The Philadelphia Inquirer Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Sunday, April 06, 1980 - Page 93
Bobby Fischer at 16: Budding 'Old Master' Shows His Talent.
By Leroy Dubeck and J.A. Livingston
Robert James Fischer is still comparatively young — only 37. So perhaps he ought not to be referred to any longer as Bobby. As a matter of fact, he has been out of chess competition for so long — he stopped playing actively after winning the world championship from Boris Spassky in 1972 — that he can properly be called an “old master” along with such greats as Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine, and Botwinnik, who continues active as a trainer of young players in the Soviet Union.
Fischer's mastery, even as a youngster only 16, is illustrated in a game against Svetozar Gligoric. Fischer had the white pieces in a Sicilian Defense, and daringly introduced an innovation in the opening, and went on to develop a kingside attack against Yugoslavia's outstanding chess player.
With a sacrifice of the exchange and then a P, he tore away the protective shield of black's K. Gligoric castled into the kingside attack, perhaps thinking that the younger player would press too hard and get overextended. But even as a youngster, over the chessboard, Fischer was an “old master.”