Chess - The Scotsman 06/03/2012

INTERNATIONALLY acclaimed photojournalist Harry Benson’s work ranges from photographs of world leaders to pop stars, all portrayed with an immediacy and naturalness that speaks of a confidence between sitter and photographer. And the Glasgow-born photographer was the only one Bobby Fischer ever trusted.

Fischer was an instant pop culture sensation due to his Cold War matchup with the Soviet defending world champion Boris Spassky. Fischer be a recluse and difficult to work with, Benson was the only person to get private access to the American during the 1972 World Chess Championship match in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Benson followed Fischer throughout the defining period of his life: his pre-match training and conditioning in New York; during the many weeks in Reykjavik as he faced Spassky; and during Fischer’s historic victory. Some of those photographs appeared in Life magazine but hundreds were never seen in public until Benson published them in a book, Bobby Fischer.

Those rare Benson images are set to feature this week in a new exhibit at the World Chess Hall of Fame in St Louis, USA: “Bobby Fischer: Icon Among Icons”, that opens on Friday, 9 March – on the day what would have been the former world champion’s 69th birthday – and will run through to 12 August.

You can also view some of Benson’s Fischer photographs from the exhibit at http://bit.ly/zrb2RK.

P Harikrishna - K Berg

28th Cappelle Open, (1)

Caro-Kann Defence

1 e4 c6 2 Nc3 d5 3 Qe2 Nf6 4 e5 Ng8 5 d4 Bf5 6 g4 Bd7 7 Be3 h5 8 gxh5 Nh6 9 0–0–0 Bg4 10 f3 Bf5 11 Qf2 e6 12 Nge2 Nd7 13 Rg1 Qa5 14 Ng3 Bh7 15 Kb1 Rc8 16 Bxh6 gxh6 17 Bd3 c5 18 Nxd5! Bxd3 19 cxd3 exd5 20 Nf5 Rc6 21 Qh4 Qd8 22 Qf4 Qc7 23 Rde1 Kd8 24 Ne3 cxd4 25 Nxd5 Qa5 26 Qxf7 Ra6 27 Nf6 Be7 28 Nxd7 Kxd7 29 Re4 Qb4 30 Rc1 Rc6 31 Rxc6 bxc6 32 Qg7 Qd2 33 Rxd4+ Ke6 34 Qg6+ Kxe5 35 Re4+ Kd5 36 Qe6+ 1–0