1992

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January 06, 1992

• The Miami Herald Miami, Florida Monday, January 06, 1992 - Page 86 — Chess Greats Lament Fischer's Reclusion: American Left Game After '72 Win — Reuters News Service— Reggio Emiliar, Italy—When the greatest players in chess gathered in Italy for a nostalgic reunion, the name on all their lips was that of the one former world champion who did not turn up—the elusive Bobby Fischer. All 14 grandmasters attending an international Category 18 tournament here—the highest-ranked event in chess history — are still pondering what made Fischer give up after winning the world title 20 years ago.
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January 07, 1992

• Casper Star-Tribune Casper, Wyoming Tuesday, January 07, 1992 - Page 13 — New Chess Club Organizing Friday — Casper—An organizational meeting for a new chess club, West Wind Chess Club, will be held Friday at the Africultural Resource and Learning Center, 2011 Fairgrounds Road. Beginning at 7:30 p.m., the meeting will open with a short discussion on a constitution and election of temporary officers.
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January 09, 1992

• The Valley Falls Vindicator Valley Falls, Kansas Thursday, January 09, 1992 - Page 1 — Timetables — The Equal Rights Amendment was passed by the Senate 20 years ago and 22 states ratified the amendment in 1972. The few words prohibiting discrimination on the basis of gender failed to get approval from the required 38 states. Five men were arrested in June for their involvement in the burglary of Democratic Party headquarters in the Watergate apartment complex in Washington, D.C. The Watergate incident would end with the first resignation of a U.S. president. American Bobby Fischer won the world chess title from USSR's Boris Spassky; Jackie Robinson, the first Black to play major league baseball, died and the baseball season was delayed 13 days because of players' strikes over pension rights. Read More

January 11, 1992

• The Post-Crescent Appleton, Wisconsin Saturday, January 11, 1992 - Page 22 — Chess Club A Game Group — Mike Selig could tell war stores for hours when he gets talking about his hobby. With animated arm gestures and strained facial expressions, the bearded figure bounces around in his chair with excitement just talking about it. …
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January 12, 1992

• The Miami Herald Miami, Florida Sunday, January 12, 1992 - Page 265 — Dissolution of U.S.S.R. Shakes Up Chess World — Reuters News Service, London—The collapse of the Soviet empire may mean bleak times for the game of chess. Many countries will be happy if fragmentation into separate republics makes it easier to challenge Moscow's long monopoly on world team and individual championships. The Baltic States and Ukraine, for instance, have already applied for separate recognition at the Chess Olympiad in Manila in July, which suggests that the Russian team may be weaker than previous Soviet entries.
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January 13, 1992

• The Daily Journal Vineland, New Jersey Monday, January 13, 1992 - Page 14 — MSHS Chess Club Looking For Talent — Wayne Greco wants you! As a science teacher at Millville Senior High School, Greco is looking for talented, experienced chess players, and students just wanting to learn the game. Meetings are held weekly on Tuesday's from 2:15 to 3:15 in room B-109 of MSHS… Read More

January 14, 1992

• The Guardian London, Greater London, England Tuesday, January 14, 1992 - Page 15 — Chess — Sime Agdestein of Norway took the £2,000 second prize in the Foreign and Colonial Hastings Premier when his Latvin rival Alexei Shirov agreed a draw after 14 moves, writes Leonard Barden. Agdestein, Shirov and the winner Egeny Bareev outclassed the UK grandmasters throughout. Read More

• The Guardian London, Greater London, England Tuesday, January 14, 1992 - Page 15 — Chess — Foreign and Colonial (Hastings) 14th and final rounds.

July 31, 1992

• The Wichita Eagle Wichita, Kansas Friday, July 31, 1992 - Page 8 — Chess Anyone? Fischer, Spassky but not as in 1972 — Remember 1972? Richard Nixon was re-elected president. Philippines President Ferdinand Marcos declared martial law and assumed nearly dictatorial powers. A. Managua, Nicaragua, earthquake killed 10,000. Alabama Gov. George Wallace was shot by would-be assassin Arthur Bremer. District of Columbia police arrested five men inside Democratic National Headquarters in the Watergate complex. The United States resumed bombing of North Vietnam. Tropical storm Agnes hit the eastern United States and created what the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers called the worst natural disaster in U.S. History. And Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky for the world chess championship.
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• Hartford Courant Hartford, Connecticut Friday, July 31, 1992 - Page 127 — 'Chess,' A Play on Game, At Town Hall Auditorium — The show is set in Bangkok, Thailand, site of a world chess championship between a Russian and American. The plot focuses on the players, including the Russians's effort to escape his Communist homeland and his love for the American's assistant. It is loosely based on the rivalry between chess players Bobby Fischer, an American, and Boris Spassky, a Russian.
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• The Kansas City Star Kansas City, Missouri Friday, July 31, 1992 — 20 Years Ago-1972 — The Russians postponed the ninth game with Bobby Fischer for the international chess title saying Boris Spassky has a cold. ★ · ★

