Is Bobby Fischer a criminal? In December 1992 the following article in the
Lauderdale Sun Sentinel won a award from the Chess journalists of America.

THE FISCHER INDICTMENT
by GM Larry Evans and Larry Parr

"The indictment of Bobby Fischer raises the issue of whether it was a
criminal
act for an American citizen to play chess for money in Yugoslavia.

Before the massive growth of our federal goverment, there was a clearcut
distinction between criminal and illegal behavior. One exception back in
those
days was Prohibition, when millions of Americans who dared to sip nightcaps
of cream sherry suddenly became criminals.

Did Bobby commit a criminal act when he pushed his king's pawn two squares
against Boris Spassky (who is not prosecuted by France)? Did Bobby Fischer
become
a gangster when he played 7. b4 in game 11? Arguably, he acted illegally
when he
violated an executive order signed by President Bush.

An executive order? Not a law passed by Congress? that's right. The American
Leviathan state now has provisions for locking up people who won't obey the
stroke of a president's pen and, perhaps even worse, who injure egos of the
Washington bigwigs by splitting on their orders.

The bottom line is whether Rembrandt, were he alive today, would become a
criminal by putting brush canvas for money and producing a portrait of, say
match organizer Jezdimir Vasilyevic. Using the logic of the mammoth modern
state
in which unpopular and, perhaps, illegal behavior is equated with criminal
conduct, then Rembrandt ought to be tossed in the slammer for ten years
using
the logic of both common and natural law, the Rembrandt would remain free to
contract his services to the highest bidder.

To be sure, Rembrandt practiced the high art of painting, whereas Fischer
practices the lesser art of chess. But chess is indisputably an art, and
anyone
who wishes to play ought to be able to do so anywhere in the world.In this
country , it's still called freedom of expression.

In 1964 GM Evans enraged the right wing by defying a State Department ban on
Cuba and competing in the Capablanca Memorial. In 1981 GM Evans enraged the
left
wing by lecturing on chess in South Africa. There are always people who
would
allow the government to stifle our basic right to travel anywhere in
peacetime.

The Bricker Amendment

In the 1950s conservative senator John Bricker (R.-- Ohio) introduced an
amendment to make Constitution the supreme law of the land in all instances.
If memory serves, the amendment failed by one vote, defeated by a coalition
of
"moderate" Republicans and liberal Democrats.

You ask:Isn't the Constitution now the supreme law of the Land?

No

The Supreme Court ruled that U.S obligations under international treatise
take
precedence over rights guaranteed to citizens in the Bill of Rights.The UN
Treaty Against Genocide is a case in point. If ratified by our Senate, the
treaty provides penalties for causing "mental harm" to any member of a
minority
group. A black rapper, for example, who advocates rough sex with a jewish
Princess, could face penalties if a Jewish Princess decide the song caused
emotional distress. Or someone who administers IQ test reflecting
differences
in racial performance could be liable to penalties if the test results
caused anyone distress.

So, then. Bobby Fischer won 10 games, lost 5, drew 15, and got paid a little
over $100,000 for each of those games. Now we are suddenly told that he is
a
criminal even though his actions produced no direct victim. He killed no one
and
injured no identifiable individual; he just played chess. Except in the most
compelling circumstances, the authors do not believe in punishing people for
victimless crimes.

City on a Hill

America was once distinguished from Europe and the rest of the world by its
economic opportunity, minimal state, and wide-ranging freedoms. The First
Amendment still stands, and the Bill of Rights is basically healthy. But if
we all
accept the idea that people can go to jail because of an Exetutive order
then
the distinction between America, once a Shining City on a Hill, and the
remainder of the world , will be lost.

Where and how to play chess should be left to the individual consciense. Our
consciense would not permit us to play chess in the Yugoslavia of ethnic
cleansers; Bobby's consciense, assuming that he has one, permits him to take
money from evil men who do evil things.

Bobby may not be a man whose hand you would shake. But he is not a
criminal."