APittsburgh Sun-Telegraph Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Saturday, September 07, 1957
Prodigy Plays Like Master
Robert Fischer, 14-year-old prodigy who has dominated American chess in recent months by winning several tournaments, has done it again.
He captured top position in the New Jersey State Open, scoring 6½-½.
We do not believe his record ever has been duplicated. This incredible performance will win for him no less than a masters' rating.
It is all the more challenging for the tourneys he has won in rapid succession were of the Swiss System type equal scores are matched for each round. Under this method, the winner has, with the exception of the first two games, only the toughest opposition to play.
Swiss System tourneys cannot be won by a series of draws. It is necessary to take and hold the initiative from the start. In round-robin play, draws and wins are scored equally against strong or casual opposition.
The attrition among the leaders in the Swiss keeps them under high tension as they eliminate each other without the chance to relax in an easy game.
Fischer has no compunction against putting his reputation on the line—to offer himself as a target in tourney after tourney. He has the capacity, the will and the energy to win.
