South Florida Sun Sentinel, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Sunday, February 09, 1997 - Page 72
Memories of '64, and of Bobby Fischer
Recently I spent several pleasant hours looking at back issues of Chessworld, a great magazine that folded the same year it was launched, in 1964. Editor Frank Brady later wrote Profile of a Prodigy, the only major biography of Bobby Fischer.
In 1964, Fischer was 21 when he swept the U.S. Championship with 11 straight wins, the stuff of legend. I was runner-up at 7.5 points, normally a winning score in such a strong field, prompting one critic to quip, “Fischer won the exhibition and Evans won the tournament.”
During this historic event I turned 32, exactly half the number of squares on a chessboard, when editor Brady caught up with me for an interview in the penultimate issue of Chessworld.
Some excerpts:
Q. Do you expect to win it?
A. No. I'll be happy to finish in the top three. My feeling is that everybody is doing badly here with the exception of Fischer.
Q. How would you rate Fischer in historical terms?
A. It's been my opinion for a few years now that he's the best player in the world. I'd say he's in the same category as Capablanca or Morphy. Of course it's hard to make a comparison since they didn't have the competition that he has now.
Q. Fischer just told me that Paul Morphy would beat anybody alive today in a set match.
A. It's impossible to tell how good Morphy was. He was head and shoulders above his age. In the ring anyone looks good against a palooka.
Q. Why do you say Fischer is at the top of his form right now?
A. Well, he's been doing nothing but studying chess — I'd estimate five or six hours a day. He's beautifully prepared for every opening and moves quickly. In every game he's about an hour ahead of his opponent on the clock.
Q. How would you describe his style of play?
A. He follows the truth on the board. If it calls for a wild move and he can't see it clearly, he'll make that move. Whatever is called for in a given position, Fischer will do.
Q. What about your style?
A. Positional. But I'm also alert to tactics and never give up on inferior positions. I subscribe to theory of the second resource. That is, no matter how bad your position, if it's not totally lost, you will reach a point during the game where you will be presented with an opportunity to win or draw if you take advantage of it.
Q. Why do you play chess?
A. For the spirit of competition. I don't like to have to score the point in order to win the money. I try to make each game a work of art.
Q. Do you get actual pleasure from playing chess?
A. Anybody who does anything well finds pleasure in it.
Q. Do you want to become famous?
A. I guess everyone wants to become famous. Chess is a back door to fame.
