Fischer - Spassky World Championship Match (1972) Fischer vs Spassky 1972 The Match of the Century The name Bobby Fischer , at least to Americans, is synonymous with chess. A prodigy in the 50s, a world class player in the 60s, the 70s saw Fischer at his pinnacle. He earned the right to challenge Boris Spassky in a title run without comparison, defeating Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen with perfect scores of 6-0, and ex-champion Petrosian 6½-2&#189. Now the stage was set, and the only thing standing between Fischer and Spassky was Fischer himself. Fischer vs Spassky, 1972 The match was mired in political overtones, during the height of the Cold War. The Soviet chess system had a monopoly on the title since 1948, and the expectations on Spassky were enormous. While Fischer studied chess virtually in seclusion, Spassky had the full resources of the USSR.

Victor Baturinsky, head of Soviet Chess Sports Committee, said: "Basically, the Soviet leadership and the powers that be in sport, were interested in just one issue: how to stop Fischer from becoming World Champion." [1] With the match set to begin in Reykjavik, Iceland, Fischer (who had not signed any documents confirming his participation) began to make a number of demands, including a percentage of television rights, a larger prize fund, and all manner of conditions covering everything from the lighting to the chair cushions. To satisfy Bobby's demands of a larger prize fund, British chess promoter James Slater donated a dazzling $125,000 to be added to the prize fund. Fischer still needed more convincing by Bill Lombardy (Fischer's last-minute choice as second), and one famously persuasive telephone call from Henry Kissinger. Mere hours before he would be forfeited, Fischer arrived in Iceland. On July 11th, the "Match of the Century" had begun. Whether it was a blunder, or a passion to win at all costs, the first game saw Fischer uncharacteristically lose a simple drawn endgame.

Game 2 was awarded to Spassky by forfeit when Fischer failed to appear in a dispute over the presence of cameras in the playing hall. With the score 2-0 in Spassky's favor, Fischer refused to play unless TV cameras were removed from the playing hall. Only a last minute agreement by Spassky to play away from the cameras permitted the third game to be held. This turned out to be a huge psychological mistake by Spassky. In game 3 , in a small room backstage, Fischer beat Spassky for the first time in his life. The games then returned to the main stage, but without cameras. Winning again in games 5, 6, 8, and 10 the Fischer juggernaut had become unstoppable. On September 3, 1972, Robert James Fischer became the 11th World Chess Champion. click on a game number to replay game Jan-15-16 Petrosianic : <the pairings weren't done by drawing names out of a hat.> I believe they WERE, at least into the 1980's.

Jan-15-16 Howard : Let me check Kasparov's MGP---I believe in Volume 4 or Volume 5, he states that they weren't done at random---there was a certain way the pairings were made. Besides, it would only make sense. Otherwise, in the 1977 Candidates (just to give an example) you could have had Korchnoi and Hort playing in the finals---talk about anti-climatic ! Or in the 1980 version, it could have been Korchnoi-Adjoran (sp) in the finals---hell, talk about a foregone conclusion ! diceman : <CygnusX1: Can you imagine Wimbledon (say) being delayed for 10 days because Andy Murray doesn't turn up on time?> If Andy Murray was Fischer, there'd be a chance. There was talk in 72, of moving New Years Eve to January 10, because Fischer was "busy." Feb-20-16 A.T PhoneHome : <diceman> I doubt Wimbledon would be delayed like that simply because it isn't the kind of political must Fischer's participation in 1972 was.

I wonder if Fischer felt himself purposeless after this match, having won the title. No idea what to do afterwards. Feb-20-16 Joshka : <A. T PhoneHome> Well he seemed to be in a very relaxed mood when talking with Dick Caveat, and when the question was asked of him he said something like "well first things first, I want to win the title first, then I'll think about (girlfriend other things non chess) all the other things in life." In a way, he did exactly as he kind of really wanted. He won the title, then he started doing other things. Except they were done in private, and we didn't have the 24 hour news format that we all see now. Feb-20-16 A.T PhoneHome : Well yes, I give you that, but part of me can't help but feel that to Fischer living life after chess wasn't such an obviousness. diceman : <A.T PhoneHome: <diceman> I doubt Wimbledon would be delayed like that simply because it isn't the kind of political must Fischer's participation in 1972 was.> Well, that was the point of my somewhat tongue-in-cheek response.

It was really about Fischer. Folks say things like it only had a lot of publicity because of the "Cold War." ...but Spassky vs. Evans, Byrne, or Benko, wouldn't seem to cut it. Feb-20-16 A.T PhoneHome : Cold War did have an effect on the popularity of chess (say, Soviets saw it as a way to promote communism). But Fischer also contributed greatly, not only with his playing, but also by making demands etc. which benefited players and made chess appear more serious plus other stuff which I'm too tired to list here. Stonehenge : Nov-20-16 maelith : �In his book Chess Duels Yasser Seirawan has drawn attention to the fact that the legend of the apparently lone fighter Fischer is a myth. In reality Fischer had all the relevant people from the US federation behind him for support. Leroy Dubeck, president of the USCF from 1969 till 1972, had agreed with the executive director Edmund Edmondson that all the resources of the federation should be gathered for the project �Fischer plays for the World Championship�.

