April 26, 1958 Montreal Gazette The Game of Kings by D.M. LeDain

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The Game of Kings 26 Apr 1958, Sat The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com

The new and the old champion battle it out in the 1958 U.S.A. National at New York:

Robert James Fischer vs Arthur Bisguier
United States Championship (1957/58), New York, NY USA, rd 5, Dec-23
French Defense: Winawer. Advance Variation General (C16) 1-0

Maurice J. Kasper, treasurer of the American Chess Foundation, of N.Y., has sent cheques for $250 each to Robert Fischer, for winning the U.S.A. Junior, U.S.A. Open and U.S.A. National, and to William Lombardy, winner of the World Junior at Toronto last summer, in recognition of their outstanding achievements. Shortly after winning the National, Fischer was the guest for a week of an Adirondack skiing resort, which included the services of a skiing instructor. Later, a New York TV program assured his participation in world series Interzonal at Portoroz, Yugoslavia this summer by underwriting his return place fare.

March 31, 1958 Evansville Press, King's Korner, Evansville CC, Evansville, Indiana

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King's Korner 31 Mar 1958, Mon Evansville Press (Evansville, Indiana) Newspapers.com

As far as brain power is concerned the need for that commodity is very slight. The person with an average grade school education can play a very good game of chess. The proof of this lies in the fact that the most recent U.S. open championship was won by a 14-year-old eighth grader, Bobby Fischer. he provoked his mother because he did not study his home-work and his grade in school were very poor. {This is an inaccurate report. School officials confirmed that Bobby's grades were average to high, and his IQ was in the generally superior range, which would put Bobby around “…an arbitrary category of general intelligence attained by only 15% of the population. It includes individuals with an IQ of 120 or more on both the Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale and the Stanford–Binet Intelligence Scale.—American Psychological Association}

March 15, 1958 The Montreal Star, Let's Play Chess by William Oaker

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Let's Play Chess 15 Mar 1958, Sat The Montreal Star (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com

Bobby Fischer
U.S. champion Bobby Fischer, who turned 15 last week, will go to Europe this year. His intent: to win the Challenger's Tourney, and thus be named official challenger for the Chess Championship of the World.
Many are saying that this time he has bitten off considerably more than he can chew. It has been this Brooklyn teenager's habit apparently to consistently bite off more than he can chew and then astound everyone by actually chewing it. There is little doubt, now, that he is the best player in the Western World (although many older masters still do not like to admit it). Now, he will attack the Eastern World and the very home of chess itself—the USSR.

February 22, 1958, Evening Telegraph, Chess Notes, Coventry, West Midlands, England

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Chess Notes 22 Feb 1958, Sat Coventry Evening Telegraph (Coventry, West Midlands, England) Newspapers.com

Warwickshire owe much of their success in county chess to the existence of the Birmingham Junior League which provides many of their players, even while the boys are still at school. The British Chess Federation has gone so far as to arrange a special coaching scheme under the international master, R. G. Wade, for promising youngsters in London.
Such organisation while it can do much for the ordinary talented young player can do wonders for the occasional child prodigy who appears in the chess universe with about the same frequency and effect as the super nova star in the astronomical heavens. Such a wonder has appeared in the U.S.A. in the past year.
Fourteen years old Bobby Fischer followed up his win in the U.S. Open Championship ahead of Bisguier and Byrne, two of America's leading players, by winning the U.S. Championship proper a point ahead of S. Reshevsky.
Reshevsky is considered by many to be the strongest player in the world outside the Soviet Union. Reshevsky, who curiously enough was himself a child prodigy, has said that Fischer plays more strongly than he did at the same age.
It seems from this that we have possibly the strongest player the world has ever seen ready to make his appearance in international chess.
D.G.H.

