Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fisher redirects here. For the English footballer,

see Bobby Fisher (footballer).
For those of a similar name, see Bob Fisher (disambiguation).

cial act of the Icelandic Althing, allowing him to live in

Iceland until his death in 2008.

In the 1990s, Fischer patented a modied 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. He also invented a new variant of chess named
uary 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and Fischerandom (known today as Chess960). Fischer
the eleventh World Chess Champion. Many consider him made numerous additional contributions to chess.
to be the greatest chess player of all time. In 1972, he captured the World Chess Championship from Boris Spassky
of the USSR in a match held in Reykjavk, Iceland, publicized as a Cold War confrontation, which attracted more
worldwide interest than any chess championship before or 1 Early years
since. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when
an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, the games
international governing body, over one of the conditions Bobby Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospi[2]
for the match. This allowed Soviet GM Anatoly Karpov, tal in Chicago, Illinois, on March 9, 1943. His
who had won the qualifying Candidates cycle, to become birth certicate listed his father as Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, also known as Gerardo Liebscher,[3] a German
the new world champion by default under FIDE rules.
biophysicist. His mother, Regina Wender 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" that became known as "The Game of the
Jewish parents from Poland and Russia.[6] Raised in St.
Century". Starting at age 14, Fischer played in eight
Louis, Missouri,[2] Regina became a teacher, registered
United States Championships, winning each by at least
nurse, and later a 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 to Germany to visit her brother. It was there she
candidate for the World Championship.
met geneticist and future Nobel Prize winner Hermann
At age 20, Fischer won the 196364 U.S. Championship
Joseph Muller, who persuaded her to move to Moscow
with 11/11, the only perfect score in the history of the
to study medicine. She enrolled at I.M. Sechenov First
tournament. His book My 60 Memorable Games (pubMoscow State Medical University, where she met Hanslished 1969) became an icon of American chess literaGerhardt, 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.
Interzonal Tournament by a record 3-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, France, where
60 sweeps in the Candidates Matches. In July 1971, he
Regina became an English teacher. The threat of a Gerbecame the rst ocial FIDE number-one-rated 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-Gerhardt attempted to follow the pair
cher became reclusive and sometimes erratic, disappear- but his German citizenship barred him from entering the
ing from both competitive chess and the public eye. In United States.[8] Regina and Hans-Gerhardt had sepa1992 he reemerged to win an unocial rematch against rated in Moscow, although they did not ocially divorce
Spassky. It was held in Yugoslavia, which was under a until 1945.[8]
United Nations embargo at the time. His participation
At the time of her sons birth, Regina was homeless[9]
led to a conict with the U.S. government, which sought
and shuttled to dierent jobs and schools around the
income tax on Fischers match winnings, and ultimately
country to support her family. She engaged in politiissued a warrant for his arrest. After that, he lived his
cal activism, and raised both Bobby and Joan as a single
life as an migr. In 2004 he was arrested in Japan and
parent.[10][11][12]
held for several months for using a passport that had been
revoked by the U.S. government. Eventually, he was In 1949, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York
[13]
granted an Icelandic passport and citizenship by a spe- City, where she studied for her masters degree in nursing and subsequently began working in that eld.[11]
1

1.1

EARLY YEARS

Paul Nemenyi as Fischers father

When the family vacationed at Patchogue, Long Island,

that summer, Bobby found a book of old chess games and
Sources implying that Paul Nemenyi, a Hungarian-Jewish studied it intensely.[22] Fischer biographer Frank Brady
mathematician and physicist and an expert in uid and ap- describes the familys move from Manhattan to Brooklyn
plied mechanics, was Fischers biological father were rst 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 investigated Regina and
ily out of Manhattan and across the bridge
her circle for her alleged communist sympathies, as
to Brooklyn, where she rented an inexpensive
well as her previous life in Moscow.[16] The FBI les
apartment near the intersection of Union and
identify Paul Nemenyi as Bobby Fischers biological faFranklin streets. It was only temporary: She
ther, showing that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered
was trying to get closer to a better neighborthe United States, having been refused admission by
hood. Robbed of her medical degree in Russia
U.S. immigration ocials due to his alleged Communist
because of the war, she was now determined to
sympathies.[14][17][18] Not only were Regina and Nemenyi
acquire a nursing diploma. As soon as she enreported to have had an aair in 1942, but Nemenyi made
rolled in the Prospect Heights School of Nursmonthly child support payments to Regina and paid for
ing, the peripatetic Fischer family, citizens of
Bobbys schooling until his own death in 1952.[19] Nenowhere, moved once againits tenth transit
menyi had lodged complaints with social workers, saying
in six yearsto a $52-a-month two-bedroom
he was concerned about the way that Regina was raising
at 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 Rajcsnyi that Paul Nemenyi habitable apartment.[11] It was there that Fischer soon
would sometimes show up at the familys 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
menyis rst son (Peter), asking if Paul had left money for Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, seeking to place an ad inquirBobby in his will:[14]
ing whether other children of Bobbys age might be interested in playing chess with him. The paper rejected
her ad because no one could gure out how to classify
Bobby was sick 2 days with fever and sore
it, but forwarded her inquiry to Hermann Helms, the
throat and of course a doctor or medicine was
Dean of American Chess, who told her that Master
out of the question. I don't think Paul would
Max Pavey, former Scottish champion, would be giving a
have wanted to leave Bobby this way and would
simultaneous 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
last time she had ever seen Hans-Gerhardt Fischer was in One of the spectators was Brooklyn Chess Club
1939, four years before Bobby was born. On another oc- President,[27] Carmine Nigro, an American chess expert
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 Fischers play[27] that he introduced
Bobby was conceived during that meeting.[12] Accord- him to the club and began teaching him.[29][30][31] Fischer
ing to Bobby Fischers brother-in-law, Russell Targ, who noted of his time with Nigro:[32] Mr. Nigro was possibly
was married to Bobbys half-sister, Joan, for 40 years, not the best player in the world, but he was a very good
Regina concealed the fact that Nemenyi was Bobbys fa- teacher. Meeting him was probably a decisive factor in
ther because she wanted to avoid the stigma of an out-of- my going ahead with chess.
wedlock birth.[12]
Nigro hosted Fischers rst chess tournament at his home

1.2
1.2.1

Chess beginnings
Impoverished childhood

In March 1949, 6-year-old Bobby and his sister Joan

learned how to play chess 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 rst games against himself.[21]

in 1952.[33] In the summer of 1955, Fischer, then 12 years

old, joined the Manhattan Chess Club, the strongest chess
club in the country.[34][35] Fischers relationship with Nigro lasted until 1956,[36][37] when Nigro moved away.[37]
1.2.2 Mentorship from Lombardy
Nigro introduced Fischer to future grandmaster William
Lombardy,[38] and, starting in September 1954,[39] Lombardy began coaching Fischer in private.[40][41][42][43][44]

