Honoring Bobby Fischer
By Lubomir Kavalek
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, May 18, 2009; 11:00 AM
The organizers of this year’s U.S. championship in St. Louis offered a bonus $64,000 prize to the player who wins all his games. It was named after Bobby Fischer, who in the 1963-64 U.S. championship won all 11 games. It was an amazing performance. Fischer beat his nearest rival, Larry Evans, in their individual game with the King’s gambit and finished 3½ points ahead of him. Repeating this feat is difficult. None of the players in St. Louis had a perfect score after the first three rounds and the Fischer Memorial Prize will not be awarded.
The idea may stimulate other organizers. For example, FIDE may create the William Lombardy prize for the world’s best junior. The American grandmaster won the 1957 World Junior championship in Toronto with a perfect 11-0 score. More information about the 2009 U.S. championship is available at the official Web site: www.saintlouischessclub.org/US-Championship-2009.
Battle of Generations
At 62, Boris Gulko might have looked out of place at the U.S. championship in St. Louis. But so did his opponent, 14-year-old International Master Ray Robson. When the two players met, it was a wonderful clash of generations. Gulko, an experienced grandmaster and former Soviet and U.S. champion, tried to outfox the youngster in a complicated line of the Richter-Rauzer Sicilian. But Robson was ready, sacrificing his bishop and turning the game into an important theoretical debate. He mastered it with maturity, outplaying the veteran with astonishing tactics. He won material and brought the game home with excellent technical play.
Here is the full article.
No one will ever go 11-0 again.
There will eventually be another BF, but I’m not sure people will still be caring about chess by then.
Perhaps when we stop pining over the past ‘heroes’ we will notice the talent that is there today. I am sick of hearing about fischer.
The quote for the game is “The modern era of chess begins with Philidor’s positional analysis of the openings. Though he died in the 18th century, his was the most widely printed book in chess history. In this historically interesting game Philidor actually demonstrates the power of a superior pawn formation, confirming his famous maxim: “Pawns are the soul of chess.”
smae like that i love to play baseballs and chess also.