The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Sunday, April 19, 1964 - Page 84
Fischer To Play 50 At Club Del Mar
Local chess fans have a final opportunity this afternoon to see U.S. champion Bobby Fischer in action. Starting at 2 p.m. he will tackle 50 opponents in simultaneous play at the Club Del Mar, 1910 Ocean Front, Santa Monica.
If he follows precedent, 21-year-old Fischer will walk continuously around the large room, pausing for a few seconds at each board to make his move. He will take no break, and allow his opponents none, during the three to four hours the exhibition lasts.
Spectators are invited, with no admission charge. They can participate in a question-and-answer period, which will start the proceedings.
One subject of interest is whether Fischer will play in the Interzonal Tournament, scheduled for Amsterdam, Holland, from May 20 to June 25. This is the next step in the three-year cycle to determine a challenger for a world championship match.
Fischer has stated that he will not participate, mainly on the ground that the Russians have dominated the championship play, and that no one else has a fair chance to break through.
Fischer is almost alone in this view. True, there are more Russian grandmasters than those of any other nationality, but no individual has any more chance than any other, according to the present rules.
For Fischer to become world champion, he has to 1 — be one of the top six in the Interzonal; 2 — win several successive matches in the Challengers' series, and 3 — win a match against titleholder Tigran Petrosian.
We are certain Fischer does not lack confidence in his ability. He evidently feels that sometime he will gain a match for the championship without all the preliminaries. This we regard as highly doubtful.
Fischer is by no means giving up international play. He will be on the U.S. team in the World Students' Team Tournament in Cracow, Poland, in July.
He will also be the first board for the US. in the Chess Olympics in Tel Aviv, Israel, in November. This is of particular interest to your editor, who will be captain of our team.
Last Sunday Fischer played simultaneously at the Knickerbocker Hotel, winning 47 games, losing one and drawing two.
The only winner was Donn Rogosin, junior member of the Herman Steiner Chess Club. which sponsored the event. The draws were contributed by another junior, Andy Sacks, and Nicholas Enequist. Both are members of the club.
Fischer had an excellent position in the following game, until he made one of his very few errors on the 23rd move, which lost a bishop.