For this purpose they also used all membership subscriptions of the USCF. In addition Fischer had the support of Fred Cramer, also from the federation, as his legal adviser. Amongst the chess players on whose help Fischer could count were the grandmasters Bill Lombardy, Lubomir Kavalek as well as Fischer�s close friend the international master Anthony Saidy. A special role was played by Lina Grumette, who was a sort of mother substitute for Fischer and whenever necessary offered him refuge in her house.� In addition to many people at home, Bobby had considerable help from the president of the FIDE, during the championship match itself. Fact is, according to the agreed upon match rules, Fischer ought to have been forfeited, but wasn't. Even Spassky managed to help Fischer, by accepting these "accommodations" to the challenger's many "demands." Nov-20-16 boz : Yes but the USCF was not the Soviet chess machine of the 50s 60s and 70s. What Fischer did was mostly on his own if you measure by chess ideas.

Nov-21-16 maelith : <Yes but the USCF was not the Soviet chess machine of the 50s 60s and 70s. What Fischer did was mostly on his own if you measure by chess ideas.> Still Fischer has the full support of the US chess groups. Regarding chess ideas,you can't not say on his own as there are gms who helped him. Nov-21-16 alphamaster : What a nonsense. Wimbledon is not about only 2 persons playing one against the other. Also Fischer for sure had support from American Federation (after 1969) but had not any support in chess from any first class GM (mainly because he didn't want it). Nov-21-16 Petrosianic : <Howard: Let me check Kasparov's MGP---I believe in Volume 4 or Volume 5, he states that they weren't done at random---there was a certain way the pairings were made.> In 1971, there were some grumblings in the Eastern bloc that the pairings had been done in private.

There were 4 Soviets, but the way it worked out, three of them were in one group, meaning that Taimanov was the only thing standing in the way of a non-Soviet making it into the Finals. And as Euwe was known to personally support the idea of a world championship match between the top Western and top Eastern players, it caused some idle speculation. You didn't think we were the only ones with conspiracy theories, did you? Fischer was involved in something similar. For his second US Championship, he objected to the fact that the pairings were drawn in private and threatened to withdraw unless they were re-done in public. The USCF answered that they'd do it that way in future but couldn't change them for this year. Fischer backed down and played anyway. Dec-04-16 maelith : According to his second, Krogius, Spassky played tennis and went sightseeing instead of preparing during the days immediately before the match. Karpov has stated that he had been brought in as a sparring partner for Spassky prior to the match, and that he and Spassky played only one offhand game.

Other Soviet sources are on record, including Spassky himself, as to how cavalier Spassky was in preparing for this matc. Dec-06-16 MissScarlett : <By Bill Hormann, 13abc | Posted: Sat 2:25 PM, Nov 12, 2016 NEW YORK (AP) - The historic 1972 title chess match between American Bobby Fischer and the defending Soviet champ, Boris Spassky, was as much about Cold War politics as it was about pawns and bishops. Now, a chess board used in the "Match of the Century" is slated to be auctioned off in New York City on Friday, in a memorabilia sale timed to coincide with the FIDE World Chess Championship, which began in the city this past Friday. Fischer and Spassky used the board in games 7 through 21 at the world championship in Reykjavik, Iceland. It replaced a stone board - likely substituted because of Fischer's unpredictable and demanding demeanor - that had been used in the earlier games and now resides in the National Museum of Iceland.

Heritage Auctions has set an opening bid of $75,000 for the board, now owned by an unidentified New York collector. [...] The chess board, which both players signed in black marker after the legendary match, is on view at Heritage's New York offices. It is being offered with the table and two matching chairs that the players used during the match. Also in the sale is a set of 1959-1960 Bobby Fischer handwritten U.S. Chess Championship score sheets.> This AP report, or rewrites thereof, appeared in many other news outlets. The auction seems to have been scheduled for Friday, November 18th. However, when I tried to find the result of the sale, these same news outlets had all apparently lost interest. But I did find this: <NEW YORK � The signed chessboard by both Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, offered by Heritage Auctions, has been pushed to a two-week post-auction buying option, after it failed to meet the reserve price during regular bidding. The highest reported bid was $119,500.

The board was used in games 7 through 21 during the 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavic, Iceland. It replaced a stone board used in the earlier six games. The reserve price on the lot is $150,000. Heritage places an estimate of $300,000-plus on the item. Fischer won �the Match of All Time� and broke the Big Bear�s grip on the sport. Chris Ivy of Heritage said a key game played on the board was Game 13, in which Spassky �committed a very famous blunder that sealed his fate and the match. �This board is the symbol of one of the most important moments of the century and a crucial moment in world affairs.� The board was designed by Icelandic furniture designer Gunnar Magnusson and produced by cabinetmaker Ragnar Haraldsson. It once was owned by the Emperor of Iran, and currently is owned by an unidentified New York collector. In addition to the 19 x 19-inch board is the game table, plus two extra tables built after the tournament. The total weight of the lot exceeds 250 pounds.

Also part of the lot are the original Staunton chess pieces, which were held in reserve, though never used for the 1972 tournament and a Garde chess clock like the one, but not the one, used in the Fischer/Spassky match. Also in the sale is a set of 1959-1960 U.S. Chess Championship score sheets handwritten by Fischer.> Dec-09-16 MissScarlett : I (finally) received a reply confirming that the lot remains unsold, and wondering if I'd like to make an offer... Dec-10-16 savagerules : Karpov said Spassky spent most of his training time for the 1972 match playing tennis. Spassky was undefeated against Fischer and lazily convinced himself that Fischer would continue to play the Gruenfeld or Kings Indian and Spassky was prepared for those.

diceman : <maelith: According to his second, Krogius, Spassky played tennis and went sightseeing instead of preparing during the days immediately before the match.> <savagerules: Karpov said Spassky spent most of his training time for the 1972 match playing tennis.> Well somebody did something, because he had a new line against Fischer's Sicilian in Game 4, and against the poisoned pawn. Problem was, Fischer was too much of a moving target playing a different line almost every game. Dec-10-16 morfishine : <diceman...Well somebody did something, because he had a new line against Fischer's Sicilian in Game 4, and against the poisoned pawn. Problem was, Fischer was too much of a moving target playing a different line almost every game.> Well put, especially referencing Game 4. I think in Game 11, Spassky admitted this idea came to him OTB, but maybe I'm wrong on that. No doubt, Spassky was off balance being hit with so many different openings/variations ***** Dec-10-16 Joshka : <A.

