Bobby Fischer “Bobby “Bobby Fisher Fisher”” redirec redirects ts here. here. For For the English English footbal footballer, ler, see Bobby see Bobby Fisher (footballer). (footballer) . For those of a similar name, see Bob Fisher (disambiguation).. biguation)
cial act of the Icelandic Althing Icelandic Althing,, allowing him to live in Iceland until his death in 2008.
In the 1990s, Fischer patented a modified chess timing system, which added a time increment after each move, now a standard practice in top tournament and match Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – Jan- play. play. He also also inven invented ted a new variant new variant of chess named chess named uary 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster grandmaster and and Fischerandom (known (known today today as “Chess960”). “Chess960”). Fischer Fischer the eleve eleventh nth World Che Chess ss Cham Champio pionn. Many Many conside considerr him made numerous additional contributions to chess. tobethe gre greate atest st ch chessplay essplayer er of all alltim timee . In 1972 1972,, hecaphecaptured the World World Chess Chess Champion Championshi shipp from Bori Boriss Spass Spassky ky of the the USSR SSR ina matc matchh heldin heldin Reykjavík Reykjavík,, Iceland, publicized as a Cold a Cold War confrontation, War confrontation, which attracted more world worldwid widee interes interestt than any chess chess champi champions onship hip before before or 1 Earl Early y years ears since. In 1975, Fischer refused Fischer refused to defend his title when title when an agreem agreemen entt could could not be reac reache hedd with with FIDE FIDE,, the the game game’s ’s Bobby Fisch Fischer er was was born born at Michae Michaell Rees Reesee Hosp Hospiiinternational governing body, over one of the conditions Bobby [2] Chicago, Illi Illino nois is,, on Marc Marchh 9, 1943 1943.. His for the match. This allowed allowed Soviet GM Anatoly GM Anatoly Karpov, Karpov, tal in Chicago, birth certificate listed his father as Hans-Gerhardt Fiswho had won the qualifying Candidates’ cycle, to become [3] cher, also known as Gerardo Liebscher, a German the new world champion by default under FIDE rules. biophysicist.. His mother, biophysicist mother, Regina Regina Wender Wender Fischer Fischer,, was Fischer showed skill at an early age. At age 13, he won a US citizen; [4][5] Regina was born in Switzerland, to a "brilliancy brilliancy"" that became known as "The " The Game of the Jewish parents from Poland and Russia. [6] Raised in St. in St. Century". Century ". Starti Starting ng at age age 14, Fische Fischerr played played in eigh eightt Louis [2] Louis,, Missouri Missouri,, Regina became a teacher, registered United States Championships, Championships, winning each by at least nurse, and later a physician. physician. [7] a one-point margin. At age 15, Fischer became both the youngest grandmaster up to that time and the youngest After graduating from college in her teens, Regina traveled eled to Germany Germany to visit her her brother. brother. It was there she she candidate for candidate for the World Championship. met geneticist and future Nobel future Nobel Prize winner Prize winner Hermann Hermann At age 20, Fischer Fischer won the t he 1963–64 U.S. Championship Championship Joseph Muller, Muller , who persuaded her to move to Moscow with 11/11, the only perfect only perfect score in score in the history of the to study medicine. medicine. She enrolled enrolled at I.M. Sechenov First tournamen tournament.t. His book book My 60 Memorable Games (pub- Moscow State Medical University, University , where she met Hanslished 1969) became an icon of American chess litera- Gerhardt, whom she married in November 1933. [8] In ture and is regarded a masterwork. Fischer won the 1970 1938, Hans and Regina had a daughter, Joan Fischer. Fischer . Interzonal Tournament Interzonal Tournament by a record 3½-point margin and The reemergence of anti-Semitism under Joseph Stalin won 20 consecutive games, including two unprecedented prompted Regina to go with Joan to Paris to Paris,, France, where 6–0 sweeps in the Candidates the Candidates Matches. Matches . In July 1971, he Regina became an English teacher. The threat of a Gerbecame the first official official FIDE number-one-rated player. player . man invasion led her and Joan to go to the United States After losing his title as World Chess Champion, Fis- in 1939. Hans-Ger Hans-Gerhard hardtt attempted attempted to follo follow w the pair cher became reclusive and sometimes erratic, disappear- but his German citizenship barred him from entering the ing from both competitive competitive chess and the public eye. eye. In United States.[8] Regina and Hans-Gerhardt had sepa1992 he reemerged to win an unofficial rematch against rated in Moscow, although they did not officially officially divorce Spassky.. It was Spassky was he held ld in Yugoslavia in Yugoslavia,, which was under a until 1945.[8] United Nations embargo at embargo at the time. His participa participation tion At the time of her son’s birth, Regina was “homeless” [9] led to a conflict with the U.S. government, which sought and shuttled to different jobs and schools around the income tax on tax on Fischer’s match winnings, and ultimately country country to support support her famil family. y. She engaged engaged in politipolitiissued issued a warrant warrant for his arrest. arrest. After After that, he lived his cal activism, and raised both Bobby and Joan as a single life as an émigré an émigré.. In 2004 he was arrested arrested in Japan and parent.[10][11][12] held for several months for using a passport that had been 1949, the famil familyy move movedd to Brooklyn, Brooklyn, New New York York revok revoked ed by the U.S. governmen government.t. Eventuall Eventually, y, he was In 1949, [13] wheree she she studie studiedd for her her master master’s ’s degre degreee in nursnursgranted an Icelandic passport and citizenship by a spe- City, wher [11] ing and subsequently subsequently began working in that field. field. 1
2
1 EARL EARLY YEAR YEARS S
When the family vacationed at Patchogue Patchogue,, Long Island, Island, that that summe summer, r, Bobby Bobby found ound a book book of old old ches chesss games games and [22] Sources Sources implying implying that Paul Nemen Nemenyi yi,, a HungarianHungarian-Jew Jewish ish studied it intensely. Fischer Fischer biographer biographer Frank Frank Brady mathematician and physicist and and an expe expert rt in fluidand fluidand apap- describes the family’s move from Manhattan to Brooklyn plied mechanics, was Fischer’s biological father were father were first in 1950:[23] made public in a 2002 investigation by Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer .[12][14][15] In the fall of 1950, Regina moved the famThroughout the 1950s, the FBI the FBI investigated investigated Regina and ily out of Manhattan and across the bridge her circle for her alleged alleged communist sympathie sympathiess , as to Brooklyn, where she rented an inexpensive [16] well as her previous life in Moscow. The FBI files apartment near the intersection of Union and identify Paul Nemenyi as Bobby Fischer’s biological faFranklin Franklin streets. streets. It was only only temporary: temporary: She ther, showing that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered was trying to get closer to a better neighborthe United United States, States, having having been refused refused admissi admission on by hood. Robbed of her medical degree degree in Russia U.S. immigration officials due to his alleged Communist alleged Communist because of the war, she was now determined to [14][17][18] sympathies. Not only only were were Regin Reginaa and Neme Nemeny nyii acquire a nursing diploma. As soon as she enrepo reporte rtedd to have have had had an affai affairr in 1942 1942,, but but Neme Nemeny nyii made made rolled in the Prospect Prospect Heights School of Nursmonthly child support payments to Regina and paid for ing, the peripatetic Fischer family, citizens of Bobby’s schooling until his own death in 1952. [19] Nenowhere, moved once again—its tenth transit menyi had lodged complaints with social workers, saying in six years—to a $52-a-month two-bedroom he was concerned about the way that Regina was raising flat at 560 Lincoln Place in Brooklyn. Bobby, to the point that, on at least one occasion, Nemenyi broke down in tears. [14] Later on Bobby told the The family resided in apartment Q, a “small, basic, but Hungarian chess player Zita Rajcsányi that Paul Nemenyi habitable” habitable” apartment.[11] It was there that “Fischer soon would sometimes show up at the family’s Brooklyn apart- became so engrossed in the game that Regina feared ment and take him on outings. [12] After Paul Nemenyi he was spending too much time alone”. [11] As a result, died in 1952, Regina Fischer wrote a letter to Paul Ne- on November 14, 1950, Regina sent a postcard to the menyi’s first son (Peter ( Peter), ), asking if Paul had left money for Brookl Brooklyn yn Eagle newspaper, seeking to place an ad inquir[14] Bobby in his will: ing whether other children of Bobby’s age might be interested in playing playing chess with him. The paper rejected rejected her ad because no one could figure out how to classify Bobby was sick 2 days with fever fever and sore it, but forwarded her inquiry to Hermann Helms, Helms, the throat and of course a doctor or medicine was “Dean of American Chess”, who told her that Master out of the question. question. I don't think Paul Paul would Max Pavey, Pavey, former Scottish champion, would be giving a have have wante wantedd to leav leavee Bobby Bobby this this way way and woul wouldd simultaneous exhibition on exhibition on January 17, 1951. [24][25] Fisask you most urgently to let me know if Paul cher played in the exhibition. Although he held on for 15 left anything for Bobby. minutes, even drawing a crowd of onlookers, he eventually lost to the chess master. [26] On one occasion, Regina told a social worker that the One of the the spec specta tato tors rs was was Broo Brookl klyn yn Ches Chesss Club Club last time she had ever seen Hans-Gerhardt Fischer was in One [27] Nigro, an American chess American chess expert 1939, four years before before Bobby was born. On another oc- President, Carmine Nigro, casion, she told the same social worker she had traveled of near master strength and an instructor. [28] Nigro was to Mexico to see Hans-Gerhardt in June 1942 and that so impressed with Fischer’s play [27] that he introduced and began teaching teaching him.[29][30][31] Fischer Bobby was conceived during that meeting. [12] Accord- him to the club and possibly ing to Bobby Fischer’s Fischer’s brother-in-law, brother-in-law, Russell Russell Targ, Targ , who noted of his time with Nigro:[32] “Mr. Nigro was possibly was married to Bobby’s half-sister, Joan Joan,, for 40 years, not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher. Meeting him was probably a decisive decisive factor factor in Regina concealed the fact that Nemenyi was Bobby’s fa- teacher. ther because she wanted to avoid the stigma of an out-of- my going ahead with chess.” wedlock birth. [12] Nigro hosted Fischer’s first chess tournament at his home in 1952. 1952.[33] In thesummer thesummer of 1955, 1955, Fisch Fischer, er, then then 12 years years old, old, joine joinedd the Manh Manhattan attan Che Chess ss Club Club,, the strong stronges estt ches chesss 1.2 Chess Chess beginn beginning ingss club in the country. [34][35] Fischer’s relationship with Nigro lasted until 1956, [36][37] when Nigro moved away. [37] 1.1
1.2.1
Paul Paul Nemenyi Nemenyi as Fischer’s Fischer’s father ather
Impover Impoverish ished ed childho childhood od
In March 1949, 6-year-old Bobby and his sister Joan learned how to play chess chess using using the instructions from a set bought at a candy store.[20] When Joan lost interest in chess and Regina did not have time to play, it left Fischer to play many of his first games against himself. [21]
1.2.2
Mentorship Mentorship from from Lombardy Lombardy
Nigro introduced Fischer to future grandmaster William grandmaster William [38] Lombardy,, and, starting in September 1954, [39] LomLombardy bardy began coaching Fischer in private. [40][41][42][43][44]
2
1 EARL EARLY YEAR YEARS S
When the family vacationed at Patchogue Patchogue,, Long Island, Island, that that summe summer, r, Bobby Bobby found ound a book book of old old ches chesss games games and [22] Sources Sources implying implying that Paul Nemen Nemenyi yi,, a HungarianHungarian-Jew Jewish ish studied it intensely. Fischer Fischer biographer biographer Frank Frank Brady mathematician and physicist and and an expe expert rt in fluidand fluidand apap- describes the family’s move from Manhattan to Brooklyn plied mechanics, was Fischer’s biological father were father were first in 1950:[23] made public in a 2002 investigation by Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer .[12][14][15] In the fall of 1950, Regina moved the famThroughout the 1950s, the FBI the FBI investigated investigated Regina and ily out of Manhattan and across the bridge her circle for her alleged alleged communist sympathie sympathiess , as to Brooklyn, where she rented an inexpensive [16] well as her previous life in Moscow. The FBI files apartment near the intersection of Union and identify Paul Nemenyi as Bobby Fischer’s biological faFranklin Franklin streets. streets. It was only only temporary: temporary: She ther, showing that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered was trying to get closer to a better neighborthe United United States, States, having having been refused refused admissi admission on by hood. Robbed of her medical degree degree in Russia U.S. immigration officials due to his alleged Communist alleged Communist because of the war, she was now determined to [14][17][18] sympathies. Not only only were were Regin Reginaa and Neme Nemeny nyii acquire a nursing diploma. As soon as she enrepo reporte rtedd to have have had had an affai affairr in 1942 1942,, but but Neme Nemeny nyii made made rolled in the Prospect Prospect Heights School of Nursmonthly child support payments to Regina and paid for ing, the peripatetic Fischer family, citizens of Bobby’s schooling until his own death in 1952. [19] Nenowhere, moved once again—its tenth transit menyi had lodged complaints with social workers, saying in six years—to a $52-a-month two-bedroom he was concerned about the way that Regina was raising flat at 560 Lincoln Place in Brooklyn. Bobby, to the point that, on at least one occasion, Nemenyi broke down in tears. [14] Later on Bobby told the The family resided in apartment Q, a “small, basic, but Hungarian chess player Zita Rajcsányi that Paul Nemenyi habitable” habitable” apartment.[11] It was there that “Fischer soon would sometimes show up at the family’s Brooklyn apart- became so engrossed in the game that Regina feared ment and take him on outings. [12] After Paul Nemenyi he was spending too much time alone”. [11] As a result, died in 1952, Regina Fischer wrote a letter to Paul Ne- on November 14, 1950, Regina sent a postcard to the menyi’s first son (Peter ( Peter), ), asking if Paul had left money for Brookl Brooklyn yn Eagle newspaper, seeking to place an ad inquir[14] Bobby in his will: ing whether other children of Bobby’s age might be interested in playing playing chess with him. The paper rejected rejected her ad because no one could figure out how to classify Bobby was sick 2 days with fever fever and sore it, but forwarded her inquiry to Hermann Helms, Helms, the throat and of course a doctor or medicine was “Dean of American Chess”, who told her that Master out of the question. question. I don't think Paul Paul would Max Pavey, Pavey, former Scottish champion, would be giving a have have wante wantedd to leav leavee Bobby Bobby this this way way and woul wouldd simultaneous exhibition on exhibition on January 17, 1951. [24][25] Fisask you most urgently to let me know if Paul cher played in the exhibition. Although he held on for 15 left anything for Bobby. minutes, even drawing a crowd of onlookers, he eventually lost to the chess master. [26] On one occasion, Regina told a social worker that the One of the the spec specta tato tors rs was was Broo Brookl klyn yn Ches Chesss Club Club last time she had ever seen Hans-Gerhardt Fischer was in One [27] Nigro, an American chess American chess expert 1939, four years before before Bobby was born. On another oc- President, Carmine Nigro, casion, she told the same social worker she had traveled of near master strength and an instructor. [28] Nigro was to Mexico to see Hans-Gerhardt in June 1942 and that so impressed with Fischer’s play [27] that he introduced and began teaching teaching him.[29][30][31] Fischer Bobby was conceived during that meeting. [12] Accord- him to the club and possibly ing to Bobby Fischer’s Fischer’s brother-in-law, brother-in-law, Russell Russell Targ, Targ , who noted of his time with Nigro:[32] “Mr. Nigro was possibly was married to Bobby’s half-sister, Joan Joan,, for 40 years, not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher. Meeting him was probably a decisive decisive factor factor in Regina concealed the fact that Nemenyi was Bobby’s fa- teacher. ther because she wanted to avoid the stigma of an out-of- my going ahead with chess.” wedlock birth. [12] Nigro hosted Fischer’s first chess tournament at his home in 1952. 1952.[33] In thesummer thesummer of 1955, 1955, Fisch Fischer, er, then then 12 years years old, old, joine joinedd the Manh Manhattan attan Che Chess ss Club Club,, the strong stronges estt ches chesss 1.2 Chess Chess beginn beginning ingss club in the country. [34][35] Fischer’s relationship with Nigro lasted until 1956, [36][37] when Nigro moved away. [37] 1.1
1.2.1
Paul Paul Nemenyi Nemenyi as Fischer’s Fischer’s father ather
Impover Impoverish ished ed childho childhood od
In March 1949, 6-year-old Bobby and his sister Joan learned how to play chess chess using using the instructions from a set bought at a candy store.[20] When Joan lost interest in chess and Regina did not have time to play, it left Fischer to play many of his first games against himself. [21]
1.2.2
Mentorship Mentorship from from Lombardy Lombardy
Nigro introduced Fischer to future grandmaster William grandmaster William [38] Lombardy,, and, starting in September 1954, [39] LomLombardy bardy began coaching Fischer in private. [40][41][42][43][44]
3
2
Young oung cham champi pion on
In 1956, Fischer experienced a “meteoric rise” in his playing strength.[81] On the tenth national rating list of the Uni United ted Stat States es Che Chess ss Fed Federat eration ion (USCF), (USCF), publis published hed on [82] May 20, 1956, Fischer’s rating rating was was 1726, more than 900 points points belo below w top-ra top-rated ted Samuel Reshe Reshevsky vsky (2663).[83]
Bill Lombardy and Fischer analyzing, with Jack Collins looking on
“We “We spen spentt hours hours in our sessi session ons, s, simpl simplyy playin playingg over over qualquality games”, said Lombardy. Lombardy. “I tried to instill in Bobby the secret of my own speedy rise. Eidetic Imagery and Imagery and Total [45] Immersion.” Based on a 1956 game Lombardy played against Povilas against Povilas Vaitonis (in Vaitonis (in which he agreed to a draw offer after after only only 13 move moves), s), Lombar Lombardy dy told told Fisch Fischer: er: “Do not accept draw offers. For an ambitious and talented player, accepting a draw is death to a top result. result. Opponents fear fear an uncompromising opponent and thus make more mistakes. Act as I advise and do not copy my timidity.” timidity.” [46] Lombardy played a key part in Fischer’s becoming World Champion. [47][48] He was was Fisch Fischer’ er’ss aide aide at Porto Portorož rož[49][50] where where they they analyzed analyzed Fischer Fischer’s ’s games. games. [51] He was Fischer’ Fischer’ss [52][53][54][55][56][57][58] second in Reykjavik, where he analyzed with Fischer, [59][60][61] and helped keep Fischer in the match.[62][63][64][65][66]
1.3
The Hawth Hawthorn ornee Chess Chess Club Club
In June 1956, Fischer began attending the Hawthorne Chess Club, based in master John “Jack” W. Collins' Collins ' [67] home. For years it was believed that Collins was Fischer’s cher’s teacher teacherand and coach, coach,[68][69][70][71] even even though though Collins Collins [72] stated that he did not teach Fischer. It is now believ lieved ed that that Collin Collinss was was Fisch Fischer’ er’ss mento mentor, r, nothisteac not histeache herr or coach.[73][74][75][76] A mento mentorr and a frien riend, d, Fisch Fischer er playe playedd thousands of blitz of blitz and and offhand games with Collins and other strong players, studied the books in Collins’ large chess library, and ate almost as many dinners at Collins’ home as his own. [77][78][79] Future grandmaster Arnold grandmaster Arnold Denker was Denker was also a mentor to young Bobby, often taking him to watch the New York Rangers play Rangers play hockey hockey at at Madison Madison Square Garden. Garden . Bobby enjoyed those treats and never forgot them; the two became lifelong friends. [80]
Fischer in Cuba, March 1956
In March 1956, the Log Cabin Chess Club of Orange, New Jersey, Jersey, took Fischer on a tour to Cuba Cuba,, where he gave a 12-board simultaneous simultaneous exhibition at Havana’s Capablanca Chess Club, winning ten games and drawing two.[84][85] On this this tour tour theclubplayed theclubplayed a serie seriess of match matches es against other clubs. Fischer played played second second board, board , behind International Master Norman Master Norman Whitaker. Whitaker. Whitake Whitakerr and and Fischer were the leading scorers for the club, each scoring 5½ points out of 7 games. [86] In July 1956, Fischer won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, scoring 8½/10 at Philadelphia to become the youngest-ever Junior Champion at age 13. [87][88] At the 1956 U.S. 1956 U.S. Open Chess Championship in Championship in Oklahoma Oklahoma City, City, he scored 8½/12 to tie for 4–8th places, with Arthur Bisguier winning. Bisguier winning.[89] In the first Canadian first Canadian Open Chess Championship at Montrea Montreall 1956, 1956, he scored scored 7/10 7/10 to tie for 8–12th places, with Larry Evans winning. Evans winning.[90] In November, Fischer played in the 1956 Eastern States Open Championship in Washington, in Washington, D.C., D.C., tying for second with William Lombardy, Nicholas Rossolimo, Rossolimo , and Arthur Feuerstein, Feuerstein, with Hans with Hans Berliner taking Berliner taking first by a [91] half-point. Fisch Fischer er acce accepte ptedd an invit invitati ation on to play play in theThi the Third rd Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy Tournament in New York City (1956), a premier tournament limited to the 12 players considered the best in the country. [92] Although Fischer’s rating was not among the top 12 in the country, he received received entry by special considerati consideration. on. Playing against against top opposit opposition, ion, the 13-year-o 13-year-old ld Fischer Fischer could could only only score 4½/11, tying for 8–9th place. [93] Yet, he won the brilliancyy prize[94] for his "'immortal'"[95] game against brillianc International International Master[96] Donald Byrne, Byrne,[92] in which Fischer sacrificed his queen to unleash an unstoppable at-