February 13, 1958 The Expositor, The Pawn Shoppe, Brantford, Ontario, Canada

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The Pawn Shoppe 13 Feb 1958, Thu The Expositor (Brantford, Ontario, Canada) Newspapers.com

The Pawn Shoppe
Fourteen-year-old Bobby Fischer of Brooklyn has become an international master through the simple (?) expedient of winning the U.S. national title.
He came in ahead of such competition as grandmaster Samuel Reshevsky, also a prodigy in his youth, and qualified for the interzonal series for the world title.
The following is a game Fischer played earlier in winning the New Jersey state title.

February 08, 1958 Nantwich Chronicle Chess for All by G. Chesters, Nantwich, Cheshire, England

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Chess For All 08 Feb 1958, Sat Nantwich Chronicle (Nantwich, Cheshire, England) Newspapers.com

Chess For All by G. Chesters
The U.S. Chess Championship was won recently by 14-year-old Bobby Fischer for the second time in succession. The standard was very high, his opponents including Sammy Reshevsky, not long since rated one of the top twelve in the world.
His rise has been phenomenal and few people will be surprised if he finishes among the leaders in the inter-zonal tournament in August and thus qualifies for the final eliminating stage for the world title.
This success over Reshevsky is that more noteworthy when we read that “Sammy” recently won what was probably the strongest New World chess event since 1951. This tournament, held in Dallas in Texas, was sponsored by oil companies, a habit which it is hoped they will frequently adopt in the future, since cash and more tournament play are the two factors most badly needed by the western chess world. Here is the result of this mighty Dallas tournament:—

A celebrated field. Gligoric, you recall, beat Soviet grandmaster Paul Keres (pronounced Keresh) in this year's Hastings tournament.
In the diagram, Bobby Fischer wins quickly. Set the position up on your board and try to find the win without handling the pieces, i.e., as if you are under match conditions.

January 18, 1958 The Montreal Star, Let's Play Chess by William Oaker

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Let's Play Chess 18 Jan 1958, Sat The Montreal Star (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com

Let's Play Chess: 14-year-old Bobby Fischer Is New Star of Chess World
By William Oaker
A Star is Born
A star has arisen on the chess horizon of the western chess world. Everyone has seen it coming, but no one would have dared to predict its brilliance.
Bobby Fischer, 14-years-old, of Brooklyn, N.Y., is the new United States Champion, going through the recent Rosenwald Tourney in New York City without a loss and finishing ahead of Grandmaster Sammy Reshevsky.
A few short years ago a man decided to teach a group of small boys the royal game of chess. One stood out above all the others, eventually reaching the point where he could play them all at the same time.
The boy went to play at the Hawthorne Chess Club, where he impressed the members with his natural talent. He then joined the Marshall Chess Club, where talent scouts steered him to becoming a member of the strongest chess club in the United States, the Manhattan Chess Club.

Began Rise
At the age of 12, the star began to rise—slowly at first. He played in the U.S. Junior Championship at Lincoln, Neb., but only made a score of 5-5.
The following year, at 13, he won the National Junior title at Philadelphia, the youngest to ever do so. This prompted people to say, “Here is a lad with great promise. In five or six years, he might become a master.”
Bobby was not content to wait years. He immediately entered the strong U.S. Open Championship at Oklahoma, (after pausing long enough to repeat his Junior Championship victory at San Francisco), and came away a tie for fourth place in a field of 102.
He then headed north to the Canadian Open Championship, held here in Montreal, at Redpath Hall, where he finished tied for eighth.
Chess players everywhere then said, “Yes, sir! That boy's going to be a master before he's 20, if he keeps up like this.”
A whole series of small local tournaments were then entered with great success in all of them, and small signs of envy began to creep into the praise. “Very good”, they would say, “but, he is getting a little ahead of himself.” A three page spread in Life magazine, did not exactly hinder the mild jealousy, “After all, Reshevsky himself never had his picture in Life.”

Takes U.S. Open
Last year, at the age of 14, he shocked everyone by winning the U.S. Open championship in a strong field of 175. Because there are a lot of weak players in such a tourney, and a great deal depends on the pairings, he was, still considered only “very good”.
He was invited to the Hastings International in England, but decided to stay in the United States and play in the Rosenwald. Then the bomb fell, as did every major master, including the mighty Reshevsky, in United States. He won with points to spare.
It is strange, but there are only two challenges left open for this boy wonder in sneakers and jeans: Grandmastership, and the championship of the world.
His remarkable feat compares with Babe Ruth and Rocket Richard of other competitions—that is if they had managed to accomplish their feats when they were only 14 years old.