T PhoneHome> Think his attitude was , I'll cross that bridge when I get to it, for now it's just winning the title. Life is funny, any little deviation from what happened and another whole universe is played out.......Spassky beating Karpov in their Match in 1974......you'd have to agree it would almost be 100% that Bobby and Boris have another Match in 1975!!........or Korchnoi beating Karpov in 1974, I'd say Bobby and Victor work things out CAUSE Victor was all ready planning his defection so....you could have a match with Korchnoi for sure in a western country......in fact WHY oh WHY oh why didn't Spassky have a rematch clause in the 1972 match??!!.......oh well.....

Jump to page # Bobby Fischer - Biography - IMDb Bobby Fischer Biography Showing all 27 items Jump to: Overview (5) | Mini Bio (1) | Spouse (2) | Trade Mark (1) | Trivia (16) | Personal Quotes (2) Overview (5) The Bad Boy of Chess Height 6' 1" (1.85 m) Mini Bio (1) Bobby Fischer was the greatest American chess player in history and might have been the most talented chess player ever to play the game. His career and legacy were marred by eccentricities that developed into what likely was full-blown mental illness that made him an exile from his country of birth that he represented in the greatest proxy battle of the Cold War and from the game he loved. The chess legend was born Robert James Fischer on March 9, 1943 in Chicago to Regina Wender Fischer. His mother was a Jew who had been born in Switzerland but raised in St. Louis who became a naturalized U.S. citizen. The actual identity of his father is unknown.

Regina listed German biophysicist Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, her first husband, as the father on Bobby's birth certificate, but they had been separated since 1939. Bobby's actual father likely was Hungarian physicist Paul Newmenyi, who like his mother, was Jewish. As his mental stability broke down late in life, Bobby became a vicious anti-Semite, insisting he wasn't Jewish. The young Bobby grew up without a father with his mother and older sister. It was his sister who whet his appetite for chess when she bought a chess set when Bobby was six year old. Reportedly possessed of a super genius I.Q. of 180, Bobby had a remarkably retentive memory. A monomaniac when it came to chess, his memory combined with an uncanny knack for the game and a determination to win transformed him into the greatest chess player in the world. Bobby became a National Master at the age of 12 and won America's Junior Chess Championship at the age of 13, making him the youngest Junior Champ in history.

The 13 year-old Bobby defeated 26-year-old Donald Byrne, winner of America's chess championship, in a 1956 game heralded as "The Game of the Century." By this age, Fischer was showing gifts for improvisation and innovation that marked him as a chess genius. As a 14 year-old on the cusp of his 15th birthday, he won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1958, giving him the title of International Master. Later that same year, he broke future opponent Boris Spassky 's record to become the youngest World Chess Federation Grand Master; Bobby was 15, and Boris was 18 when he set the distinction. The two names would become linked forever in chess history. (When the two first played each other in 1960, Fischer lost during an Argentine tournament, though the two tied and were co-winners of the tourney. He would not beat Spassky until their famous world title match in Iceland in 1972.) Bobby quit high school at the age of 16 to earn his daily bread by the sweat of his brow as a chess player.

In a 1961 match against American champ Samuel Reshevsky, Bobby dropped out of the match claiming a scheduling dispute with the match organizer after tying Reshevsky in 11 games. Such eccentric behavior heralded his future. By '62, Fischer was considered the best non-Soviet chess player in the world. Bobby came to hate the Soviet players, who he claimed colluded with each other to him at a disadvantage. In 1966, Bobby placed second behind Boris Spassky in a super-tournament held in California. A year later, he withdrew from the tournament cycle that culminated in the World Championship, again over a scheduling dispute. The cycle ended in 1969 with Spassky crowned as the World Chess Champion. In 1968, Fischer began an 18-month-long sabbatical from the game, which included sitting out the '69 American Championship tournament as he was dissatisfied with the prize money and the tourney format. Failing to compete should have disqualified him from the 1969-72 Championship cycle, but he was able to compete for the world title when an American Grand Master surrendered his own spot for Fischer.

Starting with the 1970 USSR v. Rest of the World tournament in which he beat former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, the master who had been defeated by Spassky in '69, Bobby began his march to the world championship. Through 1971, he had won 20 straight games in international tournament play, the second-longest win streak in the history of the game. Petrosian broke the streak but was in turn defeated by Fischer to win the right to challenge Spassky, a player he had never beaten, for the world title. Though he hated Soviet players for what he considered collusion (drawing matches between themselves so they could concentrate on beating non-Soviet players like Fischer), he liked and respected Boris Spassky. Spassky returned the affection and esteem. By 1972, he was in the position to make good his boast that he was the greatest chess player in the world. His difficult nature when it came to setting match and tournament conditions flared up again, and though he wanted to play in Yugoslavia, he accepted Spassky's suggestion of Iceland for the world title match.