4
3 GRANDMASTER, GRANDMASTER, CANDIDAT CANDIDATE, E, AUTHOR AUTHOR
tack. Hans Kmoch called it "The " The Game of the Cen[97] tury", tury ", writing: “The following game, a stunning masterpiece of combination of combination play play performed by a boy of 13 against against a formidabl ormidablee opponent opponent,, matches matches the finest finest on [98][99] record in the history of chess prodigies”. According to Frank Brady, "'The Game of the Century' has been talked about, analyzed, and admired for more than fifty years, and it will probably probably be a part of the canon of chess for many years to come.” [100] “In reflecting on his game a while after it occurred, Bobby was refreshingly modest: 'I just made the moves moves I thought thought were best. best. I was just lucky.'" [101] In 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former World World Champion Champion Max Euw Euwee at New New York, ork, losing losing ½– 1½.[102][103][104] On the USCF’s eleventh national rating list, published on May 5, 1957, Fischer was rated 2231— over 500 points higher than his rating a year before. [105] This made him the country’s youngest ever chess master, up to that point. [106] In July, he successfully defended his U.S. Junior title, scoring 8½/9 at San Francisco. [107] As a result of his strong tournament results, Fischer’s rating went up to 2298, “making him among the top ten active players in the country”. [108] In August, he scored 10/12 at the U.S. Open Chess Championship in Cleveland,, winning on tie-breaking Cleveland on tie-breaking points over points over Arthur [109][110] Bisguier. This made Fischer the youngest ever U.S. Open Champion. [111][112] He won the New Jersey Open Champio Championsh nship, ip, scoring scoring 6½/7.[113] He then defeate defeatedd the young Filipino master Rodolfo master Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 6–2 Cardoso 6–2 in a New York match sponsored by Pepsi-Cola by Pepsi-Cola..[114][115]
2.1
Wins Wins first first U.S. U.S. title title
Based Based on Fisch Fischer er’s ’s rating rating and strong strong resu results lts,, the USCF USCF invite vitedd him him to playin playin the the 1957 1957–5 –588 U.S. Champion Championship ship..[116] The tournament included such luminaries as six-time U.S. champi champion on Samuel Samuel Reshev Reshevsky, sky, defendi defending ng U.S. chamchampion Arthur Bisguier, and William Lombardy, who in August had won the World Junior Championship with the only perf perfec ectt score score (11–0) (11–0) in the history history of the [117][118][119] event. Bisguier Bisguier predicted predicted that Fischer would “finish slightly over the center mark”. [117][120] Despite all the predictions to the contrary, Fischer scored eight wins and five draws to win the tournament by a onepoint margin, with 10½/13. [121][122] Still two months shy of his 15th birthday, Fischer became the youngest ever U.S. Champion.[123] Since the championship that year was also the U.S. Zonal U.S. Zonal Championship, Championship, Fischer’s Fischer’s victory earned him the title of International of International Master. Master.[124][125] Fischer’s victory in the U.S. Championship sent his rating up to 2626, making him the second highest rated player in the United States, behind only Reshevsky (2713), [126] and qualified him to participate in the 1958 Portorož Interzonal, the next step toward challenging the World Champion. [114]
3
Grandma Grandmaste ster, r, candi candidat date, e, author author
Bobby Bobby wante wantedd to go to Mosco Moscow. w. At his plea pleadin ding, g, “Regi “Regina na wrote directly to the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, Khrushchev , reques requestin tingg an invit invitati ation on for Bobby Bobby to partic participa ipate te in the World Youth and Student Festival. Festival . The The re reply— ply— [127] affirmative—came too late for him to go.” Regina did not have the money to pay the airfare, but in the following year Fischer was invited onto the game show I've Got a Secret , where, thanks to Regina’s efforts, the producers of the show arranged two round-trip tickets to Russia. [128][129] Once Once in Russi Russia, a, Fisch Fischer er was was invit invited ed by the Sovie Soviett [130] Union to Moscow, where International Master Lev Abramov Abramov would serve as a guide to Bobby and his sister, Joan.[131] Upon arrival, Fischer immediately demanded that he be taken to the Moscow Central Chess Club, [132] wher wheree he playe playedd speed speed ches chesss with with “two “two young young Sovie Soviett masmas[133] ters”, Evgeni ters”, Evgeni Vasiukov and Vasiukov and Alexander Nikitin, winning every game.[132] Chess author V. I. Linder writes about the impression Fischer gave grandmaster Vladimir grandmaster Vladimir Alatortsev when Alatortsev when he played blitz against the Soviet masters: “Back in 1958, in the Central Chess Club, Vladimir Alatortsev saw a tall, angular 15-year-old youth, who in blitz games, crushed almost everyone who crossed his path... Alatortsev was was no exception, exception, losing all three games games.. He was was astoni astonish shed ed bythe by thepla playy of theyo the young ung AmerAmerican Robert Fischer, Fischer, his fantastic self-confidence, self-confidence, amazing chess erudition and simply simply brilliant play! On arriving home, Vladimir said in admiration to his wife: 'This is the future world champion!'" [134] Fischer demanded to play against Mikhail against Mikhail Botvinnik, Botvinnik, the reigning World Champion. When told that this was impossible, Fischer Fischer asked to play Keres. Keres. “Finally, “Finally, Tigran Petrosian was, Petrosian was, on a semi-official basis, summoned to the club...” where he played speed games with Fischer, winning the majority.[135] “When Bobby discovered that he wasn't going to play any formal games... he went into a not-so-silent rage”,[136] saying he was fed up “with these Russian pigs”,[137] which angered the Soviets who saw Fischer as their honored guest. It was then that the Yugoslavian chess officials offered to take in Fischer and Joan as early guests to the t he Interzonal. Fischer Fischer took them up on the offer, arriving in Yugoslavia to play two short training training matches matches against against masters masters Dragol Dragoljub jub Janošević and [138] Milan Matulović. Matulović. Fischer drew both games against Janošević and then defeated Matulović in Belgrade by 2½–1½.[139] The top six finishers in the Interzonal would qualify for the Candidates the Candidates Tournament. Tournament .[140] Most observers doubted that a 15-year-old with no international experience could finish among the six qualifiers at the Interzonal, but Fischer told journalist Miro Radoicic, “I can draw with the grandmasters, and there are half-a-dozen patzers patzers in in [141][142] the tournament I reckon to beat.” Despite some bumps in the road and a problematic start, Fischer succeeded in his plan: after a strong finish, he ended ended up with
3.1 Drops out of school
5
12/20 (+6−2=12) to tie for 5–6th.[143] The Soviet grand- even he and Tal could not match the commitment that master Yuri Averbakh observed, Fischer had made to chess. Recalling a conversation from the tournament: "'Tell me, Bobby,' Tal continued, 'what do you think of the playing style of Larissa Volpert?' In the struggle at the board this youth, al'She’s too cautious. But you have another girl, Dmitrieva. most still a child, showed himself to be a fullHer games do appeal to me!' Here we were left literally fledged fighter, demonstrating amazing comopen-mouthed in astonishment. Misha and I have looked posure, precise calculation and devilish reat thousands of games, but it never even occurred to us sourcefulness. I was especially struck not even to study the games of our women players. How could we by his extensive opening knowledge, but his find the time for this?! Yet Bobby, it turns out, had found striving everywhere to seek new paths. In the time!'"[156] Fischer’s play an enormous talent was noticeable, and in addition one sensed an enormous Until late 1959, Fischer “had dressed atrociously for amount of work on the study of chess.[144] a champion, appearing at the most august and distinguished national and international events in sweaters Soviet grandmaster David Bronstein said of Fischer’s and corduroys.”[157] A director of the Manhattan Chess time in Portorož: “It was interesting for me to observe Club had once banned Fischer for not being “properly Fischer, but for a long time I couldn't understand why accoutered”, forcing Denker to intercede to get him this 15-year-old boy played chess so well”. [145] Fischer reinstated. [158] Now, encouraged by Pal Benko to dress became the youngest person ever to qualify for the Can- more smartly, Fischer “began buying suits from all over didates and the youngest ever grandmaster at 15 years, the world, hand-tailored and made to order.” [159][160] He 6 months, 1 day. [146] “By then everyone knew we had a told journalist Ralph Ginzburg that he had 17 handgenius on our hands.”[147] tailored suits and that all of his shirts and shoes were [161] Before the Candidates’ Tournament, Fischer won the handmade. 1958–59 U.S. Championship (scoring 8½/11). [148] He At the age of 16, Fischer finished equal fifth out of eight tied for third (with Borislav Ivkov) in Mar del Plata (the top non-Soviet player) at the 1959 Candidates Tour(scoring 10/14), a half-point behind Ludek Pachman and nament in Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia,[162] scorMiguel Najdorf.[149] He tied for 4–6th in Santiago (scor- ing 12½/28. He was outclassed by tournament winner ing 7½/12) behind Ivkov, Pachman, and Herman Pil- Tal, who won all four of their individual games. [163] That nik.[150] year, Fischer released his first book of collected games: Games of Chess , published by Simon & At the Zürich International Tournament, spring 1959, Bobby Fischer’s [164] Fischer finished a point behind future World Champion Schuster. Mikhail Tal and a half-point behind Yugoslavian grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić.[151][152][153] Tal recalled Fis3.1 Drops out of school cher’s uncompromising style: In his game with the oldest competitor, the Hungarian grandmaster Gedeon Barcza, Fischer had no advantage, but, not wishing to let his opponent go in peace, played on to the 103rd move. The game was adjourned three times and the contestants used up two score sheets, but even when there were only the kings left on the board, Fischer made two more moves! Draw! Stunned by such a fanatical onslaught, Barcza could barely get up from his chair, but Bobby nonchalantly suggested: “Let’s have a look at the game from the beginning...” Barcza then began pleading: “Look, I have a wife and children. Who’s going to support them in the event of myuntimely death!"[154]
Fischer’s interest in chess became more important than schoolwork, to the point that “by the time he reached the fourth grade, he'd been in andout of six schools.” In 1952, Regina got Bobby a scholarship (based on his chess talent and “astronomically high IQ”) to Brooklyn Community Woodward.[165][166] Fischer later attended Erasmus Hall High Schoolat the same timeas Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.[167][168] In 1959, its student council awarded him a gold medal for his chess achievements. [169][170] The same year, Fischer dropped out of high school when he turned 16, the earliest he could legally do so. [171][172] He later explained to Ralph Ginzburg, “You don't learn anything in school.”[173][174]
When Fischer was 16, his mother moved out of their apartment to pursue medical training. Her friend Joan Rodker, who had met Regina when the two were “idealisticcommunists” living in Moscow in the1930s, believes Although Fischer had ended his formal education at age that Fischer resented his mother for being mostly absent 16, dropping out of Erasmus Hall High School in Brook- as a mother, a communist activist and an admirer of the lyn, he subsequently taught himself several foreign lan- Soviet Union and that this led to his hatred for the Soguages so he could read foreign chess periodicals. [155] viet Union. In letters to Rodker, Fischer’s mother states According to Latvian chess master Alexander Koblencs, her desire to pursue her own “obsession” of training in
6
6 1960–61
medicine and writes that her son would have to live in their Brooklyn apartment without her: “It sounds terrible to leave a 16-year-old to his own devices, but he is probably happier that way”. [5] The apartment was on the edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood that had one of thehighest homicide andgeneral crime rates in New York City.[175] Despite the alienation from her son, Regina, in 1960, protested the practices of the American Chess Foundation[176] and staged a five-hour protest in front of the White House, urging President Dwight Eisenhower to send an American team to that year’s chess Olympiad (set for Leipzig, East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain) and to help support the team financially.[15]
4
U.S. Championships
Fischer refused to play in the 1958 Munich Olympiad when his demand to play first board ahead of Samuel Reshevsky was rejected. [193][194] Some sources claim that 15-year-old Fischer was unable to arrange leave from attending high school. [195] Fischer would later represent the United States on first board at four Men’s Chess Olympiads, winning two individual Silver and one individual Bronze medals: [196]
Out of four Men’s Chess Olympiads, Fischer scored +40−7=18, for 49/65: 75.4%.[202][203] In 1966, Fischer narrowly missed the individual gold medal, scoring 88.23% to World Champion Tigran Petrosian’s 88.46%, even though he played four games more than Petrosian, faced stiffer opposition,[204] and would have won the gold if he had accepted Florin Gheorghiu's draw offer, rather than declining it and suffering his only loss. [205]
Fischer played in eight U.S. Championships, winning all of them,[177][178] by at least a one-point margin.[179] His At the 1962 Varna Olympiad, Fischer predicted that results were:[177][180][181] he would defeat Argentinian GM Miguel Najdorf in 25 moves. Fischer actually did it in 24, becoming the only player to beat Najdorf in the tournament. [206] Ironically, Najdorf lost the game whilst employing the very opening Fischer missed the 1961–62 Championship (he was variation named after him: the Sicilian Najdorf.[207] preparing for the 1962 Interzonal), and there was no 1964–65 event.[191] Out of eight U.S. Chess Champi- Fischer had planned to play for the U.S. at the 1968 backed out when he saw the onships, Fischer lost only three games; to Edmar Med- Lugano Olympiad, but [208] Both former World Chamnis in the 1962–63 event, and in consecutive rounds to poor playing conditions. Samuel Reshevsky, and Robert Byrne in the 1965 cham- pion Tigran Petrosian and Belgian-American Internapionship, culminating in a total score of 74/90 (61 wins, tional Master George Koltanowski, the “leader of the American team” that year, felt that Fischer was “justi26 draws, 3 losses). [192] fied” in not participating in the Olympiad.[209] According to Lombardy, Fischer’s non-participation was due to Reshevsky’s refusal to “yield first board”. [210]
5
Olympiads
6
1960–61
In 1960, Fischer tied for first place with Soviet star Boris Spassky at the strong Mar del Plata Tournament in Argentina, winning by a two-point margin, scoring 13½/15 (+13−1=1),[211][212] ahead of David Bronstein.[213] Fischer lost only to Spassky; this was the start of their lifelong friendship.[214] Fischer experienced the only failure in his competitive career[215] at the Buenos Aires Tournament (1960), finishing with 8½/19 (+3−5=11), far behind winners Viktor Korchnoi and Samuel Reshevsky with 13/19. [216] According to Larry Evans, Fischer’s first sexual experience was with a girl to whom Evans introduced him during the tournament.[217][218] Pal Benko says that Fischer did horribly in the tournament “because he got caught up in women and sex. Afterwards, Fischer said he'd never mix women and chess together, and kept the promise.” [219] Fischer concluded 1960 by winning a small tournament Fischer at the age of 17 playing against 23-year-old World in Reykjavík with 4½/5,[220] and defeating Klaus Darga Champion Mikhail Tal in Leipzig in an exhibition game in West Berlin. [221]
7 In 1961, Fischer started a 16-game match with Reshevsky, split between New York and Los Angeles. [222] Reshevsky, 32 years Fischer’s senior, was considered the favorite, since he had far more match experience and had never lost a set match. [223] After 11 games and a tie score (two wins apiece with seven draws), the match ended prematurely due to a scheduling dispute between Fischer and match organizer and sponsor Jacqueline Piatigorsky.[224][225] Reshevsky was declared the winner, by default, and received the winner’s share of the prize fund.[226]
entitled “The Russians Have Fixed World Chess”, that three of the five Soviet players (Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, and Efim Geller) had a prearranged agreement to quickly draw their games against each other in order to conserve their energy for playing against Fischer. It is generally thought that this accusation is correct. [241][242] Fischer stated that he would never again participate in a Candidates’ tournament, since the format, combined with the alleged collusion, made it impossible for a non-Soviet player to win. Following Fischer’s article, FIDE, in late 1962, voted to implement a radical reform of the playFischer was second in a super-class field, behind only for- off system, replacing the Candidates’ tournament with a the format that mer World Champion Tal, at Bled, 1961.[227] Yet, Fischer format of one-on-one knockout matches; [242][243] defeated Tal head-to-head for the first time in their indi- Fischer would dominate in 1971. vidual game, scored 3½/4 against the Soviet contingent, Fischer defeated Bent Larsen in a summer 1962 exhibiand finished as the only unbeaten player, with 13½/19 tion game in Copenhagen for Danish TV. Later that year, (+8−0=11).[228][229] Fischer beat Bogdan Śliwa in a team matchagainst Poland in Warsaw.[244]
7
In the 1962–63 U.S. Championship, Fischer experienced
1962: success, setback, accusa- his first single-game loss (to Edmar Mednis) in round one. Bisguier was in excellent form, and Fischer caught tions of collusion
up to him only at the end. Tied at 7–3, the two met in the final round. Bisguier stood well in the middlegame, Fischer won the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal by a but blundered, handing Fischer his fifth consecutive U.S. 2½-point margin,[230] going undefeated, with 17½/22 championship. [245] (+13−0=9).[231][232] He was the first non-Soviet player to win an Interzonal since FIDE instituted the tournament in 1948.[233] Russian grandmaster Alexander Kotov said 8 Semi-retirement in the midof Fischer:[234]
1960s I have discussed Fischer’s play with Max Euwe and Gideon Stahlberg. All of us, experienced 'tournament old-timers’, were surprised by Fischer’s endgame expertise. When a young player is good at attacking or at combinations, this is understandable, but a faultless endgame technique at the age of 19 is something rare. I can recall only one other player who at that age was equally skillful at endgames — Vasily Smyslov.
Influenced by ill will over the aborted 1961 match against Reshevsky, Fischer declined an invitation to play in the 1963 Piatigorsky Cup tournament in Los Angeles, which had a world-class field.[246] He instead played in the Western Open in Bay City, Michigan, which he won with 7½/8.[247][248] In August–September 1963, Fischer won the New York State Championship at Poughkeepsie, with 7/7, his first perfect score, [249] “ahead of Bisguier and Sherwin”.[250]
In the 1963–64 U.S. Championship, Fischer achieved his second perfect score, this time against the top-ranked chess players in the country: “This tournament became, as they say, the stuff of legend. The fact that Fischer won his sixth U.S. title was no surprise. The way he did it was spectacular.”[187] “One by one Fischer mowed down the opposition as he cut an 11–0 swathe through the field, to demonstrate convincingly to the opposition that he was now in a class by himself.” [246] This result brought Fischer heightened fame, including a profile in Life magazine. [251] Sports Illustrated diagrammed each of the 11 games 7.1 Accuses Soviets of collusion in its article, “The Amazing Victory Streak of Bobby Fischer”. [252] Such extensive chess coverage was groundSee also: World Chess Championship 1963 breaking for the top American sports’ magazine. His 11–0 win in the 1963–64 Championship is the only per[240] Following his failure in the 1962 Candidates, Fischer fect score in the history of the tournament, [253][254] and asserted, in an August 20, 1962 Sports Illustrated article, one of about ten perfect scores in high-level chess tourFischer’s victory made him a favorite for the Candidates Tournament in Curaçao.[235][236] Yet, despite his result in the Interzonal, Fischer only finished fourth out of eight with 14/27 (+8−7=12), [237] far behind Tigran Petrosian (17½/27), Efim Geller, and Paul Keres (both 17/27).[238] Tal fell very ill during the tournament, and had to withdraw before completion. Fischer, a friend of Tal, was the only contestant who visited him in the hospital.[239]
8 naments ever.[255][256][257] David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld called it “the most remarkable achievement of this kind”.[255] Fischer recalls:[258] “Motivated by my lopsided result (11–0!), Dr. [Hans] Kmoch congratulated [Larry] Evans (the runner up) on 'winning' the tournament... and then he congratulated me on 'winning the exhibition'.”