• The Wichita Eagle Wichita, Kansas Friday, July 31, 1992 - Page 19 — News Quiz: Arts and Entertainment — It could be a match made in heaven when Boris Spassky takes on Bobby Fischer… ★

August 01, 1992

• The Journal News White Plains, New York Saturday, August 01, 1992 - Page 3 — Fischer: Chess Is Not Political — Belgrade, Yugoslavia—U.S. chess master Bobby Fischer said yesterday that he came to Yugoslavia to play chess and wasn't concerned with the political implications of his visit, which may violate U.N. sanctions. Fischer, 49, emerged from 20 years of seclusion this past week when it was announced that he would play a rematch of his 1972 championship game with Russian Boris Spassky. The match is scheduled to begin Sept. 2. It was organized by Jezdimir Vasiljevic, a Serbian bank owner who offered $3.35 million to the winner and $1.65 million to the loser. —From Wire Services. Read More

• Honolulu Star-Bulletin Honolulu, Hawaii Saturday, August 01, 1992 - Page 5 — Fischer In Yugoslavia For Chess — AP. Belgrade, Yugoslavia—U.S. chess master Bobby Fischer has been in seclusion for 20 years and now that he's ready to play Boris Spassky, he says the United Nations isn't going to stop him. Fischer, 49, said yesterday that he wasn't concerned about the political implications of the chess match in Yugoslavia, which is under U.N. sanctions for its role in the Bosnia-Herzegovina fighting.
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• Chippewa Herald-Telegram Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin Saturday, August 01, 1992 - Page 16 — Fun Facts — It is believed that the game of chess originated in India in the A.D. 600's, perhaps earlier. In 1972, Bobby Fischer became the first American to win the official world championship of chess. ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★

• News-Pilot San Pedro, California Saturday, August 01, 1992 - Page 56 — Women and Chess — Why are the world's great chess players men? Is it male chauvinism or something biological? Jack Martin, Red Bluff, Calif. ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★ · ★

August 02, 1992

• Chicago Tribune Chicago, Illinois Sunday, August 02, 1992 - Page 58 — Deja Vu in '92 — In sports, we've seen famous comeback attempts, but perhaps nothing quite like what Bobby Fischer proposes. Those older than 35 surely recall the national mania of 1972 when, at the depths of the Cold War, Fischer toppled Russia's Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland, to become the first American to win the world chess championship.
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• The Observer London, Greater London, England Sunday, August 02, 1992 - Page 18 — Surprise Gambit of A Grandmaster — Bobby Fischer, undefeated former world chess champion, plans a return match with Boris Spassky, his opponent of 20 years ago. Julie Flint looks at the prospects. MOST thought it impossible, as likely as squaring the circle. But it looks as if they all were wrong. Bobby Fischer is coming out of the shadows to which he consigned himself 20 years ago for a $5.5 million rematch with Boris Spassky, in 1972, the year Angela Davis was acquitted and the Duke of Windsor died, to become America's first world chess champion.
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August 04, 1992

• The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Tuesday, August 04, 1992 - Page 93 — Pawns In A Game — At a distance from events in Bosnia-Herzegovina, one might possibly view the horrific campaigns of “ethnic cleansing,” which aim to leave only one set of players still standing, as unfolding with deadly deliberation in accord with grand strategy. It could all be likened to a crazed game of chess. So maybe it should come as no surprise that U.S. chess whiz Bobby Fischer has agreed to a rematch, 20 years later, with Russian Boris Spassky on a Montenegrin island and in Belgrade, Serbia's and shrunken Yugoslavia's capital, where the two old foes are to play for a $5-million purse.
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• The Tampa Tribune Tampa, Florida Tuesday, August 04, 1992 - Page 42 — Reclusive Celeb Turns Emergence Into Prize Gambit — He didn't look quite the same as he did 20 years ago, but then again, with the exception of Dick Clark, who does? But there he was, former grand chess master Bobby Fischer, a recluse who makes J.D. Saligner seem like a party animal, out in the open again. It was as odd an announcement as most of what has passed for Bobby Fischer's public life: Two decades after the brash New Yorker had defeated Russian Boris Spassky to become the world chess champion, the two old foes would once more meet to play a $5 million rematch next month in, of all paces, war-torn Yugoslavia, or what's left of it.
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August 05, 1992

