24, 1957.

48 David Lawson, a seventy-year-old American whose accent betrayed his Scottish birth NYT , December 28, 2008.

49 Lawson’s preference for dinner was Luchow’s Author’s conversation with David Lawson, December 1963, New York.

50 “Many people imagine that the chess club …” BFE, p. 12.

51 “The King stands for the boy’s penis” Reuben Fine, The Psychology of the Chess Player (New York: Dover Books, 1956), p. 12.

52 “You’ve tricked me” Fine, Bobby Fischer’s Conquest of the World’s Chess Championship , pp. 24–25.

53 “it becomes one of the ironic twists of history” Ibid.

54 “Ask me something unusual” NYT , February 23, 1958, p. SM 38.

55 “I went to the phone booth and called my mother …” BFE, p. 12.

56 “it was the title that really mattered” BFE, p. 13.

57 “it was, of course, ridiculous for us to consider,” BFE, p. 13.

58 “Bobby Fischer should finish slightly over the center mark” CR , January 1958, p. 12.

59 “Reshevsky’s busted.” NYT , February 23, 1958, p. SM 38.

Chapter 4: The American Wunderkind

Letters to Bobby’s teacher, Jack Collins, and to his mother, about his visit to Moscow, followed by his entry into the Interzonal, Portorož 1958, illuminated how he felt about his first international tournament. The FBI files on Regina Fischer and the KGB files as paraphrased in the book Russians Versus Fischer also added further evaluative information.

1 hoping to supply information to the House Un-American Activities Committee Letter to FBI under FOI Act, sent July 24, 2009.

2 To others he proclaimed Shakhmatny Bulletin “the best chess magazine in the world” Johnson, p. 131.

3 Bobby made a mental note of which openings being played around the world won more games than others Fischer, My 60 Memorable Games , p. 18.

4 At the Four Continents, Bobby bought a hardcover Russian-language copy of The Soviet School of Chess for $2 . Kotov and Yudovich, p. 8.

5 When Bobby was 14, he gave an interview to a visiting Russian journalist CR , January 1959, p. 8.

6 “I watch what your grandmasters do.” CR , January 1959, p. 8.

7 Bobby pored over Buschke’s holdings for hours, looking for that one book PRO , p. 11.

8 When Bobby won the U.S. Championship, Buschke gave him a $100 gift certificate PRO , p. 27.

9 Her oft-quoted statement that she’d tried everything Johnson, p. 127.

10 She also compiled the addresses and telephone numbers Copies of various address books of Regina Fischer. MCF.

11 I. A. Horowitz, the editor of Chess Review, claimed that she was a “pain in the neck” Author’s conversation with I. A. Horowitz, July 1972, New York.

12 “I hope Bobby will become a great chess champion” Letter from Regina Fischer to Maurice Kasper, October 1, 1957, MCF.

13 “Keep it up but don’t wear yourself down at it. Swim, nap.” Letter from Regina Fischer to Bobby Fischer, August 8, 1958, MCF.

14 The $64,000 Question was so popular that even President Eisenhower watched it every week Metz, Robert, CBS: Reflections in a Bloodshot Eye (New York: NAL, 1976), p. 78.

15 “It made interesting conversation while it lasted, anyway.” Bobby reflecting on The $64,000 Question in an essay he wrote, circa 1958, MCF.

16 “I’m not afraid of anything,” Regina answered, “and I have nothing to hide.” FBI file, p. 139.

17 Consequently, there was a sweeping investigation taking place of her activities, past and present FBI file.

18 The confidential FBI report on Regina FBI.

19 Undercover agents rifled through Joan Fischer’s records at Brooklyn College FBI.

20 “My mother,” said Joan Fischer, “is a professional protester.” Joan Fischer, undated and unsourced clipping, FB.

21 Regina had been “kicked out” of the Communist Party FBI report to the director from SAC, NY100-102290, August 24, 1953, p. 1.

22 She sent a letter directly to Premier Nikita Khrushchev Johnson, p. 128.

23 Agents and informers continued to spy on the Fischers FBI report to the director from SAC, NY100-102290, August 24, 1953, p. 2.

24 As it developed, Bobby was never questioned, but the fear had been implanted Preliminary interview of Bobby Fischer for the film My Friend Bobby . Interview is in “Chapters from the Film,” outtakes not used in the final release copy. Reykjavik, Iceland, 2009.

25 The agent remained throughout the broadcast but did not reveal his true identity FBI report to the director from SAC, NY100-102290, May 23, 1958, p. 1.

26 he tripped with youthful awkwardness on the microphone wire while making his exit from the stage I’ve Got a Secret footage, CBS, March 26, 1958.

27 “If I have to wear a tie, I won’t go,” New York World-Telegram and Sun , June 12, 1958.

28 “The eighth wonder of the world,” Bobby wrote to Jack Collins Postcard from Bobby Fischer to Jack Collins, June 21, 1958, JWC.

29 Nevertheless, he played some seven-minute games Postcard, circa 1958, JWC.

30 Before boarding the plane to Russia, Bobby plugged cotton into his ears Letter from Regina Fischer to Bobby Fischer, June 18, 1958, MCF.

31 Moscow’s finest hotel, the National . Background promotional material from the Hotel National, circa 2009.