It is the first time an American has officially become chess champion of the world. Thus after a quarter of a century Soviet superiority was broken.

It was the most publicized event in chess history, with reporters from all over the world gathering by the hundreds to cover it.

It was played for a purse that was twenty times higher than anything ever seen before. Hopefully this meant that prized in other events would be proportionately increased, so that a body of professional chess masters could be established in this country.

It symbolized a shift from chess as a plaything of intellectuals to a sport in which anybody could participate.

And finally it made Bobby Fischer, the most colorful player in the history of the game, world champion. People are already speaking of him as one of the folk heroes of our time.