9 SUCCESSFUL RETURN
Vasily Smyslov, whom Fischer defeated in their individual game.[271] The tournament received extensive media coverage.[274][275]
In December, Fischer won his seventh U.S. Championship (1965), with the score of 8½/11 (+8−2=1), [276] despite losing to Robert Byrne and Reshevsky in the International Master Anthony Saidy recalled his last eighth and ninth rounds. [277][278] Fischer also reconciled round encounter with the undefeated Fischer: [259] with Mrs. Piatigorsky, accepting an invitation to the very strong second Piatigorsky Cup (1966) tournament in Santa Monica. Fischer began disastrously and after eight Going into the final game I certainly did rounds was tied for last with 3/8. He then staged “the not expect to upset Fischer. I hardly knew most sensational comeback in the history of grandmaster the opening but played simply, and he went chess”, scoring 7/8 in the next eight rounds. In the end, along with the scenario, opting for a N-v-B World Chess Championship finalist Boris Spassky edged [i.e., Knight vs. Bishop] endgame with a minhimoutbya half point, scoring 11½/18to Fischer’s 11/18 imal edge. In the corridor, Evans said to me, (+7−3=8).[279][280] Now aged 23, Fischer would win ev'Good. Show him we're not all children.' ery match or tournament he completed for the rest of his life.[281] At adjournment, Saidy saw a way to force a draw, yet Fischer won the U.S. Championship (1966–67) for “sealed a different, wrong move”, and lost. “The rest is the eighth and final time, ceding only three draws history.”[259] “Chess publications around the world wrote (+8−0=3),[282][283] In March–April and August– of the unparalleled achievement. Only Bent Larsen, alSeptember, Fischer won strong tournaments at Monte ways a Fischer detractor, was unimpressed: 'Fischer was Carlo, with 7/9 (+6−1=2),[284] and Skopje, with 13½/17 playing against children'". [260] (+12−2=3).[285][286] In the Philippines, Fischer played Fischer, eligible as U.S. Champion, decided against his nine exhibition games against master opponents, scoring participation in the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal, taking 8½/9.[287] himself out of the 1966 World Championship cycle,[261] even after FIDE changed the format of the eight-player Candidates Tournament from a round-robin to a series 9.1 Withdrawal while leading Interzonal of knockout matches, which eliminated the possibility of collusion. [251] Instead, Fischer embarked on a tour of the Fischer’s win in the 1966–67 U.S. Championship qualiUnited States and Canada from February through May, fied him for the next World Championship cycle. [276] playing a simultaneous exhibition, and giving a lecture in At the 1967 Interzonal, held at Sousse, Tunisia, Fiseach of more than 40 cities. [262] His 94% winning percher scored 8½ points in the first 10 games, to lead centage over more than 2,000 games is one of the best the field. His observance of the Worldwide Church of ever achieved.[263] Fischer declined an invitation to play God’s seventh-day Sabbath was honored by the organizfor the U.S. in the 1964 Olympiad in Tel Aviv.[264] ers, but deprived Fischer of several rest days, which led to a scheduling dispute,[288] causing Fischer to forfeit two games in protest and later withdraw, eliminating himself from the 1969 World Championship cycle.[289] Commu9 Successful return nications difficulties with the highly inexperienced local Fischer wanted to play in the Capablanca MemorialTour- organizers were also a significant factor, since Fischer nament, Havana in August and September 1965.[265] knew no French and the organizers had very limited Enhad previous experience Since the State Department refused to endorse Fischer’s glish. No one in Tunisian chess [290] passport as valid for visiting Cuba, [266] he proposed, and running an event of this stature. the tournament officials and players accepted, a unique Since Fischer had completed less than half of his schedarrangement: Fischer played his moves from a room at uled games, all of his results were annulled, meaning the Marshall Chess Club, which were then transmitted by players who had played Fischer had those games canteleprinter to Cuba.[267][268][269][270] Luděk Pachman ob- celled, and the scores nullified from the official tournaserved that Fischer “was handicapped by the longer play- ment record.[243] ing session resulting from the time wasted in transmitting the moves, and that is one reason why he lost to three of his chief rivals.”[271] The tournament was an “ordeal” 9.2 Second semi-retirement for Fischer, who had to endure eight-hour and sometimes even twelve-hour playing sessions. [272] Despite the hand- In 1968, Fischer won tournaments at Netanya, with icap, Fischer tied for second through fourth places, with 11½/13 (+10−0=3),[291] and Vinkovci, with 11/13 15/21 (+12−3=6),[273] behind former World Champion (+9−0=4),[292] by large margins.[293] Fischerthenstopped
10.1 Road to the World Championship
9
playing for the next 18 months, except for a win against the World match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, often referred Anthony Saidy in a 1969 New York Metropolitan League to as “the Match of the Century”. There was much surteam match.[294][295] That year, Fischer (assisted by prise when Fischer decided to participate:[306] grandmaster Larry Evans) released his second book of collected games: My 60 Memorable Games , published Fischer had not played competitive chess by Simon & Schuster. [296] The book “was an immediate for eighteen months, and many thought he success”. [297] would never return. Then, to general surprise and delight, he agreed to participate in the Soviet Union vs. the Rest of the World in 1970 in Belgrade. 10 World Champion In 1970, Fischer began a new effort to become World Champion. His dramatic march toward the title made him a household name and made chess front-page news for a time. He won the title in 1972, but forfeited it three years later. 10.1
Road to the World Championship
Fischer’s scoresheet from his round 3 game against Miguel Najdorf in the 1970 Chess Olympiad in Siegen , Germany
The 1969 U.S. Championship was also a zonal qualifier, with the top three finishers advancing to the Interzonal. Fischer, however, had sat out the U.S. Championship because of disagreements about the tournament’s format and prize fund. Benko, one of the three qualifiers, agreed to give up his spot in the Interzonal in order to give Fischer another shot at the World Championship. [298][299][300][301][302] “When it was suggested to Fischer that Benko was considering the gesture based on a large sum of money to be paid to him, Bobby replied that Benko would not give up his berth for money alone. It was a matter of honor”.[303][304] “Lombardy, who was next in line with the right to participate, was queried as to whether he would also step aside. 'I would like to play,' he answered, 'but Fischer should have the chance.'" [303]
With Evans as his second,[307] Fischer flew to Belgrade [308] with the intention of playing board one for the rest of the world. [309][310] Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen, however, (due to his recent tournament victories) demanded to play first board instead of Fischer, even though Fischer had the higher Elo rating.[310][311] To the surprise of everyone, Fischer agreed.[312][313] Although the USSR team eked out a 20 ½–19 ½ victory, “On the top four boards, the Soviets managed to win only one game out of a possible sixteen. Bobby Fischer was the high scorer for his team, with a 3–1 score against Petrosian (two wins and two draws).” [314] “Fischer left no doubt in anyone’s mind that he had put his temporary break from the tournament circuit to good use. Petrosian was almost unrecognizable in the first two games, and by the time he had collected himself, although pressing his opponent, he could do no more than draw the last two games of the four-game set”. [310] After the USSR versus the Rest of the World Match, the unofficial World Championship of Lightning Chess (5-minute games) was held at Herceg Novi. "[The Russians] figured on teaching Fischer a lesson and on bringing him down a peg or two”. [315] Petrosian and Tal were considered the favorites,[316] but Fischer overwhelmed the super-class field with 19/22 (+17−1=4), far ahead of Tal (14½), Korchnoi (14), Petrosian (13½), and Bronstein (13).[316][317] Fischer lost only one game (to Korchnoi, who was also the only player to achieve an even score against him in the double round robin tournament).[318][319] Fischer “crushed such blitz kings as Tal, Petrosian and Vasily Smyslov by a clean score”. [320] Tal marveled that, “During the entire tournament he didn't leave a single pawn en prise!", while the other players “blundered knights and bishops galore”. [320][321] For Lombardy, who had played many blitz games with Fischer, [322] Fischer’s 4½-point margin of victory “came as a pleasant surprise”. [323]
In April–May 1970, Fischer won at Rovinj/Zagreb with 13/17 (+10−1=6), by a two-point margin, ahead of Gligorić, Hort, Korchnoi, Smyslov, and Petrosian. [324][325] In July–August, Fischer crushed the mostly grandmaster field at Buenos Aires, winning by a 3½-point margin, In 1970 and 1971, Fischer “dominated his contempo- scoring 15/17 (+13−0=4).[326] Fischer then played first raries to an extent never seen before or since”. [305] board for the U.S. Team in the 19th Chess Olympiad in Before the Interzonal, in March and April 1970, the Siegen, where he won an individual Silver medal, scoring world’s best players competed in the USSR vs. Rest of 10/13 (+8−1=4),[201] with his only loss being to World
10
10 WORLD CHAMPION
Candidates, but not without a struggle. Tal predicted that Fischer would win 5½–4½ against Taimanov.” [338] "[Fischer] saw himself as the firm favorite in the Taimanov match. He was not alone; the noncommunist press was of the same mind. Only Taimanov insisted that he could win, dismissing Fischer as a mere computer”. [339] Taimanov had reason to be confident. He was backed by the firm guidance of Botvinnik, who “had thoroughly analysed Fischer’s record and put together a 'dossier' on him”, from whenhe was in talks to playFischer in a match “a couple of years earlier”. [340] After Fischer defeated Taimanov in the second game of the match, Taimanov asked Fischer how he managed to come up with the move 12. N1c3, to which Fischer replied “that the idea was not his—he had come across it in the monograph by the Soviet master Alexander Nikitin in a footnote”. [341] Taimanov said of this: “It is staggering that I, an expert on the Sicilian, should have missed this theoretically significant idea by my compatriot, while Fischer had uncovered it in a book in a foreign language!"[342] With the score at 4–0, in Fischer’s favor, the fifth game adjournment was a sight to behold. [343] Schonberg explains the scene: [315]
Fischer in Belgrade for the USSR vs Rest of the World match in 1970
Champion Boris Spassky. [327] Right after the Olympiad, Fischer defeated Ulf Andersson in an exhibition game for the Swedish newspaper Expressen.[328] Fischer had taken his game to a new level.[329] Fischer won the Interzonal (held in Palma de Mallorca in November and December 1970) with 18½/23 (+15−1=7),[330] far ahead of Larsen, Efim Geller, and Robert Hübner, with 15/23.[331][332] Fischer finished the tournament with seven consecutive wins. [333][334] Setting aside the Sousse Interzonal (which Fischer withdrew from while leading), Fischer’s victory gave him a string of eight consecutive first prizes in tournaments.[300] Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik was not, however, impressed by Fischer’s results, stating: “Fischer has been declared a genius. I do not agree with this... In order to rightly be declared a genius in chess, you have to defeat equal opponents by a big margin. As yet he has not done this”.[335] Despite Botvinnik’s remarks, “Fischer began a miraculous year in the history of chess”.[336]
Taimanov came to Vancouver with two seconds, both grandmasters. Fischer was alone. He thought that the sight of Taimanov and his seconds was the funniest thing he had ever seen. There Taimanov and his seconds would sit, six hands flying, pocket sets waving in the air, while variations were being spouted all over the place. And there sat Taimanov with a confused look on his face. Just before resuming play [in the fifth game] the seconds were giving Taimanov some last-minute advice. When poor Taimanov entered the playing room and sat down to confront Fischer, his head was so full of conflicting continuations that he became rattled, left a Rook en prise and immediately resigned. Fischer beat Taimanov by the score of 6–0.[344] “The record books showed that the only comparable achievement to the 6–0 score against Taimanov was Wilhelm Steinitz's 7–0 win against Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1876 in an era of more primitive defensive technique.” [345] “Who would have imagined that any challenger’s match would ever have been decided by a perfect score, when the participants are all to be ranked among the strongest players in the world?" [346] “It is difficult to portray to non-chess players the magnitude of such a shutout. A typical result between well-matched players might be, say, six wins to four, with nine draws”.[347] Taimanov later recalled, “When GrandMasters play, they see the logic of their opponent’s moves. One’s moves may be so powerful that the other may not be able to stop him, but the plan behind the moves will be clear. Not so with Fischer. His moves did not make sense...” [348]
In the 1971 Candidates matches, Fischer was set to play against Soviet grandmaster and concert pianist[337] Mark Taimanov in thequarter-finals. “Their matchwas to begin inMay1971in Vancouver, Canada, on thebeautiful campus of the University of British Columbia.” [338] “Analysts and players alike predicted that Fischer would win the Upon losing the final game of the match, Taimanov
11
10.2 World Championship match
shrugged his shoulders, saying sadly to Fischer: “Well, I still have my music.” [349] As a result of his performance, Taimanov “was thrown out of the USSR team and forbidden to travel for two years. He was banned from writing articles, was deprived of his monthly stipend... [and] the authorities prohibited him from performing on the concert platform.”[350] “The crushing loss virtually ended Taimanov’s chess career.” [351] Fischer was next scheduled to play against Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen. “Spassky predicted a tight struggle: 'Larsen is a little stronger in spirit.'"[352] Before the match, Botvinnik had told a Soviet television audience:[353] It is hard to say how their match will end, but it is clear that such an easy victory as in Vancouver [against Taimanov] will not be given to Fischer. I think Larsen has unpleasant surprises in store for [Fischer], all the more since having dealt with Taimanov thus, Fischer will want to do just the same to Larsen and this is impossible.
streak topped only by Steinitz’s 25 straight wins in 1873– 1882.[367][368] Petrosian won the second game, finally snapping Fischer’s streak.[369] After three consecutive draws, Fischer swept the next four games to win the match 6½–2½ (+5−1=3). [370] Sports Illustrated ran an article on the match, highlighting Fischer’s domination of Petrosian as being due to Petrosian’s outdated system of preparation: [371] Fischer’s recent record raises the distinct possibility that he has made a breakthrough in modern chess theory. His response to Petrosian’s elaborately plotted 11th move in the first game is an example: Russian experts had worked on the variation for weeks, yet when it was thrown at Fischer suddenly, he faced its consequences alone and won by applying simple, classic principles. Upon completion of the match, Petrosian remarked: “After the sixth game Fischer really did become a genius. I on the other hand, either had a breakdown or was tired, or something else happened, but the last three games were no longer chess.” [372][373] “Some experts kept insisting that Petrosian was off form, and that he should have had a plus score at the end of the sixth game...” to which Fischer replied, “People have been playing against me below strength for fifteen years.”[374] Fischer’s match results befuddled Botvinnik: “It is hard to talk about Fischer’s matches. Since the time that he has been playing them, miracles have begun.” [375] “When Petrosian played like Petrosian, Fischer played like a very strong grandmaster, but when Petrosian began making mistakes, Fischer was transformed into a genius.”[375]
Fischer beat Larsen by the score of 6–0. [354] Robert Byrne writes: “To a certain extent I could grasp the Taimanov match as a kind of curiosity–almost a freak, a strange chess occurrence that would never occur again. But now I am at a loss for anything whateverto say... So, it is out of the question for me to explain how Bobby, how anyone, could win six games in a row from such a genius of the game as Bent Larsen”. [355] Just a year before, Larsen had played first board for the Rest of the World team ahead of Fischer, and had handed Fischer his only loss at the Interzonal. Garry Kasparov later wrote that no player had ever shown a superiority over his rivals comparable to Fischer’s “incredible” 12–0 score in the two rating than any player in hismatches.[356] Chess statistician Jeff Sonas concludes that Fischer gained a far higher [376] On the July 1972 FIDE rating the victory over Larsen gave Fischer the “highest single- tory up to that time. list, his Elo rating of 2785 was 125 points above (World match performance rating ever”.[357] No. 2) Spassky’s rating of 2660.[377][378][379] His results On August 8, 1971, while preparing for his last Candi- put him on the cover of Life magazine,[380] and allowed dates match with former World Champion Tigran Pet- him to challenge World Champion Boris Spassky, whom rosian, Fischer played in the Manhattan Chess Club he had never beaten (+0−3=2). [381][382] Rapid Tournament, winning with 21½/22 against a strong field.[317][358] Despite Fischer’s results against Taimanov and Larsen, 10.2 World Championship match his upcoming match against Petrosian seemed a daunting task.[359] Nevertheless, the Soviet government was Main article: World Chess Championship 1972 concerned about Fischer. [360][361] “Reporters asked Pet- Fischer’s career-long stubbornness about match and tourrosian whether the match would last the full twelve nament conditions was again seen in the run-up to his games... 'It might be possible that I win it earlier,' Pet- match with Spassky. Of the possible sites, Fischer’s first rosian replied”,[362] and then stated: “Fischer’s [nine- choice was Belgrade, Yugoslavia, while Spassky’s was teen consecutive] wins do not impress me. He is a Reykjavík, Iceland.[383] For a time it appeared that the great chess player but no genius.”[363] Petrosian played a dispute would be resolved by splitting the match between strong theoretical novelty in the first game, gaining the the two locations, but that arrangement failed. [384] Afadvantage, but Fischer eventually won the game after ter that issue was resolved, Fischer refused to appear in Petrosian faltered.[364][365][366] This gave Fischer a run Iceland until the prize fund was increased. London fiof 20 consecutive wins against the world’s top players nancier Jim Slater donated an additional US$125,000, (in the Interzonal and Candidates matches), a winning bringing the prize fund up to an unprecedented $250,000
12
10 WORLD CHAMPION
Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972, on a visit to discuss the World Chess Championship details with the then FIDE president Max Euwe
(equivalent to $1,417,000 in 2015), [385] and Fischer finally agreed to play. [386] Before and during the match, Fischer paid special attention to his physical training and fitness, which was a relatively novel approach for top chess players at that time. He had developed his tennis skills to a good level, and played frequently during off-days in Reykjavík. He had also arranged for exclusive use of his hotel’s swimming pool during specified hours, and swam for extended periods, usually late at night. [387] According to Soviet grandmaster Nikolai Krogius, Fischer “was paying great attention to sport, and that he was swimming and even boxing...”[388] The match took place in Reykjavík from July to September 1972 and was the first to receive an American broadcast in prime time.[389][390] Fischer lost thefirst two games in strange fashion: the first when he played a risky pawngrab in a drawn endgame, the second by forfeit when he refused to play the game in a dispute over playing conditions.[391] Fischer would likely have forfeited the entire match, but Spassky, not wanting to win by default, yielded to Fischer’s demands to move the next game to a back room, away from the cameras whose presence had upset Fischer. [392][393] After that game, the match was moved back to the stage and proceeded without further serious incident. Fischer won seven of the next 19 games, losing only one and drawing eleven, to win the match 12½–8½ and become the 11th World Chess Champion. [389]
Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972
dia sensation.[394] It was called “The Match of the Century”,[395][396][397] and received front-page media coverage in the United States and around the world.[398][399] Fischer’s win was an American victory in a field that Soviet players had dominated for the previous quarter-century; players closely identified with, and subsidized by, the Soviet state. Kasparov remarked, “Fischer fits ideologically into the context of the Cold War era: a lone American genius challenges the Soviet chess machine and defeats it”.[400][401] Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman calls Fischer’s victory “the story of a lonely hero who overcomes an entire empire”. [402] Fischer’s sister observed, “Bobby did all this in a country almost totally without a chess culture. It was as if an Eskimo had cleared a tennis court in the snow and gone on to win the world championship”.[403]
Upon Fischer’s return to New York, [404] a Bobby Fischer Day was held. [405] He was offered numerous product endorsement offers worth “at least $5 million” (all of which he declined). [406] He appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated [407] with American Olympic swimming champion Mark Spitz. Fischer also made an appearance on a Bob Hope TV special.[408] Membership in the U.S. Chess Federation doubled in 1972,[409] and peaked in 1974; in The Cold War trappings made the match a me- American chess, these years are commonly referred to as
13 the “Fischer Boom”. Fischer won the ' Chess Oscar'[410] (an award, started in 1967, given to the best chess player, determined through votes from chess media and leading players) for 1970, 1971, and 1972. [411] This match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since. [412]
1975 in Bergen, Netherlands, [426] in which it was accepted that the match should be of unlimited duration, but the 9–9 clause was once again rejected, by a narrow margin of 35 votes to 32.[427] FIDE set a deadline of April 1, 1975, for Fischer and Karpov to confirm their participation in the match. No reply was received from Fischer by April 3. Thus, by default, Karpov officially became World Champion.[428] In his 1991 autobiography, Karpov 10.3 Forfeiture of title professed regret that the match had not taken place, and claimedthat thelost opportunityto challenge Fischer held Fischer was scheduled to defend his title in 1975 against back his own chess development. Karpov met with FisAnatoly Karpov, who emerged as his challenger. [413] Fis- cher several times after 1975, in friendly but ultimately cher, who had played no competitive games since his unsuccessful attempts to arrange a match since Karpov World Championship match with Spassky, laid out a pro- would never agree to play to 10. [429] posal for the match in September 1973, in consultation Brian Carney opined in The Wall Street Journal that Fiswith FIDE official Fred Cramer. He made three princi- cher’s victory over Spassky in 1972 left him nothing to pal (non-negotiable) demands: prove, except that perhaps someone could someday beat him, and he was not interested in the risk of losing. And 1. The match continues until one player wins 10 games, that Fischer’s refusal to recognize peers also allowed his draws not counting. paranoia to flower: “The world championship he won ... validated his view of himself as a chess player, but it 2. No limit to the total number of games played. also insulated him from the humanizing influences of the world around him. He descended into what can only be 3. In case of a 9–9 score, the champion (Fischer) re- considered a kind of madness”.[242] tains the title, and the prize fund is split equally. [414] Bronstein felt that Fischer “had the right to play the match with Karpov on his own conditions”. [430] KorchA FIDE Congress was held in 1974 during the Nice noi stated:[431] Olympiad. The delegates voted in favor of Fischer’s 10win proposal, but rejected his other two proposals, and Was Fischer right in demanding that the limited the number of games in the match to 36. [415] In world titlebe protected by a two point handicap response to FIDE’s ruling, Fischer sent a cable to Euwe [416][417][418] – that the challenger would be considered the on June 27, 1974: winner with a 10–8 score and that the champion would retain his title in the event of a 9–9 As I made clear in my telegram to the draw? Yes, this was quite natural: the chamFIDE delegates, the match conditions I propion deserves this, not to mention the fact that posed were non-negotiable. Mr. Cramer infurther play to the first win in the event of an forms me that the rules of the winner being the even score would be nothing short of a lottery – first player to win ten games, draws not countthe winner in that case could not claim to have ing, unlimited number of games and if nine won a convincing victory. wins to nine match is drawn with champion regaining title and prize fund split equally were Soviet grandmaster Lev Alburt felt that thedecision to not rejected by the FIDE delegates. By so doing concede to Fischer’s demands rested on Karpov’s “sober FIDE has decided against my participation in view of what he was capable of”. [432] Years later, in his the 1975 World Chess Championship. There1992 match against Spassky, Fischer said that Karpov fore, I resign my FIDE World Chess Champi“refused to play against [him] under [his] conditions”.[433] onship title. Sincerely, Bobby Fischer. The delegates responded by reaffirming their prior decisions, but did not accept Fischer’s resignation and requested that he reconsider. [419] Many observers considered Fischer’s requested 9–9 clause unfair because it would require the challenger to win by at least two games (10–8).[420] Botvinnik called the 9–9 clause “unsporting”.[421] Korchnoi, David Bronstein, and Lev Alburt considered the 9–9 clause reasonable. [422][423][424]
11
Sudden obscurity
After the 1972 World Chess Championship, Fischer did not play a competitive game in public for nearly 20 years.[434] In 1977 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he played three games against the MIT Greenblatt computer program, winning them all.[435]
Due to the continued efforts of U.S. Chess Federation On May 26, 1981, while walking in Pasadena, Fischer officials,[425] a special FIDE Congress was held in March was arrested by a police patrolman, allegedly because he
14
13 LIFE AS AN ÉMIGRÉ
matched the description of a man who had just commitof a previous generation. He was, moreover, [436] ted a bank robbery in the area. Fischer, who alleged the only strong player in the world who didn't [437] that he was slightly injured during the arrest, said that trust computers and wasn't surrounded by seche was held for two days, subjected to assault and varonds and supplicants. [438] ious types of mistreatment, and released on $1,000 [439] bail. Fischer published a 14-page pamphlet detailing Fischer won the match with 10 wins, 5 losses, and 15 his alleged experiences and saying that his arrest had been draws.[452] Kasparov stated, “Bobby is playing OK, noth“a frame up and set up”. [440][441][442] ing more. Maybe his strength is 2600 or 2650. It wouldn't [453] Yasser Seirawan believed that In 1981, Fischer stayed at the home of grandmaster be close between us”. strength was Peter Biyiasas, where, over a period of four months, the match proved that Fischer’s playing [454] he defeated Biyiasas seventeen times in a series of “somewhere in the top ten in the world”.
