The Atlanta Constitution Atlanta, Georgia Thursday, July 13, 1972 - Page 6
Georgian Lost to Fischer by Bob Geurink
A Milledgeville textile executive who looks at his opponents “like a snake” was beaten by U.S. champion Bobby Fischer in Argentina back in 1959.
That's from Richard Haas, president of the Southern Chess Association last year. He said Wednesday that Milledgeville's Ruben Shocron won the association's tourney last July 4 and said Shocron looked like this as he beat a field of 156 others:
About five-nine, 150 pounds, wiry build, dark complexion, dark hair with a little gray in it spilling just a bit over his collar. He played with his suit coat on, was polite, soft-spoken and quiet. His moves were quick and darting.
“He didn't get up and walk around and smoke or rumple his hair or do what so many other nervous players do,” Haas said. “He just sat there and looked at two things like a snake: the board and his opponent.”
He said Fischer played Shocron in Mar del Plata, Argentina, when Fischer was 18. Shocron was in his 30s. Shocron wasn't immediately available to discuss himself, but Haas was happy to fill in for the Dixie Champ.
Shocron came to the United States from Argentina about six years ago, Haas said, working in New York and North Carolina before going to Milledgeville about a year and half ago where he now is a textile executive. He hadn't played any regular chess in the U.S. till he got to Georgia. Why? “I guess he just hadn't the time,” Haas said.
Haas mentioned that Monday's Constitution was a little off in its running moves of the Fischer-Boris Spassky match. For buffs, here it is: Fischer's 40th move was 40. … P-B5, not P-B4 as shown in the paper.”
He said he thought Fischer would win if he shows the good form he has shown in the last year, and Spassky keeps doing as poorly as he has during that time. “But Spassky could rise to the occasion; after all, Russians have had the title since 1948 and they don't want to lose it.”
However, Haas quoted Soviet Russia's granddaddy, Nikolai Lenin, as saying: “Chess is too serious for a game, but too much of a game to be taken seriously.”
Anyway, chess is booming in Georgia. Right now, Haas said, there are 425 Georgians in the U.S. Chess Federation; back in 1964-65 there were only 24. There are about 75,000 Atlantans who know the moves.
And what's the average Georgia chess player like?
Like this, Haas said:
1. About 35 per cent of them are under 20. Some 95 per cent of those in the July tournament were under 45.
2. They're all types. “You can have a wealthy Northside doctor and 15-16 year old black kids from the ghetto.”
3. A higher IQ tends to make a better chess player, but not always; a Georgia Tech student with an IQ of at least 130 could be beaten by somebody with an IQ of 100.
4. Most good chess players have strong photographic memories.
5. They also have a “killer instinct” and a “willingness to messit up.”