Negotiations were so prickly, President Richard Nixon 's national security adviser, Henry Kissinger intervened, personally contacting Bobby to ensure that he did not drop out of the match, which was seen as a proxy battle in the ongoing Cold War between America and the Soviet Union. Though he later denounced the United States, at the time, Bobby embraced the Cold War rhetoric, declaring the match was "the free world against the lying, cheating hypocritical Russians." Held in Reykjavik, Iceland from July through September 1972, the drama of the world championship boosted the image and popularity of chess to new heights. Bobby lost the first two games, the first on a bad end move and the second by forfeit when he refused to participate. Because of his eccentric demands, he came close to forfeiting the match, but Spassky agreed to his demand to play in a new room with no TV cameras, the presence of which had upset Fischer. Fischer won the third game of the match, the first time he had beaten Boris Spassky in 12 years.

For the rest of their play in 1972 and their 1992 rematch, Fischer never fell behind Spassky in terms of play or points. Spassky was baffled by Fischer's innovative moves, as he played new lines and combinations that Boris had never encountered before. Fischer won the match and became World Chess Champion by a score of 12.5 points to 8.5 on seven wins, one loss and 11 draws in 19 games. His championship was heralded by the U.S. media as a victory for the individualistic America over the collectivist U.S.S.R., whose players had dominated chess since the end of the Second World War. It was front page news, and it made Bobby Fischer a celebrity. He reportedly turned down a $1-million offer to endorse a chess set brand as he faded from the public spotlight. Fischer did not play competitively for the next three years, and in 1975, he forfeited his title by refusing to defend it when the World Chess Federation did not meet one or two of his many demands (estimated at between 64 and a hundred).

The world title went to Anatoli Karpov by default, though Fischer continued to insisted he was the world chess champion. Fischer did not play competitively until 1992 when he met Boris Spassky for a rematch on the resort island of Sveti Stefan in in Montenegro, which was part of all that remained of Yugoslavia along with Serbia. The match was held in defiance of United Nations sanctions against Slobodan Miloseviæ's Serbia for war crimes. Bobby beat Boris, winning $3.35 million in prize money (approximately $5.65 million in 2012 dollar, when factored for inflation), but because the United States intended to enforce the U.N. sanctions, he had violated American law and could have served up to 10 years in jail upon returning to America. A defiant Fischer went into exile instead, living in Hungary before moving to the Philippines and then Japan. It was while living in the Philippines during the opening days of the new millennium that Bobby Fischer established himself as a world-class crank. After the 9/11 attacks on the United States, he praised the attacks and spewed forth anti-Semitic drivel on radio broadcasts.

The Soviet hater of the Cold War era had become a rabid America hater and Jew-basher at the start of the global war on terror. His anti-Semitism became so extreme, he renamed himself "Robert James" and insisted he wasn't Jewish. During a stop-over in Japan, Fischer was arrested for traveling with an invalid U.S. passport. He promptly renounced his American citizenship. The arrest meant he could not leave Japan as he was a stateless person wanted by the United States. Facing a potential extradition to the country of his birth, Iceland came through and granted him citizenship, which allowed him to leave Japan. The country was still grateful for the publicity he had brought to its then-unknown capital of Reykjavik. Thus, Fischer moved to Iceland, the place where he had became part of not only chess lore, but of world history Bobby Fischer died on January 17, 2008 in Reykjavik after having been gravely ill. He made it to his 64th year, which was symbolic, as a chessboard has 64 squares. - IMDb Mini Biography By: Jon C.

Hopwood Spouse (2) Only American to win the FIDE World Chess Championship (1 September 1972). Awarded the title of Chess Grandmaster in 1958. In 1953, he played his first chess tournament at the age of ten at the Brooklyn Chess Club Championship. He came in fifth place. Fischer was wanted in the United States for violating economic sanctions against the former Yugoslavia by playing a chess match there in 1992. He fled to Japan and was arrested in July 2004 for trying to leave Japan on a revoked U.S. passport. Thus, he was detained in Japan awaiting deportation to the United States. He renounced his U.S. citizenship and tried to become a German citizen, but was denied. Finally, in March 2005, Iceland's parliament voted to grant him Icelandic citizenship. He remained a fugitive in the U.S. until his death. Due to his anti-American and anti-Semitic statements, he became a controversial figure in the final decades of his life.

He, for example, asked the editors of Encyclopedia Judaica to remove his name from the publication because he was, and has never been, Jewish (1984) and denied the Holocaust in several interviews. On a radio show shortly after the 9/11 attacks, he proclaimed them "a wonderful news" (2001). The episode Law & Order: Criminal Intent: Gone (2005) was inspired by his biography (2004). Attended Erasmus Hall High School together with Barbra Streisand . Has an older sister, Joan. Born to Regina Wender, a naturalized American citizen of German Jewish descent, he was considered the son of her first husband, Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, a German biophysicist. They were married from 1933 to 1945, but some sources claim that his biological father was Hungarian physicist Paul Nemenyi. Died at the age of 64, ironically the number of fields on a chessboard. Inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame in 2001 (one of five charter inductees). Inducted into the U.S.

