ACourier-Post, Camden, New Jersey, Thursday, December 18, 1958
Bobby Fischer to Defend Crown at Tournament
One year ago 14-year-old Bobby Fischer won the U.S. National-Rosenwald Tournament, adding the national title to the U.S. Open and National Junior championships that he already held.
Starting tonight Bobby will defend the national crown against the best players that can be mustered against him. He comes up to the tournament with still further laurels, having during the past summer qualified at Portoroz, Yugoslavia, for the challenger's tournament next year which will produce the next opponent of Champion Mikhail Botvinnik for the world's championship. Bobby finished a brilliant fifth in his first big international test and fully lived up to his precedent-shattering achievements of the previous year in this country.
Fischer has been attending his classes in a Brooklyn high school since returning from Europe and it remains to be seen whether he will show signs of “rust” in defending his national crown. At his age and apparent stage of chess development that seems unlikely.
He will, however, be up against at least as formidable opposition as that he faced in last year's event. The other participants in the tournament are Samuel Reshevsky, Arthur Bisguier, William Lombardy, Larry Evans, Donald and Robert Byrne, Pal Benko, Edmar Mednis, James Sherwin, Charles Kalme and Raymond Weinstein, the new U.S. junior champion. It will be an 11-round round robin.
This is truly an all-star field and should produce some all-star chess. Matches are being played at the Manhattan Chess Club in New York and the tournament will extend over a period of about three weeks.
