One of the most fascinating stories of 20th century chess is the trip of the young Bobby Fischer to Moscow in 1958. I recently discovered a little-documented part of that trip that shows a different side of the American genius.
Fischer, just 14 years old, was the youngest American champion in history and was invited by the Soviet Federation to visit Moscow. He and his sister Joan began their journey with a stop in Brussels. After Moscow, the trip would continue to Belgrade, where the Candidates Tournament would be held.
An American teenager named Larry Finley was on vacation in Brussels with his mother. The city was hosting Expo 58, the first major World Exhibition after World War II. He read about Fischer’s visit and contacted him, imagining that the young prodigy would like to chat with another American teenager. And so it was. They hit it off and spent three days touring the exhibition halls and talking about cars, girls and science. According to Larry’s account, it was clear that Bobby was far above average in intelligence.
On the last day of the trip, Larry finally worked up the courage to ask for a game of chess. But he wanted Bobby to actually play. “Okay, I’ll crush you if that’s what you want. It’s been a while since I crushed someone, so it’ll be fun.” That’s what happened in the four games they played.
The next day, Bobby and Joan flew to Moscow, a trip that left a deep impression on the prodigy who would become one of the greatest chess players of all time.
(This story is told in the book “Bobby Fischer and His World”, written by John Donaldson).
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