2 Young champion
In 1956, Fischer experienced a meteoric rise in his
playing strength.[81] On the tenth national rating list of
the United States Chess Federation (USCF), published on
May 20, 1956, Fischers rating was 1726,[82] more than
900 points below top-rated Samuel Reshevsky (2663).[83]

Bill Lombardy and Fischer analyzing, with Jack Collins looking

on

We spent hours in our sessions, simply playing over quality games, said Lombardy. I tried to instill in Bobby the
secret of my own speedy rise. Eidetic Imagery and Total
Immersion.[45] Based on a 1956 game Lombardy played
against Povilas Vaitonis (in which he agreed to a draw offer after only 13 moves), Lombardy told Fischer: Do not
accept draw oers. For an ambitious and talented player,
accepting a draw is death to a top result. Opponents fear
an uncompromising opponent and thus make more mistakes. Act as I advise and do not copy my timidity.[46]
Lombardy played a key part in Fischers becoming World
Champion.[47][48] He was Fischers aide at Portoro[49][50]
where they analyzed Fischers games.[51] He was Fischers
second in Reykjavik,[52][53][54][55][56][57][58] where he analyzed with Fischer,[59][60][61] and helped keep Fischer in
the match.[62][63][64][65][66]

1.3

The Hawthorne Chess Club

In June 1956, Fischer began attending the Hawthorne

Chess Club, based in master John Jack W. Collins'
home.[67] For years it was believed that Collins was Fischers teacher and coach,[68][69][70][71] even though Collins
stated that he did not teach Fischer.[72] It is now believed that Collins was Fischers mentor, not his teacher or
coach.[73][74][75][76] A mentor and a friend, Fischer played
thousands of blitz and ohand 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]

Fischer in Cuba, March 1956

In March 1956, the Log Cabin Chess Club of Orange,

New Jersey, took Fischer on a tour to Cuba, where he
gave a 12-board simultaneous exhibition at Havanas Capablanca Chess Club, winning ten games and drawing
two.[84][85] On this tour the club played a series of matches
against other clubs. Fischer played second board, behind
International Master Norman Whitaker. Whitaker and
Fischer were the leading scorers for the club, each scoring 5 points out of 7 games.[86]
In July 1956, Fischer won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, scoring 8/10 at Philadelphia to become the
youngest-ever Junior Champion at age 13.[87][88] At the
1956 U.S. Open Chess Championship in Oklahoma City,
he scored 8/12 to tie for 48th places, with Arthur
Bisguier winning.[89] In the rst Canadian Open Chess
Championship at Montreal 1956, he scored 7/10 to
tie for 812th places, with Larry Evans winning.[90] In
November, Fischer played in the 1956 Eastern States
Open Championship in Washington, D.C., tying for second with William Lombardy, Nicholas Rossolimo, and
Arthur Feuerstein, with Hans Berliner taking rst by a
half-point.[91]

Fischer accepted an invitation to play in the Third 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 Fischers rating was not among the top 12 in the country, he received entry by special consideration. Playing
Future grandmaster Arnold Denker was also a mentor to against top opposition, the 13-year-old Fischer could only
young Bobby, often taking him to watch the New York score 4/11, tying for 89th place.[93] Yet, he won the
Rangers play hockey at Madison Square Garden. Bobby brilliancy prize[94] for his "'immortal'"[95] game against
enjoyed those treats and never forgot them; the two be- International Master[96] Donald Byrne,[92] in which Fischer sacriced his queen to unleash an unstoppable atcame lifelong friends.[80]

3 GRANDMASTER, CANDIDATE, AUTHOR

tack. Hans Kmoch called it "The Game of the Century",[97] writing: The following game, a stunning masterpiece of combination play performed by a boy of 13
against a formidable opponent, matches the nest on
record in the history of chess prodigies.[98][99] According to Frank Brady, "'The Game of the Century' has been
talked about, analyzed, and admired for more than fty
years, and it will probably be a part of the canon of chess
for many years to come.[100] In reecting on his game
a while after it occurred, Bobby was refreshingly modest:
'I just made the moves I thought were best. I was just
lucky.'"[101]

3 Grandmaster, candidate, author

In 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former World Champion Max Euwe at New York, losing
1.[102][103][104] On the USCFs 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 countrys youngest ever chess master, up to that point.[106] In July, he successfully defended
his U.S. Junior title, scoring 8/9 at San Francisco.[107]
As a result of his strong tournament results, Fischers
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 points over Arthur
Bisguier.[109][110] This made Fischer the youngest ever
U.S. Open Champion.[111][112] He won the New Jersey
Open Championship, scoring 6/7.[113] He then defeated
the young Filipino master Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 62 in a
New York match sponsored by Pepsi-Cola.[114][115]

Once in Russia, Fischer was invited by the Soviet

Union to Moscow,[130] where International Master Lev
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]
where he played speed chess with two young Soviet masters, Evgeni Vasiukov and Alexander Nikitin,[133] winning every game.[132] Chess author V. I. Linder writes
about the impression Fischer gave grandmaster Vladimir
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 no exception, losing all three
games. He was astonished by the play of the young American Robert Fischer, his fantastic self-condence, amazing chess erudition and simply brilliant play! On arriving
home, Vladimir said in admiration to his wife: 'This is
the future world champion!'"[134]

2.1

Wins rst U.S. title

Based on Fischers rating and strong results, the USCF invited him to play in the 195758 U.S. Championship.[116]
The tournament included such luminaries as six-time
U.S. champion Samuel Reshevsky, defending U.S. champion Arthur Bisguier, and William Lombardy, who in
August had won the World Junior Championship with
the only perfect score (110) in the history of the
event.[117][118][119] Bisguier predicted that Fischer would
nish slightly over the center mark.[117][120] Despite
all the predictions to the contrary, Fischer scored eight
wins and ve draws to win the tournament by a onepoint margin, with 10/13.[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 Championship, Fischers victory
earned him the title of International Master.[124][125] Fischers 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 qualied him to participate in the 1958 Portoro
Interzonal, the next step toward challenging the World
Champion.[114]

Bobby wanted to go to Moscow. At his pleading, Regina

wrote directly to the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev,
requesting an invitation for Bobby to participate in
the World Youth and Student Festival. The reply
armativecame too late for him to go.[127] 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 Reginas eorts, the
producers of the show arranged two round-trip tickets to
Russia.[128][129]

