Playchess Blitz: Move it like Bobby Fischer!
Why do chess players become stronger? If you ask Nihal Sarin and Praggnanandhaa, two of India's greatest talents, they will advise you to just play as much as you can and learn from those games. Turns out, Bobby Fischer also used the same strategy to improve as a chess player. Read this story to understand the life of young Bobby and also know more about India's first Prize Money Online Chess Tournament!
Playchess Blitz: Move it like Bobby Fischer!
The year 1956 was kind of a first page of a book on Bobby Fischer’s tournament victories if such a ‘tome’ is ever to be made. This was the year when he began playing tournament chess, and also won his life’s first major victory—the US Junior Championship. But everyone considered the 13-year-old’s success some kind of a fluke. The two major reasons for this were that for starters, he was much lower rated than the rest of the contenders and peers. Secondly, the strongest US junior of his time, Gil Ramirez, had not played in the tournament. For winning this tournament, Bobby had won a typewriter, and he was not really happy with the prize.
The 1957 edition of the US Junior Championship was held in San Francisco, and in this event, most of Bobby’s higher rated peers, including Gil Ramirez, were playing. In the inauguration function before the start of the tournament, Bobby was nowhere to be seen. The young man was the talk of the crowd. He was a type of a mysterious character and nobody had really seen him in chess tournaments after his dramatic victory in the 1956 edition of the same event. And nobody really expected Bobby to win the tournament—Gil Ramirez, already rated 2200, about 500 points above Fischer, was the overwhelming favourite.
When the first round began, Fischer was still not present. The youngsters were gossiping among themselves, sniggering in whispers, how the defending champion was too scared to even show up for the tournament this time. 10 minutes after the clocks had been started, Bobby Fischer burst into the playing room.
It was a dramatic entrance by all accounts. He stormed in and walked with extreme overconfidence and arrogance painted on his face, as if he was on a mission to moon. The boys at the entrance tried to greet him, but he simply ignored them and walked to the tournament arbiter’s table. Bobby looked woozy—he was wearing patched jeans and converse shoes, and had shaved his head. Many younger kids were obviously intimidated.
“What’s the first prize?!” Bobby demanded.
The entire playing room could hear him. The arbiter walked Bobby to the prize table and showed him an electric typewriter, identical to the one he won the year before. Bobby stomped his feet and raised his voice and screeched, "I do not want another typewriter!" to the dismay of everyone.
Ivan Vegvary, a young player who was playing nearby, sniggered, “Don’t worry about it because you’re not going to win it.”
Fischer glared at Ivan and hissed, “You don’t know me!”
Fischer was nowhere among the top rated juniors of his time. However, he won the US Juniors Championship 1957 with a score of 8.5/9.
The kids, all the juniors, grew up. Bobby Fischer went on to become the World Champion at the age of 28. Gil Ramirez managed to become a member of the local poker club, and was not really successful there as well. Nobody has really heard of Ivan Vegvary.
What was the difference between Gil Ramirez or Ivan Vegvary and Bobby Fischer? The difference simply was Bobby’s pure love for chess. There was nothing in life that he would rather do but play chess. And play chess he did, in a manner only few can claim to match, forget surpassing.
If the key to become successful at this sport is simply by playing it with devotion, we are bringing you the epitome of a ‘playing experience’ that you can imagine.
Bobby Fischer Online Tournament
on 12th March 2017
Date: 12th of March 2017
Time: 6.00 p.m. IST
Time control: 3+0, 9 rounds
Prize fund: Rs. 31,000
Venue: Playchess
Entre Fee: Rs. 500/-
Entry Free for GMs and IMs
Prizes:
The total prize fund is Rs.31,000
Play some of the best Indian grandmasters and international masters, and celebrate the memory of the great Bobby by playing this tournament on Playchess.
Okay, you just read about a former world champion, but what if I tell you that two of our future world champions are also playing it?!
Eager to play? Want to know more about the tournament? Register yourself using ChessBase India's modern tournament portal right now.
Know more about Bobby Fischer Memorial Online Tournament!
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