• Newsday (Nassau Edition) Hempstead, New York Wednesday, August 05, 1992 - Page 8 — Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky: It's Their Move — It is 20 years since Bobby Fischer became America's only world chess champion by defeating Boris Spassky of the then-Soviet Union. The reclusive Fischer forfeited the title by refusing to defend it, but it was reported recently that he will play Spassky once again, and now comes word that the event will be a $5 million rematch set in Yugoslavia.
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• Detroit Free Press Detroit, Michigan Wednesday, August 05, 1992 - Page 135 — Young Woman No Pawn When It Comes to Chess by Bruce Weber, NY Times ★ · ★

August 06, 1992

• Fort Worth Star-Telegram Fort Worth, Texas Thursday, August 06, 1992 - Page 20 — Spassky, Fischer in Yugoslavia to Play Chess — Belgrade (AP) — Russian chess grand master Boris Spassky has arrived in Yugoslavia for a $5 million match that has brought American Bobby Fischer out of seclusion, organizers said today.
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August 07, 1992

• St. Louis Post-Dispatch St. Louis, Missouri Friday, August 07, 1992 - Page 4 — Fischer, Spassky Ready For Rematch — Belgrade, Yugoslavia (AP) — Boris Spassky, the Russian chess grandmaster, has arrived in Yugoslavia for a $5 million match with American Bobby Fischer, who has come out of seclusion, organizers said Thursday. The two former world champions met late Wednesday after Spassky's arrival for an informal dinner. Fischer beat Spassky in 1972 to take the world title but later forfeited the title by refusing to defend it. He has not played in public since. The rematch has been organized by Jezdimir Vasiljevic, the owner of one of Yugoslavia's largest private banks. He has offered $3.35 million to the winner and $1.65 million to the loser.
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• Elko Daily Free Press Elko, Nevada Friday, August 07, 1992 - Page 2 — Robert Fischer, Legendary Chess Icon 'Superstar' — “You see the distinction I'm trying to make. The news that Bobby Fischer is coming out of seclusion to play chess again interests even people who don't play chess or know who the current champion is. It was reported in the news section, not the chess or sports section, of the New York Times. Bobby Fischer is a symbol of chess to the general public in the same way Babe Ruth was a symbol of baseball. Twenty years after his abrupt retirement he is chess's only superstar.
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• Daily News New York, New York Friday, August 07, 1992 - Page 428 — Chess Masters Square Off — Bobby Fischer has come out of seclusion to meet Russian chess grand master Boris Spassky in a $5 million match in Yugoslavia. The former world champions met Wednesday for an informal dinner in Belgrade and match organizers said they “made a couple of moves” at the table.
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• The Province Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Friday, August 07, 1992 - Page 8 — Chess Greats Play For $5M Rematch — (UPI)—In an opening move for a $5-million rematch, arch-rival chess champs Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky met in a Belgrade restaurant for their first game in 20 years, Tanjug news agency reported yesterday. Fischer, former world champion and an American, pulled out a pocket-size chess board and arranged the pieces right after greeting the Russian Spassky on Wednesday night, Tanjug said. They began by analyzing their last match, which was played in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1972. Tanjug did not say who won.
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September 10, 1992

• The Times Shreveport, Louisiana Thursday, September 10, 1992 - Page 8 — Bobby Fischer Trails 2-1, Spassky Makes Most of Opponent's Errors —Sveti Stefan, Yugoslavia (AP) — Bobby Fischer on Wednesday lost the second consecutive game of his comeback chess series with Boris Spassky, who took a 2-1 lead in their $5 million match. Fischer resigned five hours into the game, after Spassky's 45th move. Holding the advantage in the middle of the game, Fischer made some mistakes that allowed Spassky to take the offensive. “I made a couple of oversights and missed a couple of things,” he said, referring to Spassky's 25th move, which broke the pattern of Fischer's attack by forcing an exchange of bishops.
  The loss sets up another possible comeback scenario for Fischer, 49, who returned to chess competition after 20 years in virtual seclusion. In their 1972 match, Fischer was behind 2-0, but came back to defeat Spassky to become America's first and only world chess champion.
  The first player to score 10 victories wins the match. The next game is today.
  The defeat was all the more galling for Fischer because he was playing white, which theoretically gave him an advantage because he got the first move.
  “When you're losing with white, you know there's something wrong,” said Yugoslav grandmaster Stefan Djuric.
  Fischer, who still claims to be world champion and has demanded the rematch be considered a world championship event, used the Ruy Lopez, or Spanish opening.
  He used the same opening in his victory in the first game of the series on Sept. 2. The first 15 moves today were identical to that game.
  “Essentially, Bobby became a victim in a very unnatural way,” said American grandmaster Yasser Seirawan after the game. “He played strong, logical moves and ended up in bad position. He was playing very clear, good moves, but his opponent played better.”
  Only about 20 spectators and a much-reduced press corps watched Tuesday's game. The winner of the series will get $3.35 million, and the loser received $1.65 million.
  Chess experts have speculated the match could stretch into weeks or even months. The second and third games were draws and did not count in the scoring. Spassky, a Russian-born French citizen, won his first game on Sunday.
  The contest is being played in defiance of international sanctions against Yugoslavia, now comprising only of Serbia and Montenegro, for its role in the war in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina. Read More

