From: hwr@intercal.com (Hanon W. Russell)
Subject: Review: 28 September issue of "Inside Chess"
Organization: Chessnews list (chessnews-request@tssi.com)
Date: Tue, 29 Sep 1992 22:19:04 GMT


                           INSIDE CHESS
                        September 28, 1992
                        Volume 5, Issue 19

The latest issue of GM and Editor Yasser Seirawan's "Inside 
Chess" is one of the more remarkable in recent times. It is the 
best of issues, it is the most mystifying of issues. This is the 
issue where the first six games of the second Fischer-Spassky 
match are presented. Yasser, when it became certain that the 
match would indeed take place, went to Yugoslavia to cover the 
match. From a chess point of view, his first hand account is 
terrific.

Ironically, the games are given in a format reminiscent of 
Yugoslav Grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric's famous "Game of the 
Month" which appeared for years in "Chess Review" and then 
"Chess Life." Gligoric is an arbiter in this match. The 
annotations are very deep and are amply supplemented by the full 
game scores of games which have had an impact on the opening 
development or are otherwise related to the game in chief. 
Yasser nicely completes the picture by weaving his personal 
experiences in first getting to and then attending the match.

Seirawan's hero worship of Fischer is evident throughout. The 
following comments, while taken out of context, accurately 
reflect the adoring tone:

    [Upon seeing Fischer for the first time]: " I stare at Bobby 
    until I burn his image into my memory banks."

    [The introduction to Game 5]: "I felt that today's game 
    would be a crucial test for Bobby. In Game One the World 
    Champion had shown his mettle..."

    [After Fischer's loss in Game 5]: "This game came as a blow. 
    I've traveled thousands of miles over four days to report on 
    the Return of Robert James Fischer and now the combebacks of 
    Mark Spitz and Bjorn Borg are starting to echo in my mind. 
    Dinner was probably good but I couldn't enjoy it. Funny how 
    defeat can flavor food."

This, of course, as the reader will readily point out, is not 
necessarily bad. A journalist who constantly writes without any 
involvement typically does not produce a great deal of good 
journalism. The mystifying aspect of this entire account is the 
virtual absence of any perspective.

Although the full text of both press conferences (September 1 
and September 7) is given, and we can read therein some of 
Fischer's racist and personal vitriol as well as an occasional 
reference to the carnage taking place, Seirawan himself seems 
more comfortable avoiding the entire matter. In only one 
paragraph, as he is on his way to the match, does Seirawan share 
a small pang of conscious. Even then, he only touches upon one 
aspect of this moral dilemma:

    On the plane later I wondered what I would find in 
    Yugoslavia, a country which I love and where I have many 
    friends. There is the moral question of a match for millions 
    in a country wracked by civil war and under UN sanctions. I 
    start to think of myself as a war correspondent, but my war 
    is on the chess board.

And that is that. Does this match really take place in a vacuum? 
And who are we to judge, anyway? And should these events be 
discussed in a chess publication? Well, in prior editorials, 
Seirawan has not hesitated to question motives or conduct 
before, whether it concerned the U.S. Chess Federation, the 
world champion, or anyone else. Of course, it can be rightly 
pointed out that those were purely chess matters, arguably much 
less significant in terms of their relationship to the human 
experience. This is not either to condone or disagree with his 
prior opinions. It is simply to point out that perhaps there are 
times when a journalist is duty bound to address all aspects of 
a situation, no matter how unpleasant.

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INSIDE CHESS, PO Box 19457, Seattle, WA 98109
    Editor: GM Yasser Seirawan
    Managing Editor: Michael Franett
    Associate Editor: IM John Donaldson
    Frequency of publication: Bi-weekly, 26 times/year
    Page size: 8.5"x11"
Regular departments:
    Editorial
    Letters
    Inside News
    Tactics by IM Nikolay Minev
Subscription information (U.S. subscriptions):
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This review reflects the opinion of and is proprietary to Hanon 
W. Russell. Copyright 1992 Hanon W. Russell, All Rights Reserved