Daily News New York, New York Sunday, February 06, 1972 - Page 298
Fischer Idols at NYU Get It Off Their Chess by Froma Joselow
Not long ago, the college chess player was considered as square as the board he played on. Then along came 26-year-old chess star Bobby Fischer, and “checkmate” became a new slogan on campus.
While Brooklyn-bred Fischer was scoring victories against grandmaster Tigran Petrosian, chess games sprouted in universities and colleges throughout the metropolitan area.
New York University's student center and dormitories were no exception as senior Richard Block said, “They had chess games out in the hall and in the rooms.”
“Prior to this year, if a student said to his friends “Hey, let's play chess,’ they probably wouldn't,” NYU senior Bob Nazarian said. “Now you're not just a weirdo sitting around playing chess. It's sort of a cool thing to do.”
Sonny Kleinfeld, editor on the NYU student newspaper, said “I brought up a chess set one day to our office and we started playing. Others saw it and started playing.” The NYU senior added that “Bobby Fischer was doing well at the time—[illegible] that's why I brought it up.
Name Does It
Final examinations interrupted a chess tournament organized by students in the Britanny Residence Hall, 55 E. 10th St. One resident, whose name is Bobby Fisher, found himself entered in the tournament. Chess enthusiast Paul Morris, a senior, said, “The name was so formidable that it never came off.”
NYU's chess players are not seeking university recognition of their newly-formed team. The university, faced with a severe deficit that forced it to cancel inter-collegiate basketball last year, is unlikely to send students to national tournaments. Unlike the basketball team, however, NYU's chess team appears to be a winner. In a nationwide collegiate tournament at the Hotel McAlpin NYU tied for second with City College, which also took first place.
Interest Grows
Chess team captain Joseph Lux an 18-year-old freshman, reported: “We seem to be finding a lot of interested chess players down at Loeb Student Center,” where chess tables in the lobby are usually occupied.
Michael Cavallo, a senior on the Bronx campus, who has played tournaments in Europe, said: “When I was a freshman, there was absolutely nothing. There wasn't even a team. My game got worse because there was no one to play with.” He happily added that “Fischer is definitely having an impact on a lot of people.”
