This Day in History Oct. 17, 1956: Bobby Fischer beat Donald Byrne in the Game of the Century. Fischer was awarded the Brilliancy prize at Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City. [Event “3rd Rosenwald Trophy”][Site “New York USA”][Date...
Incomparable legacy
Shelby Lyman on Chess: A Great PassionSunday, September 28, 2014 (Published in print: Sunday, September 28, 2014) “Only passions, great passions, can elevate the soul to great things” we are told by the Enlightenment philosopher Denis Diderot. Few have...
Q&A about a chess legend
I often receive many questions about Bobby. Here are some selected ones. Question: How did you meet Bobby Fischer? Answer: In 1992, Bobby played his second match against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia and was unable to return to the...
How I met Bobby Fischer
The question of the week is if I knew the late Great American World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer. As so many others of my generation, I was greatly influenced by the chess frenzy that Bobby created right around when...
Pawn Sacrifice
Tobey Maguire nails chess legend Bobby Fischer in ‘Pawn Sacrifice’By Lou LumenickSeptember 8, 2014 | 6:58pm It’s sort of amazing that it’s taken so long for Hollywood to get around to dramatizing a fascinatingly bizarre event that riveted the...
He beat his critics at their own game
Shelby Lyman on Chess: Fischer Found the Right MoveSunday, August 31, 2014 (Published in print: Sunday, August 31, 2014) In his early and mid-teenage years Bobby Fischer’s attire — dubious even by some middle-class standards — became an issue...
Fischer: ‘I Don’t Believe in Heroes’
Shelby Lyman on Chess: ‘I Don’t Believe in Heroes’Sunday, August 10, 2014 (Published in print: Sunday, August 10, 2014) The notion of world champion has a magical quality. But it means different things to different people in different contexts....
A Glimpse into the Complex Mind of Bobby Fischer
A Memorable Life: A Glimpse into the Complex Mind of Bobby FischerJuly 24, 2014 – June 7, 2015 July 23, 2014 (Saint Louis, MO) – From his earliest years as a child prodigy to becoming the only player ever to achieve...
The Cold War Pawn Sacrifice
TIFF ’14: First Pictures of Liev Schrieber and Tobey Maguire in ‘Pawn Sacrifice’BY: BRAD BREVET TUESDAY, JUL 22, 2014 AT 9:45 AM Seeing Edward Zwick’s Pawn Sacrifice among the films listed for this year’s Toronto Film Festival was a...
Unconquerable!
Shelby Lyman on Chess: Unconquerable A chess game can be a brutal, relentless struggle, But the possibility of a draw has always offered hope for relief. That is unless the opponent happened to be Bobby Fischer, who would rarely...