speed games.[443][444] In an interview with Sports Illus- Fischer and Spassky gave ten press conferences during trated reporter William Nack, Biyiasas assessed Fischer’s the match.[455] Seirawan attended the match and met with Fischer on several occasions; the two analyzed some play:[442][445] match games and had personal discourse. Seirawan later wrote: “After September 23 [1992], I threw most of He was too good. There was no use in what I'd ever read about Bobby out of my head. Sheer playing him. It wasn't interesting. I was getgarbage. Bobby is the most misunderstood, misquoted ting beaten, and it wasn't clear to me why. It celebrity walking the face of the earth.” [456] He furwasn't like I made this mistake or that misther wrote that Fischer was not camera shy, smiled and take. It was like I was being gradually outlaughed easily, was “a fine wit” and “wholly enjoyable played, from the start. He wasn't taking any conversationalist”. [457] time to think. The most depressing thing about it is that I wasn't even getting out of the middle The U.S. Department of the Treasury warned Fischer game to an endgame. I don't ever remember an before the start of the match that his participation was endgame. He honestly believes there is no one illegal, that it would violate President George H. W. for him to play, no one worthy of him. I played Bush's Executive Order 12810 imposing United Nations him, and I can attest to that. Security Council Resolution 757 sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia. [458] In response, during the first scheduled press conference on September 1, in front of the international press, Fischer spat on the 12 1992 Spassky rematch U.S. order, saying “this is my reply”.[459] His violation of the order led U.S. Federal officials to initiate a warrant Main article: Fischer–Spassky (1992 match) for his arrest upon completion of the match, [460] citing, in pertinent part, "Title 50 USC §§1701, 1702, and 1705 Fischer emerged after twenty years of isolation to play and Executive Order 12810”. [461][462][463][464] Spassky (then tied for 96th–102nd on the FIDE rating Prior to the rematch against Spassky, Fischer had won a list) in a “Revenge Match of the 20th century” in 1992. training match against Svetozar Gligorić in Sveti Stefan This match took place in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, with six wins, one loss and three draws.[465] Yugoslavia, in spite of a United Nations embargo that included sanctions on commercial activities. Fischer demanded that the organizers bill the match as “The World Chess Championship”, although Garry Kasparov was the 13 Life as an émigré recognized FIDE World Champion. Fischer insisted he was still the true World Champion, and that for all After the 1992 match with Spassky, Fischer, now a the games in the FIDE-sanctioned World Championship fugitive, slid back into relative obscurity, taking up resmatches, involving Karpov, Korchnoi, and Kasparov, the idence in Budapest, Hungary, and allegedly having a outcomeshad been prearranged.[446] The purse for the re- relationship with young Hungarian chess master Zita match was US$5 million, with $3.35 million of the purse Rajcsányi.[442][466] to go to the winner. [447][448][449][450] Fischer claimed that standard chess was stale and that [451] he now played blitz games of chess variants, such as According to grandmaster Andrew Soltis: Chess960. He visited with the Polgár family in Budapest and analyzed many games with Judit, Zsuzsa, and Zsófia [The match games] were of a fairly high Polgár.[467][468][469][470] quality, particularly when compared with Kasparov’s championship matches of 1993, 1995 and 2000, for example. Yet the games also reminded many fans of how out of place Fischer was in 1992. He was still playing the openings
From 2000 to 2002, Fischer lived in Baguio City in the Philippines, [471] residing in the same compound as the Filipino grandmaster Eugenio Torre, a close friend who had acted as his second during his 1992 match
15
13.2 Anti-American and anti-Israel statements
with Spassky.[471] Torre introduced Fischer to a 22year-old woman named Marilyn Young. [472] On May 21, 2001, Marilyn Young gave birth to a daughter named Jinky Young.[473][474] Her mother claimed that Jinky was Fischer’s daughter, citing as evidence Jinky’s birth and baptismal certificates, photographs, a transaction record dated December 4, 2007, of a bank remittance by Fischer to Jinky, and Jinky’s DNA through her blood samples. [473][475][476] On the other hand, Magnús Skúlason, a friend of Fischer’s, said that he was certain that Fischer was not the girl’s father.[477] On August 17, 2010, it was reported that a DNA test revealed that Jinky Young was not the daughter of Bobby Fischer.[478][479] 13.1
Anti-semitic statements
Fischer made numerous anti-Jewish statements and professed a general hatred for Jews since at least the early 1960s.[480][481] Jan Hein Donner wrote that at the time of Bled 1961, “He idolized Hitler and read everything about him that he could lay his hands on. He also championed a brand of anti-semitism that could only be thought up by a mind completely cut off from reality”. [215] Donner took Fischer to a war museum, which “left a great impression, since [Fischer] is not an evil person, and afterwards he was more restrained in his remarks—to me, at least.” [215] Although Fischer described his mother as Jewish in a 1962 interview,[480] he later denied his Jewish ancestry. [12] In 1984, Fischer denied being a Jew in a letter to the Encyclopaedia Judaica, insisting that they remove his name and accusing them of “fraudulently misrepresenting me to be a Jew [...] to promote your religion”.[482] From the 1980s on, Fischer’s comments about Jews were a major theme in his public and private remarks. [483] He openly denied the Holocaust, and called the United States “a farcecontrolled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew bastards”.[484] Between1999 and2006, Fischer’s primary means of communicating with the public was radio interviews. He participated in at least 34 such broadcasts, mostly with radio stations in the Philippines, but also in Hungary, Iceland, Colombia, and Russia. In 1999, he gave a radio call-in interview to a station in Budapest, Hungary, during which he described himself as the “victim of an international Jewish conspiracy". In another radio interview, Fischer said that it became clear to him in 1977, after reading The Secret World Government by Count Cherep-Spiridovich, that Jewish agencies were targeting him.[485] Fischer’s sudden reemergence was apparently triggered when some of his belongings, which had been stored in a Pasadena, California, storage unit, were sold by the landlord who claimed it was in response to nonpayment of rent.[486]
ligion by Ben Klassen, founder of the World Church of the Creator.[487][488] A notebook written by Fischer contains sentiments such as “8/24/99 Death to the Jews. Just kill the Motherfuckers!" and “12/13/99 It’s time to start randomly killing Jews”.[489] Despite hisviews, Fischer remained on good terms with Jewish chess players. [490]
13.2
Anti-American and anti-Israel statements
Shortly after midnight on September 12, 2001, Philippines local time (approximately four hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks in the U.S.), Fischer was interviewed live by Pablo Mercado on the Baguio City station of the Bombo Radyo network. Fischer stated that he was happy that the airliner attacks had happened, while expressing hisviewon U.S. andIsraeli foreign policy, saying “I applaud the act. Look, nobody gets ... that the U.S. and Israel have been slaughtering the Palestinians ... for years.” [491][492][493][494] He also said “The horrible behavior that the U.S. is committing all over the world ... This just shows you, that what goes around, comes aroundeven for the United States.”[491][492] Fischer also referencedthe movie Seven Days in May and said he hoped for a military coup d'état in the U.S., "[I hope] the country will be taken over by the military, they'll close down all the synagogues, arrest all the Jews, execute hundreds of thousands of Jewish ringleaders.” [495][496] In response to Fischer’s statements about 9/11, the U.S. Chess Federation passed a motion to cancel his right to membership in the organization. [497] Fischer’s right to become a member was reinstated in 2007.[498] 13.3
Detention in Japan
Fischer lived for a time in Japan. [499] On July 13, 2004, acting in response to a letter from U.S. officials, Japanese immigration authorities arrested him at Narita International Airport near Tokyo for allegedly using a revoked U.S. passport while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight to Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila, Philippines.[500] Fischer resisted arrest, and claimed to have sustained bruises, cuts and a broken tooth in the process. [501] At the time, Fischer had a passport (originally issued in 1997 and updated in 2003 to add more pages) that, according to U.S. officials, had been revoked in November 2003 due to his outstanding arrest-warrant for the Yugoslavia sanctions violation. [500][502] Despite the outstanding arrest-warrant in the U.S., Fischer said that he believed the passport was still valid. [503] The authorities held Fischer at a custody center for 16 days before transferring him to another facility. Fischer claimed that his cell was windowless and he had not seen the Fischer’s library contained anti-semitic and racist litera- light of day during that period, and that the staff had igture such as Mein Kampf , The Protocols of the Elders of nored his complaints about constant tobacco smoke in his Zion, and The White Man’s Bible and Nature’s Eternal Re- cell.[501][504][505][506][507][508]
16
14 PERSONAL LIFE
Tokyo-based Canadian journalist and consultant John Bosnitch set up the “Committee to Free Bobby Fischer” after meeting Fischer at Narita Airport and offering to assist him.[509] Boris Spassky wrote a letter to U.S. President George H. W. Bush, asking “For mercy, charity”, and, if that was not possible, “to put [him] in the same cell with Bobby Fischer” and “to give [them] a chess set”. [510] It was reported that Fischer and Miyoko Watai, the President of the Japanese Chess Association (with whom he had reportedly been living since 2000) wanted to become legally married.[500] (It was also reported that Fischer had been living in the Philippines with Marilyn Young during the same period. [471] ) Fischer applied for German citizenship on the grounds that his father was German. [511] Fischer stated that he wanted to renounce his U.S. citizenship, and appealed to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to help him do so, though to no effect.[512][513][514] Japan’s Justice Minister rejected Fischer’s request for asylum and ordered his deportation.[515][516][517]
13.4
Asylum in Iceland
Seeking ways to evade deportation to the United States, Fischer wrote a letter to the government of Iceland in early January 2005, requesting Icelandic citizenship. [518] Sympathetic to Fischer’s plight, but reluctant to grant him the full benefits of citizenship, Icelandic authorities granted him an alien’s passport. When this proved insufficient for the Japanese authorities, the Althing (the Icelandic Parliament), at the behest of William Lombardy,[519][520] agreed unanimously to grant Fischer full citizenship in late March for humanitarian reasons, as they felt he was being unjustly treated by the U.S. and Japanese governments,[521] and also in recognition of his 1972 match, which had “put Iceland on the map”.[522][523]
14
Personal life
Fischer was eccentric. [532] He made a large number of demands for the playing conditions at his 1972 World Championship match with Spassky. He became more erratic in his years after losing his World Championship title.
14.1
Religious affiliation
Although Fischer’s mother was Jewish, Fischer disavowed having Jewish roots. [533] In an interview in the January 1962 issue of Harper’s, Fischer was quoted as saying, “I read a book lately by Nietzsche and he says religion is just to dull the senses of the people. I agree.”[480][534] Fischer joined the Worldwide Church of God in the mid1960s. The church prescribed Saturday Sabbath, and forbade work (and competitive chess) on Sabbath. [535] According to his friend and colleague Larry Evans, in 1968 Fischer felt philosophically that “the world was coming to an end” and he might as well make some money by publishing My 60 Memorable Games ;[536] Fischer thought that the Rapture was coming soon. [537] During the mid 1970s Fischer contributed significant money to the Worldwide Church of God. [538] In 1972 one journalist stated that “Fischer is almost as serious about religion as he is about chess”, and the champion credited his faith with greatly improving his chess. [539] Yet, prophecies by Herbert W. Armstrong went unfulfilled, [540] and the church was rocked by revelations of a series of sex scandals involving Garner Ted Armstrong.[541] Fischer eventually left the church in 1977, “accusing it of being 'Satanic', and vigorously attacking its methods and leadership.” [443]
After arriving in Reykjavík, Fischer gave a press conference.[524] He lived a reclusive life in Iceland, avoiding entrepreneurs and others who approached him with 14.2 various proposals.[525] Fischer moved into an apartment in the same building as his close friend and spokesman, Garðar Sverrisson.[526] Garðar’s wife, Kristín Þórarinsdóttir, was a nurse and later looked after Fischer as a terminally ill patient. Garðar’s two children, especially his son, were very close to Fischer. [527] Fischer also developed a friendship with Magnús Skúlason, a psychiatrist and chess player who later recalled long discussions with him on a wide variety of subjects. [528]
Death, estate dispute, and exhumation
On December 10, 2006, Fischer telephoned an Icelandic television station and pointed out a winning combination, missed by the players and commentators. [529] In 2005, some of Fischer’s belongings were auctioned on eBay. Fischer claimed, in 2006, that those belongings were worth millions of U.S. dollars.[530][531] Fischer’s resting place
Church
of Laugardælir,
17
14.3 Speculation on psychological condition
pay Watai’s legal costs, amounting to ISK 6.6 million (approximately $57,000). [559] 14.3
Speculation on psychological condition
While as far as is known Fischer was never formally diagnosed,[15] there has been widespread comment and speculation concerning his psychological condition based on his extreme views and unusual behavior. [561] Reuben Fine, psychologist and chess player, who met Fischer Fischer’s grave many times, said that “Some of Bobby’s behavior is so strange, unpredictable, odd and bizarre that even his most On January 17, 2008, Fischer died from renal failure ardent apologists have had a hard time explaining what at the Landspítali Hospital (National University Hospimakes him tick” and described him as “a troubled human tal of Iceland) in Reykjavík. [542][543][544][545][546] He origbeing” with “obvious personal problems”.[562] inally had a urinary tract blockage but refused surgery or medications.[547][548][549] Magnús Skúlason reported Valery Krylov, advisor to Anatoly Karpov and a specialFischer’s response to leg massages: “Nothing soothes as ist in the “psycho-physiological rehabilitation of sportsmen”, believed Fischer suffered from schizophrenia.[561] much as the human touch.” [550] Psychologist Joseph G Ponteretto, from second-hand On January 21, Fischer was buried in the small Chrissources, concludes that “Bobby did not meet all the tian cemetery of Laugardælir church, outside the town of necessary criteria to reach diagnoses of schizophrenia Selfoss, 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Reykjavík, or Asperger’s Disorder. The evidence is stronger for after a Catholic funeral presided over by Fr. Jakob Rolparanoid personality disorder.”[561] Dr. Magnús Skúlaland of the diocese of Reykjavík. In accordance with Fisson, a chess player and a psychiatrist and head doctor cher’s wishes, only Miyoko Watai, Garðar Sverrisson, and of Sogn Mental Asylum for the Criminally Insane, beGarðar’s family were present. [551][552] friended Fischer toward the end of Fischer’s life. From Fischer’s estate was estimated at 140 million ISK (about Endgame, Fischer’s 2011 biography by Frank Brady: [563] 1 million GBP, or $2 million USD). It quickly became the object of a legal battle involving claims from four [...] Skulason was not “Bobby’s psychiaparties, with Miyoko Watai ultimately inheriting what trist”, as has been implied in the general press, remained of Fischer’s estate after government claims. nor did he offer Bobby any analysis or psyThe four parties were Fischer’s apparent Japanese wife chotherapy. He was at Bobby’s bedside as a Miyoko Watai, his alleged Filipino daughter Jinky Young friend, to try to do anything he could for him. and her mother Marilyn Young, his two American Because of his training, however, he couldn't nephews Alexander and Nicholas Targ and their father fail to take note of Bobby’s mental condition. Russell Targ, and the U.S. government (claiming unpaid “He definitely was not schizophrenic”, Skulataxes).[477][528][553][554] son said. “He had problems, possibly certain childhood traumas that had affected him. He According to a press release issued by Samuel Estimo, an was misunderstood. Underneath I think he was attorney representing Jinky Young, the Supreme Court a caring sensitive person.” of Iceland ruled, in December 2009, that Watai’s claim of marriage to Fischer was invalidated because of her failure to present the original copy of their alleged marriage certificate.[555] On June 16, 2010, the Court ruled 15 Contributions to chess in favor of a petition on behalf of Jinky Young to have Fischer’s remains exhumed. [556][557] The exhumation was 15.1 Opening theory performed on July 5, 2010, in the presence of a doctor, a priest, and other officials. A DNA sample was taken For most of his career, Fischer was predictable in his use and Fischer’s body was then reburied. [558] On August 17, of openings and variations of those openings. Despite 2010, the Court announced that based on the DNA sam- this seeming disadvantage, it was very difficult for oppople it was determined that Fischer was not the father of nents to exploit this limitation, because Fischer’s knowlJinky Young.[478][479] On March 3, 2011, an Icelandic edge of the openings and variations that he used was district court ruled that Miyoko Watai and Fischer had extensive.[564] married on September 6, 2004, [559] and that, as Fischer’s widow and heir, Watai was therefore entitled to inherit As Black, Fischer would usually play the Najdorf SiFischer’s estate.[560] Fischer’s nephews were ordered to cilian against 1.e4, and the King’s Indian Defense against 1.d4, only rarely venturing into the Nimzo-Indian
18
15 CONTRIBUTIONS TO CHESS
(1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4), Benoni, Grünfeld or is busted. It loses by force.”[594] Fischer recommended Neo-Grünfeld.[565] As White, Fischer almost exclusively 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6, [595] which has since beplayed 1.e4 throughout his career. [566] come known as the Fischer Defense, as a refutation to [596][597][598] Fischer later played the Fischer was a master of playing with,[567] and against,[568] the King’s Gambit. as White in three tournament games, winthe Sicilian Defense. The next most common defense King’s Gambit[599] against Fischer’s 1.e4 was the Caro-Kann Defense (1.e4 ning them all. c6), against which Fischer had a good record. [569] Fischer’s worst record was against the French Defense (1.e4 e6),[570] especially the Winawer Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4).[571] Fischer maintained that the Winawer was unsound because it exposed Black’s kingside, and that, in his view, “Black was trading off his good bishop with 3...Bb4 and ...Bxc3.” [572] Later on Fischer said: “I may yet be forced to admit that the Winawer is sound. But I doubt it! The defense is anti-positional and weakens the K-side.”[573]
15.2
Endgame
Fischer had excellent endgame technique.[600] International Master Jeremy Silman listed him as one of the five best endgame players (along with Emanuel Lasker, Akiba Rubinstein, José Capablanca, and Vasily Smyslov), calling Fischer a “master of bishop endings”. [601] The endgame of a rook, bishop, and pawns against a rook, knight, andpawnshassometimes been called the“Fischer Fischer was renowned for his opening preparation Endgame” because of several instructive wins by Fischer and made numerous contributions to chess opening (withthe bishop), including threeagainst Mark Taimanov theory.[574] He was one of the foremost experts on the in 1970 and 1971. [602][603][604] Ruy Lopez.[575] A line of the Exchange Variation (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0) is sometimes called the “Fischer Variation” after he successfully resur- 15.3 Fischer clock rected it at the 1966 Havana Olympiad.[576][577] Fischer’s lifetime score with the move 5.0-0 in tournament and Further information: Game clock § Recent developments match games was eight wins, three draws, and no losses of digital clocks and current usage (86.36%).[578] Fischer was a recognized expert in the black side of the Najdorf Sicilian and the King’s Indian Defense. [579] He used the Grünfeld Defense and Neo-Grünfeld Defense to win his celebrated games against Donald and Robert Byrne, and played a theoretical novelty in the Grünfeld against reigning World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, refuting Botvinnik’s prepared analysis over-theboard.[580][581] In the Nimzo-Indian Defense, the line beginning with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Ne2 Ba6 was named after him. [582][583][584] Fischer established the viability of the so-called Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Najdorf Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6). This bold queen sortie, to snatch a pawn at the expense of development, had been considered dubious, [585][586][587] but Fischer succeeded in proving its soundness. [588] Out of ten tournament and match games as Black in the Poisoned Pawn, Fischer scored 70%, winning five, drawing four, and losing only one: the 11th game of his 1972 match against Spassky. [589] Following Fischer’s use, the Poisoned Pawn Variation became a respected line, utilized by many of the world’s leading players. [590]
In 1988, Fischer filed for U.S. Patent 4,884,255 for a new type of chess clock, which gave each player a fixed period at the start of the game and then added a small increment after each completed move. [605] Used in the 1992 rematch between Fischer and Spassky,[606][607] the “Fischer clock” soon became standard in most major chess tournaments.[608] 15.4
Fischerandom Chess
Main article: Chess960 Fischer heavily disparaged chess as it was currently being played (at the highest levels). [609] As a result, on June 19, 1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fischer announced and advocated a variant of chess called Fischerandom Chess (later known as Chess960). The goal of Fischerandom Chess was to ensure that a game between two players is a contest between their understandings of chess, rather than their abilities to memorize opening lines or prepare opening strategies.[610]
On the white side of the Sicilian, Fischer made advances In a 2006 Icelandic Radio interview, Fischer explained to the theory of the line beginning 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 his reasons for advocating Fischerandom Chess: [611] 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 (or e6) 6.Bc4, [588][591] which has sometimes been named after him. [592] In 1961, In chess so much depends on opening theprompted by a loss the year before to Spassky, [593] Fisory, so the champions before the last century cher wrote an article entitled “A Bust to the King’s Gamdid not know as much as I do and other playbit" for the first issue of the American Chess Quarterly , ers do about opening theory. So if you just in which he stated, “In my opinion, the King’s Gambit brought them back from thedead they wouldn't
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15.6 Head-to-head record versus selected grandmasters
do well. They'd get bad openings. You cannot compare the playing strength, you can only talk about natural ability. Memorisation is enormously powerful. Some kid of fourteen today, or even younger, could get an opening advantage against Capablanca, and especially against the players of the previous century, like Morphy and Steinitz. Maybe they would still be able to outplay the young kid of today. Or maybe not, because nowadays when you get the opening advantage not only do you get the opening advantage, you know how to play, they have so many examples of what to do from this position... and that is why I don't like chess any more... It is all just memorization and prearrangement...
gin to disintegrate. A Fischer move, which at first glances looked weak, would be reassessed. It must have a deep master plan behind it, undetectable by mere mortals (more often than not they were right, it did). The U.S. grandmaster Robert Byrne labeled the phenomenon “Fischer-fear”. Grandmasters would wilt, their suits would crumple, sweat would glisten on their brows, panic would overwhelm their nervous systems. Errors would creep in. Calculations would go awry. There was talk among grandmasters that Fischer hypnotized his opponents, that he undermined their intellectual powers with a dark, mystic, insidious force.
