Wednesday, April 24, 2024

“Love, which, when one is loved, does not allow that it be refused”

In the Serbian magazine Borba of September 19, 2023, Dobrica Jovičić published a biographical article on 11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer, titled “Сјај и беда генија” (“The glory and misery of genius”), which, if on the one hand says little or nothing new about him, yet on the other hand it features some little known pictorial material covering his journeys to his most beloved Yugoslavia:

Fischer in Yugoslavia in July 1958 with Belgrade TV journalist Miodrag Ilić. Photo: Borba Archive.

Fischer in Belgrade in 1968. Photo: Borba Archive.

Fischer in Yugoslavia, undated. Photo: Borba Archive.

Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, 1992: The World Chess Championship. The Chess Champion Bobby Fischer vs. the Challenger Boris Vasilievich Spassky. The Revenge Match of the Twentieth Century. The U.S. Department of the Treasury issued a cease and desist order to enjoin Fischer from any further violation of President George H. W. Bush’s Executive Order 12810 imposing sanctions on the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro). In response, during the inaugural press conference on September 1, 1992, in front of the world’s press, Fischer spat on the U.S. order, saying “This is my reply to the order not to defend my title here”. United States issued a warrant for Fischer’s arrest, and he will never return to his home country. Photo: Borba Archive.

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