Chess Hall of Fame in 1985 (one of two charter inductees). The last movie Fischer saw before his death was Ridley Scott's American Gangster (2007). Became a citizen of Iceland. [March 2005] Being deported to U.S. for violating U.N. sanctions. [July 2004] Even though he had a very high IQ, it is reported that he was a very poor student in high school and dropped out at fifteen. Personal Quotes (2) All that matters on the chessboard is good moves. Chess is life. Chess champion Bobby Fischer dies | World news | The Guardian Chess champion Bobby Fischer dies Friday 18 January 2008 14.25 EST First published on Friday 18 January 2008 14.25 EST Close One of the world's greatest chess players, Bobby Fischer, has died at the age of 64. A spokesman for Fischer, Gardar Sverrisson, said the former world chess champion died in a Reykjavik hospital yesterday. Information on the cause of death has not been released.

Fischer , who grew up in Brooklyn, New York, gained fame in his teens. At 14, he became the youngest player ever to win the US championship; at 15, he became the youngest international grandmaster in history. He won the US championship eight times in eight attempts. He gained international fame in 1972 when he beat the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky in what was dubbed the "match of the century" to become the first US chess champion for a century. The match between the eccentric and highly individualistic American and Spassky, who was backed by the mighty Soviet chess establishment, captured the public imagination. But his reputation as a chess genius with a ferocious attacking style was eclipsed, in the eyes of many, by his idiosyncrasies. He refused to defend his title in 1975 when the World Chess Federation (FIDE) did not accept all his conditions for a title defence, so he forfeited the title to another Soviet, Anatoly Karpov. Fischer then fell into obscurity before resurfacing to play an exhibition rematch against Spassky in 1992 on the resort island of Sveti Stefan off Montenegro.

Fischer won, but the game was played in violation of international sanctions imposed on Slobodan Milosevic, then president of Yugoslavia. Fischer became a wanted man, but managed to evade authorities for 12 years until July 16 2004 when he was arrested and later detained in Japan. On March 22 2005, he was freed and granted Icelandic citizenship. He renounced his US citizenship and lived in Iceland until his death. Fischer was accused of anti-Americanism and anti-Semitism, despite being of Jewish descent. He shocked the world with his comments following the September 11 2001 attacks on America. "This is all wonderful news," he announced live on Filipino radio. "I applaud the act. The US and Israel have been slaughtering the Palestinians, just slaughtering them, for years. Robbing them and slaughtering them. Nobody gave a shit. Now it's coming back to the US. Fuck the US. I want to see the US wiped out.

Death to the US." The Russian chess grandmaster Garry Kasparov, another former world champion, said today that Fischer's ascent through the chess world in the 1960s was "a revolutionary breakthrough" for the game. "The tragedy is that he left this world too early, and his extravagant life and scandalous statements did not contribute to the popularity of chess," Kasparov said. According to Kasparov, Fischer changed the game in a way that had not been seen since the late 19th century. "The gap between Mr Fischer and his contemporaries was the largest ever," Kasparov once said. "He singlehandedly revitalised a game that had been stagnating under the control of the communists of the Soviet sports hierarchy." bobbyfischer.net Updated the site to add the sad news of Bobby's death. Updates removed to compact this list: 1995-2007 This site was created October 6, 1995 Disclaimer: This web site is a Fischer fan site. Mr. Fischer had no contact with this author. Surprisingly, Bobby denounced this website on his own personal site as being an impersonation of him. I never once claimed to be Mr.

Fischer and feel a little saddened that he looked down at the dedication this site attributed to his life. Mr. Fischer moved around a lot after he failed to appear to defend his title in 1975. Bobby has lived in Hungary, Brazil, Philippines, England, Japan and finally, Iceland where he lived out his final days. He was incarcerated in Japan for an invalid passport which was revoked and as he had no legal citizenship, Japan held him there for 8 months. He applied for Icelandic citizenship and was granted it in March of 2005. Fischer has long been regarded as an eccentric genius. One of the world's greatest chess players, with a reported I.Q. of 180, he wrested the world chess championship away from the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky in a 1972 match. But he lost the title when he refused to show up to defend his title three years later. Mr Fischer, who has been a Grandmaster since the 1950s, became the first - and so far only - American world champion in 1972.

He disappeared for the best part of 20 years before surfacing in 1992 to play against his old opponent Spassky for $5 million. The match broke sanctions imposed by the United Nations and in a controversial move he was indicted in the United States. President George H.W. Bush gave his personal approval for the legal action. Since then, he's been a recluse. Fischer's 1992 non-title rematch against Spassky, which Fisher won despite having been away from professional chess competitions for two decades. At that time, he said he had not paid U.S. income taxes for 15 years and asked why economic sanctions were not being imposed against Israel. At a press conference on June 19, 1996 in the Argentine capital, Fischer was received by hundreds of journalists and chess fans, many of whom had come from all over the world. The object of the conference was to publicize the launch of Fischer's new game, Fischer Random Chess. Fischer pointed out, that with his new improved chess variant chess creativity and talent would be more important than memorization and analysis.

He stated, that many games are prearranged before the players begin the game, and that even the so-called world championship between Russian players Kasparov and Karpov had been prearranged, this would be impossible in Fischer Random Chess. He also pointed out, that due to such long hours in front of the computer screen, many top players today, such as Anand and Kramnik, wear thick glasses. He also mentioned, that all of the study necessary to play conventional chess made it hard work, and that he had gotten into chess in order to avoid work! Fischer stated, that without access to databases of the millions of opening variations in traditional chess, computers do not really play chess all that well. On January 13, 1999, Bobby Fischer conducted his first live radio interview in Hungary. He has given a total of 35 live radio interviews from Hungary, Philippines, Columbia, Russia and Iceland. They are available in .mp3 format. It appears that Mr. Fischer's personal website has been removed from the internet. FISCHER VS.

