The Marion Star, Marion, Ohio, Thursday, December 04, 1958
Chess Champ Gives Mother New Worries
American Youngster Encounters Problems In European Travels
New York (AP)—Ever have trouble coping with your teen-ager? How would you like it if he were a genius?
“It's not easy,” says Mrs. Regina Fischer of Brooklyn.
Her 15-year-old son, Bobby, is a genius at chess. He won the United States championship at 14 and became the youngest international Grand Master in history last summer.
His one dream is to snatch the world chess crown from the present champion, Russia's Mikhail Botvinnik.
One of Mrs. Fischer's definitely “not easy” moments came last summer when Bobby appeared to be stranded in Yugoslavia after his first international tournament.
Unable To Get Plane
“He had a round trip ticket, but nobody made any reservations for him and he couldn't get a plane. I knew he'd spent most of his money at the World Fair in Belgium and I was afraid the Yugoslav Chess Federation wouldn't go on paying for him after the tournament had ended.
“I went to the Yugoslav Embassy but it was the weekend and I couldn't find anybody. I tried to call Bobby, but they said he had left by train.
“I was really worried. I knew he was loaded down with books and I didn't see how he could manage. He doesn't speak the languages. I could just see him sleeping in a train station somewhere and people stealing everything he had.”
But Bobby used his tournament prize money to get to Munich where he found plane space home.
Chess is not a popular game and there are no funds to send the American champion to tournaments. Bobby won two tickets to Yugoslavia on a television program. His 21-year-old sister, Joan, took the second.
Remains at Home
“Bobby doesn't like the idea of his mother going around with him to tournaments. Besides, I figured it would be better for me to be here in case anything was needed—, primarily.”
She laughed ruefully—a slender, dark-haired woman with a smiling mouth in a gamine face. The Fischers separated when Bobby was 2 and Mrs. Fischer raised her two children on her earnings as a nurse.
“I don't discipline Bobby. He's too big. Anyway, there's not much to say. He comes home and sticks his nose in a chess book, stops to eat, and he's back again until it's time to go to bed.
“Bobby's one of the ones who play for blood, as they say in chess. He's serious. He has to study all the time. The countries publish pamphlets and books at a great rate—new openings always being worked out.
“He's not interested in girls yet—they don't play chess. He doesn't smoke or drink. He does chew his nails down to the bone, but I'm afraid to make him stop. I don't know what he might take up.
“Some of these chess players twitch all over. Honest. They start with an eye and twitch down to their feet and start again. I'd rather he chewed his nails.”
Becomes YMCA Member
“The only thing I do is nag him to get some fresh air. This year he's joined the “Y” and says he's going to get in better physical shape.
“He used to be wonderful at sports—in fact, he himself used to say he wanted to be a baseball player.
“I don't know a thing about chess. In fact, I tried to make him stop for four years. But I've given up now.”
