Fischer's big move in Denver

Legend twice made city a stop en route to his world title

Todd Bardwick, Special to the Rocky

Published February 4, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Photo by © The Rocky/1971

U.S. chess champ Bobby Fischer and Bent Larsen, of Denmark, compete in Denver in 1971. Fischer won the match.

Bobby Fischer's chess success in Denver catapulted him to the world title in 1972 in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he defeated Boris Spassky and the Soviet Union's chess and propaganda machine.

The United States' only world chess champion and arguably the greatest chess player of all time, Robert J. Fischer died in Reykjavik on Jan. 17 of kidney failure at age 64.

After defeating Spassky, Fischer became a national hero and his success greatly increased chess interest in Denver and the rest of the country in what chess players refer to as the "Fischer Boom."

Fischer first visited Denver in his only nationwide simultaneous tour, when he played 55 players (winning 50, drawing four, and losing one) at the Brown Palace on April 26, 1964.

Fischer returned to Denver in 1971 for the World Championship quarterfinal match (which he won 6-0) against Bent Larsen of Denmark. He then went on to beat Russian Tigran Petrosian in the semifinal match to earn the right to play Spassky.

As a recluse later in life, Fischer was better known for the news headlines he made as a result of his rambling anti- Semitic and anti- American rants. At the chess board, however, Fischer was the ultimate professional.

Victor Traibush of Boulder, the Colorado Chess State Champion in 1955, 1967, and 1970, spent time with Fischer during his match against Larsen. Traibush remembers Fischer as "a man who took his responsibilities as a professional very seriously."

As the official scorekeeper for the first two games of the Fischer-Larsen match, Traibush observed that whenever Fischer moved, he very carefully and politely slid the piece to the center of the square he was moving it to. (It is considered poor sportsmanship when a player slams a piece or screws it into the board.)

In the diagrammed position with today's column, when Fischer played the aggressive and decisive 19.f5!, Traibush observed that Fischer actually picked up the pawn and tilted it slightly toward Larsen as he moved it forward.

On the drive from Denver to Traibush's house in Boulder for dinner, Traibush asked Fischer if he was aware of how he moved the pawn. Traibush says Fischer didn't realize that he had done it and was mortified.

Noticeably disturbed by his action, Fischer said, "That was very unprofessional."

Todd Bardwick is a National Chess Master and can be reached through his Web site: www.ColoradoMasterChess.com

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