I have good news and bad news. It is with a heavy heart and a joyful smile that I pass along the news that Tim Brennan has resigned from chess, and the Wednesday and Thursday Panera tournaments have been rated (I will let the reader decide which is which):
As I remember hearing the story, Panno refused to play Fischer to protest Fischer and Reshevsky receiving religious accommodation. Fischer waited about 10 minutes before playing 1 c4, and then tried to convince Panno to play. Panno came to the board to resign just before the default period.
“The players had been concerned that, according to the normal schedule, the last round games involving Fischer and Reshevsky would begin after the other games whereas many of the players felt strongly that all of the last round games should be played at the same time. The main cause of annoyance, however, was that no decision as to the playing of the last round had been communicated to the players. This decision was finally passed on to the players in the middle of the last week of play (the last round was to be played on the Saturday). The judges decision was that the round would be played according to the normal schedule. Panno immediately announced that he would not play Fischer unless all of the last round games started at 7 p.m.”
(p.220)
"1. P-QB4! 1-0 0.10 0.52. Fischer thought some minutes, perhaps wondering whether to default, as he knew Panno was intending not to play. Eventually he moved and went to find Panno to persuade him to play, but the Argentinian came back (he had been in the tournament hall around 4 p.m. when the other games had begun) and resigned, without actually exceeding the one hour time limit. "
