The year was 1962. My father, a former Quebec Chess Champion, was very active in the Canadian Chess Federation. The CCF was bringing 18 year old Grandmaster Chess Player Bobby Fischer to Montreal for a Demonstration Tournament. Bobby Fischer would stay at our house, of course, just as many other Grandmasters had, before and after.
It quickly became apparent that Bobby Fischer came with only T-shirts and torn jeans. That wouldn’t do, so my father whisked him off to Canadian Outfitting Company Ltd on St. Lawrence Blvd., where he bought Bobby Fischer more appropriate tournament clothing – a suit, a dress shirt and a tie. See picture below (Bobby is standing, playing Moishe Cohen. My father is the one in the hat observing the game.)
Knowing that Bobby Fischer was Jewish, my mother asked him if he had been Bar Mitzvahed. His reaction was swift and furious; no, he had not. End of topic.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer
Fascinating post! I think only his mother was Jewish (so he was eligible to make Anti-Semitic statements in his later years ?)
ReplyDelete