Whose still under the false belief that denigrating Robert Fischer somehow equates with “promotion of chess”? Those who are, are a fool consigned to a small pocket of the globe and will remain ostracized there along with their distorted opinion, on the fringe proving how little they know about history, much less, the American culture. Robert Fischer DID CARE what the papers reported about his character, his chess career and was personally incensed by the false, defamatory statements filtered into American press by Soviet collaborators from 1955 till the present. The lies bothered him deeply. Most “sensational headlines” written about Robert Fischer are utter fabrications, twisted out of context, or the result of calculated diversion tactics, to take focus off Soviet misconduct because Fischer was not one to stand idly by and silent where corruption existed, and they have most certainly, conclusively, documented the overabundance of evidence to establish, beyond a scintilla of a doubt, Soviets CHEATED… and Fischer's allegations came only on the tail-end of his many contemporaries and predecessors abroad, making the same charges, the likes of Edward Lasker, published in 1950! Observations suggesting the “Reds Cheat” was only par for the course in 1950s western media.
At first the complaint wasn't given as much attention, though it was known throughout chess circles, was that Soviets were worthy of far greater headlines, arm deep in “cheating” “lying” “stealing” “treasonable offenses” on scale with “Cold War” maneuvers; threats of nuclear missiles, a-bomb testing and building of bomb shelters. Spies and espionage, everyone wary of their neighbor and the FBI chock full of investigations of subversives right through the McCarthy Era. A great chess game played out in real life.
But Fischer's appearance on the scene brought the Cold War and “Soviet Cheating” worthy of national headline news, down to the size of a chess board and his article in Sports Illustrated gained national attention, including attention of the Soviets, who began maligning Fischer all the more in international headlines — and vilifying his personal character.
When Fischer reverently observed our Saturday Sabbath, he was denounced as “temperamental” by both Soviet press in the East and a staunchly Xtian Fundamentalist dominated press in the West, who were collectively a bitter bunch of Anti-Semites. Had he stayed out of the tournament in Tunisia, over, say observance of the SUNDAY Sabbath, the fundamentalist element in Western press would've rushed to Fischer's defense, without hesitation. They'd raked the Soviets over the coals, had they spoken against a Sunday Sabbath keeper.
Reports on Fischer's “bad behavior” are sourced from reports coming out from European Centers such as Reykjavik, Moscow and other hot spots for Soviet activity … “toxic sources” whose intent was NEVER to promote chess, but to knock Fischer's support base from under him. The next time anyone encounters those who repeat the Anti-Semite jibes about “temperamental” remember the kids whose parents were turned off by Soviet disinformation churned out as a flood in American press, as the Soviets were aiming to drive a wedge between Americans, and the world of chess. The Soviets, in greed for glorious self-gratification, were out to DESTROY the game. All or nothing. Winning is Everything. Just as they sacrificed the very lives of their own athletes through dangerous behind-the-scenes doping, which eventually led to numerous scandals, all so the Soviet could win some gold medals and bloviate on the supremacy of the Soviet system.
Rehashed Soviet Anti-American Invective to Turn Public Interest Away From Fischer's Defeat of USSR 15 Jul 1972, Sat The Honolulu Advertiser (Honolulu, Hawaii) Newspapers.com
