The San Francisco Examiner San Francisco, California Saturday, October 03, 1981 - Page 4
Bobby Fischer Is Really Out Of It
South Pasadena, Los Angeles County (AP) — Former chess prodigy and world champion Bobby Fischer apparently still lives in seclusion in South Pasadena and has nothing to do with chess, says a chess expert who has kept in touch with him over the years.
Fischer, 38, who took the chess world by storm at age 13, last played championship chess in 1972 in Reykjavik, Iceland, unseating Boris Spassky as champion. He refused to defend his championship in 1975 after the International Chess Federation refused to modify its rules to meet his demands, and retired.
“Last I heard he was somewhere in South Pasadena … a couple of months ago,” said chess expert Isaac Kashdan, who writes a chess column for the Los Angeles Times. “There's just no way you can get in touch with him.”
“He's not playing chess any more. He's not involved in chess in any way.”
It wasn't immediately known what the former chess champion was doing for a living.
Fischer has lived in the Pasadena area for many years since his involvement with the Worldwide Church of God, but Kashdan said Fischer isn't involved with the church anymore.
Last August, Fischer reportedly told a magazine editor in Iceland that he wanted to play again. Johann Thorir, editor of Chess magazine, said the match would be played in Iceland against an unidentified Icelandic contender.
No date was set for the match, and Kashdan said he doesn't believe Fischer will play it. Fischer, who was unavailable for comment yesterday, could not be reached last August for comment on the report, either.
In 1977, Fischer was charged with battery and trespassing following a dispute with a magazine writer at her South Pasadena apartment. Fischer had wanted writer Holly Ruiz to sign a statement to the effect that she had not told Fischer his comments about the church would be published. The charges were later dismissed following an out of court settlement.
As a former cult member, I don't believe Holly Ruiz reported the whole truth about Fischer. In short, everybody involved was lying. By 1977, Bobby got pulled in the midst of a tug of war between the cult's administration and dissidents, and used as the rope. (I can give examples where dissidents have exaggerated and published deliberately misleading information regarding the cult's doctrines and the people), and Rader & company were just yanking Fischer's chain and manipulating him: WCG official and quoted to us by an inside source confirms that: “We can't touch them … but we'll get them through Fischer!”
Chess Champion Becomes Pawn (https://hwarmstrong.com/ar/Pawn.html) All of which was responsible for driving Bobby Fischer, further into seclusion from society.