The Montreal Championship
The Montreal Championship got under way last Sunday with 56 entrees. Officials stated that there is still room for a few more. Anyone interested should contact Mr. Wm. Hornung, at POntiac 8-8744 or show up at the tournament hall at the N.D.G. Community Hall, corner of Cote St. Antoine road and Decarie boulevard, before 1:30 p.m. tomorrow. Entry fee is $5.00 for adults (male), $3.00 for ladies or university students and $1.00 for elementary and high school students. The committee specified that “a few more ladies” would be especially welcomed.

September 20, 1958 Montreal Gazette The Game of Kings by D.M. LeDain

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The Game of Kings 20 Sep 1958, Sat The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com

On His Way to the World Championship
The big news from the Interzonal tourney at Portoroz, Yugoslavia, is not that Mikhail Tal, USSR champion, won it, but that 15-year-old Bobby Fischer, USA champion, qualified for next year's Challenger tourney by finishing among the first six. By far the youngest ever to compete in either tourney, or to gain the title of international grandmaster. The boy won six games, lost two, and drew with twelve in the 21-player tourney. There is a talk of a Broadway parade on his return to New York. Scores of the top six qualifiers: M. Tal, USSR, 13½-6½; S. Gligoric, Yugoslavia, 13-7; P. Benko, Stateless, and T. Petrosian, USSR, 12½-7½ each; R. Fischer, USA, and F. Olafsson, Iceland, 12-8 each.

September 20, 1958 The Montreal Star, Let's Play Chess by William Oaker

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Let's Play Chess 20 Sep 1958, Sat The Montreal Star (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com

The Montreal Star, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Saturday, September 20, 1958

Let's Play Chess
Young American Champion Wins Grand Master Rating

Young Grandmaster
Bobby Fischer, 15-year-old United States chess champion, from Brooklyn, became an international Grandmaster at the Interzonal Tournament, recently completed in Portoroz, Yugoslavia.
At the same time he succeeded in qualifying for the next year's Challenger's Tournament, which will be held with a view to choosing a challenger for the World Championship, now held by Mikhail Botvinnik, of the U.S.S.R.
Six players qualified in the 21-round Portoroz event. They are, in order of their standing:
1. Mikhail Tal, U.S.S.R., 2. Svetozar Gligoric, Yugoslavia, 3 and 4. Pal Benko, Hungary, and Tigran Petrosian, U.S.S.R.; 5. and 6. Bobby Fischer, U.S.A. and Fridrik Olafsson, Iceland.
Bobby Fischer is the youngest player in history to achieve the distinction of Grandmastership.

September 06, 1958 The Montreal Star, Let's Play Chess by William Oaker

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Let's Play Chess 06 Sep 1958, Sat The Montreal Star (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com

The Montreal Star, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, Saturday, September 06, 1958

Bobby Fischer
Until now, we have reported that 14-year-old Bobby Fischer, the kid from Brooklyn who make a habit of violently upsetting the sacred cows of the chess world, was “holding his own” at the Interzonal Tourney, now under way at Portoroz, Yugoslavia.
He is no longer holding his own. He is surging ahead. He is now tied for 5th place with elite of the chess world, and shows every promise of qualifying for the Challenger's Tournament, next year, and a shot at the World Championship.
After 16 rounds, with five to be yet completed, his score is 9-6, and he is reported back in the form which carried him to the championship of the United States, last year.
He is still the “darling” of the spectators in the present event, and they are still plaguing him with questions and requests for his autograph; but he seems to have learned to live with them.