FIDE Many readers still wonder why Bobby Fischer wouldn't defend his title against Anatoly Karpov in 1975 despite a $5 million purse offered in the Philippines. Some fans blame Fischer's refusal to compromise; others accuse a Soviet-dominated FIDE of coddling its Russian challenger at all costs. Whatever the truth, here is an excerpt from Fischer's letter to the world chess body in 1974 giving his side of the story. FISCHER'S OWN WORDS The first player to win ten games, draws not counting, with unlimited number of games wins the match. If the score is nine wins to nine wins, draws not counting, the champion retains title and the match is declared drawn with the money split equally. Versus the old system of the best of 24 games wins the match (12½ points) and if 12-12 the match is drawn with the champion retaining the title and prize fund is split equally. Draws do count in this system. The unlimited match favors the better player.

This is the most important point -- because in the limited game system the match outcome can turn on a very low number of wins, giving the weaker player a chance to "luck out." Also, in the limited game system the player who takes a game or two lead has an advantage out of all proportion. This creates an added element of chance. The player who wins the match should be the player who plays best over the long run -- not the player who jumps off to an early lead. The player that is behind must give his opponent "draw odds" every game until he catches up (if he is the champion) or takes the lead if he is the challenger. Giving "draw odds" to a Grandmaster is a great handicap and the player who must do so must eventually (because time is "running out") take serious risks, possibly causing further defeats and getting "deeper in the hole" from which there will probably be no escape. On the other hand, should the player who falls behind manage to "pull out of it" and take the lead or tie the score, his opponent may be put at the same unfair disadvantage.

How do you explain Smyslov's 1957 victory over Botvinnik in seemingly convincing style with his disastrous defeat in the following year? Could it be just the situation explained -- because in the 1958 match Smyslov lost the first three games! And he never caught up. As explained, losing a game is a very serious event in the limited game match and this explains the string of draws in the Karpov-Korchnoi match, the Petrosian-Korchnoi match in 1971, and the Petrosian-Huebner match in 1971. The percentage of draws in this type match is increasing -- sometimes dramatically. In the 24-game title match, you must realize, it was always to the advantage of one of the two players to play for a draw! Is it therefore any wonder there are many draws? Spectators hate draws -- spectators bring in the money -- no money. In the unlimited system there will be draws but there must also be many wins (at least ten in total); draws benefit neither player -- it is reasonable to expect a lower percentage of draws in the unlimited match, and overall this has proven to be the case.

Comparing the first player to win ten games system with the limited 24-game system. Question: Which system gives the champion a greater statistical advantage? Answer: The old 24-game system gives the champion a greater advantage....It was grossly unfair to the challenger. "The match could drag on forever." Theoretically true -- practically untrue. For example, a chess game itself could theoretically drag on forever; every 50 moves or so one player moves a pawn or exchanges something -- the game could drag on for thousands of moves!....But practically this is ridiculous -- in the same way an endless match is ridiculous -- and if one player has "had enough" he can always resign the match. There is precedent for this in the Capablanca-Lasker match [1921]. But if the match takes a long time, so what? It takes place only once in three years and the point is to determine who is the best player. But past experience has shown that the unlimited match does not drag on endlessly. "Giving in will destroy FIDE." The question should be decided on its merits. If FIDE feels the match system proposed by Fischer is the best system, they should accept it.

If not, they should reject it -- period. "What people think or say" should not enter into it. A player should not be allowed to "back into" retaining or winning the title by drawing the last game, the way he could in the old odious limited 24-game system. In the unlimited system, the champion must keep or take the title like a man by winning the last game. Bobby Fischer | Jewish Virtual Library Tweet Born in Chicago on March 9, 1943, Robert James Fischer was a child prodigy, competitively playing chess from the age of 8. Bobby Fischer popularized the game of chess, making it front-page news, and justifying a vast increase in the amount of money awarded to the winner of the World Championship. As the first American World Champion, he drew world-wide attention for his eccentric antics and his extraordinary skill. Fischer was so superior to his world-class opponents that he won the qualifying rounds of the world championship with unprecedented wipeout scores of 6-0, 6-0, 6-0. Further, he was singlehandedly able to defeat the combined efforts of the entire, very powerful, Soviet chess establishment.

Fischer possessed a rare talent, combined with a volatile personality. His refusal to continue a match with chess master Reshevsky in 1961, turning away from the 1962 World Championship, and deserting an international tournament in Sussa in 1967, are only some of the examples of his hot temper. Fischer began playing chess at the age of 6, with the help of his older sister. His playing style was highlighted by the precision of his thinking, sharpened to be almost mechanical. Considered by many to be the best player ever, Fischer became the youngest player to win the United States Junior Championship at age 13. At 14, he won the United States Open Championship for the first of eight times. At 15, he became an international grand master, the youngest person to hold the title. When asked if he had invented a new chess formula, Fischer's usual answer was: "No, my secret lies in the mistakes made by my opponents.

I was just successful at using them to my advantage." He became a Cold War hero in 1972 when he defeated Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union at a widely followed series of matches in Iceland to become the first officially recgonized word chess champion born in the United States. The Fischer-Spassky match took on mythic dimensions as a clash between the world's two superpowers. He forfeited the title in 1975, however, when he refused to defend his title against Anatoly Karpov. Fischer dropped out of competitive chess after this, spending time in Hungary and the Philippines , and emerging occasionally to make outspoken and often outrageous comments. He resurfaced for a dramatic rematch against Spassky in the former Yugoslavia in 1992, beating him 10-5 to win $3.35 million. After that, the fiercely private Fischer disappeared, living in secret outside the United States. The U.S. government accused Fischer of violating U.N. sanctions against Yugoslavia and Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic, by playing in the 1992 rematch against Spassky, and placed an international "wanted" alert for his whereabouts and return.