Kasparov wrote that Fischer “became the detonator of an avalanche of new chess ideas, a revolutionary whose revolution is still in progress”. [626] In January 2009, reign15.5 Legacy ing World Champion Viswanathan Anand described him as “the greatest chess player who ever lived”. [627] SerKasparov calls Fischer “perhaps the most mythologically bian grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojević called Fischer, “A shrouded figure in chess”. [612][613][614][615] Some leading man without frontiers. He didn't divide the East and the players and some of Fischer’s biographers have ranked West, he brought them together in their admiration of him as the greatest player who ever lived. [616] Other writhim.”[525] ers have said that he was arguably the greatest player ever, without reaching a definitive conclusion. [617] Leonard German grandmaster Karsten Müller wrote:[614] Barden wrote, “Most experts place him the second or third best ever, behind Kasparov but probably ahead of Fischer, who had taken the highest crown [236] Karpov.” almost singlehandedly from the mighty, almost invincible Soviet chess empire, shook the Some grandmasters compared Fischer’s play to that whole world, not only the chess world, to its of a computer;[618][619] a player without noticeable [620] core. He started a chess boom not only in weaknesses. the United States and in the Western hemiAlthough international ratings were introduced only in sphere, but worldwide. Teaching chess or play1970, Chessmetrics (a website that uses algorithms ing chess as a career had truly become a reto rank performances retrospectively and uniformly spectable profession. After Bobby, the game throughout chess history) determined that Fischer’s peak was simply not the same. rating was 2895 in October 1971—the highest in history. His one-year peak (1971) average was 2881, the highest of all time. His three-year peak average was 2867, from Fischer was a charter inductee into the U.S. Chess Hall January 1971 to December 1973—the second highest of Fame in Washington, D.C. in 1985. After routFischer ever, just behind Garry Kasparov. Fischer was ranked as ing Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian in 1971, [377][378] Afthe number one player in the world for a total of 109 dif- achieved a then-record Elo rating of 2785. in their 1972 ferent months, running (not consecutively) from February ter beating Spassky by the score 12½–8½ [378] match, his rating dropped to 2780. 1964 until July 1974. [621] Fischer’s great rival Mikhail Tal praised himas “the great- St. Louis philanthropist Rex Sinquefield offered a est genius to have descended fromthe chess heavens”.[622] $64,000 Fischer Memorial Prize for any player who could American grandmaster Arthur Bisguier wrote “Robert win all nine of their games at the 2009 U.S. Chess ChamJames Fischer is one of the few people in any sphere of pionship. By the fifth day of the championship, all 24 parfor the prize, having drawn or endeavour who has been accorded the accolade of be- ticipants became ineligible [628] ing called a legend in his own time.” [623] Former World lost at least one game. Champion Tigran Petrosian stated that Fischer put more time into chess than the entire Soviet team. [624] 15.6 Head-to-head record versus selected Biographers David Edmonds and John Eidinow grandmasters wrote:[625] (Rapid, blitz and blindfold games not included; listed as Faced with Fischer’s extraordinary cool+wins −losses =draws.) [629] ness, his opponents [sic] assurance would bePlayers who have been World Champions in boldface
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16 IN POPULAR CULTURE
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Pal Benko (USA) +8−3=7
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Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR) +0−0=1
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David Bronstein (USSR) +0−0=2
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Max Euwe (Netherlands) +1−1=1
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Efim Geller (USSR) +3−5=2
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Svetozar Gligoric (Yugoslavia) +7−4=8
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Paul Keres (USSR) +4−3=3
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Victor Korchnoi (USSR) +2−2=4
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Bent Larsen (Denmark) +9−2=1
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Miguel Najdorf (Argentina) +4−1=4
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Tigran Petrosian (USSR) +8−4=15
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Lev Polugaevsky (USSR) +0−0=1
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Samuel Reshevsky (USA) +9−4=13
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Vasily Smyslov (USSR) +3−1=5
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Boris Spassky (USSR) +17−11=28
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Mark Taimanov (USSR) +7−0=1
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Mikhail Tal (USSR) +2−4=5
15.7
National Masters R.O. Mitchell [632] and Lionel Davis[633] both claimed to have played Fischer on ICC, [634] with Mitchell providing his alleged conversation with the supposed Fischer.[635] Chessbase.com did a study where they concluded that the user was more likely a hoax, and not the real Bobby Fischer. [636]
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In popular culture The musical Chess, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, tells the story of two chess champions, referred to only as “The American” and “The Russian”. The musical is loosely based on the 1972 World Championship match between Fischer and Spassky, and in later stage productions the American player is named “Freddie Trumper”, a reference to Fischer. [637]
During the 1972 Fischer–Spassky match, the Soviet bard Vladimir Vysotsky wrote an ironic two-song cycle “Honor of the Chess Crown”. The first song is about a rank-and-file Soviet worker’s preparation for the match with Fischer; the second is about the game. Many expressions from the songs have become catchphrases in Russian culture.[638] BobbyFischer is referredto in thechorus of thesong "Cosby Sweater" by Australian hip hop band Hilltop Hoods. Another Australian band, Lazy Susan,[639] released a song “Bobby Fischer” on their 2001 album Long Lost . Matthew Good, in his song “Invasion 1” from the 1997 Underdogs album, sings: “Drops off the face of the earth – Bobby is myhero for that” in reference to Fischer’s reclusion. In 2015 theComedy Central program Drunk History portrayed Fischer on Season 3, Episode 6.
16.1 •
Internet Bobby Fischer theory
In 2001, Nigel Shortwrote in The Sunday Telegraph chess column that he believed he had been secretly playing Fischer on ICC in speed chess matches. [630] Fischer denied ownership of the account.[631]
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In film
The 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer uses Fischer’s name in the title, even though the film is about the life of chess prodigy Joshua Waitzkin.[640] Outside of the United States, it was released as Innocent Moves.[641] The title refers to the search for Fischer’s successor after his disappearance from competitive chess. Theauthor feels that hissoncould be that successor. Fischer never saw the film and complained bitterly that it was an invasion of his privacy by using his name without his permission. [642] Fischer never received any compensation from the film, calling it “a monumental swindle”.[643] In April 2009, the film Me and Bobby Fischer , about Fischer’s last years as hisold friend Saemundur Palsson gets him out of jail in Japan and helps him settle in Iceland, was premiered in Iceland. The film was produced by Friðrik Guðmundsson with music by Guðlaugur Kristinn Óttarsson, Björk Guðmundsdóttir and Einar Arnaldur Melax. In October 2009, the biographical film Bobby Fischer Live[644] was released, with Damien Chapa directing and starring as Fischer. In 2011, documentary film-maker Liz Garbus released Bobby Fischer Against the World , which explores the life of Fischer,withinterviews from Garry Kasparov, Anthony Saidy, and others.[645] On September 16, 2015 the American biographical film Pawn Sacrifice was released, starring Tobey Maguire as Fischer, Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky, Lily Rabe as Joan Fischer, and Peter Sarsgaard as William Lombardy.[646]
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18.1 Tournaments
17 •
Writings
18.1
Bobby Fischer’s Games of Chess (Simon and Schus- 18.2 ter, New York, 1959). ISBN 0-923891-46-3. An early collection of 34 lightly annotated games, in- 18.3 cluding "The Game of the Century" against Donald Byrne.
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“A Bust to the King’s Gambit” ( American Chess Quarterly , Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer 1961), pp. 3– 9).
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Tournaments Matches Team events
Notable games
Donald Byrne–Fischer, New York 1956, Grünfeld, 5.Bf4 (D92), 0–1 "The Game of the Century". Chess magazine called this “a game of great depth and brilliancy”.[663]
“The Russians Have Fixed World Chess” ( Sports Illustrated magazine, 20 August 1962). This is the Svetozar Gligoric–Fischer, Bled 1961, King’s Incontroversial article in which Fischer asserted that dian Defense: Orthodox Variation. Classical Sysseveral of the Soviet players in the 1962 Curaçao tem Misc. Lines (E98), ½–½ Candidates’ tournament had colluded with one another to prevent him [Fischer] from winning the tournament. Position after 22...Nxg3 •
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“The Ten Greatest Masters in History” ( Chessworld , Vol. 1, No. 1 (January–February 1964), pp. 56– 61). An article in which Fischer named Paul Morphy, Howard Staunton, Wilhelm Steinitz, Siegbert Tarrasch, Mikhail Chigorin, Alexander Alekhine, José Raúl Capablanca, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, and Samuel Reshevsky as the greatest players of all time. Fischer’s criteria for inclusion on his list was his own subjective appreciation of their games rather than their achievements. [647] “Checkmate” column from December 1966 to December 1969 in Boys’ Life, later assumed by Larry Evans.
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Robert Byrne–Fischer, 1963–64 U.S. Championship, Neo-Grünfeld, 0–1 annotated From an almost symmetrical position, Fischer beats a strong grandmaster in just 21 moves—"a game that was immediately recognized as an all-time classic”. [664]
My 60 Memorable Games (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1969, and Faber and Faber, London, 1969; Batsford 2008 (algebraic notation)). Studied by Kasparov at a young age; [648] “A classic of painstaking and objective analysis that modestly in- Position after 18.Qd2 cludes three of his losses.”[649] I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse! (1982) a self-published “essay in a fourteen-page booklet” on Fischer’s time in a Pasadena jail—he was “booked for vagrancy”.[650]
17.1
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.g3 c6 4.Bg2 d5 5.cxd5 cxd5 6.Nc3 Bg7 7.e3 0-0 8.Nge2 Nc6 9.0-0 b6 10.b3 Ba6 11.Ba3 Re8 12.Qd2 e5 13.dxe5 Nxe5 14.Rfd1 Nd3 15.Qc2 Nxf2 16.Kxf2 Ng4+ 17.Kg1 Nxe3 18.Qd2 (see diagram) Nxg2 19.Kxg2 d4 20.Nxd4 Bb7+ 21.Kf1 Qd7 0–1
Under Fischer’s name
Numerous books list Fischer as a co-author or endorser. [651] One such book is Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess,[652] co-authored by Donn Mosenfelder and Stuart Margulies. [653]
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1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.Nf3 00 6.Be2 e5 7.0-0 Nc6 8.d5 Ne7 9.Ne1 Nd7 10.Nd3 f5 11.exf5 Nxf5 12.f3 Nf6 13.Nf2 Nd4 14.Nfe4 Nh5 15.Bg5 Qd7 16.g3 h6 17.Be3 c5 18.Bxd4 exd4 19.Nb5 a6 20.Nbxd6 d3 21.Qxd3 Bd4+ 22.Kg2 Nxg3 (see diagram) 23.Nxc8 Nxf1 24.Nb6 Qc7 25.Rxf1 Qxb6 26.b4 Qxb4 27.Rb1 Qa5 28.Nxc5 Qxc5 29.Qxg6+ Bg7 30.Rxb7 Qd4 31.Bd3 Rf4 32.Qe6+ Kh8 33.Qg6 ½–½
Tournament and match summaries
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Fischer–Svetozar Gligorić, Havana Olympiad 1966, Spanish Game: Exchange. Gligoric Variation (C69), 1-0 Fischer revived the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez in this tournament and some later events; it is still important in opening theory. [665] Fischer–Mark Taimanov, Vancouver Candidates Final 1971, 4th match game, Sicilian Defense: Paulsen. Bastrikov Variation (B47), 1–0 Fischer’s
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21 REFERENCES
patient and accurate handling of bishop vs. knight, first in the rook and minor piece endgame, and then after rooks were exchanged, has become a staple of endgame instructional literature. [666]
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Position after 23...Kxd7 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Qc7 5.Nc3 e6 6.g3 a6 7.Bg2 Nf6 8.0-0 Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Bc5 10.Bf4 d6 11.Qd2 h6 12.Rad1 e5 13.Be3 Bg4 14.Bxc5 dxc5 15.f3 Be6 16.f4 Rd8 17.Nd5 Bxd5 18.exd5 e4 19.Rfe1 Rxd5 20.Rxe4+ Kd8 21.Qe2 Rxd1+ 22.Qxd1+ Qd7 23.Qxd7+ Kxd7 (see diagram) 24.Re5 b6 25.Bf1 a5 26.Bc4 Rf8 27.Kg2 Kd6 28.Kf3 Nd7 29.Re3 Nb8 30.Rd3+ Kc7 31.c3 Nc6 32.Re3 Kd6 33.a4 Ne7 34.h3 Nc6 35.h4 h5 36.Rd3+ Kc7 37.Rd5 f5 38.Rd2 Rf6 39.Re2 Kd7 40.Re3 g6 41.Bb5 Rd6 42.Ke2 Kd8 43.Rd3 Kc7 44.Rxd6 Kxd6 45.Kd3 Ne7 46.Be8 Kd5 47.Bf7+ Kd6 48.Kc4 Kc6 49.Be8+ Kb7 50.Kb5 Nc8 51.Bc6+ Kc7 52.Bd5 Ne7 53.Bf7 Kb7 54.Bb3 Ka7 55.Bd1 Kb7 56.Bf3+ Kc7 57.Ka6 Ng8 58.Bd5 Ne7 59.Bc4 Nc6 60.Bf7 Ne7 61.Be8 Kd8 62.Bxg6 Nxg6 63.Kxb6 Kd7 64.Kxc5 Ne7 65.b4 axb4 66.cxb4 Nc8 67.a5 Nd6 68.b5 Ne4+ 69.Kb6 Kc8 70.Kc6 Kb8 71.b6 1–0 •
Fischer–Tigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires Candidates Final 1971, 7th match game, Sicilian Defense: Kan. Modern Variation (B42), 1–0 This game includes “22.Nxd7+!!" which is “perhaps Fischer’s most famous and instructive move and is still being cited today”.[667]
Position after 21...Bd7 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 e6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 a6 5.Bd3 Nc6 6.Nxc6 bxc6 7.0-0 d5 8.c4 Nf6 9.cxd5 cxd5 10.exd5 exd5 11.Nc3 Be7 12.Qa4+ Qd7 13.Re1 Qxa4 14.Nxa4 Be6 15.Be3 00 16.Bc5 Rfe8 17.Bxe7 Rxe7 18.b4 Kf8 19.Nc5 Bc8 20.f3 Rea7 21.Re5 Bd7 (see diagram) 22.Nxd7+ Rxd7 23.Rc1 Rd6 24.Rc7 Nd7 25.Re2 g6 26.Kf2 h5 27.f4 h4 28.Kf3 f5 29.Ke3 d4+ 30.Kd2 Nb6 31.Ree7 Nd5 32.Rf7+ Ke8 33.Rb7 Nxf4 34.Bc4 1–0 •
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Boris Spassky–Fischer, World Chess Championship 1972, 13th match game, Alekhine Defense: Modern, Alburt Variation (B04), 0–1 Further analysis on the1972 match page Botvinnikcalled this game “the highest creative achievement of Fischer”. He resolved a drawish opposite-colored bishops endgame by sacrificing his bishop and trapping his own rook. “Then five passed pawns struggled with the white rook. Nothing similar had been seen before in chess.”[669] Fischer–Boris Spassky, 1992, 1st match game, Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Breyer Defense Zaitsev Hybrid (C95), 1–0 Further analysis on the 1992 match page
See also List of books and documentaries by or about Bobby Fischer
References
[1] “Fischer, Robert James”. olimpbase.com. Retrieved 2015-09-18. [2] Brady 1973, p. 2. [3] “WHO WAS FISCHER'S FATHER?". Chess Life . US Chess Federation. March 2004. p. 10. [4] Reitwiesner, William Addams. “Ancestry of Bobby Fischer (Extracts from the U.S. Federal Decennial Census)". ancestry.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014. [5] Quinn, Ben; Alan Hamilton (January 28, 2008). “Bobby Fischer, chess genius, heartless son”. The Sunday Times . Retrieved September 14, 2008.(subscription required) [6] "...she appears to have been religiously unobservant”. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 27. [7] Schulz, Von André (October 8, 2004). “Mutmaßungen über Fischer” (in German). chessbase.com. Retrieved October 17, 2008.. [8] Brady 2011, pp. 7–8. [9] Brady 2011, p. 8. [10] “The family lived in [California, Idaho, Oregon, Illinois, and Arizona] before moving to New York. Regina’s flexibility and desperation led her to a surprising gamut of jobs. She was a welder, schoolteacher, riveter, farm worker, toxicologist’s assistant, stenographer, all throughout the early and mid-1940s.” Brady 2011, p. 9.
Fischer–Boris Spassky, World Chess Championship 1972, 6th match game, Queen’s Gambit Declined, [11] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 5. Tartakower (D59), 1–0 Further analysis on the 1972 [12] Nicholas, Peter (September 21, 2009). “Chasing the king match page Saidy called this game "[the] finest artisof chess”. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 28, [668] tic achievement of the whole match”. 2014.
23 [13] “In early 1949 Regina Fischer took the least expensive housing she could find when she moved the family— Bobby, Joan, and herself—to East 13th Street in Manhattan, facing the kitchen back entrance of the famed Luchow’s restaurant, where many of the best chess players would occasionally dine. The Fischers could never afford to eat there. The apartment’s entrance was marred by a rusty fire escape running up the front, and there was only one small bedroom—but the rent was $45 a month.” FBI report, August 24. 1953 (SAC, New York, 100-102290). Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 10.
[28] Brady 2011, p. 20. [29] Fischer 1959, pp. xi–xii. [30] Brady 1973, p. 7. [31] Brady 2011, pp. 19–21. [32] Fischer 1959, p. 2. [33] Brady 2011, p. 21.
[34] [14] Nicholas, Peter; Clea Benson (November 17, 2002). "Files reveal how FBI hounded chess king ". The Philadel- [35] phia Inquirer . Retrieved January 28, 2014. [36] [15] Nicholas, Peter; Benson, Clea (February 9, 2003). “Life is not a board game/page 3 of 7”. The Philadelphia In- [37] quirer . Archived from the original on January 23, 2008. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
Fischer 1959, p. xii. Brady 2011, pp. 38–39. Brady 2011, p. 52. “Carmine Nigro, 91, Bobby Fischer’s First Chess Teacher”. The New York Times . September 2, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
[16] Laurence, Charles (November 24, 2002). “FBI targeted [38] Lombardy 2011, p. 18. chess genius Bobby Fischer and his mother”. London: [39] West, Jim(November22, 2011). ""Understanding Chess” www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved September 13, 2008. by GM Lombardy, Chess Blog by National Master Jim [17] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 22. West”. jimwestonchess.blogspot.com. Retrieved July 3, 2013. [18] Regina Fischer entry, passenger manifest, SS Manhattan, January 18, 1939, p. 74, line 6, accessed January 20, 2008 [40] Lombardy 2011, p. 136. via ancestry.com [41] “Bobby Fischer got some of his earliest exposure playing [19] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 22, 135. weekend chess at the Brooklyn Central Library and Washington Square Park with his chess coach, William Lom[20] “In March of 1949, on a rainy day when Bobby had just bardy, who had an apartment nearby”. Sloan & Aravena turned six, his sister, Joan... bought a plastic chess set 2012, p. 4. for $1 at the candy store [located just below their apartment]... Neither Joan nor Bobby had ever seen a chess set [42] Theoldest known published photograph of Bobby and Bill before but they followed instructions printed on the inside goes back to 1956 in which they are analyzing at the Manof the top of the box...” Parade, October 27, 1957, p. 22., hattan Chess Club. Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 45. Bobby Fischer Autobiographical Essay, p. 1. Quoted in Brady 2011, pp. 10–11. [43] "[Lombardy] and Bobby played a lot: blitz, normal chess, analyzing games; you name it. In fact, Lombardy kinda [21] Brady 2011, pp. 10–12. took Bobby under his wing and tutored him privately, and mostly what they did was they went through games [22] Brady 1973, p. 5. together”. “The Life and Chess of Bobby Fischer”. youtube.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015. [23] Brady 2011, p. 12. [24] Fischer 1959, p. xi. [25] Brady 1973, pp. 5–6.
[44] “One of the people that really played a major influence on Bobby’s career, besides Collins, was William Lombardy”. “A Prodigy’s Progress—Lecture By IM John Donaldson”. youtube.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
[26] “A crowd of spectators gathered around the board as the diminutive Bobby faced the self-assured, tweed-jacketed [45] Lombardy 2011, p. 23. Max Pavey. The boy was so serious about what he was doing that the game attracted more and more onlookers.... [46] Lombardy 2011, p. 297. Pavey, who excelled at playing rapidly... seemed to zoom around the room hardly studying the other boards as he [47] “On the very morning Fischer was to depart [for Reykjavik], he called Lombardy on the phone. 'Well, are you made his moves, returning to Bobby’s game in such a short coming?' he inquired of the priest. Lombardy told him time that the child couldn't calculate as deeply or as carehe wasn't sure he could release himself from his televifully as he wanted... In about fifteen minutes... Pavey capsion commitments. 'Without me, there won't be a televitured Bobby’s queen, thereby ending the game... Bobby sion show!' he informed Bobby. 'That’s O.K.,' countered stared at the board for a moment. 'He crushed me,' he Bobby, 'without me, there won't be a match!' When Fissaid to no one in particular. Then he burst into tears.” cher’s plane touched down at KeflavikAirport in Iceland... Brady 2011, pp. 17–18. Lombardy, dressed in his clericals, wasby his side”. Brady [27] Brady 2011, p. 18. 1973, p. 234.
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[48] "...I met and spent time with Grandmaster William Lom- [64] “Very few people expected Fischer to come on that Sunbardy, who of course figured so prominently in Bobby Fisday to the tournament hall and continue the match. Probcher’s rise to the World Chess title”. Ponterotto 2012, p. ably, neither did Spassky. Fischer had reserved a seat xx. to New York, yet, two hours before the third game was to begin, Fischer’s lawyer Paul Marshall and his second [49] Brady 2011, pp. 98–100. William Lombardy called the referee and asked, on behalf of Fischer, the favour that the game be played in a [50] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 26. room behind the stage. That call produced a chance of compromise. Schmid called Spassky and the champion [51] Brady 2011, p. 102. generously agreed”. Gligorić 1972, pp. 54–55. [52] Alexander 1972, p. 79. [53] Brady 2011, p. 184. [54] “Fischer usually prefers to play without seconds, relying on his own abilities, although in this match he did have the assistance of William Lombardy”. Byrne & Nei 1974, p. viii.
[65] “In the morning and early afternoon of Sunday, July 16, anyone willing to bet that the third game would come off on schedule might have found long odds awaiting him on any street corner in downtown Reykjavik. But suddenly a light shone through the darkness: at about 3 P.M. Bill Lombardy telephoned to Lothar Schmid and relayed to him Fischer’s proposal that the game be played in a private room behind the stage. Schmid in turn communicated with Spassky, who promptly agreed”. Horowitz 1973, pp. 267–68.