Fischer demanded to play against Mikhail Botvinnik, the

reigning World Champion. When told that this was impossible, Fischer asked to play Keres. Finally, Tigran
Petrosian was, on a semi-ocial 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 ocials oered to take in Fischer and
Joan as early guests to the Interzonal. Fischer took them
up on the oer, arriving in Yugoslavia to play two short
training matches against masters Dragoljub Janoevi and
Milan Matulovi.[138] Fischer drew both games against
Janoevi and then defeated Matulovi in Belgrade by
21.[139]
The top six nishers in the Interzonal would qualify for
the Candidates Tournament.[140] Most observers doubted
that a 15-year-old with no international experience could
nish among the six qualiers at the Interzonal, but Fischer told journalist Miro Radoicic, I can draw with
the grandmasters, and there are half-a-dozen patzers in
the tournament I reckon to beat.[141][142] Despite some
bumps in the road and a problematic start, Fischer succeeded in his plan: after a strong nish, he ended up with

3.1

Drops out of school

12/20 (+62=12) to tie for 56th.[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'Shes 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
edged ghter, 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
nd the time for this?! Yet Bobby, it turns out, had found
striving everywhere to seek new paths. In
the time!'"[156]
Fischers 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 Fischers and corduroys.[157] A director of the Manhattan Chess
time in Portoro: 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.
195859 U.S. Championship (scoring 8/11).[148] He
tied for third (with Borislav Ivkov) in Mar del Plata
(scoring 10/14), a half-point behind Ludek Pachman and
Miguel Najdorf.[149] He tied for 46th in Santiago (scoring 7/12) behind Ivkov, Pachman, and Herman Pilnik.[150]

At the age of 16, Fischer nished equal fth out of eight

(the top non-Soviet player) at the 1959 Candidates Tournament in Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia,[162] scoring 12/28. He was outclassed by tournament winner
Tal, who won all four of their individual games.[163] That
year, Fischer released his rst book of collected games:
Games of Chess, published by Simon &
At the Zrich International Tournament, spring 1959, Bobby Fischers
[164]
Schuster.
Fischer nished a point behind future World Champion
Mikhail Tal and a half-point behind Yugoslavian grandmaster Svetozar Gligori.[151][152][153] Tal recalled Fis3.1 Drops out of school
chers 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: Lets have a look at the game from
the beginning... Barcza then began pleading:
Look, I have a wife and children. Whos going to support them in the event of my untimely
death!"[154]
Although Fischer had ended his formal education at age
16, dropping out of Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, he subsequently taught himself several foreign languages so he could read foreign chess periodicals.[155]
According to Latvian chess master Alexander Koblencs,

Fischers interest in chess became more important than

schoolwork, to the point that by the time he reached the
fourth grade, he'd been in and out 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 School at the same time as 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 idealistic communists living in Moscow in the 1930s, believes
that Fischer resented his mother for being mostly absent
as a mother, a communist activist and an admirer of the
Soviet Union and that this led to his hatred for the Soviet Union. In letters to Rodker, Fischers mother states
her desire to pursue her own obsession of training in

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
the highest homicide and general 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 ve-hour protest in front of
the White House, urging President Dwight Eisenhower to
send an American team to that years chess Olympiad (set
for Leipzig, East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain) and
to help support the team nancially.[15]

196061

Fischer refused to play in the 1958 Munich Olympiad

when his demand to play rst 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 rst board at four Mens Chess
Olympiads, winning two individual Silver and one individual Bronze medals:[196]

Out of four Mens Chess Olympiads, Fischer scored

+407=18, for 49/65: 75.4%.[202][203] In 1966, Fischer narrowly missed the individual gold medal, scoring
88.23% to World Champion Tigran Petrosians 88.46%,
even though he played four games more than Petrosian,
4 U.S. Championships
faced stier opposition,[204] and would have won the gold
if he had accepted Florin Gheorghiu's draw oer, rather
Fischer played in eight U.S. Championships, winning all than declining it and suering his only loss.[205]
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 196162 Championship (he was variation named after him: the Sicilian Najdorf.[207]
preparing for the 1962 Interzonal), and there was no
196465 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]
poor
playing
conditions.
Both former World Chamnis in the 196263 event, and in consecutive rounds to
pion
Tigran
Petrosian
and
Belgian-American
InternaSamuel Reshevsky, and Robert Byrne in the 1965 chamtional
Master
George
Koltanowski,
the
leader
of the
pionship, culminating in a total score of 74/90 (61 wins,
American
team
that
year,
felt
that
Fischer
was
justi[192]
26 draws, 3 losses).
ed in not participating in the Olympiad.[209] According
to Lombardy, Fischers non-participation was due to Reshevskys refusal to yield rst board.[210]

Olympiads

6 196061
In 1960, Fischer tied for rst place with Soviet star Boris
Spassky at the strong Mar del Plata Tournament in Argentina, winning by a two-point margin, scoring 13/15
(+131=1),[211][212] ahead of David Bronstein.[213] Fischer lost only to Spassky; this was the start of their lifelong friendship.[214]

Fischer at the age of 17 playing against 23-year-old World

Champion Mikhail Tal in Leipzig

Fischer experienced the only failure in his competitive

career[215] at the Buenos Aires Tournament (1960), nishing with 8/19 (+35=11), far behind winners Viktor
Korchnoi and Samuel Reshevsky with 13/19.[216] According to Larry Evans, Fischers rst 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
in Reykjavk with 4/5,[220] and defeating Klaus Darga
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 Fischers 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 winners share of the prize
fund.[226]

entitled The Russians Have Fixed World Chess, that

three of the ve Soviet players (Tigran Petrosian, Paul
Keres, and Em 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 Fischers article, FIDE, in late
1962, voted to implement a radical reform of the playFischer was second in a super-class eld, behind only for- o system, replacing the Candidates tournament with a
format of one-on-one knockout matches; the format that
mer World Champion Tal, at Bled, 1961.[227] Yet, Fischer
[242][243]
defeated Tal head-to-head for the rst time in their indi- Fischer would dominate in 1971.
vidual game, scored 3/4 against the Soviet contingent, Fischer defeated Bent Larsen in a summer 1962 exhibiand nished as the only unbeaten player, with 13/19 tion game in Copenhagen for Danish TV. Later that year,
(+80=11).[228][229]
Fischer beat Bogdan liwa in a team match against Poland
in Warsaw.[244]
In the 196263 U.S. Championship, Fischer experienced
his rst single-game loss (to Edmar Mednis) in round
one. Bisguier was in excellent form, and Fischer caught
up to him only at the end. Tied at 73, the two met in
the nal round. Bisguier stood well in the middlegame,
Fischer won the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal by a but blundered, handing Fischer his fth consecutive U.S.
2-point margin,[230] going undefeated, with 17/22 championship.[245]
(+130=9).[231][232] He was the rst 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]

1962: success, setback, accusations of collusion

1960s
I have discussed Fischers play with Max
Euwe and Gideon Stahlberg. All of us, experienced 'tournament old-timers, were surprised
by Fischers 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.

