1958
Contender and President. Efim Geller and Vladimir Alatortsev in Yugoslavia, 1958. From Две жизни гроссмейстера Алаторцева, 'Two Lives of Grandmaster Alatortsev'.
Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque, New Mexico, Saturday, December 28, 2013
A record for precocity
Bobby Fischer was astonishing if only because of his precocity.
In 1958 at the age of 15 he becoming the U.S. champion, signaling an end to the chess dynasty of Sammy Reshevsky, who had dominated American chess for a couple of decades.
Later that year, he became the youngest to be awarded the grandmaster title. That record stood for 33 years.
Bobby showed his talents early against Russian and Soviet players at the Central Chess Club — at the time the best in the world — during a Moscow trip in 1958 shortly after winning the American title from Reshevsky. One of his opponents was the future grandmaster Vladimir Alatortsev, who, according to the Russian historians Vladimir and Isaac Linder, “saw a tall, angular 15-year-old who in blitz games crushed almost everyone who crossed his path.”
Losing all three games he played with the teenager, “he (Alatortsev) was astonished by the play of the young American Robert Fischer, his fantastic self confidence, amazing chess erudition and simply brilliant play.”
Later, he told his wife and others in admiration: “This is a future world champion.”
Alatortsev's predictions materialized when Bobby steamrolled Soviet players in a series of tournaments and matches culminating in a one-sided victory in 1972 against the Soviet world champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland.
—SHELBY LYMAN, Syndicated Columnist On Chess.
