The Miami Herald Miami, Florida Monday, January 06, 1992 - Page 86
Chess Greats Lament Fischer's Reclusion: American Left Game After '72 Win
Reuters News Service— Reggio Emiliar, Italy—When the greatest players in chess gathered in Italy for a nostalgic reunion, the name on all their lips was that of the one former world champion who did not turn up—the elusive Bobby Fischer.
All 14 grandmasters attending an international Category 18 tournament here—the highest-ranked event in chess history — are still pondering what made Fischer give up after winning the world title 20 years ago.
“Fischer and Alexander Alekhine are the best players in history,” said current world champion Garry Kasparov.
“There must have been a reason why he left chess and it's a great pity for the chess world that he has not played for 20 years. He was a chess genius.”
The only one of seven surviving chess champions not to show up for the tournament here, which ends today, the 48-year-old American has lived a reclusive life since giving up competitive chess after his 1972 victory.
Staying in Touch
One of the few people still in touch with him is Boris Spassky, the former Soviet champion who lost to Fischer in that epic battle in Iceland at the height of the Cold War.
“I've met Bobby several times in the last two years, but I don't like to talk about it because Bobby does not like publicity,” Spassky said.
Fischer's obsession with avoiding the limelight is legendary, and a recent visit to Pasadena, California where he lives now, only served to increase the mystique surrounding him.
Staff at the local post office said an old woman usually picks up his mail.
Fischer lost his crown by default in 1975 after falling out with the World Chess Federation ([after delegates allowed themselves to be unethically pressured to sway votes in Soviet favor]).
Former champions Mikhail Botvinnik and Vasily Smyslov arrived in Italy Thursday to watch the closing rounds and were joined Sunday by Spassky and Mikhail Tal, leaving Fischer as the only one of the surviving champions to stay away.
Youngest Grandmaster
Chicago-born Fischer, who learned to play chess at the age of 6 and became the youngest grandmaster in history at the age of 15, almost lost his chance for the 1972 title by turning up late for his match with Spassky.
“I could have won the match without a fight because Bobby didn't come to the match on time. If I had won without a fight I would always have been ashamed of myself and felt I was not a real champion because I did not play Fischer,” Spassky said.
“It seems our match in Reykjavik killed both of us,” he added.
“Fischer because he never played in public again and me because I lost the title.
“Bobby was like a fish in my hands in that encounter, a fish that I always thought I was going to land but one which always escaped my grasp.”
Luis Rentero, who organizes chess tournaments in Spain, spoke with Fischer during a recent visit to Los Angeles and said the American was still angry that the Russians took away his title.
“I offered him $2 million to play some of the world's leading grandmasters, but he has yet to answer. He is still in good chess shape and still considers himself champion of the world,” Rentero said.