Inuenced 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 eld.[246] He instead played in the Western Open in Bay City, Michigan, which he won with
7/8.[247][248] In AugustSeptember 1963, Fischer won
the New York State Championship at Poughkeepsie, with
7/7, his rst perfect score,[249] ahead of Bisguier and
Sherwin.[250]

In the 196364 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 stu 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 110 swathe through the eld,
to demonstrate convincingly to the opposition that he was
now in a class by himself.[246] This result brought Fischer
heightened fame, including a prole 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
110 win in the 196364 Championship is the only perFollowing his failure[240] 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 tourFischers victory made him a favorite for the Candidates
Tournament in Curaao.[235][236] Yet, despite his result in
the Interzonal, Fischer only nished fourth out of eight
with 14/27 (+87=12),[237] far behind Tigran Petrosian
(17/27), Em 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]

SUCCESSFUL RETURN

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 (110!), Dr. [Hans] Kmoch congratulated [Larry]
Evans (the runner up) on 'winning' the tournament... and
then he congratulated me on 'winning the exhibition'.

Vasily Smyslov, whom Fischer defeated in their individual game.[271] The tournament received extensive media
coverage.[274][275]

the tournament ocials and players accepted, a unique

arrangement: Fischer played his moves from a room at
the Marshall Chess Club, which were then transmitted by
teleprinter to Cuba.[267][268][269][270] Ludk Pachman observed that Fischer was handicapped by the longer playing 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
for Fischer, who had to endure eight-hour and sometimes
even twelve-hour playing sessions.[272] Despite the handicap, Fischer tied for second through fourth places, with
15/21 (+123=6),[273] behind former World Champion

Since Fischer had completed less than half of his scheduled games, all of his results were annulled, meaning
players who had played Fischer had those games cancelled, and the scores nullied from the ocial tournament record.[243]

In December, Fischer won his seventh U.S. Championship (1965), with the score of 8/11 (+82=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 nal 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 nalist Boris Spassky edged
[i.e., Knight vs. Bishop] endgame with a minhim out by a half point, scoring 11/18 to Fischers 11/18
imal edge. In the corridor, Evans said to me,
(+73=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 (196667) for
sealed a dierent, wrong move, and lost. The rest is
the eighth and nal time, ceding only three draws
history.[259] Chess publications around the world wrote
(+80=3),[282][283] In MarchApril 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 (+61=2),[284] and Skopje, with 13/17
playing against children'".[260]
(+122=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 8/9.[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 Fischers win in the 196667 U.S. Championship qualiUnited States and Canada from February through May, ed 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 8 points in the rst 10 games, to lead
centage over more than 2,000 games is one of the best
the eld. His observance of the Worldwide Church of
ever achieved.[263] Fischer declined an invitation to play
Gods 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 diculties with the highly inexperienced local
Fischer wanted to play in the Capablanca Memorial Tour- organizers were also a signicant 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 Fischers glish. No one in Tunisian chess[290]
running
an
event
of
this
stature.
[266]
he proposed, and
passport as valid for visiting Cuba,

9.2 Second semi-retirement

In 1968, Fischer won tournaments at Netanya, with
11/13 (+100=3),[291] and Vinkovci, with 11/13
(+90=4),[292] by large margins.[293] Fischer then stopped

10.1

Road to the World Championship

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 eort 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

Fischers 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 qualier, with the top three nishers advancing to the Interzonal. Fischer, however, had sat out the U.S. Championship because of disagreements about the tournaments format and prize fund. Benko, one of the three
qualiers, 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 ew 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 rst 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 19 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 31 score against
Petrosian (two wins and two draws).[314] Fischer left
no doubt in anyones mind that he had put his temporary
break from the tournament circuit to good use. Petrosian
was almost unrecognizable in the rst 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 unocial World Championship of Lightning Chess
(5-minute games) was held at Herceg Novi. "[The Russians] gured 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 eld with 19/22 (+171=4), far ahead of
Tal (14), Korchnoi (14), Petrosian (13), 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] Fischers 4-point margin of victory came
as a pleasant surprise.[323]

In AprilMay 1970, Fischer won at Rovinj/Zagreb with

13/17 (+101=6), by a two-point margin, ahead of Gligori, Hort, Korchnoi, Smyslov, and Petrosian.[324][325]
In JulyAugust, Fischer crushed the mostly grandmaster eld at Buenos Aires, winning by a 3-point margin,
In 1970 and 1971, Fischer dominated his contempo- scoring 15/17 (+130=4).[326] Fischer then played rst
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
worlds best players competed in the USSR vs. Rest of 10/13 (+81=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 54 against Taimanov.[338] "[Fischer] saw himself as the rm 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 condent. He was backed
by the rm guidance of Botvinnik, who had thoroughly
analysed Fischers record and put together a 'dossier' on
him, from when he was in talks to play Fischer 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 hishe 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 signicant idea by my compatriot, while Fischer had uncovered
it in a book in a foreign language!"[342] With the score at
40, in Fischers favor, the fth 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 18/23
(+151=7),[330] far ahead of Larsen, Em Geller, and
Robert Hbner, with 15/23.[331][332] Fischer nished the
tournament with seven consecutive wins.[333][334] Setting
aside the Sousse Interzonal (which Fischer withdrew from
while leading), Fischers victory gave him a string of
eight consecutive rst prizes in tournaments.[300] Former
World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik was not, however,
impressed by Fischers 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 Botvinniks 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 ying, 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 fth 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 conicting continuations
that he became rattled, left a Rook en prise and
immediately resigned.
Fischer beat Taimanov by the score of 60.[344]
The record books showed that the only comparable
achievement to the 60 score against Taimanov was
Wilhelm Steinitz's 70 win against Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1876 in an era of more primitive defensive
technique.[345] Who would have imagined that any challengers 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 dicult
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 Grand Masters play, they
see the logic of their opponents moves. Ones 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 the quarter-nals. Their match was to begin
in May 1971 in Vancouver, Canada, on the beautiful campus of the University of British Columbia.[338] Analysts
and players alike predicted that Fischer would win the Upon losing the nal game of the match, Taimanov

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
Taimanovs 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.

