Aug. 17, 1961 - Bobby Fischer (right), the 18-year-old U.S. chess champion, failed to show up today for the 13th game of his series with Samuel Reshevsky (left). The move not only cost the young Brooklynite the forfeiture of the game but also the 16-match series. Fischer had been scheduled to resume the series with the 49-year-old Reshevsky at the Empire Hotel. Al Horowitz, the publisher of Chess Review and the referee, started the clock promptly at 5:15 p.m. Under the rules, Fischer had one hour to appear. He did not. Reshevsky, the 5-foot-2-inch former U.S. champion and once a boy prodigy himself, commented: "It's unfortunate it had to happen this way, but it couldn't be helped."
