Published: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 1:00 PM     Updated: Tuesday, January 25, 2011, 2:12 PM

By

Barnett Wright — The Birmingham News

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Jefferson County Commissioner George Bowman’s chess match challenge to Alabama state Sen. Scott Beason: “This challenge, Sen. Beason, is anytime, anyplace, anywhere.” (Special/Stock.xchng)

A Jefferson County Commissioner today challenged an Alabama state lawmaker to a “civilized” game of chess instead of a pistol duel after the lawmaker said the Jefferson County Commission had no credibility.

Commissioner George Bowman said during today’s meeting that Sen. Scott Beason, R-Gardendale “impugned” the character of the commission by saying in an interview last week that the credibility of the county is ”not poor. It’s nonexistent.”

“Two hundred years ago, if you have a dispute of this nature, it would be settled with dueling pistols at dawn,” Bowman said.

“But we are much more civilized now and, since we are so non-existent and obviously insignificant, I challenge you, Sen. Beason, to a chess match to prove your worthiness, since you are obviously so much more worthy than we are,” Bowman said. “This challenge, Sen. Beason, is anytime, anyplace, anywhere.”

Beason said his statement referred to the previous commission. “The reality is that the new county commission is doing a good job. They are doing the things necessary to restore the credibility of the county. I think it’s very unfortunate that Commissioner Bowman took my comments, which were meant to be historical, because of the lack of leadership from previous county commissions and the sewer debacle that was caused by previous, that he took that personally.”

Beason made his interview comment after meeting with John S. Young, the court-appointed receiver in charge of the county’s sewer department. Young discussed potential legislation to create an oversight board with authority independent from the commission to oversee the issuance and repayment of new bonds.

County officials and lawmakers say Jefferson County doesn’t have the credibility to issue the bonds and investors want a board free of political control.

Bowman called Beason’s comments a slap in the face to commissioners, department heads and employees.

“To say that the credibility of this county is insignificant overlooks the fact that since we have been elected, this new commission, we’ve brought a spirit of hope in the governance of this county,” Bowman said. “We’ve demonstrated that we can work cooperatively to forge a consensus as we govern and make the decisions on the issues in this county every day.”

Commissioner Joe Knight said Beason’s comments were directed to the previous commission and not the current one seated in November.

By James Greenberg

Wed Jan 26, 2011 11:30pm EST

PARK CITY, Utah (Hollywood Reporter) – In his heyday in 1972, when he beat Russian Boris Spassky for the World Championship, chess prodigy Bobby Fischer was like a rock star, as famous and revered as Muhammad Ali.

His rise from a shabby Brooklyn apartment to the heights of the chess world had caught the public’s imagination, and in Liz Garbus’ “Bobby Fischer Against the World,” the story is still compelling and powerful. It’s another quality picture for HBO Documentaries, which will air the film in July.

Fischer’s life (he died in 2008) has the trajectory of the American dream in reverse. Up from humble beginnings, he grabs the brass ring at 29, and then tumbles into madness and a tragic demise. Garbus and her team, aided by extensive archival footage expertly put together by editors Karen Schmeer and Michael Levine, manage to reassemble the pieces of his shattered life.

Fischer’s brilliant but distant mother was more devoted to anti-war protests and liberal causes (the FBI file had a 900-page file on her), than she was to her son and elder daughter, and with no father on the scene, Bobby retreated into the internal world of chess. By the time he was 15 he was the U.S. champion. And by the time he was 16, he mother had left and he was on his own. In a parade of talking heads, which occasionally repeat the same information from different angles, Dick Cavett attests to the “horrendous” effect of fame on a young psyche.

Not that Fischer was stable to begin with. But despite his increasingly erratic behavior, he makes his way up the chess chain and eventually earns a shot at Spassky’s crown. At the height of the cold war, the match, to be staged in Iceland, takes on the magnitude of an international confrontation. When Fischer hems and haws and delays his arrival, as the nation’s hopes and curiosity builds, Henry Kissenger recalls in an interview that he called Fischer and bluntly told him to “go.”

Garbus, a frequent presence at Sundance and grand prize-winner in 1998 for “The Farm: Angola, USA,” builds her film around the drama of the match. Fischer was unpredictable, which makes him a great subject, but from there it was all down hill and the story loses some momentum. Fischer stops playing chess, the game that he had referred to as his alter ego, forfeits his title, and goes into what his fans refer to as his “wilderness period.”

He resurfaces for a rematch with Spassky 20 years later in a war-torn Yugoslavia, breaking a United Nations embargo and incurring criminal charges in the U.S. After September 11, his long simmering anti-American and anti-Semitic feelings explode in a tirade. Given asylum in Iceland, a shockingly disheveled Fischer irrationally lashes out at seemingly anything.

So was he the victim of lifelong mental illness or other sinister forces, as he believed? Or both? Using candid and surprisingly tender shots by ex-Lifemagazine photographer Harry Benson, and an array of witnesses — his trainer, brother-in-law, and other chess masters, Garbus has put together a complex and fascinating portrait of genius wasted.

By Our Chess Correspondent

Anand”s victory came about the same time when AmericanHikaru Nakamura triumphed over Maxime Vachier-Lagrave and thetwo maintained their co-leader status moving to an identicalseven points out of a possible 10.

In another major surprise of the tournament world numberone Magnus Carlsen suffered his second defeat with whitepieces in the tournament bowing to Russia champion IanNepomniachtchi in a hard fought game.

The other two over night leaders � Vladimir Kramnik ofRussia and Levon Aronian of Armenia played out draws withDutch duo of Jan Smeets and Anish Giri respectively to remaina half point behind the two leaders.

With just three rounds to come it remains crowded at thetop and it seems a close call between the top fourplaced players.

Carlsen, after the devastating loss, shares the distantfifth spot with Vachier-Lagrave and Nepomniachtchi on 5.5points and will now need a miracle to find himself in theleading group.

Anand faced the Slav defense against Shirov who playedblack and quite nonchalantly gained the upper hand in thecomplexities that arose in the middle game.

Shirov was off-form here and this game was anotherattestation to the fact as the Spaniard missed some fineprints and landed himself in troubles.

Anand took his chances and was rewarded. Optically theIndian ace was a pawn less but he had dropped it deliberatelyand could always pick it up anytime.

“It was a very complicated game,” said Anand, “I thinkhe missed this manoeuvre in the end that simply wins. AnywaysI feel it was more pleasant for me as if white messes up itwould be an equal endgame and if black messes up (whichhappened) he is checkmated,” the World Champion added.

As it happened in the game, Shirov”s resistance did notlast long after Anand got the winning manoeuvre on the boarddismantling black”s king side in quick time. The game lastedjust 26 moves.

Meanwhile in the ”B” group Grandmaster Surya ShekharGanguly rose back with a fine win against Friso Nijboer ofHolland to take his tally to four points.

The lead positions changed here as Zahar Efimenkov ofUkraine joined Wesley So of Philippines in the lead on 6.5points.

Tania Sachdev played out a draw with Benjamin Bok ofHolland in the ”C” group to take his points to five. DanieleVocaturo of Italy continued to lead this section with a fullpoint on 7.5 points.