11
streak topped only by Steinitzs 25 straight wins in 1873
1882.[367][368] Petrosian won the second game, nally
snapping Fischers streak.[369] After three consecutive
draws, Fischer swept the next four games to win the
match 62 (+51=3).[370] Sports Illustrated ran an article on the match, highlighting Fischers domination of
Petrosian as being due to Petrosians outdated system of
preparation:[371]
Fischers recent record raises the distinct
possibility that he has made a breakthrough
in modern chess theory. His response to Petrosians elaborately plotted 11th move in the
rst 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 o 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 fteen years.[374] Fischers match results
befuddled Botvinnik: It is hard to talk about Fischers
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 60.[354] Robert

Byrne writes: To a certain extent I could grasp the
Taimanov match as a kind of curiosityalmost a freak,
a strange chess occurrence that would never occur again.
But now I am at a loss for anything whatever to 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 rst 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 Fischers incredible 120 score in the two
rating than any player in hismatches.[356] Chess statistician Je Sonas concludes that Fischer gained a far higher
[376]
tory
up
to
that
time.
On
the July 1972 FIDE rating
the victory over Larsen gave Fischer the highest singlelist,
his
Elo
rating
of
2785
was
125 points above (World
[357]
match performance rating ever.
No. 2) Spasskys 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 (+03=2).[381][382]
Rapid Tournament, winning with 21/22 against a strong
eld.[317][358]
Despite Fischers results against Taimanov and Larsen,
his upcoming match against Petrosian seemed a daunting task.[359] Nevertheless, the Soviet government was
concerned about Fischer.[360][361] Reporters asked Petrosian whether the match would last the full twelve
games... 'It might be possible that I win it earlier,' Petrosian replied,[362] and then stated: Fischers [nineteen consecutive] wins do not impress me. He is a
great chess player but no genius.[363] Petrosian played a
strong theoretical novelty in the rst game, gaining the
advantage, but Fischer eventually won the game after
Petrosian faltered.[364][365][366] This gave Fischer a run
of 20 consecutive wins against the worlds top players
(in the Interzonal and Candidates matches), a winning

10.2 World Championship match

Main article: World Chess Championship 1972
Fischers career-long stubbornness about match and tournament conditions was again seen in the run-up to his
match with Spassky. Of the possible sites, Fischers rst
choice was Belgrade, Yugoslavia, while Spasskys was
Reykjavk, Iceland.[383] For a time it appeared that the
dispute would be resolved by splitting the match between
the two locations, but that arrangement failed.[384] After that issue was resolved, Fischer refused to appear in
Iceland until the prize fund was increased. London nancier Jim Slater donated an additional US$125,000,
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 nally agreed to play.[386]

Before and during the match, Fischer paid special attention to his physical training and tness, 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 o-days in Reykjavk. He had
also arranged for exclusive use of his hotels swimming
pool during specied 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 Reykjavk from July to September 1972 and was the rst to receive an American broadcast in prime time.[389][390] Fischer lost the rst two games
in strange fashion: the rst 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 Fischers 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 128 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] Fischers win was an American victory
in a eld that Soviet players had dominated for the
previous quarter-century; players closely identied with,
and subsidized by, the Soviet state. Kasparov remarked,
Fischer ts 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 Fischers victory the story
of a lonely hero who overcomes an entire empire.[402]
Fischers 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 Fischers return to New York,[404] a Bobby Fischer

Day was held.[405] He was oered numerous product endorsement oers 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]

10.3

Forfeiture of title

1975 in Bergen, Netherlands,[426] in which it was accepted that the match should be of unlimited duration,
but the 99 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 conrm their participation in the match. No reply was received from Fischer
by April 3. Thus, by default, Karpov ocially became
World Champion.[428] In his 1991 autobiography, Karpov
professed regret that the match had not taken place, and
claimed that the lost opportunity to challenge Fischer held
back his own chess development. Karpov met with Fischer several times after 1975, in friendly but ultimately
unsuccessful attempts to arrange a match since Karpov
would never agree to play to 10.[429]

Fischer was scheduled to defend his title in 1975 against

Anatoly Karpov, who emerged as his challenger.[413] Fischer, who had played no competitive games since his
World Championship match with Spassky, laid out a proposal for the match in September 1973, in consultation
Brian Carney opined in The Wall Street Journal that Fiswith FIDE ocial Fred Cramer. He made three princichers 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 Fischers refusal to recognize peers also allowed his
draws not counting.
paranoia to ower: 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 inuences of the
world around him. He descended into what can only be
3. In case of a 99 score, the champion (Fischer) reconsidered 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 Fischers 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
title be protected by a two point handicap
response to FIDEs ruling, Fischer sent a cable to Euwe
[416][417][418]

that
the challenger would be considered the
on June 27, 1974:
winner with a 108 score and that the champion would retain his title in the event of a 99
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 rst 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
rst 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 the decision to not
rejected by the FIDE delegates. By so doing
concede to Fischers demands rested on Karpovs 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 Champirefused to play against [him] under [his] conditions.[433]
onship title. Sincerely, Bobby Fischer.
The delegates responded by rearming their prior decisions, but did not accept Fischers resignation and requested that he reconsider.[419] Many observers considered Fischers requested 99 clause unfair because
it would require the challenger to win by at least
two games (108).[420] Botvinnik called the 99 clause
unsporting.[421] Korchnoi, David Bronstein, and Lev
Alburt considered the 99 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 eorts of U.S. Chess Federation On May 26, 1981, while walking in Pasadena, Fischer
ocials,[425] a special FIDE Congress was held in March was arrested by a police patrolman, allegedly because he

14

13

LIFE AS AN MIGR

matched the description of a man who had just commitof a previous generation. He was, moreover,
ted a bank robbery in the area.[436] Fischer, who alleged
the only strong player in the world who didn't
that he was slightly injured during the arrest,[437] said that
trust computers and wasn't surrounded by seche was held for two days, subjected to assault and varonds and supplicants.
ious types of mistreatment,[438] and released on $1,000
bail.[439] 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, nothing more. Maybe his strength is 2600 or 2650. It wouldn't
a frame up and set up.[440][441][442]
be close between us.[453] Yasser Seirawan believed that
In 1981, Fischer stayed at the home of grandmaster
the match proved that Fischers playing strength was
Peter Biyiasas, where, over a period of four months,
somewhere in the top ten in the world.[454]
he defeated Biyiasas seventeen times in a series of
speed games.[443][444] In an interview with Sports Illus- Fischer and Spassky gave ten press conferences during
trated reporter William Nack, Biyiasas assessed Fischers 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 ne 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
game to an endgame. I don't ever remember an
endgame. He honestly believes there is no one
for him to play, no one worthy of him. I played
him, and I can attest to that.

