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July 11 1973
North Bay Nugget, North Bay, Ontario, Canada, Wednesday, July 11, 1973
Caption: Fedor Bohatirchuk can no longer see the chessboard clearly, but the 80-year-old master's mind is still sharp. He still does research in his profession, radiology, at the Ottawa General Hospital, in addition to playing regular chess tournaments. —CP Photo.
The eyes are weak—the mind sharp
He's still an ardent chess player at age of 80
By Ken Pole
Ottawa (CP)—The blue eyes are vague and misty behind the thick glasses, a legacy of cataract surgery, and Fedor Bohatirchuk can no longer see the chessboard clearly.
But although he can't see enough of the board at one time to play as well as before, the 80-year-old master's mind is still sharp. He still does research in his profession, radiology, in addition to playing in regular chess tournaments by mail.
A firm believer in work, he continued as professor of x-ray anatomy at the University of Ottawa until 1970, nearly 13 years after normal retirement age. He still puts in several hours daily at his research laboratory in the Ottawa General Hospital—an unpaid job he does because he enjoys it.
His first love, however, is as he puts it “Caissa, the muse of chess.” The romance began in 1906 when, as a teenager, Bohatirchuk played his first game in the Ukrainian capital of Kiev. He was city champion three years later.
Represented Canada
He has been active in Canadian chess for many years and represented Canada at an international Olympiad team tournament in Amsterdam before becoming a Canadian citizen.
Recently, in his Ottawa home where he lives with his wife Olga, their only daughter Tamara and her husband, four grandchildren and two large rambunctious dogs, the small man who held the Russian chess crown in 1927 consented to an interview.
It actually was a joint championship with Pyotr Romanovsky. He and Bohatirchuk were tied for first after an exhausting series of matches but a playoff was never arranged because of financial difficulties.
“We could not be, so to say, compensated for our time lost during matches so it was postponed and then the plans melted. So we were both champions.”
Bohatirchuk sat through the interview in his favorite chair next to the shortwave radio on which he often listens to Russian-language broadcasts on the Voice of America, and, occasionally, to broadcasts from Moscow, capital of the country to which he can no longer return.
Opposed Regime
Fedor Parfenovich Bohatirchuk, in the eyes of the Soviet Union, is a “traitor” because he left his country and dared oppose “both the Communist pseudo-socialist and totalitarian practices of Soviet bosses.”
“I am ‘enemy of the people’ insofar as I come here to Canada and become citizen,” he said, his manner of speech heavily flavored by his ethnic background.
“Sometimes they write about me that I am traitor, in the pres which goes to emigres. When the Chess Foundation of Canada asked FIDE to grant me title of grandmaster, the Soviets said this title cannot be given to ‘traitor,’ to me, despite the fact that I have never changed my name.
“It is very interesting—a ‘traitor’ who would not like even to hide; who, on the contrary, openly opposes whenever he can the oppression of freedom.”
FIDE is la Federation International d'Echecs, the international governing body of chess, and after a year of bickering between the Canadian and Soviet chess organizations, Bohatirchuk finally was granted the title of international master despite continuing Soviet protests.
Record Erased
“The Soviets, who play a great role in FIDE, categorically objected even to title of international master for me because I am ‘enemy of the people.’
“More than that, they have struck out my name as a master from all books and encyclopedias which were edited after 1943.
“I don't exist at all!”
Bohatirchuk feels he can never return to his former homeland, even for a holiday.
“They would arrest me and would send me for Siberia; maybe shoot! Why not? More than that, they will do at they do to all political prisoners: they make them confess in all crimes they would like.”
Like all dedicated chess players, he is a keen student of all its aspects—which know no political boundaries—especially events like last year's epic struggle between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland.
“I consider Fischer a great man who made for chess quite a lot. I don't agree with people who say he is making gimmicks. Of course, as great genius in chess, he may sometime be out of normal.”
He says the Fischer-Spassky match was more than a battle on the chess board; it also was psychological warfare.
Personality Clash
“It was fight, not only in chess but also between personalities—the personality of Fischer, a free man who has in front of him no authority to keep him down and prescribe his conduct, and personality of Spassky, who is also very good chess player.
“But Spassky absolutely dependent on Soviet bosses. He always felt some pressure on himself and therefore, when fight between these equal chess abilities, always a free personality will conquer subjugated personality.
“If, in future return match, the Soviet bosses would stay aside and would allow Spassky to concentrate only on chess strategy and tactics, the result of match should not be so clear.”
Bohatirchuk, who became a Canadian five years after arriving in Ottawa in 1949, is proud of the fact he is a member of the Royal Canadian Legion. This was possible because Canada and Russia were allies during the First World War.
His main interest is development of chess here—encouragement of promising juniors and organization of tournaments which would give Canadian players much-needed experience.
He would like to see the government contribute enough money to the Canadian federation for it to hire a full-time secretary—the first step in organizing talent so that Canada can make a name for itself in the chess world.
