The Gift of Chess

Notice to commercial publishers seeking use of images from this collection of chess-related archive blogs. For use of the many large color restorations, two conditions must be met: 1) It is YOUR responsibility to obtain written permissions for use from the current holders of rights over the original b/w photo. Then, 2) make a tax-deductible donation to The Gift of Chess in honor of Robert J. Fischer-Newspaper Archives. A donation in the amount of $250 USD or greater is requested for images above 2000 pixels and other special request items. For small images, such as for fair use on personal blogs, all credits must remain intact and a donation is still requested but negotiable. Please direct any photographs for restoration and special request (for best results, scanned and submitted at their highest possible resolution), including any additional questions to S. Mooney, at bobbynewspaperblogs•gmail. As highlighted in the ABC News feature, chess has numerous benefits for individuals, including enhancing critical thinking and problem-solving skills, improving concentration and memory, and promoting social interaction and community building. Initiatives like The Gift of Chess have the potential to bring these benefits to a wider audience, particularly in areas where access to educational and recreational resources is limited.

Best of Chess Fischer Newspaper Archives
• Robert J. Fischer, 1955 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1956 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1957 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1958 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1959 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1960 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1961 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1962 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1963 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1964 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1965 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1966 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1967 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1968 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1969 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1970 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1971 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1972 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1973 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1974 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1975 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1976 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1977 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1978 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1979 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1980 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1981 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1982 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1983 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1984 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1985 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1986 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1987 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1988 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1989 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1990 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1991 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1992 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1993 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1994 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1995 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1996 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1997 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1998 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1999 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2000 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2001 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2002 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2003 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2004 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2005 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2006 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2007 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 2008 ➦
Chess Columns Additional Archives/Social Media

Karl Burger, 1947

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December 01 1947

The Brooklyn Daily Eagle, Brooklyn, New York, Monday, December 01, 1947

Chess Study--Joseph Schneebaum (left) obviously needs that cigar to keep him concentrating, judging by the expression on the face of 14-year-old Karl Burger.
Chess Speed Play Tourney Draws Many Youngsters

Chess Speed Play Tourney Draws Many Youngsters
A hush hung over the grand ballroom of the Academy of Music yesterday, although there were about 200 people in it. Fifteen or 20 card tables had been set up with chess boards on them, at which players sat making deft shifts of pawns and queens and castles, while others clustered about or moved quietly from table to table.
The occasion was the annual tournament for the speed championship of the United States Chess Federation, being sponsored this year by the Brooklyn Chess Club. There were 40 entrants playing in five groups, ranging from a mere sprig of 14 years to gray-haired veterans of many contests.

A Veteran at 14
Karl Burger, 781 Linden Boulevard, yesterday's youngest contestant, moved his men like the veteran he is. Although only 14, Karl has been playing chess since he was four, although this was his first venture into a big-time tournament. Karl keeps in practice by playing at the Brooklyn Chess Club on Saturday nights.
Saul Wachs, another Brooklyn boy, who is making a name for himself in chess circles at the age of 15, first began to play at 7, when his father, an enthusiast, taught him the game. Two years ago he took part in the Pennsylvania Junior State Chess championship matches.
Other youthful contenders included Robert and Donald Byrne, Arthur Bisguier, Walter Shipman, Larry Evans and Eugene Shapiro, of the Marshall Club in Manhattan, all of them in their teens.

Youngsters Attracted
According to Dr. Edward Lasker, president of the Association of American Chess Masters and author of a number of books on chess strategy, who directed yesterday's tournament, more and more young people are being attracted to the game, and he finds many of them very good.
In playing speed chess, the players have 10 seconds in which to make a move. A bell sounds a warning at eight seconds and the move has to be completed at the next bell two seconds later.
Philip L. Gold is president of the Brooklyn Chess Club, which now has 70 members and meets Tuesday and Saturday nights and Sunday afternoons at the Academy of Music.


Karl Burger, 1949

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1949

1949–1952 Columbia College chess team following a radio chess tournament with Yale. (R-L) James Sherwin, Eliot Hearst, Carl Burger, Francis Mechner.

Columbia University Chess Team: (left to right) Team Captain Eliot Hearst, James T. Sherwin, Edward Scher, Philip Schwartz and Karl Burger. Columbia University Chess Team: (left to right) Team Captain Eliot Hearst, James T. Sherwin, Edward Scher, Philip Schwartz and Karl Burger.

July 04 1949

The Richmond News Leader, Richmond, Virginia, Monday, July 04, 1949

1949, Southern Chess Association Tournament; Hans Berliner, Stuart Wagman, Kit Crittenden and Carl Burger during adjudication of chess game.

PROXY DECISIONHans Berliner (left), Washington chess champion, makes a move in a match against Stuart Wagman (right), also of Washington, to determine the winner of a match in the all-Southern tournament here. The two are “adjudicating” a match between Major J. B. Holt, of Long Beach, Fla., and Steven Shaw, of Miami, under the Swiss tournament system because they failed to complete their games in five hours. The “proxy” winner was Shaw. Kibitzing are Kit Crittenden, 15, North Carolina champion, and Carl Burger, 16, of New York.