The U.S. Department of the Treasury warned Fischer

before the start of the match that his participation was
illegal, that it would violate President George H. W.
Bush's Executive Order 12810 imposing United Nations
Security Council Resolution 757 sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia.[458] In response,
during the rst 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 ocials to initiate a warrant
Main article: FischerSpassky (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 96th102nd 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 Gligori 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 migr
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
outcomes had 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 Rajcsnyi.[442][466]
to go to the winner.[447][448][449][450]
Fischer claimed that standard chess was stale and that
According to grandmaster Andrew Soltis:[451]
[The match games] were of a fairly high
quality, particularly when compared with Kasparovs 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

he now played blitz games of chess variants, such as

Chess960. He visited with the Polgr family in Budapest
and analyzed many games with Judit, Zsuzsa, and Zsa
Polgr.[467][468][469][470]
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

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 Fischers daughter, citing as evidence Jinkys birth
and baptismal certicates, photographs, a transaction
record dated December 4, 2007, of a bank remittance
by Fischer to Jinky, and Jinkys DNA through her blood
samples.[473][475][476] On the other hand, Magns Sklason, a friend of Fischers, said that he was certain that Fischer was not the girls 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 o 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 remarksto 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, Fischers 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 farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew
bastards.[484] Between 1999 and 2006, Fischers 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] Fischers 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]

15
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 Its time to start
randomly killing Jews.[489] Despite his views, 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 his view on U.S. and Israeli 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 around even
for the United States.[491][492] Fischer also referenced the
movie Seven Days in May and said he hoped for a military coup d'tat 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 Fischers statements about 9/11, the U.S. Chess Federation
passed a motion to cancel his right to membership in the
organization.[497] Fischers 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. ocials, 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
ight 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. ocials, 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
Fischers library contained anti-semitic and racist litera- light of day during that period, and that the sta 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 Mans Bible and Natures 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 oering 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 eect.[512][513][514] Japans
Justice Minister rejected Fischers 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 Fischers plight, but reluctant to grant
him the full benets of citizenship, Icelandic authorities granted him an aliens passport. When this proved
insucient 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 aliation

Although Fischers mother was Jewish, Fischer disavowed having Jewish roots.[533] In an interview in the
January 1962 issue of Harpers, 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 signicant 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 unfullled,[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 Reykjavk, 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,
Garar Sverrisson.[526] Garars wife, Kristn rarinsdttir, was a nurse and later looked after Fischer as a terminally ill patient. Garars two children, especially his
son, were very close to Fischer.[527] Fischer also developed a friendship with Magns Sklason, 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 Fischers belongings were auctioned on eBay.
Fischer claimed, in 2006, that those belongings were
Fischers resting place
worth millions of U.S. dollars.[530][531]

Church

of

Laugardlir,

14.3

Speculation on psychological condition

17
pay Watais 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
Fischers grave
many times, said that Some of Bobbys 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 Landsptali Hospital (National University Hospimakes him tick and described him as a troubled human
[542][543][544][545][546]
tal of Iceland) in Reykjavk.
He origbeing with obvious personal problems.[562]
inally had a urinary tract blockage but refused surgery
or medications.[547][548][549] Magns Sklason reported Valery Krylov, advisor to Anatoly Karpov and a specialFischers response to leg massages: Nothing soothes as ist in the psycho-physiological rehabilitation of sportsmen, believed Fischer suered 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 Laugardlir church, outside the town of
necessary criteria to reach diagnoses of schizophrenia
Selfoss, 60 kilometres (37 mi) southeast of Reykjavk,
or Aspergers Disorder. The evidence is stronger for
after a Catholic funeral presided over by Fr. Jakob Rolparanoid personality disorder.[561] Dr. Magns Sklaland of the diocese of Reykjavk. In accordance with Fisson, a chess player and a psychiatrist and head doctor
chers wishes, only Miyoko Watai, Garar Sverrisson, and
of Sogn Mental Asylum for the Criminally Insane, be[551][552]
Garars family were present.
friended Fischer toward the end of Fischers life. From
Fischers estate was estimated at 140 million ISK (about Endgame, Fischers 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 Bobbys psychiaparties, with Miyoko Watai ultimately inheriting what
trist, as has been implied in the general press,
remained of Fischers estate after government claims.
nor did he oer Bobby any analysis or psyThe four parties were Fischers apparent Japanese wife
chotherapy. He was at Bobbys 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 Bobbys mental condition.
Russell Targ, and the U.S. government (claiming unpaid
He denitely was not schizophrenic, Skulataxes).[477][528][553][554]
son said. He had problems, possibly certain
childhood traumas that had aected 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 Watais claim
of marriage to Fischer was invalidated because of her
failure to present the original copy of their alleged marriage certicate.[555] On June 16, 2010, the Court ruled 15 Contributions to chess
in favor of a petition on behalf of Jinky Young to have
Fischers 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 ocials. A DNA sample was taken
For most of his career, Fischer was predictable in his use
and Fischers 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 samthis seeming disadvantage, it was very dicult for oppople it was determined that Fischer was not the father of
nents to exploit this limitation, because Fischers 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 Fischers
widow and heir, Watai was therefore entitled to inherit As Black, Fischer would usually play the Najdorf SiFischers estate.[560] Fischers nephews were ordered to cilian against 1.e4, and the Kings 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, Grnfeld or is busted. It loses by force.[594] Fischer recommended
Neo-Grnfeld.[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
the
Kings Gambit.[596][597][598] Fischer later played the
[567]
[568]
Fischer was a master of playing with,
and against,
as White in three tournament games, winthe Sicilian Defense. The next most common defense Kings Gambit[599]
ning
them
all.
against Fischers 1.e4 was the Caro-Kann Defense (1.e4
c6), against which Fischer had a good record.[569] Fischers 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 Blacks kingside, and
that, in his view, Black was trading o 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
ve best endgame players (along with Emanuel Lasker,
Akiba Rubinstein, Jos Capablanca, and Vasily Smyslov),
calling Fischer a master of bishop endings.[601] The
endgame of a rook, bishop, and pawns against a rook,
knight, and pawns has sometimes 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 (with the bishop), including three against 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] Fischers
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 Kings Indian Defense.[579] He
used the Grnfeld Defense and Neo-Grnfeld Defense
to win his celebrated games against Donald and Robert
Byrne, and played a theoretical novelty in the Grnfeld against reigning World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, refuting Botvinniks 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 ve, drawing
four, and losing only one: the 11th game of his 1972
match against Spassky.[589] Following Fischers use, the
Poisoned Pawn Variation became a respected line, utilized by many of the worlds leading players.[590]

In 1988, Fischer led for U.S. Patent 4,884,255 for a new

type of chess clock, which gave each player a xed 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 Kings Gamdid not know as much as I do and other playbit" for the rst issue of the American Chess Quarterly,
ers do about opening theory. So if you just
in which he stated, In my opinion, the Kings Gambit
brought them back from the dead they wouldn't

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...

