AThe Times Shreveport, Louisiana Monday, August 30, 1965 - Page 17
U.S. Chess Champ Fires His Referee
NEW YORK (UPI) — U. S. Chess champion Bobby Fisher fired his referee Sunday an hour before he resumed his long-distance play in the Capablanca Memorial Chess tournament in Havana, Cuba.
The referee, Frank Brady, 31, said he received a long-distance call shortly before 2 p.m. from Fischer's attorney in Massachusetts who said that the young chess master didn't want him around. I talked to Bobby later and he said he felt it would disturb his concentration if I was in the same room with him,” Brady said. “The problem is with the book I wrote about him. He didn't like it.”
Fischer, 22, began play at 3 p.m. via cable to Havana with Romania's Victor Ciocâltea in the third game of the 22-game tournament. He is competing by cable because the State Department refused his permission to go to Cuba.
Brady said the “boy wonder” had read his book, “Profile of a Prodigy,” in galley form and “He didn't like it then. In fact, I was surprised when he called me last Thursday to ask me to be the referee.”
A variety of referees sat in on the first week of play and Brady was on hand only Thursday night when Fischer defeated Russia's former world champion, Vassily Smyslov, who conceded after 43 moves.
Brady said, “My book came out last week and I think Bobby re-read it and decided to fire me because he doesn't like people tampering with his private life.”