Present Standing
Standings to date, are as follows:
Mikhail Tal, USSR, 11-5; Tigran Petrosian, USSR, 10½-5½; Fridrik Olafsson, Iceland, 10-6; Alexander Matanovic, Yugoslavia, 9½-5½; Yuri Averbakh, USSR, David Bronstein, USSR, Bobby Fischer, USA, Svetozar Gligoric, Yugoslavia and Ludek Pachman, Czechoslovakia, 9-6; Pal Benko, Hungary, Dr. Miroslav Filip, Czechoslovakia, Oscar Panno, Argentina and Laszlo Szabo, Hungary, 8½-6½; Bent Larsen, Denmark, 7-8; Otto Neikirch, Bulgaria, 7-9; Raul Sanguinetti, Argentina, 6½-8½; James Sherwin, USA, 6-9; Hector Rossetto, Argentina, 5-10; Rodolfo Cardoso, Philippines, 4-11; Boris de Greif, Colombia, 2½-12½; and Geza Fuster, Canada 2-14.

August 17, 1958 Los Angeles Times Chess by Isaac Kashdan

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Chess by Isaac Kashdan 17 Aug 1958, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com

Averbakh, Petrosian Lead Interzone Play
Yuri Averbakh and Tigran Petrosian of Russia are leading after five rounds of play in the Interzonal Chess Tournament at Portoroz, Yugoslavia, according to a report from the New York Times. Each has three wins and two draws for a score of 4-1.
Mikhail Tal, the Soviet champion is tied at 3½-1½ with Fridrik Olafsson of Iceland. Tal, who started with two wins to take an early lead, lost in the fourth round to Alexander Matanovic of Yugoslavia, then recovered to defeat Dr. Miroslav Filip of Czechoslovakia.
The best percentage is held by Paul Benko, who originally won his place in the tournament as a Hungarian representative, but is now an American resident. Benko has 2½-½, with an adjourned game against David Bronstein of Russia.
One of Benko's wins is the first loss sustained by Bobby Fischer, 15-year-old U.S. chess champion. Bobby has a 2-2 score, including a win against Geza Fuster of Canada, and draws with Otto Neikirch of Bulgaria and Hector Rossetto of Argentina.
A report from Yugoslavia indicates Fischer is having difficulties with fans and newsmen, who are naturally attracted to the chess prodigy. He has requested help from the authorities, stating that he can not concentrate on his game with a crowd around his table.
James T. Sherwin of New York, second representative of the U.S., has a 1-2 score. He defeated Boris de Greiff of Columbia, but lost to Petrosian and Laszlo Szabo of Hungary, Sherwin has an adjourned fifth-round game with Ludek Pachman of Czechoslovakia.

August 16, 1958 The Montreal Star, Let's Play Chess by William Oaker

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Let's Play Chess 16 Aug 1958, Sat The Montreal Star (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Newspapers.com

Let's Play Chess By William Oaker

Canada Finds It Tough Going At International Tournament

Interzonal Tournament
Geza Fuster, Canada's representative in the international chess tournament at Portoroz, Yugoslavia, is taking a dreadful thrashing at the hands of the world's chess greats.
In round one, he fell before the onslaught of Pal Benko, Hungarian international master in 19 moves. In round two, he met and was defeated by 15-year-old Brooklyn boy wonder, Bobby Fischer. In round three, he was the victim of grandmaster David Bronstein, one of the best Soviet players to ever push wood.
Wednesday saw Fuster drop a fourth consecutive point to Yuri Auerbach, of Russia, one of the outstanding members of the new Soviet school of chess.
All in all, Mr. Fuster is in pretty tough company, which is made up of the best players in the world.
There are just no weak players. Day after day it is a case of facing off with the greatest that each zone has to offer.
His record to date is no wins, no draws and four losses.
All eyes are trained on United States champion Bobby Fischer, who, so far is holding his own. He has won one, lost one and drawn two.
Reports from Yugoslavia state that he is having trouble from eager fans who are distracting his play with their requests for his autograph and their constant attention.
At present two young Soviet stars are leading the tournament. They are Yuri Auerbach and Tigran Petrosian, who have scores of 3-1.
Following is the table of standings after the fourth round in this 21 player, round-robin event.