AThe Courier-Journal Louisville, Kentucky Sunday, September 26, 1971 - Page 51
The King's Men - Fischer Now Is Man of Hour in Russia by Merrill Dowden American grandmaster Bobby Fischer, now only a step away from challenging Boris Spassky for the chess championship of the world, has become a celebrity in the chess-crazy Soviet Union.Writing under a Moscow dateline, Bernard Gwertzman of The New York Times News Service makes this report:
“The 28-year-old American's aggressive and crisp play in shutting out Mark Taimanov of the Soviet Union and Denmark's Bent Larsen by 6-0 scores has startled chess experts here and aroused considerable popular interest in the American who long-time experts say is on the way to becoming the most popular non-Soviet since pianist Van Cliburn.”
Fischer's string of 12 consecutive victories in championship matches at grandmaster level was without precedent, and this face was underscored by Soviet commentators.
“A miracle has occurred,” the chess expert in Sovetsky Sport said, discussing Fischer's victory over Larsen in Denver.
Gwertzman reports that in a Moscow park, several old men playing chess were quite willing to talk about Fischer. They bestowed upon him the popular Russian description, “molodyets,” which means, roughly, “quite a competitor.”
To get a chance at Spassky and the title, Fischer must first defeat another Russian, former world champion Tigran Petrosyan. That match, originally scheduled for September, has been postponed at least until next month.