1949, Southern Chess Assocation Tournament

Questions Fly As Champs Vie For Chess Title
By William Bien
“Do you like the Nimzo-Indian defence to the Queen's Gambit declined?”
“Or do you prefer the fried liver variation in the Two Knights defense?”
Those are common questions being tossed around at random at the Southern Chess Association's annual convention meeting at the Hotel John Marshall.
While ordinary folks are cooling themselves in various vacation spots, 38 chess experts are sweating out the 1949 chess championship, trying to beat 18-year-old Gerry Sullivan, defending champion from Knoxville, Tenn.
ANOTHER THREATENS
One of the top contenders for the crown in another teen-ager, Kit Crittenden, 15, of Raleigh, N.C. He is the son of the director of the archives and history department for the State of North Carolina.
Just recently Crittenden upset several old-timers to win the Tennessee Open, but this is his first really “major-league” test.
Another player to be reckoned with is young Leigh Ribble, Jr., 14, who is Class “A” champ of the Richmond Chess Club.
Martin Southern, president of the Southern Chess Association, says this is the strongest group ever entered in an SCA tourney, despite the fact that a majority of the players are under 21.
Only one woman is entered in the championship play. She is a Richmond housewife, Mrs. Willa White, who also is president of the Richmond Chess Club.
FAST GAME NOW
These tournament players knocked into a cocked hat the outdated idea that chess is a game for people with nothing else to do. They play the game fast nowadays, under the Swiss system used at this tournament. According to the rules each player must make a minimum of 40 moves in the first two hours.
“A game will normally be won in 35 to 55 moves,” says Southern, “but sometimes it takes as many as 100 or more.”
At any rate, the contenders are putting in a full 10-hour day every day of the tournament, scheduled to end tomorrow morning. Tomorrow, that is, unless too many games bog down after the first 100 moves!
Tomorrow afternoon, the various winners will receive trophies, provided by Miller & Rhoads, or cash awards, taken from the $3 entry fee each player must pay to enter.


Karl Burger, 1950

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July 04 1950

Leaders In Chess TourneyLeaders In Chess Tourney 04 Jul 1950, Tue The Durham Sun (Durham, North Carolina) Newspapers.com

LEADERS IN CHESS TOURNEY—Shown above are Eliot Hearst (left) of New York City and Ken Smith of Dallas Texas who are virtually tied for the lead in the Southern Chess Tournament which closes in Durham today.—Sun Staff Photo.

Chess Meet To End TodayChess Meet To End Today 04 Jul 1950, Tue The Durham Sun (Durham, North Carolina) Newspapers.com

Chess Meet To End Today
Scores at the end of the sixth round of play in the Southern Chess Association tourney here show Ken Smith of Dallas, Texas, tied with Norman Whitaker of Shadyside, MD and Eliot Hearst of New York City in games won and lost at 5-1. However, Smith is ahead in the tie-breaking system used in this tournament. That is, points are given-for each win, taking into consideration the standing of a player's opponent at the time of the games.
Tied for second place are: Hans Berliner, D. H. Mugridge, James Sherwin, all having won 4½ and lost l½ games. Karl Burger, W. Long, Harold Mouzon, E. Nash and Martin Southern are all tied at four games won to two lost.
Two local players who are holding their own at three games won and three games lost are W. J. Peters and Kit Crittenden.
The tourney closes today.


Recommended Books

Understanding Chess by William Lombardy Chess Duels, My Games with the World Champions, by Yasser Seirawan No Regrets: Fischer-Spassky 1992, by Yasser Seirawan Chess Fundamentals, by Jose Capablanca Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, by Bobby Fischer My 60 Memorable Games, by Bobby Fischer Bobby Fischer Games of Chess, by Bobby Fischer The Modern Chess Self Tutor, by David Bronstein Russians versus Fischer, by Mikhail Tal, Plisetsky, Taimanov, et al

'til the world understands why Robert J. Fischer criticised the U.S./British and Russian military industry imperial alliance and their own Israeli Apartheid. Sarah Wilkinson explains:

Bobby Fischer, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech
What a sad story Fischer was,” typed a racist, pro-imperialist colonial troll who supports mega-corporation entities over human rights, police state policies & white supremacy.
To which I replied: “Really? I think he [Bob Fischer] stood up to the broken system of corruption and raised awareness! Whether on the Palestinian/Israel-British-U.S. Imperial Apartheid scam, the Bush wars of ‘7 countries in 5 years,’ illegally, unconstitutionally which constituted mass xenocide or his run in with police brutality in Pasadena, California-- right here in the U.S., police run rampant over the Constitution of the U.S., on oath they swore to uphold, but when Americans don't know the law, and the cops either don't know or worse, “don't care” -- then I think that's pretty darn “sad”. I think Mr. Fischer held out and fought the good fight, steadfast til the day he died, and may he Rest In Peace.
Educate yourself about U.S./State Laws --
https://www.youtube.com/@AuditTheAudit/videos
After which the troll posted a string of profanities, confirming there was never any genuine sentiment of “compassion” for Mr. Fischer, rather an intent to inflict further defamatory remarks.

This ongoing work is a tribute to the life and accomplishments of Robert “Bobby” Fischer who passionately loved and studied chess history. May his life continue to inspire many other future generations of chess enthusiasts and kibitzers, alike.

Robert J. Fischer, Kid Chess Wizard 1956March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008

The photograph of Bobby Fischer (above) from the March 02, 1956 The Tampa Times was discovered by Sharon Mooney (Bobby Fischer Newspaper Archive editor) on February 01, 2018 while gathering research materials for this ongoing newspaper archive project. Along with lost games now being translated into Algebraic notation and extractions from over two centuries of newspapers, it is but one of the many lost treasures to be found in the pages of old newspapers since our social media presence was first established November 11, 2017.

Special Thanks