Colin Fenton has brought to my attention this tribute to Eugene O’Hare from the Derry Journal. It referred to Eugene as
“an internationally known chess player who once played against the late chess master, Bobby Fisher[sic].”
There is no game between them in the databases, so what was the origin of this quote?
The obvious place to look was O’Hare’s autobiography “Roast Beef on Sunday” which Sean has already referred to in his articles Eugene O’Hare and The Berlin Wall, Hans-Joachim Hecht & Eugene O’Hare.
The answer would seem to be found in the part of the book where Eugene is recounting his experiences at the 1960 Leipzig Olympiad:
“I made the acquaintance of a number of players including Count O’Kelly and two Americans, Raymond Weinsten and Bill Lombardy, a grandmaster and one of Bobbie [sic] Fischer’s trainers. Lombardy was a Jesuit student and we searched together for churches close to the hotel for Mass on Sundays and ended on first name terms. Raymond Weinstein, the American number six, a year later was charged with murder and found guilty. One night after dinner, I found myself beside the boy wonder himself, Robert J Fischer. According to statistics, Fischer was the best known chess player of all time. He was analysing on a travelling set and turned to me, asking if I would like to see his position in the analysis room. My moment of glory! We sat down, purchased two cups of coffee from the machine and for an hour went through his game for that day.”