November 06, 1992

• The Capital Times Madison, Wisconsin Friday, November 06, 1992 - Page 9 — Chess Rating Developer Dies of Heart Attack at 89 — Milwaukee (AP) — Arpad E. Elo, a retired Marquette University physics professor who developed an internationally accepted chess rating system, has died at the age of 89. Henry Meifert, a chess master who handles publicity for the Milwaukee Municipal Chess Association, which Elo helped found, noted that Elo, of suburban Brookfield, died Thursday on the day Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky in a highly publicized chess rematch in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
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• Citizens' Voice Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania Friday, November 06, 1992 - Page 14 — Fischer Poses Wearing Laurel Wreath Following His Victory

Fischer Poses Wearing Laurel Wreath Following His Victory 06 Nov 1992, Fri Citizens' Voice (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania) Newspapers.com

• The Titusville Herald Titusville, Pennsylvania Friday, November 06, 1992 - Page 3 — Bobby Fischer Wins Rematch — Belgrade, Yugoslavia (AP) — Bobby Fischer won his $5 million chess rematch against Boris Spassky Thursday, 10-5, after a 30-game series that defied international sanctions on Yugoslavia. Playing white, Spassky resigned on the 28th move. For the victory, Fischer, playing his first public chess tournament since being stripped of his world champion title in 1975, takes home $3.35 million. Under match rules, the first player to win 10 games wins the series. Read More

November 14, 1992

• New York Times, New York, New York, Saturday, November 14, 1992 - Page 27 — Prof. Arpad E. Elo Is Dead at 89; Inventor of Chess Ratings System —Prof. Arpad E. Elo, a physicist and astronomer who devised the system that ranks the world's chess players, and a founder of the United States Chess Federation, died on Nov. 5 at his home in Milwaukee. He was 89 years old. The Milwaukee Journal said the cause of death was a heart attack. Professor Elo introduced his ratings system in the United States about 1950. It has since been adopted not only by the World Chess Federation but by sports organizations as well. It is used, for example, to rank table-tennis players.
  Under the Elo system for chess, four-digit ratings are used to measure each player's relative strength. The ratings are based on results in tournament and match play weighted according to opponents' strength.
  “It is a measuring tool, not a device of reward or punishment,” Professor Elo once commented. “It is a means to compare performances, assess relative strength, not a carrot waved before a rabbit, or a piece of candy given to a child for good behavior.”
  
  At the Top of the List
  Mr. Fischer last week ended a 20-year absence from competitive chess to win an exhibition match against Boris Spassky, another former champion. Mr. Fischer had a rating of 2780 when he gave up chess in 1972; since then he has kept the rating, but the federation has listed him as inactive. The federation has not indicated whether it will rate his performance in the match just completed.
  Once Professor Elo's system was accepted, he devoted a considerable effort to working with the world federation to assure its statistical accuracy and integrity.
  Arpad Emrick Elo, who was born in Hungary, served from 1935 to 1937 as administrator of the American Chess Federation, which merged with the National Chess Federation in 1939 to become the United States Chess Federation.
  He created a chess program for the children of his adopted city, Milwaukee, that was endorsed by the merged federation and served as the model for children's programs in dozens of other cities across the country.
  
  Left Competition
  In the 1940's, Professor Elo held his own against some of the best players in over-the-board play. He faced the young Mr. Fischer in 1957, but then left competitive play to others and gave more time to his academic career.
  He was a professor of physics and astronomy in the physics department of Marquette University in Milwaukee from 1935 to 1965. After retiring from Marquette, he lectured for several years at the University of Wisconsin.
  Aside from chess, he liked gardening, beekeeping, winemaking and grinding his own telescope lenses for stargazing.
  Professor Elo's wife, Henriette, died three years ago. He is survived by his son, Arpad E. Jr. of St. Johnsbury, Vt., and a sister, Bertha Papp of Alrington Heights, Ill. Read More