Bobby Fischer on Ken Rogoff
In our previous article Ken
Rogoff: economist and chess player we told you how Rogoff, at sixteen,
was the youngest player ever to win the United States Junior, an event in
which the eight highest rated players under twenty years of age competed.
Among the interested spectators and analysts was Grandmaster Robert Fischer,
who felt that Rogoff had great future potential. Fischer wrote the following
article for a popular youth magazine.

The October 1969 issue of Boys' Life ("For
all boys") cost 40 cents

Pages 8 + 10 contained an article by Bobby
Fischer on the US Junior Championship 1969 [Click
to enlarge]

By Bobby Fischer
The other day I dropped over to the U.S. Junior Championship at the McAlpin
Hotel in New York City and saw some very talented young players in action,
struggling for the title. It brought back memories of years ago when I used
to be in those events. The player that impressed me most was 16-year-old
Ken Rogoff from Rochester, N.Y. What I liked best about Ken – who
won the championship – was his self-assured style and his knowing
exactly what he wanted over the chessboard. I'm told he's only been playing
chess two or three years and it should encourage each of you young fellows
who read this column to know that by applying yourself, as Ken did, you
can become a fine player in a relatively short time, too.
Incidentally, it might also be interesting to note that Ken drew a game
with Bent Larsen in the summer of '68 when Larsen was playing in the U.S.
Open championship. Larsen is considered one of the very best players in
the world today.
In this game that I'm going to briefly outline, Ken clinched the first
prize in the last round of the Junior Championship tournament. Ken plays
white against 19-year-old Steve Spencer from Berkley, Calif.
1.e4 | 1,184,215 | 54% | 2421 | --- |
1.d4 | 958,932 | 55% | 2434 | --- |
1.Nf3 | 286,327 | 56% | 2441 | --- |
1.c4 | 184,722 | 56% | 2443 | --- |
1.g3 | 19,884 | 56% | 2427 | --- |
1.b3 | 14,598 | 54% | 2428 | --- |
1.f4 | 5,953 | 48% | 2377 | --- |
1.Nc3 | 3,906 | 50% | 2384 | --- |
1.b4 | 1,790 | 48% | 2378 | --- |
1.a3 | 1,250 | 54% | 2406 | --- |
1.e3 | 1,081 | 49% | 2409 | --- |
1.d3 | 969 | 50% | 2378 | --- |
1.g4 | 670 | 46% | 2361 | --- |
1.h4 | 466 | 54% | 2382 | --- |
1.c3 | 439 | 51% | 2425 | --- |
1.h3 | 289 | 56% | 2420 | --- |
1.a4 | 118 | 60% | 2461 | --- |
1.f3 | 100 | 47% | 2427 | --- |
1.Nh3 | 92 | 67% | 2511 | --- |
1.Na3 | 47 | 62% | 2476 | --- |
Please, wait...
1.e4 g6 2.d4 Bg7 3.Nc3 c6 4.Nf3 4.Bc4 e6 4...b5 4...d5 5.exd5 b5 6.Bb3 b4 7.dxc6‼ bxc3 8.Qf3 4...d6 5.e5 d5 6.exd6 Qxd6 7.Ne4! Qb4+ 7...Qxd4 8.Nd6+ Kd7 8...Ke7 9.Nxc8+ Kd7 10.Qxd4+ Bxd4 11.Nf3 Bf6 12.Bf4 Kxc8 13.Ne5 Nh6 14.Nxf7 Nxf7 15.Bxe6+ 9.Qxd4 Bxd4 10.Nxf7 8.c3 Qxc4 9.Nd6+ 4.f4 d5 5.e5 4...d5 5.h3! dxe4 6.Nxe4 Nd7 7.Bc4 Ngf6 8.Nxf6+ Nxf6 9.0-0 0-0 10.c3 Qc7 11.Qe2 b6 12.Bg5 b5 12...Bb7 13.Bb3 a5 14.a3 Ba6 15.Rfe1 e6 16.Qe5 16.Qe3 16.Qd2 16...Qxe5? 16...Nd5 17.Qe4 17.Nxe5 Rfc8 17...Rac8 18.Bxf6 Bxf6 19.Nd7! 18.Nxf7! Kxf7 19.Rxe6! Ne8 19...Nd5 20.Rxc6 Rxc6 21.Bxd5+ Re6 22.Bxa8 20.Rf6+ 20.Rf6+ Ke7 21.Rf7+ Kd6 22.Bf4+ Be5 23.Bxe5# 20.Ree1+ Kf8 21.Be7# 1–0 - Start an analysis engine:
- Try maximizing the board:
- Use the four cursor keys to replay the game. Make moves to analyse yourself.
- Press Ctrl-B to rotate the board.
- Drag the split bars between window panes.
- Download&Clip PGN/GIF/FEN/QR Codes. Share the game.
- Games viewed here will automatically be stored in your cloud clipboard (if you are logged in). Use the cloud clipboard also in ChessBase.
- Create an account to access the games cloud.
Rogoff,K | - | Spencer,S | - | 1–0 | 1969 | B15 | U.S Junior Championship | |
Please, wait...
Now for some tips that I think will be useful to you.
-
Don't "turn off" your mind when it's your opponent's turn
to move. Use this time to think ahead to your next possible move. And
when he does move, always ask yourself, "Why did he make this particular
move?" before you do anything else.
-
Try to control an open file with your rooks, especially when there
is only one open file.
-
Don't give up in the middle of the game if you don't think you're
doing well – or even if you're in big trouble. There's always
the chance that you'll have a flash of brilliance or that your opponent
might slip up. Chess is a kaleidoscope – it's ever changing –
and opportunities suddenly appear.
-
Don't be discouraged if you are black and think that you're automatically
going to lose. With black you have the advantage of not having to show
your hand first, and you can play a defense of your own choosing –
preferably one you're familiar with.
-
When you have free time, study the game of chess. A good book to look
at is Larry Evans's Beginner to Expert (Lee Publications, about five
dollars). In it, Evans showsyou the basic moves. He explains the various
forces that decide chess games, and shows how to win in the end games.
He provides a lot of one-and two-move checkmate puzzles to sharpen your
finishing-off techniques. One particularly interesting part of the book
is when he replays one of his games and explains what was going on in
his head at each move. He also provides an interesting glossary of chess
terms.
You
can read the full October 1969 issue of Boys' Life at Google Books.
It contains lovely adverts like this:

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Kenneth Rogoff is a professor public policy and economics
at Harvard University and a chess grandmaster. He recently wrote a
favourable
review on the new Fischer movie "Pawn Sacrifice". More
on Rogoff’s research, opinion pieces, and bio can be found here.
He is currently working on an interesting subject: phasing out
paper currency, which he began writing about 20 years ago.
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