[Hi Bobby, I wrote this thing. Strangely enough, you are one of my favorite people even though I strongly disagree with your anti-Jewish outlook. Let me know if his is piece is all right. I have not sent it out yet. Take care, John from Vermont.]
This letter is being emailed to the following addressees:
Attorney General John Ashcroft;
President George W. Bush;
United States Congress;
United States Senate;
Vice President Richard Cheney;
Secretary of State Colin L. Powell;
Amnesty International;
International Committee of the Red Cross;
Japanese Ambassador to the United States,
Mr Ryozo Kato, Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary,
Japan to the United States of America;
Embassy of Japan
2520 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Washington D.C. 20008;
Simon Loekle, &#E2;P C;As I Please,&#E2;P D;
WBAI Pacifica Radio;
Center for Constitutional Rights;
American Civil Liberties Union;
Radio Free Brattleboro;
Dennis Kucinich;
Michael Moore;
National Scholastic Chess Foundation;
Robert J. (Bobby) Fischer&#E2;Pcs website,
(
http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/fischer/);
Fischer Watch;
Unofficial Bobby Fischer Chess Page;
United States Chess Federation.
To whom it may concern:
The charges against Fischer are unfair and insignificant and should be dropped! At one time he was the pride and joy of the Free World. Even though he has a controversial personality, he should be pardoned.
His games have literally given pleasure to thousands of chess players worldwide. I was aware of Bobby Fischer in the late 50s through the 60s and way before he played Spassky the first time in 1972 in Reykjavik. I recall watching him play at the Manhattan Chess Club in the early 1960s. His chess playing performance was spectacular even at this early date. Bobby had won the U.S. Chess Championship eight times.
Miyoko Watai, President of the Japan Chess Association, who Bobby has known since 1973, has come out in favor of Bobby's release. She was the only female player, of two chess players chosen by the Japan Chess Association, who played Fischer after he became World Champion. Miyoko Watai and Bobby have remained in contact, corresponded and travelled together for more than 30 years and have lived together for the past four years. There has been talk of Bobby and Miyoko getting married.
Here follows some quotes from Garry Kasparov, Russell Targ (married to Fischer&#E2;Pcs half sister), Boris Spassky, as well as an article entitled &#E2;P C;The Lynching of a Returning Hero,&#E2;P D; and my own article, &#E2;P C;Free Bobby Fischer.&#E2;P D;
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&#E2;P C;Despite the ugliness of his decline, Bobby Fischer deserves to be remembered for the great things he did for chess and for his immortal games.&#C2;&#A0; I would prefer to focus on not letting his personal tragedy become a tragedy for chess. An entire generation of top American players learned the game as kids thanks to Mr. Fischer. Today's flourishing scholastic chess movement could be harmed as his woes and beliefs make headlines around the world. People may believe that this is what happens when a genius plays chess--instead of what happens when a fragile mind leaves his life's work behind.&#E2;P D; --Garry Kasparov, World Chess Champion, 1993-present.
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Russell Targ who was previously married to Bobby Fischer's late sister, but has not spoken to him in over ten-years, has stated publicly,&#C2;&#A0; "What Bobby's ac cused of is playing chess 12 years ago in Yugoslavia,&#C2;&#A0; It looks like it's a distraction from the war and the economy.&#C2;&#A0; Let's arrest Bobby Fischer.&#C2;&#A0; That will take people's minds off their troubles.&#C2;&#A0; Prosecuting Bobby right now is ridiculous.&#C2;&#A0; He's a political prisoner now.''
On President George Bush the First "He didn't know what to do about ethnic cleansing in Yugoslavia, now George the Second doesn't know what to do about 900 Americans in Iraq or the economy, but let's arrest Bobby.''
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&#E2;P C;If for some reason it is impossible,&#C2;&#A0; I would like to ask you the following: Please correct the mistake of President Fran&#C3;&#A7;ois Mitterand in 1992.&#C2;&#A0; Bobby and myself committed the same crime.&#C2;&#A0; Put sanctions against me also.&#C2;&#A0; Arrest me.&#C2;&#A0; And put me in the same cell with Bobby Fischer.&#C2;&#A0; And give us a chess set.&#E2;P D; --Boris Spassky, World Chess Champion 1969-1972.
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&#E2;P C;Patriotism? Your patriotism waves a flag with one hand and picks pockets with the other!&#E2;P D; --Ingred Bergman to Cary Grant (TSOG: The Thing That Ate The Constitution by Robert Anton Wilson)
FREE BOBBY FISCHER!
Bobby Fischer has now reached the venerable age of 61 and, even though you may disagree with him, even though he can be unpredictable, inconsiderate and brash, he is due respect and compassion. Bobby should be granted political asylum.