15.5

Legacy

19
gin to disintegrate. A Fischer move, which at
rst 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, reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand described him
as the greatest chess player who ever lived.[627] Serbian grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojevi called Fischer, A
man without frontiers. He didn't divide the East and the
West, he brought them together in their admiration of
him.[525]

Kasparov calls Fischer perhaps the most mythologically

shrouded gure in chess.[612][613][614][615] Some leading
players and some of Fischers biographers have ranked
him as the greatest player who ever lived.[616] Other writers have said that he was arguably the greatest player ever,
without reaching a denitive conclusion.[617] Leonard German grandmaster Karsten Mller 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
Karpov.[236]
almost singlehandedly from the mighty, almost invincible Soviet chess empire, shook the
Some grandmasters compared Fischers play to that
[618][619]
whole world, not only the chess world, to its
of a computer;
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 Fischers peak
was simply not the same.
rating was 2895 in October 1971the 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
of Fame in Washington, D.C. in 1985. After routJanuary 1971 to December 1973the second highest
Fischer
ever, just behind Garry Kasparov. Fischer was ranked as ing Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian in 1971,
achieved a then-record Elo rating of 2785.[377][378] Afthe number one player in the world for a total of 109 difin their 1972
ferent months, running (not consecutively) from February ter beating Spassky by the score 128
match, his rating dropped to 2780.[378]
[621]
1964 until July 1974.
Fischers great rival Mikhail Tal praised him as the great- St. Louis philanthropist Rex Sinqueeld oered a
$64,000 Fischer Memorial Prize for any player who could
est genius to have descended from the chess heavens.[622]
win all nine of their games at the 2009 U.S. Chess ChamAmerican grandmaster Arthur Bisguier wrote Robert
pionship. By the fth day of the championship, all 24 parJames Fischer is one of the few people in any sphere of
ticipants became ineligible for the prize, having drawn or
endeavour who has been accorded the accolade of be[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 Fischers extraordinary cool+wins losses =draws.)[629]
ness, his opponents [sic] assurance would bePlayers who have been World Champions in boldface

20

16 IN POPULAR CULTURE

Pal Benko (USA) +83=7

Mikhail Botvinnik (USSR) +00=1
David Bronstein (USSR) +00=2
Max Euwe (Netherlands) +11=1
Em Geller (USSR) +35=2
Svetozar Gligoric (Yugoslavia) +74=8
Paul Keres (USSR) +43=3
Victor Korchnoi (USSR) +22=4
Bent Larsen (Denmark) +92=1
Miguel Najdorf (Argentina) +41=4
Tigran Petrosian (USSR) +84=15

During the 1972 FischerSpassky match, the Soviet

bard Vladimir Vysotsky wrote an ironic two-song
cycle Honor of the Chess Crown. The rst song
is about a rank-and-le Soviet workers preparation
for the match with Fischer; the second is about the
game. Many expressions from the songs have become catchphrases in Russian culture.[638]
Bobby Fischer is referred to in the chorus of the song
"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 o the face
of the earth Bobby is my hero for that in reference
to Fischers reclusion.
In 2015 the Comedy Central program Drunk History
portrayed Fischer on Season 3, Episode 6.

Lev Polugaevsky (USSR) +00=1

Samuel Reshevsky (USA) +94=13
Vasily Smyslov (USSR) +31=5
Boris Spassky (USSR) +1711=28
Mark Taimanov (USSR) +70=1
Mikhail Tal (USSR) +24=5

15.7

Internet Bobby Fischer theory

In 2001, Nigel Short wrote 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]
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]

16

In popular culture

The musical Chess, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Bjrn 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]

16.1 In lm
The 1993 lm Searching for Bobby Fischer uses Fischers name in the title, even though the lm 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 Fischers
successor after his disappearance from competitive
chess. The author feels that his son could be that successor. Fischer never saw the lm 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 lm, calling it
a monumental swindle.[643]
In April 2009, the lm Me and Bobby Fischer, about
Fischers last years as his old friend Saemundur Palsson gets him out of jail in Japan and helps him settle in Iceland, was premiered in Iceland. The lm
was produced by Fririk Gumundsson with music
by Gulaugur Kristinn ttarsson, Bjrk Gumundsdttir and Einar Arnaldur Melax.
In October 2009, the biographical lm Bobby Fischer Live[644] was released, with Damien Chapa directing and starring as Fischer.
In 2011, documentary lm-maker Liz Garbus released Bobby Fischer Against the World, which explores the life of Fischer, with interviews from Garry
Kasparov, Anthony Saidy, and others.[645]
On September 16, 2015 the American biographical lm Pawn Sacrice was released, starring
Tobey Maguire as Fischer, Liev Schreiber as Boris
Spassky, Lily Rabe as Joan Fischer, and Peter Sarsgaard as William Lombardy.[646]

18.1

Tournaments

17

Writings

21

18.1 Tournaments

Bobby Fischers 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.

Matches
Team events

19 Notable games

A Bust to the Kings Gambit (American Chess

Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer 1961), pp. 3
9).

Donald ByrneFischer, New York 1956, Grnfeld,

5.Bf4 (D92), 01 "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 GligoricFischer, Bled 1961, Kings Incontroversial article in which Fischer asserted that
dian Defense: Orthodox Variation. Classical Sysseveral of the Soviet players in the 1962 Curaao
tem Misc. Lines (E98),
Candidates tournament had colluded with one another to prevent him [Fischer] from winning the
tournament.
Position after 22...Nxg3
The Ten Greatest Masters in History (Chessworld,
Vol. 1, No. 1 (JanuaryFebruary 1964), pp. 56
61). An article in which Fischer named Paul Morphy, Howard Staunton, Wilhelm Steinitz, Siegbert
Tarrasch, Mikhail Chigorin, Alexander Alekhine,
Jos Ral Capablanca, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal,
and Samuel Reshevsky as the greatest players of
all time. Fischers 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.

