The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, January 02, 1972 - Page 226 ★
They Compete On the Quiet: Attributed to Fischer by Walt Taylor
“There has been a tremendous increase in chess interest in the last two years,” says Isaac Kashdan of Los Angeles, “mainly due to Bobby Fischer's being on the road to the world championship.”
(Fischer, top U.S. performer, will meet Boris Spassky of Russia this spring for the world title. He has been involved in challenger tournaments throughout much of the past year and 1970 to earn the chance for the crown. His successes in these events have brought him national and worldwide acclaim unprecedented by any other American chess whiz.)
“Fischer's accomplishments have gotten many more people in this country interested in chess,” says Kashdan, who was granted his elite grandmaster title by the International Chess Federation in the 1930's.
“The sale of chess sets and books on the game is booming. The number of players in tournaments has doubled.”
Kashdan feels that those who become acquainted with chess learn that the game “has a fascination that feeds on itself.
“It has been played for about 1,600 years,” he points out, “and there has been hardly any change in the rules since the Italian Renaissance. Yet some people have spent life-times on it and never come close to mastering it.”
They Compete On The Quiet Sun, Jan 2, 1972 – 220 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com
Whittier Club Readies for Chess Tournament Sun, Jan 2, 1972 – 226 · The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) · Newspapers.com
