AThe Greenville News, Greenville, South Carolina, Wednesday, January 05, 1977 - Page 10
Chess Group Disqualifies Fischer
Amsterdam, The Netherlands (UPI) — Bobby Fischer was disqualified from the 1978 world chess championship Tuesday and his place given to the Russian he beat for the world title — Boris Spassky.
The International Chess Federation said Fischer failed to meet a Jan. 1 deadline to notify the federation of his intent to take part in an elimination tournament to find a challenger to meet world champion Anatoly Karpov next year.
“We did not hear from Fischer,” federation secretary Ineke Bakker told newsmen. “As a result his place in the candidates tournament will be taken by Boris Spassky.”
She said this was the formula the federation decided to follow if Fischer failed to register.
Fischer, who lives in Pasadena, Calif., was unavailable for comment, according to his attorney Stan Rader.
“Bobby is a very private person and I'm sure he has his own reasons but I don't think he'd want to make a public statement,” Rader said.
The Evening Sun, Baltimore, Maryland, Friday, April 01, 1977 - Page 2
Fischer's Lawsuit Is Dismissed
Los Angeles (AP)—The $5 million invasion of privacy lawsuit by Bobby Fischer, chess champion, against an author and publisher has been dismissed by Judge Matt Byrne, of the United States District Court.
Fischer, who acted as his own attorney, accused Brad Darrach, of Time-Life International and Stein and Day Publishers, Inc., of breaking written and oral promises not to disclose details of the former world chess champion's private life.
“I'll not pay a penny of federal income taxes until I get justice in this case,”said Fischer after Byrne acted Thursday. Earlier, Byrne said Fischer had shown “almost intentional disregard for rules of discovery” in pretrial proceedings. Darrach wrote the book, “Bobby Fischer versus the Rest of the World.”
Detroit Free Press Detroit, Michigan Wednesday, April 13, 1977 - Page 10
Chess by Whose Rules?
The March 20 People Page ran a feature by George Cantor on Bobby Fischer, retired world chess champion, implying that Mr. Fischer is a fractious, overgrown brat who brutalizes his opponent's psyches, issues conflicting ultimatums, and is in effect saying to the chess world: Play by my rules, or I won't play.
Bobby Fischer is a grown man of 34, a dedicated athlete at the top of his field and is respected by his peers.
His problem is not with chess or its rules, but with its organizers, the World Chess Federation, who has essentially been saying to play by their rules, or not at all.
JIM MARFIA
President
Michigan Chess Association
Royal Oak
The Indiana Gazette, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wednesday, August 10, 1977 - Page 9
Offer Made To Bobby Fischer For Chess Match
New York (AP)—Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer may be battling Victor Korchnoi — if Fischer will settle for the $3 million offered by a West German financier.
A Dutch paper quotes Korchnoi, a Soviet emigre to West Germany, as saying that financier Wilfried Hilgert is ready to pay Fischer $3 million for the match, which could take place next February.
“I've been in contact with Fischer and in early September I'll go to America to meet him and fix further details,” the paper quotes Korchnoi.
Des Moines Tribune Des Moines, Iowa Thursday, August 25, 1977 - Page 18
Fischer Returning To Chess in '78?
Just five years ago, the world's attention was turned to Reykjavik, Iceland, where Bobby Fischer of the United States and Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union were matching wits over a marble and mahogany chess table.
Fischer, then 29, won the world championship, breaking a 26-year Russian monopoly of the title; it was the first time since 1946 that a non-Russian had even reached the world championship finals. Fischer earned a record purse of $250,000 and became a cult figure.
After spending most of his life working for the crown, Fischer didn't wear it well. He hasn't played chess in public since the Spassky games. In 1975, Fischer lost his title by default, refusing to defend it after a dispute over match rules.
Rumors of new games, new opponents and new locales have surfaced periodically since then. None has been realized. Fischer emerged briefly into public view recently when he lost a $5 million lawsuit against Brad Darrach.
The latest report of a prospective opponent for Fischer comes from The Netherlands, where former Soviet grand master Victor Korchnoi has told the press he hopes to play a match with Fischer next February.
Korchnoi has just won his way to the finals of the world championship challengers' competition and is a likely prospect to play champion Anatoly Karpov for the title next year. A match with Fischer could be an interesting warm-up for this contest.
A Dutch newspaper says West German Wilfried Hilgert has agreed to pay Fischer $3 million for the match.
“I've been in contact with Fischer and in early September I'll go to American to meet him and fix further details,” Korchnoi told reporters.