Fischer now languishes in a jail in Japan; the Olympic games are at this moment being played in Greece. The Olympic games, it is said, were founded by Zeus, ruler of the gods on Mount Olympus and thrower of thunderbolts. One point that has been long forgotten; the original Olympic games not only emphasized bodily strength and physical agility but also eloquence and sharpness of intellect. Artists, poets, musicians and playwrites wore the laurel wreath, and perhaps one might add chess players to the list of games representing a sharp intellect. Bobby has shot to stardom and scaled to the heights sitting next to the gods: Steinitz, Capablanca, Alekhine, Botvinnik, Tal, Petrosian, and Spassky. Fischer has been called the greatest player ever. Bobby should be considered in the spirit of good sportsmanship and fairness due him. Pardon Bobby!
Nipponese custom authorities have descended upon the King of Chess. Although many have commented on his reticence and an inordinately long reclusion, Fischer&#E2;Pcs endgame may be just beginning. FREE BOBBY FISCHER!
Robert J. (Bobby) Fischer represents one of the few cultural icons of the twentieth century. He must be immediately released and given political asylum in a friendly country. The ridiculous charges against him must be dismissed.
On July 15, 2004, Robert J. (Bobby) Fischer, World Chess Champion (1972-1975), was detained by Japanese officials, his U.S. passport, which had not expired, was confiscated, and he was put in the jail at Narita Airport in Tokyo Japan. He does not want to return to the United States and seeks political asylum. Pressure must be put on Japanese authorities who must gather the wisdom and courage to stand up to the United States of America.
Most probably the Japanese have started the process of handing Bobby over to the Americans. Obviously the authorities want Bobby to receive as little media coverage as possible hoping few people will pay attention to his situation, and eventually he will disappear ending up silenced and behind bars. All this must be turned around. It would be great to see more people discussing Bobby and playing chess (Fischerandom). Some country, perhaps Iceland or maybe Russia, should even come out with a stamp commemorating World Chess Champion, Robert J. Fischer.
Bobby is guilty of what?
Due to economic sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia, President George Bush, Sr. issued an executive order restricting Fischer from traveling to Yugoslovia. Ergo, Robert J. Fischer is guilty of playing a return chess match with his former opponent, Boris Spassky, in the country of Yugoslavia disobeying a directive not to travel in that country. This happened in 1992. (Incidentally, the grandmaster and former world champion, Boris Spassky, has taken up residence in France and, to my knowledge, the French have never restricted his freedom to travel.) In that return match Fischer won $3.65 million with five loses and ten wins.
Fischer has broken no law (See
http://www.ishipress.com/bobbybak.htm on Sam Sloan&#E2;Pcs website). Howard Goldowsky comments: &#E2;P C;If that match did break the law, then all of the officers of the United States Chess Federation need to go to jail because the USCF purchased more than $500,000 worth of chess books from Yugoslavia during that time period (after receiving an "opinion of counsel" that it was all right to do so).&#E2;P D;
Fischer has a passion for fairness. It is his outspokenness that has upset the sensibilities of the American government. Fischer may be a chess genius, but he has never been a spokesperson for the American capitalist system. Fischer has lived outside of America long enough to realize that the world hates America because of its aggressively expansive, neocolonial policies. The United States government looks everywhere but within itself and has an unwillingness to come to terms with the root causes of 9/11. Fischer has openly declared we deserve what we got on that date.
Sadly, Fischer has become anti-Semitic believing that &#E2;P C;dirty Jews&#E2;P D; are behind the world&#E2;Pcs inequities. After listening to a few of his live radio global commentaries, however, if you substitute &#E2;P C;corporate agenda&#E2;P D; or even &#E2;P C;fascist bastards,&#E2;P D; for &#E2;P C;dirty Jews&#E2;P D; then what Bobby says makes sense. It appears more people, all over the world, are coming to Fischer&#E2;Pcs conclusions. Nevertheless, Fischer&#E2;Pcs outspokenness remains an anathema, and the United States government wants him squelched.
