The Pocono Record Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania Monday, July 17, 1972 - Page 11
Chess Master Recalls Duels With Fischer
By Bruce Posten, Pocono Record Reporter, Canadensis — Arthur Feuerstein, a 36-year-old Brooklyn native, had the distinct honor of playing and beating United States Chess Champion Bobby Fischer in the U.S. Junior Chess Championship in 1956.
Feuerstein, vacationing at Spruce Hill Farms in Canadensis, has known Fischer since his early high school days and has played in several tournaments with the professional.
“The last time I played Fischer,” said Feuerstein, a national grand master in chess, “was either in 1970 or 1971, when we competed in a speed chess tournament. Fischer won 21 games out of a possible 22 and was well on his way to national and international fame.”
Feuerstein described Fischer as a “chess player in a class by himself.” He noted of the half-dozen full time professional chess players in the United States, none of them could come close to approaching Fischer's excellence.
“I remember when Bobby first began playing chess. He always played the defensive and was very cautious. Today, he only plays a very aggressive and offensive game. As a matter of fact, so far in the tournament between Fischer and Boris Spassky, Fischer has been taking all the risks and Spassky is playing a conservative game.’ he said.
“I believe Fischer never developed a personality beyond the level of a 15-year-old and many of his individual quirks are not necessary,” he said.
He specifically dismissed Fischer's annoyance with the presence of cameras in the chess room by saying “professional chess players are trained to have absolute concentration and very seldom give away their emotions through facial expressions.”
He added Fischer was always bothered by noises when playing chess and once even asked for the removal of the audience.
“Many chess players in the Soviet Union and the United States have other jobs besides chess, but for Bobby Fischer, chess is his entire life.
“Although he has a high IQ of 130 or 140, he dropped out of high school because of boredom and became the U.S. Chess Champion at age 14,” he said.
Feuerstein explained the tournament between Fischer and Spassky is a 24-game match with challenger Fischer having to earn 12½ points in order to dethrone champion Spassky.
“A point is given for each game won and a half point is awarded to each player in case of a tie. Spassky will be able to retain the championship if he can keep Fischer from winning more than 12 points,” he explained.
Feuerstein characterized Spassky as a versatile chess player who can be both innovative and cautious.
He noted Spassky's second, Ewfim Geller, who advises the champ before games, is an extremely aggressive player along the lines of Fischer. However, he pointed out “Spassky's playing does not reflect any aggressive moves, as of yet.”
Fischer, at first refusing to have a second, finally accepted Father William Lombardy, who was considered to have even more potential than Fischer ten years ago.
“Lombardy is also a versatile player like Spassky; quite adept at playing both offense and defense,” he said.
Feuerstein hopes Bobby wins the tournament and praises him for the contributions he has made to the promotion of chess in the United States.
“He has brought the purse for chess up to $200,000 equal to that of golf, and aroused people's interest in the game,” he said.
He noted if Fischer wins the tournament such companies as Coca-Cola and IBM, who sponsor foreign chess tournaments, would be more likely to sponsor tournaments in the United States to help beginning U.S. players.
“After all,” Feuerstein remarked, “Bobby admitted he was playing more for the sake of U.S. prestige than for the money, and with his will to win I hope he makes it.” ★
