The Varsitarian

IT COULD be seen in photos how Jinky Young takes after her mother, Marilyn. They are morena, with heart-shaped faces, long black hair, and round eyes that narrow when they smile. There are no traces of her father’s Caucasian looks—the long face, pointed nose, and brown hair from his youth.

These photos, taken when Jinky was between ages four and five, are just some of the scarce mementos—accompanied by a blood sample—that might justify Jinky’s legitimacy as world chess champion Robert James “Bobby” Fischer’s sole heir.

Recently, Fischer’s remains were exhumed (as ordered by the Supreme Court of Iceland, his adoptive country) so that the paternity test can begin. If the test proves that she is the late chess genius’ daughter, Jinky stands to inherit an estate, which—according to Manila Bulletin—amounts to over P140 million.

Fischer died without leaving a will in 2008, which paved the way for this hardly-fought legal battle. Aside from Marilyn and Jinky, two other parties are contesting the estate.

Among the documents that her mother submitted to court are bank remittances of Fischer’s financial support for the child. Mother and daughter also live in a three-bedroom, two-story house “located in an upscale neighborhood in Davao City,” which was apparently paid for by the chess legend.

Eugene Torre, Asia’s first grandmaster and Fischer’s close friend, also submitted an affidavit to back Marilyn and Jinky’s bid.

“Bobby will turn in his grave if the inheritance of his daughter Jinky will not be awarded by the Icelandic court,” Torre has been quoted in the media as saying. “I had seen with my two eyes how Bobby lovingly took care of his daughter during her infant days in Baguio.”

The results of the paternity test, which is expected to come out next month, can really make or break the mother and child’s claim to what the man had left behind.

The child is now nine years old, an age of unraveling, and one might wonder how she feels about what’s going on. More so, one might ask if she knows exactly what the fuss is about.

She might not know that the balding, white-mustached man she calls Daddy rose to fame at the tender age of 13, when he beat Donald Byrne, one of the leading American chess masters during the 1950s, in what was dubbed as the “Game of the Century.” She might not know that Daddy lived in Iceland because it was the country that took him in after a stack of troubles with the American and Japanese governments. She might not know that Daddy also made the headlines by being “extremely critical of the US government and his Jewish ancestry.”

But one can imagine how she must feel, fatherless for two years (a few more if we consider Fischer’s physical absence), and thrust into the spotlight, facts of her simple life with her mother up for international public consumption.

She still might not be fully aware of the recognition and fortune that the paternity test and court proceedings entail. She might not care that the world is keeping an eye on her and her mother until the case is settled. That probably does not matter to her now, for the solar helicopter, the stuffed tiger doll, the memories preserved in photos, the endearment extended through phone calls, and the postcards signed “Daddy” stand for her as enough proof that she is her father’s daughter.