Between 1999 and 2003 Fischer gave 21 live radio interviews, all from the Philippines except one from Hungary and one from Iceland. (They can all be found on Fischer&#E2;Pcs website.) One must conclude that, if something is not done soon, Bobby Fischer may join American&#E2;Pcs political prisoners, i.e., those who have spoken out against America&#E2;Pcs rapacious policies. Here follows a passage from Fischer&#E2;Pcs global commentaries from his website illustrating the point:
&#E2;P C;It's high time for all civilized countries all over the world to break diplomatic relations with the U.S.&#E2;P D;
&#E2;P C;The brutal, unprovoked U.S. led invasion and subsequent occupation of Iraq is nothing but naked aggression and all civilized countries all over the world should immediately and completely and permanently break all diplomatic relations with the U.S.A. to punish her! Furthermore, the horrifying, barbaric use of hundreds (or is it thousands?) of tons of deadly depleted uranium against Iraq by both the United States and England surely constitutes the biggest war crime since Hiroshima and Nagasaki if not in fact (with all due respect to the terrible sufferings of the noble Japanese people) the biggest war crime in the history of the world!!! U.S. President George W. Bush is a killer. He's a thug. He needs to be brought to trial. Anyway, what is a U.S. embassy really? It's just an (often huge) CIA base inside your own country daily and nightly undermining your own sovereignty... A country needs a U.S. embassy like it needs a hole in the head!&#E2;P D; --Robert J. Fischer
Bobby Fischer has a right to feel disgruntled. One of Fischer's attorneys, Andrew Davis, reflected on Fischer's early years, "Bobby never made any money. Everyone who dealt with him when he was fourteen, fifteen, used him. If there was any money to be made, they took it. They'd call him up and say, 'Come on out here, we'll pay your bills and we'll give you a couple of bucks on the side.' And when it was over, they'd stick him with a huge hotel bill. Here's a fifteen-year-old kid with an enormous bill, no money, all alone, crying." As Howard Goldowsky points out, &#E2;P C;yet, for all these years, Bobby Fischer lived in poverty. He lived for years in a neighborhood in Brooklyn where few white men dared to walk. (I [Howard Goldowsky] went by the place a few weeks ago, but I did so in the daytime, not at night.) He also lived for years in a 5x8 cubical in the YMCA on 34 Street in New York City.&#E2;P D;
Bobby became the World Chess Champion and then got ripped off by America. Bobby&#E2;Pcs personal belongings have been stolen and put up for auction. His books have been plagiarized. A movie, illegally using his name, In Search of Bobby Fischer, was made about a youngster, Josh Waitzkin, who has some chess instincts but is no world champion.
Indeed Fischer has been mistreated by Americans. His own account in the small pamphlet I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse! found on the web, (
http://www.daveporn.org/bobby.html) sounds not too different from the recent atrocities which occurred at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq and, as well, in America&#E2;Pcs own vast prison industry. For three days in May of 1981 Fischer was incarcerated on false bank robbing charges, made to walk around naked and not allowed telephone calls.
Bobby was born in Chicago. He grew up with his mother, Regina Wender Fischer, and his half-sister, Joan. Regina, who spoke eight languages, struggled, became a trained nurse, and eventually completed a medical degree. For years the Fischers were hounded by the FBI causing Regina to lose a series of jobs and live near poverty. The FBI finally concluded that they had no case.
(It is interesting that Bobby&#E2;Pcs half-sister, Joan Targ, and her daughter, Elizabeth Targ, have been involved with controversy. Joan was married to Russell Targ, the son of William Targ, publisher of SRI (Stanford Research Institute's investigation of claims into psychic abilities) which is dispised by CSICOP, the Committee for Scientific Investigation into the Paranornal. Their daughter, Elizabeth Targ, did signficant work in the area of distance healing.)
A German woman, Petra Dautov, corresponded with Bobby Fischer and a friendship ensued during her stay in Los Angeles. Then for a while he visited her in her hometown in Germany. She wrote a book, now out of print and difficult to find, Bobby Fischer, Wie er wirklich ist, Ein Jahr mit dem Schachgenie [Bobby Fischer, Who He Really is, One Year with the Chess Genius]. Judging from what little has been written about Petra&#E2;Pcs book, Bobby Fischer is a likeable person who shuns journalists.
Known as the greatest chess player ever, at the age of six he learned how to play chess. By the age of 15 he became the youngest chess Grandmaster. His first real break come in 1956 by winning the U.S. Junior Championship. Two years later he became U.S. champion. He has had many brilliant games. In that same year, 1958, against grandmaster Robert Byrne, Fischer played what has been dubbed &#E2;P C;The Game of the Century.&#E2;P D;
Being U.S. champion gave Fischer the right to play in the Interzonals. Fischer was up against a tight web of Russian players. Nobody suspected Fischer would even qualify. Fischer suspected Russians pre-arranged games that eliminated non-Russian players. In 1969 Fischer played in the Candidates Tournament paving the road to world championship. Fischer&#E2;Pcs astonishing string of wins, trouncing all opponents, have not been repeated since by top world players. Petrosian finally ended Fischer&#E2;Pcs unheard of score, but he easily qualified.
It was 1972. The Reykjavic World Champion Chess match did more than anything to popularize chess in America at the height of the cold war era. Before that time, Russia had dominated the chess world. Fischer now faced the World Champion, Boris Spassky, in Reykjavic, Iceland. Spassky, himself, was not totally appreciated by established Communist bureaucracy. Boris Spassky did not toe the ideological line: he spoke his mind, did not endorse the pro-communist American activist Angela Davis and he enjoyed literature especially Dostoyevsky novels which were disapproved by the Soviet state.
