Searching for Bobby Fischer This film will be screened at International Center, Goa Dona Paula on Nov 3rd 2007 at 6.30 pm for details contact PROGRAMME MANAGER Arjun Halarnkar Ph: 24 52 805 to 24 52 810 E-mail: [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Time 2.30 hours). Searching for Bobby Fischer (Josh Waitzkin) Trivia by Bill Wall Searching for Bobby Fischer really begins in 1972 when Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky in the World Chess Championship Match in Reyjavik, Iceland, then disappeared from chess. Many people got interested in chess and picked up the game, even became grandmasters, because of Fischer popularizing the game. PBS (WNET) covered the match, which starred Grandmaster Edmar Mednis, National Master Shelby Lyman, and National Master Bruce Pandolfini, manager of the Manhattan Chess Club (which no longer exists). Fischer now lives in Iceland. Joshua (Josh) Waitzkin (pronoucned WAYT-zkin) was born on December 4, 1976. Josh learned how to play chess from his father, Fred Waitzkin (born in 1943), at age 6 in early 1983. He later started playing at the Marshall Chess Club on 10th Street. He later discovered chess players in Washington Square (a few blocks above Greenwich Village) in March of 1983. Washington Square had its chess husters such as Vincent (Vinnie) Livermore and Israel (the Sheriff) Zilber, an International Master rated over 2400. Zilber once defeated Tal in the 1952 Latvian Championship. For a time, Grandmaster Roman Dzindzichashvili played chess at Washington Square. In the Spring of 1984, Josh was playing at the National Elementary Chess Championship in Syracuse, New York. He lost in the 7th round. The event was won by Evan Turtel. The primary championship went to Oliver Tai. In 1984, Josh played in the New York City Primary Championship at the Manhattan chess club. He won that event. In 1984 Josh began taking lessons from Bruce Pandolfini ($60/hour). The 1984 Greater New York Open was held at the Bar Point game room. The tournament included Joel Benjamin, Dmitry Gurevich, and Asa Hoffmann. During the summer of 1984, Josh traveled with his father and Bruce Pandolfini to Moscow for the Karpov-Kasparov match. The 1985 National Primary Championship was held in Charlotte, North Carolina. Josh was the number-one seeded player. In the final round (round 7) he lost to David Arnett. Arnett and Matt Goldman tied for 1st-2nd, with 6.5 out of 7 points. Arnett and Waitzkin went to Dalton. Dalton captured its first national team title at Charlotte,
In 1985, Fred Waitzkin wrote, "Fathering a Chess Prodigy," for the New York Times. In the fall of 1985 Josh was transferred to Dalton Primary School in New York. Dalton has won 23 National championships, more than any other school in the country. The Dalton School Chess Academy were National Elementary Chess Champions from 1987 through 1990, 1992, and 1993. They were the Primary Team Champions from 1985 through 1991. They were the National Junior High School Tournament Champions from 1988 through 1990, 1993, and 1994. They were the National High School Tournament Champions in 1995. Their chess instructor was Svetozar Jovanovic. In September, 1985, Josh first played and was defeated by Jeff Sarwer at the Manhattan Chess Club. In November, Josh returned to the Manhattan Chess Club and beat Jeff in a rematch. In 1985 Josh was seeded first in the 1985 New York City Primary Championship, held at the Manhattan Chess Club. Morgan Pehme won on tie-breaks over Josh, each scoring 5-1. Josh Waitzkin and Jeff Sarwer tied for 1st place in the National Primary Championship in May 1986, held in Charlotte at the Quality Inn. Josh took 1st place on tie-breaks. There were complaints about Sarwer participating because he did not attend school. Alex Chang won the Elementary championship. Jeff Sarwer went on to win the 1986 World Championship Under-10. Bobby Seltzer won the National Elementary championship, followed by Josh Waitzkin, who took 2nd place. Dalton won the national team championship. Josh won the National Junior High Championship in 1988 while in the 5th grade. In 1988 Fred Waitzkin wrote "Searching for Bobby Fischer." Josh won the National Elementary Championship in 1989. In 1990, at the age of 13, he earned the title of National Master. His highest rating in 1990 was 2229. In 1990 he won the Junior High Championship for the second time. In 1991 he won the Senior High Championship. His highest rating in 1991 was 2301. In 1991 he won the Cadet Championship (under-16). In 1992 his rating was 2424. On April 4, 1992 auditions began for the movie, Searching for Bobby Fischer. In 1993, at the age of 16, he became an International Master, with a rating of 2447. In 1993 he was the U.S. Junior Co-Champion. In 1994 he won the Under-21 U.S. Junior Championaship and placed 4th in the Under-18 World Championship. His rating was 2492. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Tired of spam? Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around http://mail.yahoo.com
