Chess Champ May Lose His Prize Share
New York, Aug. 18 (UPI)—Officials of the American Chess Foundation said today they may withhold a share of $4,000 in prize money from 18-year-old chess master Bobby Fischer because he failed to finish his 16-game match with former U.S. champion Samuel Reshevsky.
The Fischer-Reshevsky match for the George P. Edgar trophy was declared forfeited to Reshevsky last night, when Fischer failed to show up for the scheduled game.
It was the third game that the former child prodigy, who now is U.S. chess champion, had boycotted since a dispute arose over scheduling in Los Angeles last week.
Morris J. Kasper, treasurer of the American Chess Foundation, said both chess champions already had received $1,000 plus $500 in expenses. Under the original agreement they were to share an additional purse from admissions receipts.
But Kasper said officials of the foundation “want to consider” whether Fischer lost his claim on his share by not completing the match. Kasper said a meeting on the question probably would be held next week.
The match was tied at 5½-5½ when play ended.
CORRECTION: The schedule was changed twice.
- Changed from Saturday night to Sunday at 1:30 P.M. to which Bobby Fischer consented.
- Changed from 1:30 P.M. Sunday to 11 A.M. Sunday, by Referee Irving Rivise, to accommodate his own trip to San Francisco for the U.S. Open which opened the following day, Monday.
Young Fischer protested that the schedule should be returned to the originally scheduled time of 1:30 P.M. This clarification is documented in the August 14, 1961 Los Angeles Times “Chess Champ Forfeits By Failing to Appear”