Few persons have contact with Fischer today. He lives a secluded life in South Pasadena, Calif., where he moved shortly after the Spassky match.
He chose the Pasadena area not only because of the weather but because of its proximity to Ambassador College and the headquarters of the Worldwide Church of God. Fischer has made large donations to the church, some reports say.
“I've had no communications with Fischer lately,” said Edmund M. Edmundson, an official of the U.S. Chess Federation. “As far as I know he lives in a small house in South Pasadena and he must live frugally because he does nothing for a living. He must depend on royalties and some leftover money from the Spassky match.”
Even though Fischer hasn't let the world see much of him recently, he did have an enormous impact on the popularity of chess.
“There are now two dozen strong young players who wouldn't be as active if Fischer hadn't inspired them,” said Edmundson, who added remorsefully, “The legacy he left is enormous.”
Once Bobby Fischer said, “Chess is life.” But he also said, “I don't mix well.”
The Record Hackensack, New Jersey Thursday, August 25, 1977 - Page 8
What Happened To Bobby Fischer
Five years ago, whiz Bobby Fischer brilliantly moved his way across the international chess board to become world champ — the first American to de-throne the Soviets in decades.
But just as quickly, the then 29-year-old Fischer traded in his celebrity status as national hero.
Turning down matches he refused to compromise his principles even if it meant losing millions.
In March 1975, Fischer lost his title by default when he rejected the International Chess Federation's arrangements for a match with Anatoly Karpov of the Soviet Union. When the group refused to change the rules, the crown was handed over to Karpov.
In 1975 Fischer sued author Brad Darrach and the publisher of “Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World,” after the author promised not to write a book about him. He lost the $5-million suit.
The year before, he was sued for refusing to allow Chester Fox to film his showdown chess match with Spassky.
Today with the 1978 World Chess Championship in sight, Fischer is still inaccessible, having sunk deeper from fame into self-imposed obscurity in South Pasadena, Calif.
He has consistently ignored invitations for games, and his failure to register for elimination matches leaves his place for the championship in February open to the Soviet Union's Spassky.
Reports earlier this year by the International Chess Federation that Fischer was considering a match with Karpov haven't amounted to anything so far. Now there's talk that West German financier, Wilfried Hilgert, is offering $3 million to Fischer if he battles Victor Korchnoi, a Soviet emigre to West Germany.
Still, Fischer's profile remains low. Reports say that he is still single, living frugally in a small house he selected because of the Southern California climate and its close proximity to Ambassador College and the headquarters of the World Wide Church of God. Some say Fischer has made large donations to the church.
But friends and associates at the college continue to shroud Fischer in secrecy. Claudia O'Karow, who works at the college and serves as Fischer's secretary, isn't answering any questions. She just takes phone messages for him.
“He hasn't been involved in any public tournaments or matches since his championship.” says Doris Thackery, Services Director of the U.S. Chess Federation. “Legitimate contests have to be rated and recorded and we have no knowledge of any [by Fischer].”
Thackery says that Fischer's books are still bringing in royalties. “And then there's the $250,000 he won for the championship match,” she says.
Exactly how Bobby Fischer, who once said that chess was his life, sends his days is unknown.
Even if Fischer never plays chess publicly again, Edmund M. Edmundson, an official of the U.S. Chess Federation, thinks that Fischer has left an important impact on the chess world.
“There are two dozen strong young players who wouldn't be as active if Fischer hadn't inspired them,” he says. “The legacy he left is enormous.”
Lansing State Journal Lansing, Michigan Wednesday, September 14, 1977 - Page 15
East Detroit Sees A 31-Game Winner
East Detroit (AP) — Viktor Korchnoi won 31 chess matches the other night — all at the same time.
Korchnoi, a former Soviet chess grand master who defected from Russia last year, was in East Detroit Monday to lecture a chess club. Afterward, he played 34 of the members simultaneously, losing only three of the matches.
THE 45-YEAR-OLD Korchnoi told the group his problems began when he lost to fellow Russian Anatoly Karpov, the No. 1-ranked player in the world, in 1974.
He says the match was “arranged for (the) benefit and convenience” of Karpov and no one asked Korchnoi's opinion or sent him condolences afterward.
He gave his opinion to the Yugoslav press, however, and says he found his home full of electronic “bugs” and his telephone tapped when “Mother Russia” found out about it. He also was expelled from the Soviet chess team.
ONCE HE was able to wrangle a trip to the Netherlands last summer, he defected.
About leaving his native country, he says, “Really, I was never a dissident. My reasons were not too political.”