It seemed likely that Fischer would not appear in Reykjavic. Bobby had never defeated Spassky. The tournament was supposed to start on Sunday, but Fischer failed to show. Twice American reporters drove the shy Fischer away from Kennedy Airport. An English promoter came forward with a large prize fund. Fischer arrived at Reykjavik two days late. He made demands about the lighting and complained to the organizers. He failed to show up for the second game. Tension was in the air. At first Fischer was behind, but he quickly caught up and continued an unbeatable winning streak.
After Fischer defeated Spassky, Spassky kept on playing high level chess, remarried a French woman and moved to France. He has become an ambassador of chess. After the tournament Fischer lingered in Reykjavik for a while and returned to New York. When Mayor Lindsay offered Fischer the keys to the city, Bobby quipped, "I live here, what do I need a key for?" Bobby became a celebrity overnight and the first American world chess champion since Paul Morphy did it in the 1850s.
Fischer for a while took part in celebrity limelight, paled around with Bob Hope but, at the same time, turned down offers from the likes of Warner Brothers. He wanted to visit the White House but was snubbed; a Russian gymmast was invited instead.
Several years later, disputing over conditions, Fischer refused to defend his title; consequently, FIDE (the World Chess Federation) awarded the title to Karpov by default.
He gave most of his earnings to a California cult and then broke with them. He began to vanish from public view becoming virtually a total recluse. He began studying tracts such as the Protocols of the Elders of Zion, an alleged plan for Jewish world dominance.
In 1992 Fischer came out of hiding and challenged Spassky to a return match. The U.S. Department of State forbade Fischer from playing in Yugoslavia. The match took place anyway. He has been a fugitive on the run ever since living in Budapest and Japan.
Fischer, who claims to have given up the old chess, has done a lot to make chess more interesting. He has patented the "Fischer chess clock," eliminating time-pressure scrambles which can cause psychological rattling. Players will never again be desperately short of time. Fischer's chess clock has been adopted at international events. Bobby also has developed 'Fischerandom Chess&#E2;Pc which sidesteps the arduous task of memorizing volumes of lines of opening play and making chess more of a game of skill than one of rote. It may take a while but Fischerandom Chess (F.R. Chess) is catching on.
Chess cannot be called an American sport. Concerning the popular American sport, football, the novelist Irwin Shaw has commented, &#E2;P C;If the players were armed with guns, there wouldn&#E2;Pct be stadiums large enough to hold the crowds.&#E2;P D; Though chess can be considered a combative game of thought played over a board, it is non-violent. The only thing that ever gets battered around is one&#E2;Pcs ego. It is devoid of physical violence. My guess, the spatial intricacies required for chess overwhelm the attention span of most Americans.
Fischer never had a formal education. Arthur Koestler coined the word "mimophant" to describe Bobby Fisher's character, a cross between a sensitive mimosa plant and a stomping elephant. Although at times he can be a gentleman, he also can be unappreciative. His games, however, are never showy but always jewels of precision and harmony.
Look anywhere and American culture is on the decline, and so is chess. The game of chess cannot be separated from culture. The artist who gave us readymades, Marcel Duchamp, has noted that "while all artists are not chess players, all chess players are artists." The old Russian Grandmaster and World Champion, Mikhail Botvinnik, once opined, &#E2;P C;Chess is a part of culture and if a culture is declining then chess too will decline.&#E2;P D; The top New York Times music critic, Harold Schonberg, has written, "If chess were as popular as music, if as many people responded to its subtleties and nuances, the masterpieces of Steinitz, Capablanca, Alekhine, Batvinnik, and Fischer would not be held far below the masterpieces of Bach, Mozart, Beethoven, and Brahms."
Back in 1992, after Bobby&#E2;Pcs return match with Boris Spassky, Murray N. Rothbard wrote an article, &#E2;P C;Bobby Fischer: The Lynching of the Returning American Hero,&#E2;P D; making a good case then to pardon Bobby Fischer. Mr. Rothbard noted, instead of welcoming a returning chess player after not having played in public for seventeen years, how the media, especially the New York Times and the Washington Post went out of their way to denigrate Bobby. Back then Mr. Rothbard wondered how far we have gone &#E2;P C;to forge the chains of totalitariansim in our society?&#E2;P D; It is time we pardon Fischer now. It has been over twelve years since economic sanctions had been imposed on Yugoslavia.
Let us not completely lose our culture and our humanity. Bobby Fischer&#E2;Pcs games have given pleasure to countless thousands of chess players worldwide. Let us give life to Bobby Fischer the person. Free Bobby Fischer!
&#C2;&#A9; 2004 by John van der Does
PO Box 726
Chester, VT 05143
802-875-4380
mln00p@aol.com