[55] "[Lombardy] was a chess player of high class: in 1958, he took the World Junior Chess Championship with a perfect eleven victories...Unlike Fischer, he had beaten [66] "...let me point out that there were 14 adjourned games. Bobby and I worked together on those adjourned positions Spassky...whenhe ledthe United States to first place in the without making a single technical error! Beyond that I 1960 World Student Team Championship in Leningrad”. bested the Soviet team psychology, even though that team Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 133. had a so-called professional psychologist. For little remuneration, I dedicated my services in the Icelandic capital [56] Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 233. to guarantee that Bobby followed through and finished the match victoriously. First and foremost, that is what I cared [57] Schonberg 1973, p. 283. about. Since Bobby, when I first methim at age 11½, actually at that time stated that he would be world chess cham[58] Steiner 1974, p. 24. pion, I believed it was my job as his friend and confidant to do everything legitimately in my power to ensure that [59] "[Lombardy] was a loyal and competent analyst of adthat young player’s dream would come true! Working for journed positions for Fischer, and served him well as what worked out to be about $5–$6 per hour at Reykjavik, friend and companion”. Brady 1973, p. 225. I was even then not about to see that dream shattered at any earthly price!" Lombardy 2011, pp. 219–20. [60] “Fischer and Lombardy had breakfast at the Loftleider Hotel cafeteria. They sat at their table for over two hours, [67] Brady 2011, p. 6. analyzing the twelfth game”. Brady 1973, p. 253. [68] Dylan Loeb McClain (December 4, 2001). “John W. [61] “Bobby and Lombardy meanwhile were tearing [the first] Collins, 89, Dies; Was Fischer’s Chess Tutor”. The New game to pieces. Bobby brushed aside the alarming matter York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2014. of that freakish twenty-ninth move. 'I moved too fast,' he said with a wave of his arm. 'All that noise.' Then Lom- [69] Brady 1973, p. 12. bardy showed him the move he should have made just before the game ended. Bobby strode up and down clutching [70] Brady, 2011, p. 50. his head and crying out, 'Oh! Oh! Why didn't I think of that!'... From 10:30 that night until 6:00 the next morn- [71] "'He taught Bobby Fischer to play chess’" is the way I am sometimes publicly and privately introduced. Collins ing, Bobby and Lombardy worked like maniacs to find a 1974, p. 47. draw for Black. No luck. White won in every variation”. Darrach 1974, pp. 175–76. [72] “Collins, for his part, said that he never 'taught' Bobby in the strictest sense” and that Fischer “knew before in[62] “Fischer lodged a formal protest [over the second-gamestructed”. Collins 1974, pp. 48–49. Quoted in Brady forfeit] less than six hours after the forfeiture. It was over2011, p. 52. ruled by the match committee... Everyone knew that Fischer wouldn't accept it lightly. And he didn't. His instant [73] Collins was Bobby Fischer’s “mentor”. Edmonds & Eidireaction was to make a reservation to fly home immedinow 2004, pp. 6, 30, and 221. ately. He wasdissuaded by Lombardy, but it seemed likely that he'd refuse to continue the match unless the forfeit [74] Collins was Fischer’s “mentor”. Donaldson & Tangborn was removed.” Brady 2011, p. 193. 1999, p. 27. [63] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 156, 160, 171, 175, and [75] “Collins was my friend and mentor but not my teacher”. 223. Lombardy 2011, p. 24.
25 [76] “Fischer was also extremely fortunate in having John W. [105] Chess Life , May 5, 1957, p. 3. Also available on DVD (p. (Jack) Collins, a chess master, who was a friend, guide, 67 in “Chess Life 1957” PDF file”). and mentor to him during his early formative years”. Bis[106] Wall, Bill (August 2002). “Bobby Fischer Trivia”. guier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 44. chessville.com. Retrieved October 4, 2008. [77] Brady 1973, pp. 10–11. [107] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 127. [78] Collins 1974, pp. 34–35. [108] Brady 2011, p. 73. [79] Fischer 1959, p. xiii. [109] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 130. [80] Denker & Parr 1995, p. 107. [110] Collins 1974, p. 56. [81] Brady 2011, p. 53. [111] Chess Review, September 1957, p. 260. Also available on DVD (p. 294 in “Chess Review 1957” PDF file). [82] Chess Life , May 20, 1956, p. 4. Also available on DVD (p. 76 in “Chess Life 1956” PDF file”). [112] “No one as young as Bobby had won the United States Open before, and no one had ever held the United States [83] Chess Life , May 20, 1956, p. 1. Also available on DVD Junior and Open titles concurrently. When Bobby re(p. 73 in “Chess Life 1956” PDF file”). turned to New York, both the Marshall and Manhattan [84] Brady 1973, p. 15. chess clubs conducted victory celebrations, and he was lauded as America’s new chess hero.” Brady 2011, p. 75. [85] Collins 1974, pp. 55–56. [113] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 138–40. [86] The New York Times , March 5, 1956, p. 36. Quoted in [114] Brady 1973, p. 19. Brady 2011, p. 49. [87] Chess Life, July 20, 1956, p. 1. Also available on DVD [115] (p. 105 in “Chess Life 1956” PDF file”). [116] [88] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 100. [117] [89] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 101. [118] [90] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 105. [119] [91] Di Felice 2010, p. 76. [120] [92] Brady 1973, p. 16. [93] Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 108. [94] Brady 2011, p. 65. [95] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 7. [96] Brady 2011, p. 61. [97] Di Felice 2010, p. 48. [98] Chess Review, December 1956, p. 374. Also available on DVD (p. 418 on Chess Review 1956 PDF file).
Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 135–37. Harkness 1967, p. 272. Brady 1973, p. 20. Kažić 1974, pp. 273–74. Lombardy 2011, back cover. A writer in Chess Life, apparently Editor Fred M. Wren, expected Fischer to score about 50%. “The MondayMorning Quarterback Speaks”, Chess Life , January 20. 1958, p. 4. Also available on DVD (p. 12 on Chess Life 1958 PDF file).
[121] Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 51. [122] Di Felice 2010, p. 196. [123] Brady 1973, pp. 20–21. [124] Edward Winter, Chess Note 6428 (citing Chess Life, February 5, 1958).
[125] Edward Winter, Chess Note 6436 (citing FIDE Revue , [99] “While, objectively, it is not one of the greatestgamesever April 1958, p. 106). played, it is certainly the finest game ever produced by one [126] Chess Life, March 5, 1958. Quoted in Müller 2009, p. 92. so young”. Wilson 1981, p. 170. [100] Brady 2011, p. 64.
[127] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 8.
[101] AP wire story, February 24, 1957. Quoted in Brady 2011, [128] Brady 2011, pp. 89–90. p. 64. [129] Footage of Bobby Fischer on I got a Secret , March 26, 1958 (begins at 17:40) [102] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 123. [130] “The Soviet Union hadagreed to invite Bobby to Moscow, and generously pay all expenses for him and his sister...” [104] “To wrest a draw from a formerWorld Champion was neiMarshall Chess Foundation Archive, Letter from Regina ther smallcheese nor minor chess, but Bobby was unhappy Fischer to Bobby Fischer, c. June 1958. Quoted in Brady since he'd lost the match, 1½–½.” Brady 2011, p. 67. 2011, p. 93. [103] Brady 1973, p. 17.
26
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[131] Brady 2011, p. 91.
[158] Denker & Parr, pp. 103–04.
[132] Brady 2011, p. 92.
[159] Brady 1965, p. 35.
[160] “At 16 he was able to earn his living from chess, and soon began to dress well, with suits tailored in London and New [134] Linder V.I. & Linder I.M. 1994. Quoted in Plisetsky & York.” Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 136. Voronkov 2005, pp. 120–21. [161] Ginzburg 1962, pp. 53–54. [135] Golombek, Golombek’s Encyclopedia, pp. 236–37. [162] Di Felice 2010, p. 310. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 93. [133] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 9.
[136] Brady 2011, p. 94.
[163] Wade & 'Connell 1972, p. 356.
[137] Johnson 2007, p. 128. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 94.
[164] Brady 2011, pp. 105, 125.
[165] “Attempts by Regina and Joan to engage Bobby in schoolwork were usually fruitless. Bobby could concentrate on [139] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 163–64. puzzles or chess for hours, but he fidgeted and grew restless when confronted with reading, writing, and arith[140] Brady 1973, p. 25. metic... he was accepted by Community Woodward with the understanding that he'd teach the other students to [141] Leonard Barden, “From Portorož to Petrosian”, in Wade play, and also as a result of his astronomically high IQ & O'Connell 1973, p. 332. test score of 180.” Brady 2011, p. 25. [142] Just before Larsen played Fischer in their individual game, Larsen predicted that he would be victorious, only to find [166] Fischer possessed an IQ of 187. “Bobby Fischer IQ 187”. kidsiqtestcenter.com. Retrieved February 19, 2014. out quite the opposite: “Once we were well into the tournament, Larsen, Fridrik Olafsson and I were engaged [167] Andersen 2006, pp. 15, 41. Streisand later said that Fisin a friendly debate over Fischer’s performance. 'Lucky cher was “always alone and very peculiar ... But I found to have 50%!' quipped Larsen, who went on to say, 'I him very sexy”. Id. at 41. will spank that baby!'... With wisdom Fridrik supplied a thought for me, 'Watch out the baby doesn't spank you!' [168] Boyer, David (March 11, 2001). “NEIGHBORHOOD At that comment, Larsen waved his hand. In the very next REPORT: FLATBUSH; Grads Hail Erasmus as It Enters round, Fischer crushed Larsen...” Lombardy 2011, p. 87. a Fourth Century”. The New York Times . Retrieved August 15, 2009. [143] Wade & O'Connell 1972. pp. 332–34, 347. [169] Brady 1965, pp. 1, 25. [144] Kasparov 2004, pp. 225–26. [170] Collins 1974, p. 52. [145] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 20–21. [171] Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 47. [146] This record stood until 1991, when it was broken by Judit Polgár. Forbes 1992, p. 171. [172] Brady 1965, p. 25. [138] Brady 2011, pp. 94–96.
[147] Interview with Allen Kaufman in the television documen- [173] Ginzburg 1962, p. 51. tary “Anything to Win: The Mad Genius of Bobby Fis[174] “In his junior year Bobby left school for good because 'the cher”. April 9, 2006. stuff they teach you in school I can't use one way or the other.'" Schonberg 1973, p. 261. [148] Di Felice 2010, p. 301. [149] Di Felice 2010, p. 340.
[175] Ginzburg 1962, p. 55.
[150] Di Felice 2010, p. 356.
[153] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 165, 171, 176.
[176] “Probing into the activities of the American Chess Foundation, she demonstrated that some players (such as Reshevsky) received support while others (such as Bobby) did not... she sent out indignant press releases, [and] letters to the government demanding a public accounting.” Brady 2011, p. 131.
[154] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 29–30.
[177] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, pp. 282–84.
[151] Brady 1973, p. 28. [152] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 27.
[155] The Chess Games of Robert J. Fischer , edited by Robert [178] Hooper & Whyld 1992, pp. 136–37. G. Wade and Kevin J. O'Connell, London, Batsford 1973; [179] Wade& O'Connell 1973, pp. 51(1-pointmargin in 1957– special article by Paul Keres, entitled From the Opposite 58), 57 (1-point margin in 1958–59), 62 (1-point margin Side of the Board . in 1959–60), 67 (2-point margin in 1960–61), 71 (1-point margin in 1962–63), 77 (2½-point margin in 1963–64), [156] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 41. 82 (1-point margin in 1965), 87 (2-point margin in 1966– [157] Brady 1965, p. 34. 67).
27 [180] Müller 2009, pp. 399–400. [181] [182] [183] [184] [185] [186] [187]
[205] “Later Gheorghiu stated that when he offered Fischer the draw, he was convinced he actually had a won game but Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 51, 57, 62, 67, 71, 76, 82, that he wanted Fischer to be awarded the gold medal. It 87. was obvious that Fischer was trying too hard and had tired and overextended himself. He lost the game decisively. Müller 2009, p. 85. Nevertheless, all of the players and spectators considered Müller 2009, p. 104. Bobby to be the real hero of the most magnificent chess event in history”. Brady 1973, p. 120. Müller 2009, p. 148. [206] Brady 1973, p. 65. Müller 2009, p. 181. [207] Müller 2009, pp. 224–25. Müller 2009, p. 231. [208] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 286–87. Müller 2009, p. 243.
[209] "'It is important to draw a distinction between the myth of the 'extravagant, capricious, uncontrollable' Fischer and those actions that he undertook quite consciously. Many [189] Müller 2009, p. 263. of his demands in Luganowere absolutely justified. 'It was [190] Müller 2009, p. 285. not only Fischer who did not like the conditions,' writes Petrosian. 'This also applied to me and my colleagues. [191] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 283. Imagine a hall, in which three thousand players, trainers [192] Mednis 1997, pp. x–xi, 179–83, 202–11. and spectators are gathered, a hall without any ventilation and in addition with poor lighting. I have never com[193] Larry Evans, in Müller 2009, p. 7. plained about my eyesight, but I only needed once or twice in a game to think intensively over a move, and my eyes [194] “I am certain that in his form at that time, Bobby would began to hurt.'" Kasparov 2004, p. 335. have helped carry our squad to a medal. In other words, both United States Chess Federation officials and Amer- [210] “Fischer was clearly the best and highest rated U.S. player ican Chess Foundation 'philanthropists’ were more conand also the U.S. Champion. But in consideration of his cerned with controlling Fischer (at the risk of thwarting lifelong prestige, Reshevsky would not yield first board”. his talent and thus harming the team) than doing all that Lombardy 2011, p. 184. was legitimately possible to boost our country in a run for that elusive medal... In short, for the years when I began [211] Müller 2009, p. 156. to participate in Olympiads, Sammy [Reshevsky] had lost the ambition to grind out games as a team player!... As for [212] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 183. Fischer, no matter how many U.S. Championships Bobby won, or what his results in the world championship cycle, [213] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 12. the USCF officials and those at the ACF... always accom- [214] Bronstein wrote of their first meeting at Mar del Plata, modated Sammy”. Lombardy 2011, pp. 94–96. “They became friends instantly and have remained so until this day”. Bronstein & Fürstenberg 1995, p. 121. [195] The Games of Robert J. Fischer , Batsford, 1973, section on chess Olympiads by Robert Wade. [215] Donner 2006, p. 228. [188] Müller 2009, p. 262.
[196] “Fischer, Robert James, Men’s Chess Olympiads”. olimp[216] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 189. base. 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015. [217] Benko & Silman 2003, p. 422 (interview with Evans). [197] “United States (USA) Men’s Chess Olympiads”. olimpbase. 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015. [218] “One of hisrivals in that tournament was Americangrandmaster Larry Evans, and the story goes that he found a [198] Di Felice 2010, p. 485. Bovaryan lady prepared for a small sum to surround Fischerwith her charms. Thisapproachproved successful for [199] Di Felice 2013a, p. 251. Evans, as Fischer finished thirteenth in the tournament...” [200] Di Felice 2013b, p. 326. Donner 2006, p. 228. [201] Di Felice 2013c, p. 366.
[219] Benko & Silman, pp. 426–27 (interview with Benko).
[202] Kažić 1974, pp. 75, 81, 94, 108.
[220] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 196–97.
[203] “Fischer, Robert James”. Wojciech Bartelski & Co. Au[221] gust 2003. Retrieved February 17, 2014. [222] [204] “Fischer... scored a remarkable 15 out of 17 (+14, =2, −1). Unfortunately... his winning percentage of 88.23% was 0.23 of a point lower than Petrosian’s 88.46%, although Bobby had played four more games and faced, [223] overall, stronger opposition than [Petrosian]". Müller 2009, pp. 276–77. [224]
Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 198. “The officers of the American Chess Foundation maintained that Reshevsky was the better player, and they arranged to have him prove it.” Brady 2011, p. 135. Brady 1973, p. 42. Brady 1973, pp. 43–46.
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[225] “The match was forfeited by Fischer when he refused to [253] “Body of chesslegend Bobby Fischer to be exhumed as his continue play because the time of the twelfth game was former lovers battle over £1.3m estate”. London: Daily changed to suit the convenience of Mrs. Piatigorsky”. Mail . June 18, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010. Sunnucks 1970, p. 136. [254] Bisguier, in Wade & Connell 1973, pp. 49–50. [226] Brady 1973, p. 46. [255] Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 81. [227] Di Felice 2013a, p. 17. [256] Soltis 2002, pp. 81–83. [228] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 68. [257] Sunnucks 1970, p. 76. [229] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 199. [258] Fischer 1969, 2008, p. 305. [230] Di Felice 2013a, p. 223. [259] Müller 2009, p. 248. [231] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 75. [260] Chess Life, August 1964, p. 202. Quoted in Brady 2011, [232] Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 369. p. 155. [233] Brady 1973, p. 51. [261] Brady 1973, pp. 80–81. [234] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 81. [262] Donaldson 2005, pp. 7, 11. [235] Brady 1973, pp. 53–54. [263] Donaldson 2005, p. 11. [236] Barden, Leonard (January 18, 2008). “Obituary, Bobby [264] Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 285. Fischer”. The Guardian. Retrieved January 28, 2014. [237] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 82.
[265] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 127–28.
[238] Kažić 1974, pp. 188–89.
[266] Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 209.
[239] Benko & Silman, p. 155.
[267] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 213.
[240] According to Lombardy, Fischer’s lack of a sole second “proved a main reason for his failure": “As a second, Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier had to divide his talents between Bobby and Pal Benko... Bobby was hopping mad over the miserable arrangement made by the American Chess Foundation, which was responsible for the funding for the American participants at Curaçao”. Lombardy 2011, p. 122.
[268] Brady 1973, pp. 86–89.
[241] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 29–30, 37, 40, 83.
[273] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 127.
[269] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 127–31. [270] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 160, 209. [271] Pachman 1975, p. 215. [272] Brady 1973, pp. 88–89.
[242] “Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fis- [274] Brady 1973, pp. 86–88. cher”, Wall Street Journal , January 22, 2008, p. D8. [275] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 209. [243] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 331–46. [276] Di Felice 2013b, p. 167. [244] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 207–08. [277] Brady 1973, pp. 92–94. [245] Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49. [278] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 82–86. [246] Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49. [279] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 134. [247] “At the time he was also writing for Chess Life, a column called “Fischer Talks Chess,” and he made some very fa- [280] Kashdan 1977, p. v.. vorable comments about the overall quality of the opposition he faced as well as the organization of the tourna- [281] Kasparov 2004, p. 322. ments”. Müller 2009, p. 237. [282] Müller 2009, pp. 284–85. [248] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 149–51. [283] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 87–91. [249] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 152–53. [284] Di Felice 2013b, p. 396. [250] Brady 1973, p. 70. [285] Di Felice 2013b, pp. 423–24. [251] Levy 1975, p. 91. [286] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 236–47. [252] “The Amazing Victory Streak of Bobby Fischer”. Sports Illustrated . January 13, 1964. Retrieved May 12, 2007. [287] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 450–53.
29 [288] "[At the Sousse Internzonal], Fischer quit at the halfway [310] Müller 2009, p. 321. mark... faced with four games in four consecutive days... for religious reasons, [Bobby] will not play between sun- [311] “USSR vs Rest of the World: Belgrade 1970”. Wojciech Bartelski & Co. August 2003. Retrieved September 19, downs on Friday and Saturday. He objected to the con2015. secutive playoffs, claiming that the judges were taking advantage of him, subjecting him to cruel and inhuman punishment. He also pointed out, correctly, that he had en- [312] "[Fischer] announced that he would relinquish his board one position and allow Larsen the top spot on the World tered the tournament with the assurance that such conditeam '"as a matter of principle"' Everyone was astontions would not prevail. But the judges would not change ished...” Brady 1973, p. 161. their ruling...” Schonberg 1973, pp. 256–57. [313] “To even greater amazement, when the Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen demanded that he play on Board One [290] The World Chess Championship: A History, by Al for the Rest against the leading Soviet, pointing out quite Horowitz, Macmillan, New York, 1973 reasonably that he had achieved the best tournament results over the previous two years, Fischer yielded the point [291] Di Felice 2013c, pp. 56–57. and agreed to step down to Board Two. It meant that he played Petrosian rather than Spassky”. Edmonds & Eidi[292] Di Felice 2013c, p. 91. now 2004, pp. 82–83. [293] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 248–59. [314] Brady 2011, p. 165. [294] Müller 2009, pp. 320–21. [315] Schonberg 1973, p. 267. [295] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 154–55. [316] Chess Digest 1971, p. 83. [296] Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 170. [317] Denker & Parr 1995, p. 105. [297] “In this new book, his first—and, ultimately, only— serious work as an adult, Fischer was anythingbut sparse... [318] Chess Digest 1971, pp. 83–92. what he produced was one of the most painstakingly precise and delightful chess books ever written, rivaling the [319] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 188–89. works of Tarrasch, Alekhine, and Reti... If Fischer had never played another game of chess, his reputation, cer- [320] Kasparov 2004, p. 343. tainly as an analyst, would have been preserved through [321] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 183. its publication.” Brady 2011, pp. 162–63. [322] “I was among the best blitz players around [due to the fact [298] Benko & Silman, p. 426. that] I trained regularly with Bobby since he was 11-years old”. Lombardy 2011, p. 90. [299] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 84–86. [289] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 161–66.
[300] Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 137. [301] Müller 2009, p. 343. [302] Leonard Barden, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 342. [303] Brady 1973, p. 174.
[323] “As for Bobby’s ability at speed chess, it came as no shock that Bobby would win the world blitz championship in 1970 in Belgrade. I expected Bobby to win by a wide margin, but his winning by a margin of 4½ points ahead of Tal did come as a pleasant surprise!" Lombardy 2011, pp. 90–91.
[304] “The only condition I asked for stepping down was for Fis- [324] Kasparov 2004, p. 342. cher to agree not to withdraw from the Interzonal or the ensuing matches should he qualify for them – and he ful- [325] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 263–70. filled this condition”. Chess Life & Review, July 1975, Vol. [326] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 271–78. XXX, No. 7. [305] Sonas, Jeff (May 25, 2005). “The Greatest Chess Player [327] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 201–02. of All Time – Part IV”. chessbase.com. Retrieved Febru[328] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 279. ary 23, 2014. [306] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 82.
[329] Kasparov 2004, pp. 342–44.
[307] “I was acting as Fischer’s second...” Evans, Larry Melvyn [330] Di Felice 2013c, pp. 320–21. (April20, 1970). “The Rest Of The World Sort Of Strikes Back”. Sports Illustrated, cited on chessgames.com . Re- [331] Weeks, Mark(1997–2008). “World Chess Championship 1970 Palma de Mallorca Interzonal Tournament”. Printer. trieved September 19, 2015. Retrieved October 4, 2008. [308] Brady 2011, p. 164. [332] Fischer’s 3½-point margin set a new record for an In[309] “Fischer was intrigued and agreed to play on first board terzonal, beating Alexander Kotov’s 3-point margin at for the '"Rest of the World"' team”. Saltsjöbaden 1952. Kažić 1974, pp. 171–72.