The first telegram he got after defecting was from the United States' Bobby Fischer, the chess world's maverick who goes unranked because he has not played a match since he defeated then top-seeded Russian grand master Boris Spassky five years ago.
“HE SAID ‘Congratulations on your correct decision’,” Korchnoi recalled.
He said he is in frequent contact with Fischer and that the American is excited about the possibility of a future high stakes money match between the two. Korchnoi said a $350,000 match in West Germany has been mentioned.
He added that he would like a rematch with Karpov, too. “I consider it as my political duty — to beat the Soviets.”
IN THE meantime, he is doing the lecture circuit, making $600 for his appearance in East Detroit. In ten days, he returns to his adopted Netherlands to await word on family members still confined in the Soviet Union.
Arizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona Wednesday, November 02, 1977 - Page 4
(Charges Were Dropped) Ex-chess champ hunted on charge of hitting woman
South Pasadena, Calif. (UPI) — Police Tuesday sought Bobby Fischer, former world chess champion, on a warrant charging him with forcing his way into the home of a magazine writer and hitting her on the face because of his unhappiness over a story about his affiliation with the Worldwide Church of God.
Sgt. Lonnie Johnson said a warrant accusing Fischer with misdemeanor battery, trespassing and disturbing the peace was issued Friday.
The warrant is based on a complaint by Holly Ruiz, 37, who also has filed suit against Fischer in Superior Court seeking damages of $5,000.
She claimed Fischer, 34, invaded her apartment and ordered her to sign a statement saying she did not inform him that a tape recorder was being used in the interview for Ambassador Report.
When she refused, Fischer allegedly struck Mrs. Ruiz on the face and knee.
She told police that Fischer had agreed to be interviewed by the magazine and had talked for hours with reporters while a tape recorder was in plain view.
The story, titled “Bobby Fischer Speaks Out!” quotes Fischer as saying he paid the church $94,315 in eight years.
“We don't know where Fischer is,” said Johnson. “We're trying to contact his lawyer so that he can surrender on the warrant. If he won't, then we'll have to find out where he is and arrest him.”
Fischer was stripped of his world chess title in 1975 and has become a recluse.
Fischer's attorney Stan Rader, said Fischer was unavailable for comment.
But Rader said he was preparing a suit against Ambassador Report for “violation of Mr. Fischer's rights.”
The attorney said Fischer agreed to talk to reporters for the magazine, but specified that nothing he said was for publication. Fischer contends he was tape recorded more than once without his knowledge.
Unauthorized publication of his comments represents an “invasion of privacy and is slanderous or libelous,” the attorney said.
“Mr. Fischer is very experienced in dealing with reporters, journalists and writers and made himself perfectly clear to the people at the Ambassador Report,” Rader said.
At this point in Fischer's life, he's been gaslighted by Soviet Press, manipulated out of the world chess title through politics, instead of fair chess play. He's been manipulated into becoming the subject of a defamatory book by Brad Darrach who had a long-running history of defamation and unethical journalism. The Soviets and Icelandic chess federation manipulated Chester Fox filing a $3.2 million lawsuit against Fischer for an agreement he never made over film rights. Fischer has been financially swindled by Stanley Rader, the Worldwide Church of God's attorney. Fischer was also swindled by the cult's doctrines of terror which he believed since around 1962. Now, he's being pulled into the drama brewing between Rader/Armstrong and church dissidents. At this point everyone is playing “tug of war” with Fischer's mind, and since the charges were dropped (according to New York Times), there's no reason to believe Fischer did any of the things accused by Mrs. Ruiz. For a person on the Autism Spectrum, this scenario Fischer has had forced upon him in his life, would be utterly devastating. When it feels like the world is conspiring against you… All he wanted to do, was to play chess, but somehow people have always found a way to destroy his ambitions through politics and religion and the abuse of mass media to achieve those ends.
The Atlanta Constitution Atlanta, Georgia Sunday, December 04, 1977 - Page 22
Bobby Fischer Ordered To Appear for Booking
Pasadena, Calif. (AP) — A municipal court judge says he will nullify his agreement to dismiss battery and trespassing charges against Bobby Fischer if the chess master doesn't appear at a South Pasadena police station for booking by Tuesday.
“He's got less than a week, and then I will just pull out all the stops,” Judge Mortimer Franciscus said Friday. “We'll issue new warrants for his arrest and refund court costs he's paid.”
Fischer is out of the country on a chess tour and could not be reached for comment.
According to an out-of-court settlement, Fischer, 32, was to appear for booking and pay $250 in court costs in return for having criminal charges against him dropped. The booking is only a formality.
