Bobby Fischer was 14 when he became the youngest U.S. Chess Champion in 1957. He began playing at age 6, when his older sister Joan bought him his first chess set. His legendary success against the Russian chess empire in the following two decades inspired interest in the game among America’s youth. Chess matches between the U.S. and Russia became proxy battles – in the minds of the public, not the players – during the Cold War. Read Who Cares? about the struggle for dignity at Woodruff Home for the Aged, “a lively place where old people go to die.” Learn more about the book and its characters, aged 9-90, in NOVELS.
Bobby Fischer’s chess matches against the Russians were proxy battles in the Cold War
Woodruff Home for the Aged, a lively place where old people go to die