While incognito, Fischer intermittently gave interviews with a radio station in the Philippines , often digressing into anti-Jewish rants and accusing American officials of hounding him. In radio interviews, he praised the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out,'" and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards.'' Fischer's mother was Jewish. He also announced that he had abandoned chess in 1996 and launched a new version in Argentina , "Fischerandom,'' or random chess, a computerized shuffler that randomly distributes chess pieces on the back row of the chess board at the start of each game. After decades of evading the public eye and U.S. justice officials, former world champion Bobby Fischer was taken into custody by Japanese immigration after allegedly trying to leave the country with an invalid passport. Fischer was detained at Narita Airport outside Tokyo while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight for the Philippines on July 13, 2004. He was threantened with extradition. Fischer renounced his U.S.

citizenship and spent nine months in custody before the dispute was resolved when Iceland - a chess-mad nation of 300,000 - granted him citizenship. Fischer moved to Iceland in 2005 to avoid extradition to the United States, where he was wanted for playing in the 1992 chess match in the former Yugoslavia in violation of the international sanctions. The sanctions were imposed on the former Yugoslavia for provoking warfare in neighboring Bosnia-Herzegovina . Fischer died of kidney failure on January 17, 2008, at the age of 64, in Reykjavik, Iceland after a long illness. Sources: Talmadge, Eric.

"Ex-Chess Champ Fischer Detained in Tokyo" The Associated Press , (July 16, 2004) ; Jews in Sports , The Jerusalem Post , "Former Chess Champion Dies, aged 64," (January 19, 2008) Bobby Fischer's Overlooked Gem - Chess.com Chess.com Oct 2, 2015, 12:00 AM 33,738 Reads 71 Comments Amazing Games Officially released on September 16, the biographical thriller Pawn Sacrifice is the latest development in an ongoing chess renaissance. Directed by Academy Award-winning producer and filmmaker Edward Zwick, Pawn Sacrifice offers a dramatized look at the life and mind of Bobby Fischer in the tumult surrounding his emblematic 1972 world championship match against Boris Spassky. To date, the film has met with generally positive critical reception, both from chess players and the public.

In a recent New in Chess article titled Finding Bobby Fischer, the GM and renowned economist Kenneth Rogoff calls it "well-researched" and "superbly acted." Others — such as David Sims in The Atlantic — have pointed out "its refusal to dig deeper into its incredibly compelling subject." Regardless of where one stands on the spectrum, it is hard to deny that Pawn Sacrifice has brought the royal game an unprecedented amount of public interest and attention. If you haven't already done so, give it a watch! However, while the political, psychological, and historical underpinnings of the Fischer-Spassky match have been studied from every angle, the games themselves have largely been cast into oblivion. An audacious claim to be sure, and one that must be taken with a grain of salt. Indeed, every game has been analyzed to exhaustion in countless sources of chess literature. Nonetheless, I have the impression that the vast majority of players are more acquainted with the drama surrounding the match than with the match itself. Until recently, I was a card-carrying member of this group.

I knew that Bobby suffered a meltdown in the first game (think 40...Bxh2), and then forfeited the second in a fit of rage. What happened next, though, was shrouded in mystery. Down 0-2 against the reigning world champion, Bobby turned the match around in improbable fashion, winning seven of the next 19 games to become the first American world champion. Bear in mind that Spassky lost a total of four games in the preceding two years. Studying each and every one of Bobby's victories yields a fascinating and wonderfully instructive peak into the inner workings of a chess legend. In this article, I would like to explore one game in particular that is representative of Bobby's genius: the sixth match-game. We will break the game down into its three phases, and try to come as close as possible to understanding what made Bobby Fischer tick. In doing so, we will unlock a side of the match that has often remained in the dark: the moves themselves. Opening The opening has resulted in both an objective and a moral victory for Bobby. Despite his rich Queen's Gambit experience, Spassky has not fully solved his opening problems.

His position appears perfectly solid, but he has overlooked a concealed tactical resource that drives a sharp knife through his position. Middlegame Six moves. Six. Six moves is all it took for Bobby to turn the game from objectively equal to winning. Now, all that remains is to demonstrate precise technique, a test that Bobby passes with flying colors. The Attack "The surprising submissiveness with which Spassky lost suggests to me that in 1972 he and Fischer were already in different chess eras," Kasparov writes. I could not agree more. Bobby's style was patently anachronistic; his play pullated with a kind of surreal energy, a certain wholesomeness that his contemporaries could not replicate. Though his life and personality were certainly fascinating (and tragic), Bobby should be remembered primarily for the contributions that he made on the chessboard.

Spassky gives up title by phone | From the Guardian | The Guardian Spassky gives up title by phone Saturday 2 September 1972 12.16 EDT First published on Saturday 2 September 1972 12.16 EDT Share on Messenger Close Bobby Fischer finally became the first official American World chess champion yesterday, ending the two-month Reykjavik saga of walkouts, complaints, apologies, chair-bugging claims, takeover bids, late arrivals, and lawsuits which accompanied the games of his match with Boris Spassky. Spassky resigned the twenty first game by telephone to the chief arbiter, Herr Lothar Schmid yesterday afternoon. The audience applauded, Fischer scrawled a signature on the score sheet, Herr Schmid shook his hand and Fischer strode off to the waiting car driven by his faithful Icelandic policeman one-man bodyguard. Fischer won the series by 12 * - 8 *, winning seven games, drawing 11, and losing three (including one by forfeit).