30
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[333] Panno refused to play in protest of the organizers’ [360] Karpov 1991, p. 114. rescheduling of the game to accommodate Fischer’s desire not to play on his religion’s Sabbath. Panno was not [361] "'Karpov: It was already clear that the winner [of the Petrosian-Korchnoi Semi-Final Candidates Match] would present when the game was to begin. Fischer waited ten have to play Fischer, who on the other staircase was minutes before playing his first move (1.c4) and went to rapidly ascending to the chess throne. There was practiget Panno to convince him to play. Forty-five minutes cally no doubtthat Spassky would be able to deal with him, later, Panno came to the board and resigned. Brady 1973, butin the Sports Committeethey decided that it was better p. 179. if it didn't come to this... And so the officials summoned Petrosian and Korchnoi and asked them directly which of [334] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 344, 410. them had the better chances against Fischer. Korchnoi [335] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 214. said that the 'generation beaten by Fischer' had practically no chances. But Petrosian said that he believed in himself. [336] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 86. After this it was suggested to Korchnoi that he should allow Petrosian to win, and in compensation they promised [337] Brady 2011, p. 81. to send him to three major tournaments (which for a So[338] Brady 2011, p. 167. viet player in those times was a princely reward).'" Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 273. [339] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 88. [362] Brady 2011, p. 169. [340] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 220–22. [363] Brady 1973, p. 195. [341] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 225–26. [364] Kasparov 2004, pp. 408–17. [342] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 226. [365] Jan Timman, The Art of Chess Analysis , R.H.M. Press, [343] "'What happened next during the resumption of the 5th 1980, pp. 36–42. ISBN 0-89058-048-0. game,' Tal wrote later, 'had to be seen to be believed. It is simply incredible that three grandmasters could have left [366] Soltis 2003, pp. 259–62. a rook en prise a mere three moves after the resumption [367] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 311–12. of the game.'" Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 232. [368] Soltis 2002, p.? [344] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 412–16. [369] Mednis 1997, pp. 266–70. [345] Leonard Barden, From Portorož to Petrosian , in Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 345. [370] Reuben Fine, The Final Candidates Match Buenos Aires, 1971: Fischer vs Petrosian, Hostel Chess Association, [346] Byrne & Nei 1974, p. 1. 1971, pp. 13–32. [347] “The British chess player P.H. Clarke wrote that 'this per- [371] Cantwell, Robert (November 8, 1971). “Bobby Clears formance by Fischer may be the best, in statistical terms The Board For The Title”. Sports Illustrated . Retrieved anyway, ever recorded in a single competition.'" Edmonds March 12, 2016. & Eidinow 2004, p. 89. [372] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 96. [348] Pozner 1990, p. 272. [373] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 289. [349] Brady 1973, p. 188. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 168. [374] Schonberg 1973, p. 269. [350] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 91–92. [375] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 293. [351] Brady 2011, p. 168. [376] Alexander 1972, p. 74. [352] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 92. [377] Chess Informant , Volume 14, Šahovski Informator, 1973, pp. 302–07. [353] Cafferty 1972, p. 102. [354] "...the chess world... waspositively sent reeling by Bobby’s [378] All Time Rankings Archived November 26, 2009, at the Wayback Machine.. Retrieved June 21, 2009. crushing 6–0 defeat of Larsen”. Müller 2009, p. 360. [355] Byrne & Nei 1974, p. 19.
[379] Elo 1978, p. 43.
[356] Kasparov 2004, pp. 405–06.
[380] Life, November 12, 1971, “The Deadly Gamesman”.
[357] Sonas, Jeff (April 28, 2005). “The Greatest Chess Player [381] Kasparov 2004, p. 429. of All Time – Part II”. chessmetrics.com. Retrieved [382] "[Petrosian:]'...I must warn Spassky that Fischer is armed November 1, 2009. with all the new ideas in chess. As soon as Fischer gains even the slightest advantage, he begins playing like a ma[358] Di Felice 2014, pp. 48–49. chine. You cannot hope for some mistake. Fischer is a [359] “Petrosian’s opponents have declared him to be 'the hardquite extraordinary player. His match with Spassky will est player in history to defeat.'" Steiner 1974, p. 21. be tough.'" Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 336.
31 [383] Gligorić 1972, pp. 10–11.
[411] “Anand wins Chess Oscar for third time”. Rediff. May 6, 2004. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
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[386] Gligorić 1972, p. 13. [387] Gligorić 1972, p. 47. [388] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 308.
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[412] “The 1972 championship will become immortalized in film, on the stage, in song. It will remain incontrovertibly the most notorious chess duel in history. There will never be another like it... A lone American star was challenging the long Soviet grip on the world title. His success would dispose of the Soviet’s claim that their chess hegemony reflected the superiority of their political system...” Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 2–3.
[389] Alexander 1972, p. 141. [390] [391] [392] [393]
[413] Karpov beat Lev Polugaevsky in a Candidates quarterfinal match in January–February 1974 (+3−0=5). Byrne Moss, Stephen (2008-01-19). “Death of a madman driven 1976, p. 19. In the semi-finals, held in April–May 1974, sane by chess”. The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-01-04. he beat Spassky (+4−1=6). Id., p. 79. In the finals, held in September–November 1974, he beat Viktor Korchnoi Alexander 1972, pp. 84–87. (+3−2=19). Id. , p. 113. Gligorić 1972, p. 37. [414] Kasparov 2004, p. 471. Alexander 1972, p. 87. [415] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 412–13.
[394] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 271–73.
[416] Brady 2011, pp. 218–19.
[395] Byrne & Nei 1974, p. vii.
[417] Kasparov 2004, p. 472.
[396] Perhaps the best-selling book on the match was subtitled [418] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 413–14. The New York Times Report on theChess Match ofthe Cen[419] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 414. tury [397] “Even before a move has been made, this breathtaking, [420] Grandmaster Hans Ree remarked of Fischer’s demand that the champion keep his title in the event of a 9–9 tie, blood-curdling and heartrending encounter is justly being “They [FIDE] thought that this demand was too severe. It labelled as 'the Match of the Century'". Donner 2006, p. was rejected, understandably”. Böhm & Jongkind 2003, 136 (originally published in De Tijd , June 28, 1972). p. 46. [398] Roberts, Schonberg, Horowitz & Reshevsky 1972, pp. [421] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 417–18. 195–96. [422] Korchnoi and Alburt observed that Karpov, in later se[399] Müller 2009, p. 370. The match made the covers of Time curing the right to a rematch if he lost the World Champiand Newsweek . Id. at 19. onship, was given a greater advantage by FIDE than Fischer had asked for. Over two matches, Korchnoi was re[400] Kasparov 2004, p. 206. quired to beat Karpov by at least 6–5 and 6–5: an ag[401] Müller 2009, p. 15. gregate score of +2 and a minimum win requirement +2 greater than Karpov would have needed in 1975. This sce[402] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 89. nario nearly materialized since the 1978 match was tied 5–5 after 31 games before Karpov won the 32nd game. [403] Müller 2009, p. 13. Korchnoi could, in theory, have won 6–0 in the first match and lost 5–6 in the second, with an aggregate win total of [404] Soltis 2003, pp. 10–11. 11 games to Karpov’s 6. Recognizing this, FIDE presi[405] “Wearing city’s gold medal and accompanied by Mayor dent Euwe proposed that the champion should only have a John Lindsay, Bobby shakes hands with some 3,000 fans rematch in the event he lost 5–6, but Karpov rejected this attending...” Saidy & Lessing 1974, photo on pp. 224–25; proposal. Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 418–19. captions on p. 227. [423] In a letter to Larry Evans, published in Chess Life in [406] Larry Evans, in Müller 2009, p. 13. November 1974, Fischer claimed the usual system (24 games with the first player to get 12½ points winning, and [407] “BOBBY'S CHESSBOARD MASTERY”. Sports Illusthe champion retaining histitle in the event of a 12–12 tie) trated . August 14, 1972. Retrieved May 12, 2007. encouraged the player in the lead to draw games, which he regarded as bad for chess. Not counting draws would be [408] Cavett, Dick (February 8, 2008). “Was It Only a Game?". “an accurate test of who is the world’s best player”. DonThe New York Times . Retrieved January 4, 2014. aldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 159. [409] “About the USCF”. The United States Chess Federation. [424] Former U.S. Champion Arnold Denker, who was in conAugust 2007. Retrieved October 17, 2008. tact with Fischer during the negotiations with FIDE, [410] “Breaking news: Anand Wins Chess Oscars for 2007”. claimed that Fischer wanted a long match to be able to chessbase.com. May 8, 2008. Retrieved January 27, play himself into shape after a three-year layoff. Denker 2014. & Parr 1995, pp. 110–11.
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[450] “General Assembly”. United Nations. December 21, 1993. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
[426] Bozidar Kazic. 1975. “Anatoly Karpov New World Champion.” Chess Informant 19. [451] Soltis 2003, p. 280. [427] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 414–16.
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[454] Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 283.
[430] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 419–20.
[455] The tenth press conference was not transcribed. Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 272. The content of the other nine [431] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 418. press conferences can be found, in full, in id. at pp. 13, 15–21, 53–57, 86–90, 114–18, 149–54, 170–75, 208–14, [432] "'Karpov... knew he could hardly draw a game with Fis227–31, 256–60. cher, never mind score one or two wins. His only chance was to disrupt the match. So a whole arsenal of tricks was worked out, designed to upset the sensitive American, un- [456] Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 291. accustomed to such methods. As Karpov himself said, [457] Seirawan & Stefanovic, pp. 85, 96, 303. 'This match cannot end normally. Either I'll be taken to hospital (Anatoly weighed only 48kg at the time and even [458] Sloan, Sam. "Threatening Letter to Bobby Fischer ". at theend of hisMoscow matchwith Korchnoi he required anusha.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014. pep pills to keep him going) or else he'll be taken to a lu[459] Cohen, Roger (September 2, 1992). “Bobby Fischer Ends natic asylum.'" Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 419. Silence With Rancor”. The New York Times . Retrieved [433] "'Roger Cohen: Why, after turning down so many offers January 28, 2014. to make a comeback, did you accept this one? Bobby Fischer: That’s not quite true. As I recall, for example, [460] Labaton, Stephen (December 16, 1992). “FISCHER IS INDICTED OVER CHESS MATCH”. The New York Karpov in 1975 was the one who refused to play me under Times. Retrieved January 28, 2014. my conditions...'" Brady 2011, p. 247. [434] Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 22.
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[435] Bisguier, Arthur (June 22, 1988). “When Bobby Fischer took on a computer”. Christian Science Monitor. Re- [462] “Indictment” (PDF). U.S. District Court for the District trieved January 27, 2014. of Columbia (Federal Circuit). December 15, 1992. Retrieved January 28, 2014. [436] Fischer 1982, p. 1. [463] “On December 15, 1992, a single count indictment in fed[437] Fischer 1982, p. 2. eral court in Washington, D.C., was handed down by a grand jury against Bobby Fischer for violating economic [438] Fischer 1982, pp. 3–14. sanctions, through an executive order issued by President George Bush. A letter to that effect was sent to Bobby in [439] Fischer 1982, pp. 10–12. Belgrade, and upon announcement of the indictment, fed[440] Fischer 1982, p. 14. eral officials issued a warrant for his arrest”. Brady 2011, p. 255. [441] Fischer, Bobby (1982). "I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!". Printer. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
[464] "[Fischer’s] worry was that the U.S. government might finally have caught up with him. He'd violated State De[442] Chun, Rene (December 2002). " Bobby Fischer’s Pathetic partment economic sanctions against Yugoslavia by playEndgame". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 28, 2014. inga $5 million chess matchagainst BorisSpassky inSveti Stefan, Montenegro, in 1992, and an arrest warrant had [443] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 302. been issued at that time. If he went back to the United [444] Brady 2011, p. 224. States, he'd have to stand trial, and the penalty, if he was convicted, would be anywhere from ten years in prison to [445] Nack, William (July 29, 1985). “Bobby Fischer”. Sports $250,000 in fines, or both, plus possible forfeiture of his Illustrated. Retrieved March 12, 2016. $3.5 million winnings”. Brady 2011, p. 2. [446] Weeks, Mark (1997–2008). “1992 Fischer – Spassky Rematch Highlights”. Printer. Retrieved January 28, 2014. [465] Winter, Edward. "Fischer v Gligorić Training Match (1992)", Chess Notes [447] Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 8. [466] Daniszewski, John (September 4, 1992). “Fischer’s 19Year-Old Companion Shares Chess Limelight”. Commu[448] “Bobby Fischer arrives in Iceland”. BBC News. March 25, nity.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved November 12, 2005. Retrieved January 28, 2014. 2011. [449] “Question of Yugoslavia (1992)". Ozone Secretariat. 2004. Retrieved January 28, 2014. [467] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 65, 106–09.
33 [468] Brady 2011, pp. 255–62.
[488] Fischer wrote of Nature’s Eternal Religion in a 1979 letter to Benko, "'The book shows that Christianity itself is just [469] “Sofia Polgar discussing Bobby Fischer”. youtube.com. a Jewish hoax and one more Jewish tool for their conquest Retrieved November 12, 2011. of the world. ... Unfortunately the author is an extreme racist and this somewhat spoils the book.'" DeLucia 2007, [470] “At the beginning of the 21st century, grandmasters have p. 280. been slowly but surely expressing interestin Fischerandom Chess”. Gligorić 2002, p. 132. [489] DeLucia 2009, p. 290, 292. [471] Cabreza, Vincent (January 19, 2008). “Fischer has a [490] “Fischer was able to separate his hatred for Judaism as a Pinoy heir born in Baguio – friends”. Philippine Daily religion and Jews as an ethnic group from Jewish people Inquirer. Retrieved January 20, 2008. as individuals. He was on perfectly amicable terms with Jewish chess masters in the United States and the USSR.” [472] Marilyn Young’s name was written behind a photograph Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 27. dated December 14, 2000, sent to her by Fischer. The photograph is displayed on the Chessbase website. See [491] Bamber, David; Chris Hastings (December 2, 2001). also: “Fischer’s daughter Jinky files claim to his estate”. “Bobby Fischer speaks out to applaud Trade Centre atchessbase.com. November 11, 2009. Retrieved January tacks”. The Sunday Telegraph. p. 17. 3, 2010. [492] “The Bin Laden defense; Diatribe; Bobby Fischer speaks [473] Ochoa, Francis (February 7, 2008). “Fischer’s Filipino out in favor of 9/11 attacks; Brief Article; Transcript”. heirs going after estate”. Philippine Daily Inquirer . ReHarper’s Magazine. 304 (1822): 27. March 1, 2002. trieved January 3, 2010. 0017-789X. [474] “Bobby Fischer’s Pinay heir may get settlement”. [493] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 122. GMANews.tv. February 26, 2008. Retrieved January 3, [494] “In 2001, though, with the Internet rapidly expanding, 2010. his rants were heard all over the world, and what he said [475] “Fischer’s Pinay love child in Iceland to claim inheribrought renewed scrutiny by the United States governtance”. Manila Bulletin. December 4, 2009. Retrieved ment”. Brady 2011, p. 279. January 4, 2014. [495] Weber, Bruce (January 19, 2008). “Bobby Fischer, Trou[476] “Fischer’s daughter Jinky files claim to his estate”. chessbled Genius of Chess, Dies at 64”. The New York Times . base.com. November 11, 2009. Retrieved January 3, Retrieved January 11, 2013. 2010. [496] Fischer’s radio broadcasts show that he was “out of his [477] “4 gera kröfu í dánarbú Fischers (Four parties make mind ... a victim of his own mental illness”. Böhm & claims)". RÚV. April 22, 2008. Archived from the origiJongkind 2003, pp. 66–67. nal on April 23, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2010. [497] “Executive Board Actions (EB 02-40)" (PDF). USCF. [478] “DNA tests on chess champion’s corpse exclude pater2002. nity”. Reuters. August 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29, [498] “Unofficial summary of the February, 2007, meeting of 2014. the USCF Executive Board” (PDF). Retrieved March 17, [479] “DNA results settle Bobby Fischer paternity case”. 2016. Cnn.com. August 18, 2010. Retrieved November 12, [499] “Archive of official site”. Web.archive.org. January 21, 2011. 2008. Archived from the original on January 21, 2008. [480] “Portrait of a Genius As a Young Chess Master”. Ralph Retrieved November 12, 2011. Ginzburg’s January 1962 interview, Harper’s Magazine . [500] Frederick, Jim (August 23, 2004). “King’s Gambit”. Retrieved January 21, 2008. TIME . Retrieved July 5, 2010. [481] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 30, 44. [501] “Fischer er jákvæður og skýr í hugsun”. (Icelandic). [482] Nathaniel Popper,“Chess Master Pawned Identity for Ha[502] Tweedie, Neil (January 25, 2008). “Bobby Fischer’s final tred”, The Jewish Daily Forward , July 23, 2004. bizarre act”. The Telegraph. Retrieved May 12, 2016. [483] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 41, 45, 61, 66, 90, 92, 95, [503] “There was problems with the revocation of the passport, 101, 107, 117–20. however. Fischer never received the notice and therefore [484] Parr, Larry: “Is Bobby Fischer Anti-Semitic?", Chess couldn't appeal it, which according to law he had the right News, May 2001. to do. The Justice Department claimed that the letter had been sent to the hotel in Bern (the location Bobby had [485] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 123. given to the embassy) and was returned to them with no forwarding address appended. It was dated December 11, [486] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 41, 65–66, 118–19, 121. 2003, and when a faxed copy of the letter was ultimately [487] DeLucia 2009, pp. 160–62, 166. Chess historian Edward examined, it didn't have an address for Fischer on it, the Winter, in his review of DeLucia’s book, calls it "[o]ne of implication being that the embassy had never sent the letthe most extraordinary of all chess books”. Winter 2009. ter to Bern”. Brady 2011, pp. 281–82.
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[504] “Bobby was astute enough to know that by making more [518] '"Honorable Members of Althingi: I... sincerely thank the and more broadcasts [against the United States and Jews Icelandic nation for the friendship it has shown to me ever worldwide], he was increasing his chances of eventual arsince I came to your country many years ago and comrest. When nothing happened, however, he felt invulnerapeted for the title of World Champion in chess... For the ble and continued to travel without hiding...” Brady 2011, past six months I have been forcibly and illegally imprisp. 280. oned in Japan... During this period my health has steadily deteriorated... I would therefore like to formally request [505] “It’s possible that Fischer’s broadcasts were the fuel that that Althingi grant me Icelandic citizenship so that I may sparked the U.S. government to activate the decade-old actually enjoy the offer of residence in Iceland that your charge against him”. Brady 2011, pp. 282–83. Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. David Oddsson had so graciously extended to me. Most Respectfully, BOBBY [506] Miyoko, for her part, thought that U.S. authorities could FISCHER'" Brady 2011, pp. 288–89. have arrested Bobby anytime post-1992, but they didn't, and only went after him when 'suddenly he started to at[519] “Fangavist fáránleikans” (PDF) (in Icelandic). Morguntack America and it made the government very angry.'" bladid. February 2, 2005. Retrieved October 7, 2015.. AP wire story (Tokyo), July 18, 2004. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 283. [520] “Then I asked him if he had given Bill Lombardy a call. A few weeks earlier his former second had written an article [507] “Not knowing that his arrest was imminent, and believing supporting his case that had been published in Morgunblathat his passport was legal, on July 13, 2004, [Fischer] did . 'Yeah, I phoned him from jail and told him to write wenttoNaritaAirportinTokyotoboardaplaneboundfor an article', Bobby said. 'I told him that he was obliged to Manila. He was arrested and shackled in chains”. Brady be of assistance. And he did it without asking any ques2011, p. 282. tions’". Ólafsson 2014, p. 67. [508] "...on July 13, 2004... [Fischer] was arrested...” "...on March 23, 2005, [Fischer] was released from his cell”. [521] Bobby Fischer: ich bin ein Icelander! . March 21, 2005. Brady 2011, pp. 282, 293. [522] Smith-Spark, Laura (March 23, 2005). “Fischer 'put Iceland on the map'". British Broadcasting Corporation. Re[509] Suzuki, Hiroshi (August 6, 2004). “Bobby Fischer trieved September 13, 2008. Renounces U.S. Citizenship, Seeks Refugee Status”. Bloomberg. Retrieved August 2, 2010. [523] “The RJF [Robert James Fischer] members called virtu[510] “Spassky to Bush: Arrest me!". chessbase.com. August ally every member of parliament to lobby for citizenship: 10, 2004. Retrieved October 7, 2015. I would not like to full, permanent citizenship... an Extraordinary Session defend or justify Bobby Fischer. He is what he is. I am of Parliament was called for Saturday, Match 21, 2005. asking only for one thing. For mercy, charity. If for some Three rounds of discussion took place in the space of reason it is impossible, I would like to ask you the followtwelve minutes, and questions were posed regarding the ing: Please correct the mistake of President François Mitextent of the emergency. The answers were succinct and terrand in 1992. Bobby and myself committed the same forthcoming: Bobby Fischer’s improper incarceration was crime. Put sanctions against me also. Arrest me. And put a violation of his rights; all he was really guilty of was me in the same cell with Bobby Fischer. And give us a moving some wooden pieces across a chessboard; he'd chess set. been a friend of Iceland and had a historical connection to it, and now he needed the country’s help”. Act Respect[511] “Profile: Bobby Fischer: Endgame on the darker side of ing the Granting of Citizenship, no. 16/2005. Quoted in genius”. timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved July 18, 2009. Brady 2011, p. 293. [512] “Fischer’s next moves: renounce U.S. citizenship and marry a Japanese | The Japan Times Online ". japan- [524] Yanchulis, Kelly. “ESPN’s Jeremy Schaap Opens Up with Students”. Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, times.co.jp. August 17, 2004. Retrieved January 4, 2014. University of Maryland. Retrieved January 4, 2014. [513] “Fischer renounces US citizenship”. chessbase.com. Au[525] “Bobby Fischer dies in Iceland”. chessbase.com. January gust 15, 2004. Retrieved January 27, 2014. 18, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2014. [514] Koerner, Brendan (August 9, 2004). “How To Renounce Your Citizenship: Tips from Bobby Fischer”. Slate. Re- [526] Brady 2011, p. 305. trieved July 3, 2012. [527] Brady 2011, p. 319. [515] “Bobby Fischer’s Deportation Appeal Rejected”. Associated Press. July 28, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2014. [528] “Bobby Fischer’s final manoeuvre”. The Sunday Times . April 20, 2008. [516] “Asia-Pacific | Iceland grants Fischer passport”. BBC News. March 21, 2005. Retrieved January 28, 2014. [529] “Bobby Fischer and the missed combination”. chessbase.com. December 17, 2006. Retrieved January 27, [517] "[Fischer] was picked up by limousine supplied by the Ice2014. landic embassy, given his new Icelandic passport, and he and Miyoko, hand in hand, sped to Narita Airport”. AP [530] Fischer on Icelandic Radio April 11, 2006. wire story, March 23, 2005. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 293. [531] Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 118.
