Thanks Dennis. Not only did I enjoy seeing the Fischer photo's I was stationed in the Phillipines from 1968-1970 so that also brought back a lot of memories. The Phillipino Club players in Angelese City (near Clark Airbase) were very strong. They held a blind fold simul with one of their International Masters and I was on one of six boards, he won at least five and maybe gave a draw. It was also around this time they got their first Phillipino GM (I think it was Tan Cardoso) so chess was very popular there at the time.
Nice, and thanks for the story. One historical note though: Cardoso never made GM, and the first Filipino to achieve the the title was Eugenio Torre. In fact, he was the first Asian player to achieve the title - or at least that's what's usually claimed. Is it true, though? It's possible but would be surprising if in the history of the USSR no one east of the Urals became a GM before 1974.
You're right Dennis the GM title as we now know it did exist in 1970 and Torre may have been the person I was trying to remember. Some quick research found Cardoso only obtained IM title but was their top player during that era. He had played Fisher in a match back in 1957 and he played in the 1958 Interzonals. So my memory of events of nearly 40 years ago was a bit faulty :^)
It looks like they were both awarded the title in 1976. Maybe Torre earned it first though, as he's invariably referred to as the first Asian GM (at least in my reading over the years).
6.17.2009 10:56am
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Nice, and thanks for the story. One historical note though: Cardoso never made GM, and the first Filipino to achieve the the title was Eugenio Torre. In fact, he was the first Asian player to achieve the title - or at least that's what's usually claimed. Is it true, though? It's possible but would be surprising if in the history of the USSR no one east of the Urals became a GM before 1974.
It looks like they were both awarded the title in 1976. Maybe Torre earned it first though, as he's invariably referred to as the first Asian GM (at least in my reading over the years).