The final move of the match provided an ironic commentary on two features of the play, Spassky's crop of blunders and Fischer's icy persistence in never missing a chance to psyche his opponent. Spassky's resignation was prompted by a sealed move error - he had written down B-Q7 in the envelope. But he and his grandmaster squad of three (reduced from four since Ivo Ney went back to Estonia, reportedly for asking whether a post-mortem had been carried out on the two dead flies found in the bugging investigation) soon found that the bishop move lost whereas K-R3 might still have held the draw. When news of Spassky's resignation was passed on to Bobby, he asked for it in writing. Fischer really won the match with his blitz between the third and tenth games when he won five and drew three. The play in this period was so one-sided that many chess fans began to believe that Fischer had produced the ultimate chess gambit by giving Spassky two points start. Fischer had lost a totally drawn ending in game one and forfeited game two during his dispute with Chester Fox over television coverage.

The match went Fischer's way right from the moment that the Icelandic organisers desperate to save the contest agreed that the third game should be played in the cramped table-tennis room rather than the auditorium. There, Fischer turned the match with his freakish knight manoeuvre to the edge of the board on move 13, which inaugurated a deep strategical plan which wrecked Spassky's own orthodox classical chess aiming at simple centre control. The second turning-point came in the sixth game. Fischer's three opening moves set up an orthodox Queen's gambit, a conventional opening, but one which Fischer had till then never used in his life. Psychologically it was a master-stroke for it showed Spassky and his troupe of coaches that weeks and months of the hard pre-match training in the Caucasus and in Spassky's specially provided central Moscow flat had been wasted. Fischer won that game in the pure style of Casablanca and Spassky applauded his own defeat. The chess blitz which gave Fischer a three-point lead still left Spassky chances to recover, especially since with his slow Russian bear emotions he is at this best in the second half of a match.

Chances came, but Spassky was not in the form to take them. After a brilliant defence in the thirteenth game he blundered right at the end. In the fourteenth, he handed back a won pawn with an error so simple that Sovietsky sport, not usually given to criticise its own, decorated the world champion's move with a double question mark. In the fifteenth also Spassky was at one time a solid pawn up. Did Fischer win on merit, or, did he psyche his way to the championship? Only a return encounter can finally answer that and there may be one next year in Las Vegas, which probably reckons that the fascination of the struggle between the American anti-hero and the Soviet gentleman will induce a few thousand chess fans to contribute tithes to the casinos. But the margin of Fischer's win was strictly on the form book - my prematch forecast was a score between 12-6 * and 12 - 9 * - and most experts would have said the same. Spassky's chess was not so different from his play in tournaments a year before the match.

His 8 * points compare favourably with the combined total of 2 *, from the same number of games, which Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian notched up between them against Fischer. What happens to chess now that Fischer is champion? He is already reported to have signed up for a 50-board television simultaneous exhibition, with games analysed on split plans and there are tentative plans for a big exhibition in the Albert Hall. More mass events with the ultimate prize a chance for games with Fischer, more world title matches, but fewer routine international tournaments where ordinary master make polite draws and go off to the beach Chess legend Boris Spassky visits rival Bobby Fischer's grave | Reuters Tue Mar 11, 2008 | 9:13 PM GMT Chess legend Boris Spassky visits rival Bobby Fischer's grave File photo shows Bobby Fischer (R) gesturing during his match against his archrival Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, in the Yugoslav resort of Sveti Stefan in September 1992.

Reuters/Ivan Milutinovic/Files REYKJAVIK Boris Spassky, the Soviet chess champ who famously squared off against Bobby Fischer in Iceland at the height of the Cold War, visited his former rival's grave on Tuesday at a small cemetery near the capital. Fischer, who died in January aged 64, bested Spassky in that headline-grabbing 1972 match to become the first, and still only, American world chess champion. A clearly moved Spassky bent and dusted snow off the grave and flowers before straightening up and wiping his eyes. "Do you think the spot next to him is available," he joked to reporters afterward, adding, "We will see what happens." Fischer beat Spassky again in a 1992 rematch played in the former Yugoslavia that defied U.S. sanctions and turned him into a fugitive from his native United States. He eventually became an Icelandic citizen after coming to the small North Atlantic island nation in 2005. The former child prodigy was in his later life known as much for his incendiary remarks and his battle with U.S. law enforcers as for his facility at the chessboard.

Although he was Jewish, Fischer often made anti-Semitic remarks and said after the September 11 attacks he wanted to see his the United States wiped out. Spassky has offered few comments about his former rival in the wake of Fischer's death, saying only the man was a friend. The Russian-born former champion, who now lives in Paris, was in Iceland with his wife for a chess event dedicated to Fischer's memory. Speaking with reporters in Iceland on Sunday, Spassky said chess now was just not the same as in his day. "As for the modern chess, I am pessimistic because in my view computers killed classic chess," he said. (Reporting by Kristin Arna Bragadottir via Stockholm Newsroom, Editing by Matthew Jones) ADVERTISEMENT

Question: In September 1972, who did Bobby Fischer defeat to become the first American World Chess Champion?
Answer: Boris Spassky