35 [532] “Bobby Fischer: Chess’s beguiling, eccentric genius”. [547] “Bobby started to have urinary problems and thought it BBC News Magazine. July 4, 2011. Retrieved May 15, might simply be caused by an enlarged prostate gland, 2016. at first denying that anything was seriously wrong with him. His lungs were also bothering him and he was having difficulty breathing. Since he had a lifelong distrust of [533] “As his mother was Jewish, under Jewish law he was Jewdoctors, he tolerated the discomfort until late September ish himself, although this was a label he always rejected. 2007, when his pain and inability to urinate became exWhen he discovered that he had been included in a list cruciating. He went to a doctor... [who conducted a blood of famous Jews in the Encyclopedia Judaica, he wrote to test which showed that] he had a blocked urinary tract... the editor to declare how distressed this mistake had made [and that] his kidneys... were not functioning properly... him and to demand that it not be repeated”. Edmonds & Bobby refused to take any medicine, and the idea of being Eidinow 2004, pp. 26–27. hooked up to a dialysis machine to cleanse his blood every few days for the rest of his life was out of the question”. [534] Ginzburg 1962, p. 54. Brady 2011, pp. 316–17. [535] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 15. [548] “It’s possible that Bobby was just giving up, letting go of his life, beginning a slow form of suicide”. Interview of [536] Brady, Frank (1974). Bobby Fischer:Profile of a Prodigy. Pal Benko by author, summer 2008, New York. Quoted Dover Publications. pp. 151–153. ISBN 0-486-25925-0. in Brady 2011, p. 317. [537] Chess Life, April 2009, p. 10. [549] Dirda, Michael(February 10, 2011). “A chess master who defeated himself”. The Washington Post . [538] “Where was Fischer? For severalyears, he lived in the bosom of the Worldwide Church of God in Pasadena, where [550] Brady 2011, p. 318. he was called'a co-worker.' The church fed him, they gave him comfortable accommodation in Mocking Bird Lane, [551] “Bobby Fischer – his final weeks”. chessbase.com. Janthey even flew him around in a private jet. In return, Fisuary 25, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014. cher handed over around a third ($61,200) of his Icelandic prize money”. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 301–02. [552] Burial: [539] Darrach, Brad (August 11, 1972). “Bobby is Not a Nasty Kid”. Life. p. 40. Retrieved March 25, 2013. [540] This led Fischer to believe that Armstrong was really a “false prophet”. Brady 2011, p. 212. [541] Martin, Douglas (September 17, 2003). “Garner Ted Armstrong, Evangelist, 73, Dies”. The New York Times . Retrieved January 27, 2014.
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•
•
[542] Brady 2011, p. 317. [543] Batty, David(January18, 2008). “Chess champion Bobby Fischerdies”. The Guardian. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
•
“Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland”. chessbase.com. January 22, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014. “Find A Grave – Robert James Fischer”. findagrave.com. January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014. "Útför Fischers í kyrrþey” (in Icelandic). January 21, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014.. “Unnustan ræður hvílustað Bobbys” (in Icelandic). visir.is. January 19, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014.. Bragadottir, Kristin Arna (January 21, 2008). “Chess champion Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland”. Reuters . Retrieved January 29, 2014.
[544] “Dánarorsök Fischers var nýrnabilun” (in Icelandic). [553] Andrew Soltis,Fi$cher Family Feud, New York Post , mbl.is. January 20, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014. November 15, 2009. Retrieved November 16, 2009. [545] Death: •
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[554] McClain, Dylan Loeb (July 5, 2010). “Bobby Fischer Is Exhumed”. The New York Times (Online Chess Blog). “Chess genius Bobby Fischer, from American hero Retrieved January 29, 2014. to paranoid fugitive”. AFP. January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014. [555] “Fischer’s remains to be exhumed?". chessbase.com. April 1, 2010. Retrieved January 27, 2014. “Obituary: Bobby Fischer”. BBC News. January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014. [556] McClain, Dylan Loeb (June 17, 2010). “Iceland: Bobby Fischer’s Estate Dispute”. The New York Times Europe . “Chess legend Fischer dies at 64”. BBC News. JanRetrieved January 29, 2014. uary 18, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014. “Bobby Fischer: Obituary”. The Sunday Times . [557] “Court rules Bobby Fischer’s body can be exhumed”. January 19, 2008. CNN.com. June 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
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[564] “He employs a limited range of openings. Of course, this [584] Gligorić 1985, p. 65. is not a sign of Fischer’s limited creativity, since he com- [585] Watson observed that 7...Qb6 “is an astonishing move that pensates for this by a very profound and sound knowledge those raised with classical chess principles would simply of the variations he favours [sic].” Plisetsky & Voronkov reject as a typical beginner’s mistake. Black goes running 2005, p. 270. after a pawn when he is undeveloped and already under attack.” Watson 2006, p. 199. [565] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 251–62. [566] “Fischer’s main and almost exclusive weapon with White [586] “Referring to the Poisoned Pawn Variation ... the brilliant, classically oriented grandmaster Salo Flohr commented, is 1 e4. The range ofstratagems that he employs after 1 e4 even as late as 1972: 'In chess, there is an old rule: in the is extremely wide.” Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 251. opening, one must make haste to develop the pieces, and must not move the same piece several times, particularly [567] 90½/118 (+72−9=37): 76.69% “Robert James Fisthe queen. This ancient law holds good even for Bobby cher playing the Sicilian as Black (B20-B99)". chessFischer.'" Watson 1998, p. 18. games.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014. [568] 135/182 (+111−23=48): 74.17% “Robert James Fis- [587] The Poisoned Pawn Variation “was considered dubious by cher playing the Sicilian as White (B20-B99)". chesscertain GMs and crazy by Bent Larsen”. Polugaevsky, games.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014. Piket & Guéneau 1995, p. 83. [569] 38/52 (+31−7=14): 73.07% “Robert James Fischer [588] Andrew Soltis, in Müller 2009, p. 30. playing the Caro-Kann as White (B10-B19)". chess[589] “Robert James Fischer, Sicilian, Najdorf (B97)". chessgames.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014. games.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014. [570] 42/68 (+34−18=16): 61.76% “Robert James Fischer playing the French Defense as White (C00-C19)". chess- [590] Georgiev & Kolev 2007, p. 6. games.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014. [591] Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 146. [571] 22/40 (+17−13=10): 55% “Robert James Fischer playing the French Winawer as White (C15-C19)". chess- [592] Mednis calls 6.Bc4 against the Najdorf Variation “Fischer’s 6 B-QB4”. Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 74, 80, 88. games.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014. [593] “Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer, Mar del Plata [572] Müller 2009, p. 31. (1960), King’s Gambit: Accepted. Kieseritsky Gambit Rubinstein Variation (C39)". chessgames.com. Retrieved [573] Fischer 1969, p. 151. January 29, 2014. [574] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 208. [594] Fischer 1961, p. 4. [575] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 322 (quoting March 20, 1972 letter from Paul Keres to the USSR Chess Federa- [595] Fischer 1961, pp. 4–9. tion). [596] Estrin & Glaskov 1982, p. 115. [576] “The Exchange Variation was a feared weapon in the hands of Bobby Fischer.” Kasparov & Keene 1989, p. [597] Korchnoi & Zak 1975, p. 39. 382. [598] Andrew Soltis, in Müller 2009, p. 29. [577] “The modern version of the Spanish Exchange variation, [599] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 27, 76–77, 253, 256. in which White moves 5.0-0 after the exchange on move 4, should be named after former World Champion Bobby [600] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 214. Fischer.” Fischer, after finding an improvement on a 1965 game Barendregt-Teschner, which Black won, “started to [601] Silman 2007, pp. 510–23.
37 [602] Müller & Lamprecht 2001, p. 304. [603] Mayer 1997, p. 201.
• • •
Schonberg 1973, pp. 271, 302. Waitzkin 1993, p. 275 (quoting Kasparov). Wilson 1981, p. 171.
[604] Steve Giddins, 2012, The Greatest Ever chess endgames , [617] Arguably greatest player ever: p. 68. [605] “With the advent of electronic clocks new possibilities arose andin 1990 the recluse Fischer emerged to publicize a chess clock which he had patented. The basis of its novelty is the ability to add available time whenever a player makes a move. He suggested that each player should begin with one hour on the clock and that two minutes be added each time the clock is pressed, thus avoiding the worst features of a time scramble”. Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 422.
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Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 133–34. Divinsky 1990. p. 67. Eade 2011, p. 308. Euwe 1979, p. ix. Golombek 1977. p. 117. Kasparov 2004, p. 490. Mednis 1997, p. xiii. Soltis 2003, p. 9. Wolff 2001, p. 273.
[606] “Bobby’s invention of a new chess clock that operated differently from those traditionally used in tournaments had to be specially manufactured for the match, and [Jezdimir] Vasiljevic had it made. Bobby insisted that it be used in [618] “William Lombardy characterized Fischer’s game as mathe match. The game would start with each player having chinelike, with 'terrifically accurate positional play but ninety minutes, and upon his making a move, two minnever boring... His opening repertory is encompassing... utes would be added to each player’s time. Bobby’s theory His end game is practically flawless. Bobby is the most was that in this new system, players would never be left to complete player I've ever seen.'" Schonberg 1972, p. 270. scramble to make their moves at the end of the time allotment with only seconds to spare, thereby reducing the [619] “Referring to the future chess computer, Jim Sherwin [aka: James Sherwin], an American [chess] player who number of blunders under time pressure. The pride of the knew Fischer well, described him as 'a prototype Deep game was the depth of its conceptions, Fischer contended, Blue.' The Soviet analysis showed that even when faced not triumph by mechanical means”. Brady 2011, p. 246. with an unexpected position, Fischer took not longer than [607] “In the 1992 match both players start with one hour and fifteen or twenty minutes to make his move; other grandfifty-one minutes. Each move played earns a one-minute masters might take twice as long. Nor did Fischer appear bonus. After 40 moves, both players get a 40-minute gift, to be governed by any psychologically predetermined sysafter 60 moves, 30 minutes andafter 80 andeach succeedtem or technique”. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 22. ing 20 moves, 20 minutes. The gifts are in addition to the regular bonus of one minute a move. The time controls [620] "[Fischer’s] play approached so close to perfection that it seemed to transcend style”. Winter 1981, p. 118. correspond with the older competition limits of 40 moves in two and a half hours”. Müller 2009, p. 382. [621] “Player Profile: Bobby Fischer”. chessmetrics.com. March 26, 2005. Retrieved January 29, 2014. [608] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 307. • •
[609] “Audio clip of Bobby Fischer”. chess960.net. Archived [622] Saidy & Lessing 1974, p. 226. from the original on November 29, 2007. Retrieved Jan- [623] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 43. uary 29, 2014. [624] "Petrosian: 'Fischer is exceptionally hard-working. [610] Brady 2011, p. 260. Without fear of over-exaggerating, I am prepared to compare the amount of time spent by him at the board be[611] “Speaking about Fischer...”. November 4, 2006. Retween competitions with the hours devoted to chess by all trieved February 6, 2014. the members of the Soviet national team taken together.'" Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 143. [612] Kasparov 2004, p. 207. [613] Brady 2011, p. 328.
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[615] Wolff 2001, p. 273. [616] Greatest player ever: •
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Schonberg, Harold C. (1973). Grandmasters of Chess. J.B. Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-01004-4. Seirawan, Yasser; Stefanovic, George (1992). No Regrets: Fischer-Spassky 1992 . International Chess 22 Enterprises. ISBN 1-879479-09-5.
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Further reading
Silman, Jeremy (2007). Silman’s Complete Endgame Main article: List of books and documentaries by or Course: From Beginner to Master . Siles Press. ISBN about Bobby Fischer 1-890085-10-3. Sloan, Peter Julius Aravena; Aravena, Anda (2012). NYChess Since1972: A Guide Book Of Places To Go And People You Will See Around NY Chess (Volume 1). CreateSpace. ISBN 1-4609-6141-2. Soltis, Andrew (1984). The Book of Chess Lists (1st ed.). McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-89950096-X. Soltis, Andrew (2002). Chess Lists (2nd ed.). McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-1296-8. Soltis, Andrew (2003). Bobby Fischer Rediscovered . Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8846-8. Sunnucks, Anne (1976) [1970]. The Encyclopaedia of Chess (2nd ed.). St. Martin’s Press. ISBN 9780-7091-4697-1.
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Steiner, George (1974) [1973]. Fields of Force. Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-31178-1.
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Verwer, Renzo (2010). Bobby Fischer for Beginners. New In Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-315-1.
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Wade, Robert G.; O'Connell, Kevin J. (1973) [1972]. Bobby Fischer’s Chess Games (2nd ed.). Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-08627-X. Waitzkin, Fred (1993). Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov . G.P. Putnam’s Sons. ISBN 0-399-13827-7.
Agur, Elie (1992). Bobby Fischer: A Study of His Approach to Chess. Cadogan. ISBN 1-85744-0013. Dautov, Petra (1995). Bobby Fischer – wie er wirklich ist: Ein Jahr mit dem Schachgenie. P. Dautov California-Verlag. ISBN 3-9804281-3-3. Hübner, Robert (2008). Chessbase Monograph: World Champion Fischer . Chessbase. ASIN B007J8Z8E4. Verwer, Renzo (2010). World Chess Champions . New in Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-315-1.
External links Bobby Fischer player profile and games at Chessgames.com A list of books about Fischer and Kasparov compiled by Edward Winter
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Archive of Fischer’s personal homepage
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Bobby Fischer Live Radio Interviews (1999–2006)
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Extensive collection of Fischer photographs, Echecs-photos online
42
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23 EXTERNAL LINKS
“Bobby Fischer’s Pathetic Endgame”, Rene Chun, The Atlantic, December 2002
43
24
Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses
24.1 •
Text
Bobby Fischer Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer?oldid=757080835 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Slrubenstein, Arvindn,
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24 TEXT AND IMAGE SOURCES, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSES Faithlessthewonderboy, Mecenas~enwiki, PuercoPop, Cbradshaw, Xeverett, WikOutWikIni, ClueBot, 47of74, Hashmi, Usman, James Lednik, All Hallow’s Wraith, Newzild, Hypathia, Plastikspork, Dansham, Gwynfrynmgt, Chessy999, Dlabtot, Cristorly, Mild Bill Hiccup, Sarahbudhiman, Nytimes19992000, Niceguyedc, Thegadge, Peanut4, Onomato, Cha003, SLSolomon, John J. Bulten, Solar-Wind, Privatemusings, Neozoon, Brewcrewer, Welham66, OceaNotion, Johnnyvelour, Jusdafax, Steamroller Assault, Bender2k14, Eeekster, Niteshift36, Cogsyp, Sun Creator, Kody123789, Gavatron, Alberto Cyone, CaptainCookie, Jotterbot, CowboySpartan, Eleven Special, Dekisugi, Tastesoon, Blinadrange, Dealtthrice, Jsondow, Mcris31, JasonAQuest, BOTarate, Jimmy Fleischer, John Paul Parks, Tired time, Thingg, DerBorg, Venera 7, Chimino, Psycowitz, MelonBot, Loosmark, Cglynn, Chhe, DumZiBoT, Merrowman, Djneufville, Cowardly Lion, JRWoodwardMSW, Against the current, David Šenek, QYV, BenRachet, Bdimag, Academic38, Olof Maximilian Olsson~enwiki, FischerRandom, Riharing, Jprw, Scarenone, Albertdiner, Karpouzi, Alexius08, Artaxerxes, Good Olfactory, Lemmey, ColtM4, Kbdankbot, Some jerk on the Internet, DOI bot, Jojhutton, FokkerTISM, GregManninLB, Tippx, Wulf Isebrand, Ronhjones, Orinoco-w, Gidolf, Lihaas, Sumbuddi, LinkFA-Bot, 5 albert square, Tassedethe, GoneInsane, Dayewalker, Wikicyberwriter, Lightbot, Kiril Simeonovski, Totorotroll, DanielDuda, Matěj Grabovský, Steak, Mro, Yoavd, Ben Ben, Legobot, Luckas-bot, Yobot, EchetusXe, JJARichardson, Opc100, Xocoyotzin, ParksAreFun, Yngvadottir, Benjamin Lamowski, THEN WHO WAS PHONE?, Reenem, Playboyoreo, Roltz, Radiopathy, AnomieBOT, Noq, ErleGreer, Tuvalkin, Rockypedia, Jim1138, Boleyn2, Artienp~enwiki, Aditya, Leopoldmozart, Shotcallerballerballer, Kingpin13, Sponspon, Materialscientist, Carpet chair, Citation bot, DynamoDegsy, Cliftonian, LilHelpa, Potočnik, Xqbot, TinucherianBot II, Hkadira, Sionus, Persaudt, Tavria, GrandMattster, MrsHudson, Gtrbolivar, Gjoh, Jmundo, JasonGivesKnowledge, J04n, GrouchoBot, Peanut22, Omnipaedista, Wilsonchas, RibotBOT, Cresix, Wikireview, MerlLinkBot, Lazysummer, JoshAnish, Thehelpfulbot, Spongefrog, Sonoluminesence, WHPratt, Hushpuckena, FrescoBot, Voxii, Schmittz, Pepper, Neptunekh2, Jocauley, 194x144x90x118, HamburgerRadio, Citation bot 1, DigbyDalton, ChessEditor4, Duotrigesimal, Grammarspellchecker, Arctic Night, Tinton5, Fat&Happy, I Do Care, Gingermint, Sharolaidbartle, Jandalhandler, LianRad, Full-date unlinking bot, Lightlowemon, Arinbjorn, Magicjourneys33, Suhel.sarker, 777sms, Suhel1.sakata, Aoidh, Fletch79, Ivanvector, TimJoslin, Josipmickovic, RjwilmsiBot, Bento00, VernoWhitney, Teddystenhouse, EmausBot, Wikkitywack, John of Reading, Orphan Wiki, Avenue X at Cicero, Immunize, Nuujinn, GoingBatty, Valterdaw, Ringo1111, Mo ainm, BobbieCharlton, Lithistman, K6ka, MrIsaacSolo, Fielding99, Bravo Foxtrot, JSquish, Vladwin, Levapk, H3llBot, SporkBot, Mrjinca, Brandmeister, Eggsclear12, Donner60, George Dance, Gusulfurka, Leonidas Nava, Ihardlythinkso, BornonJune8, Wikiwind, JohnnyLurg, Thatsnotaname, Helpsome, ClueBot NG, BarrelProof, Joefromrandb, Double22deuce, Delusion23, Norlns22, Widr, Secret of success, Nevadaone, Norbytherobot, Helpful Pixie Bot, The Gaon, Curb Chain, KIENGIR, BG19bot, Neptune’s Trident, Roberticus, Blake Burba, MardiGras21, Devfisher, Sleeping is fun, Hrvyklly, Jkmaskell, Bigsean0300, Dhexplorer, ERJANIK, WJVM, Toccata quarta, Caduon, Cygnature, Filing Flunky, GTH2014, Proxyma, EricEnfermero, BattyBot, Sander.v.Ginkel, Pratyya Ghosh, ZTFulkerson, AllThatJazz2012, SashiRolls, ChrisGualtieri, Arcandam, 23 editor, Quant18, Dylanvt, Patter19, Billyshiverstick, Cup o' Java, Dexbot, Spirit of Eagle, Omid.espero, Ranze, Jamesx12345, Openfieldopenmind, Qwerty258741369, JMRW67, Giggapedia, Tentinator, Backendgaming, Chris troutman, LifeEditorLatinAmerica, Knockatock, 88, IQ125, Monochrome Monitor, Steven Rogers, Jonmax74, SNUGGUMS, Tomkyd1964, Sirmouse, Chipperdude15, Bluevideogame, Archwayh, 22merlin, Bilorv, Monkbot, Pinoy Pride 2013, AKS.9955, TropicAces, GinAndChronically, Pieter202, Faranan2030, Sakib14, BrightonC, Philodemos, KBH96, Oiyarbepsy, Studentttt, TJH2018, Julietdeltalima, Morcohen2, GingerBreadHarlot, GeneralizationsAreBad, Dickman175, KasparBot, Weareallspock, Exxcalibur808, Snikpohyduj, Supermax2424, InternetArchiveBot, Strawberry4Ever, Zaostao, Bruce leverett, GreenC bot, Bender the Bot, ArianaGrande1993, BobXenakis, RAYMOND BRAVO PRATS and Anonymous: 1 061
24.2 •
Images
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%28trimmed%29.jpg License: CC BY-SA 4.0 Contributors: Wikimedia File:Bobby Fisher in Cuba.jpg (modified) Original artist: RAYMOND BRAVO PRATS https: //upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b1/Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-76052-0335%2C_Schacholympiade%2C_Tal_ %28UdSSR%29_gegen_Fischer_%28USA%29.jpg License: CC BY-SA 3.0 de Contributors: This image was provided to Wikimedia Commons by the German Federal Archive (Deutsches Bundesarchiv) as part of a cooperation project. The German Federal Archive guarantees an authentic representation only using the originals (negative and/or positive), resp. the digitalization of the originals as provided by the Digital Image Archive. Original artist: Kohls, Ulrich
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