Saturday, March 14, 2015

When I was eleven, I just got good

Zürich, February 18, 2015. Ljubomir Ljubojević answered questions from Evgeny Anatolyevich Surov (Chess-News.ru).

Evgeny Anatolyevich Surov: You knew Fischer, didn’t you?
Ljubomir Ljubojević: Yes, I did.
Surov: Could you please tell us more about it? How close was your friendship?
Ljubojević: It wasn’t too close – we’ve met only a few times, but he left a fantastic impression on me. He lived a very modest life, and he loved those who were sincere to him. Throughout his life, he was playing chess, he fought his opponents to the end, but he would be friendly to them after the games. He was in sympathy with other chess players and the whole chess world; he would never say: “I’m the only one!”. That’s why he agreed to play the return match vs Spassky. Well, he was in dire straits that time and he needed money badly – that’s also true. At the same time, he had a psychological issue: he was afraid of himself, didn’t trust himself, didn’t believe in his own creativity. He always demanded privileges for himself exactly for this reason. That’s why so many people think he was whimsical, but this is not true... Of course, he enjoyed good meals and good wine, he was fond of women and had many female friends, but his biggest love was chess.
Surov: You say that he was in sympathy with the other players, but he was lonely, wasn’t he? He was nearly a hermit. Maybe I’m wrong?
Ljubojević: There is an Argentinian grandmaster, Miguel Quinteros. When Fischer was playing the return match vs. Spassky in Belgrade, Quinteros was also present in Belgrade as a friend of Fischer. He stayed in Belgrade with his girlfriend for more than 2 months, and Fischer paid all his expenses – the hotel, food, and so on. The overall sum was $327000! Quinteros wasn’t his second or like that, but Fischer just paid for his stay. I don’t know of any other world chess champion who would do anything like this. In fact, I don’t know anyone who would say: “He’s my good friend, I will pay $327000 for his hotel”, and the friend would stay in a hotel for three months, drinking wine and having a lot of fun. This says something about Fischer, doesn’t it?
Surov: It’s a very interesting story. It does say something, of course.
Ljubojević: And that’s what I’m talking about. I know this story for sure. Let me tell what has happened in Reykjavík. Fischer lost the second game of the match by default, he broke the TV cameras in the playing hall and demanded that the TV crew had to leave, or he would stop playing. The broadcast rights belonged to producer Chester Fox; when Fischer won the match after all, Fox claimed the damage and won the case. That meant Fischer had to pay $2000000. It was a big trial, Fischer had his own lawyers, but Chester Fox had better lawyers, and he won it. So, Fischer had to pay those two millions, while his prize was $128000 only, which meant he just went bankrupt. After that, he entered that sect. It provided him the room and food, and he began to live in Los Angeles as a sect member. The sect was pro-nationalistic, while Fischer himself was a Jew. Fox was also a Jew, but he won the case. After Fischer lost the trial, he started to think everyone was against him.
Surov: Did his mania develop exactly after this story?
Ljubojević: Yes, it did. It was nearly paranoia. “How come?!”, he repeated. He was just getting $5 a week from some sect, he had nothing else. The great Fischer became a beggar! Nevertheless, he remained very hospitable to any chess player who would visit him in Los Angeles. I remember Gligorić came to him, and Fischer went to a shop, bought some musical record for $4 and gave it to his guest as a present. That’s what Fischer was like!
Surov: Generous.
Ljubojević: Yes. Five dollars a week! – and the would spend all the money for the others anyway. He lived a very modest life, he didn’t smoke... Then, in 1992, he got invited to Yugoslavia by the banker Jezdimir Vasiljević to play the match against Spassky. It’s clear that he was short of money and needed it badly. But Yugoslavia was under sanctions because of the civil war, and the USA officials sent him a letter, forbidding him to go there and play. And then, he just spit on the document and went to Yugoslavia, and that made him persona non grata in the United States. He couldn’t return home, since he got huge prize money, over $3000000, and they wanted to exact enormous taxes from him. He became the enemy of his country. It’s very sad... Of course, he developed paranoia as a result. This is understandable.
Surov: Can we call Bobby Fischer a tragic figure?
Ljubojević: I think so – a very tragic figure. And he did so many great things for the chess world! Fischer has done a great service for the prosperity of chess in the West. Had he not defeated Spassky, the title would have stayed in the USSR, and maybe chess would have never be fine in the West at all.
Ljubomir Ljubojević in 1972.
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