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
Robert ByrneFischer, 196364 U.S. Championship, Neo-Grnfeld, 01 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
Fischers time in a Pasadena jailhe was booked
for vagrancy.[650]

17.1

Under Fischers 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]

18

Tournament and match summaries

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
01
FischerSvetozar Gligori, 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]
FischerMark Taimanov, Vancouver Candidates
Final 1971, 4th match game, Sicilian Defense:
Paulsen. Bastrikov Variation (B47), 10 Fischers

22

21
patient and accurate handling of bishop vs. knight,
rst in the rook and minor piece endgame, and then
after rooks were exchanged, has become a staple of
endgame instructional literature.[666]

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 10
FischerTigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires Candidates
Final 1971, 7th match game, Sicilian Defense: Kan.
Modern Variation (B42), 10 This game includes
22.Nxd7+!!" which is perhaps Fischers 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 10
FischerBoris Spassky, World Chess Championship
1972, 6th match game, Queens Gambit Declined,
Tartakower (D59), 10 Further analysis on the 1972
match page Saidy called this game "[the] nest artistic achievement of the whole match.[668]

REFERENCES

Boris SpasskyFischer, World Chess Championship

1972, 13th match game, Alekhine Defense: Modern, Alburt Variation (B04), 01 Further analysis on
the 1972 match page Botvinnik called this game the
highest creative achievement of Fischer. He resolved a drawish opposite-colored bishops endgame
by sacricing his bishop and trapping his own rook.
Then ve passed pawns struggled with the white
rook. Nothing similar had been seen before in
chess.[669]
FischerBoris Spassky, 1992, 1st match game,
Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Breyer Defense
Zaitsev Hybrid (C95), 10 Further analysis on the
1992 match page

20 See also
List of books and documentaries by or about Bobby
Fischer

21 References
[1] Fischer, Robert James.
2015-09-18.

olimpbase.com.

Retrieved

[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 Andr (October 8, 2004). Mutmaungen
ber Fischer (in German). chessbase.com. Retrieved
October 17, 2008..
[8] Brady 2011, pp. 78.
[9] Brady 2011, p. 8.
[10] The family lived in [California, Idaho, Oregon, Illinois,
and Arizona] before moving to New York. Reginas exibility and desperation led her to a surprising gamut of
jobs. She was a welder, schoolteacher, riveter, farm
worker, toxicologists assistant, stenographer, all throughout the early and mid-1940s. Brady 2011, p. 9.
[11] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 5.
[12] Nicholas, Peter (September 21, 2009). Chasing the king
of chess. Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 28,
2014.

23

[13] In early 1949 Regina Fischer took the least expensive

housing she could nd when she moved the family
Bobby, Joan, and herselfto East 13th Street in Manhattan, facing the kitchen back entrance of the famed Luchows restaurant, where many of the best chess players
would occasionally dine. The Fischers could never aord
to eat there. The apartments entrance was marred by a
rusty re escape running up the front, and there was only
one small bedroombut the rent was $45 a month. FBI
report, August 24. 1953 (SAC, New York, 100-102290).
Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 10.
[14] Nicholas, Peter; Clea Benson (November 17, 2002).
"Files reveal how FBI hounded chess king". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 28, 2014.

[28] Brady 2011, p. 20.

[29] Fischer 1959, pp. xixii.
[30] Brady 1973, p. 7.
[31] Brady 2011, pp. 1921.
[32] Fischer 1959, p. 2.
[33] Brady 2011, p. 21.
[34] Fischer 1959, p. xii.
[35] Brady 2011, pp. 3839.
[36] Brady 2011, p. 52.

[15] Nicholas, Peter; Benson, Clea (February 9, 2003). Life

is not a board game/page 3 of 7. The Philadelphia Inquirer. Archived from the original on January 23, 2008.
Retrieved July 10, 2010.
[16] Laurence, Charles (November 24, 2002). FBI targeted
chess genius Bobby Fischer and his mother. London:
www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
[17] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 22.
[18] Regina Fischer entry, passenger manifest, SS Manhattan,
January 18, 1939, p. 74, line 6, accessed January 20, 2008
via ancestry.com
[19] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 22, 135.
[20] In March of 1949, on a rainy day when Bobby had just
turned six, his sister, Joan... bought a plastic chess set
for $1 at the candy store [located just below their apartment]... Neither Joan nor Bobby had ever seen a chess set
before but they followed instructions printed on the inside
of the top of the box... Parade, October 27, 1957, p. 22.,
Bobby Fischer Autobiographical Essay, p. 1. Quoted in
Brady 2011, pp. 1011.
[21] Brady 2011, pp. 1012.
[22] Brady 1973, p. 5.
[23] Brady 2011, p. 12.
[24] Fischer 1959, p. xi.
[25] Brady 1973, pp. 56.
[26] A crowd of spectators gathered around the board as the
diminutive Bobby faced the self-assured, tweed-jacketed
Max Pavey. The boy was so serious about what he was
doing that the game attracted more and more onlookers....
Pavey, who excelled at playing rapidly... seemed to zoom
around the room hardly studying the other boards as he
made his moves, returning to Bobbys game in such a short
time that the child couldn't calculate as deeply or as carefully as he wanted... In about fteen minutes... Pavey captured Bobbys queen, thereby ending the game... Bobby
stared at the board for a moment. 'He crushed me,' he
said to no one in particular. Then he burst into tears.
Brady 2011, pp. 1718.
[27] Brady 2011, p. 18.

[37] Carmine Nigro, 91, Bobby Fischers First Chess

Teacher. The New York Times. September 2, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
[38] Lombardy 2011, p. 18.
[39] West, Jim (November 22, 2011). ""Understanding Chess
by GM Lombardy, Chess Blog by National Master Jim
West. jimwestonchess.blogspot.com. Retrieved July 3,
2013.
[40] Lombardy 2011, p. 136.
[41] Bobby Fischer got some of his earliest exposure playing
weekend chess at the Brooklyn Central Library and Washington Square Park with his chess coach, William Lombardy, who had an apartment nearby. Sloan & Aravena
2012, p. 4.
[42] The oldest known published photograph of Bobby and Bill
goes back to 1956 in which they are analyzing at the Manhattan Chess Club. Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 45.
[43] "[Lombardy] and Bobby played a lot: blitz, normal chess,
analyzing games; you name it. In fact, Lombardy kinda
took Bobby under his wing and tutored him privately,
and mostly what they did was they went through games
together. The Life and Chess of Bobby Fischer.
youtube.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
[44] One of the people that really played a major inuence on
Bobbys career, besides Collins, was William Lombardy.
A Prodigys ProgressLecture By IM John Donaldson.
youtube.com. Retrieved October 4, 2015.
[45] Lombardy 2011, p. 23.
[46] Lombardy 2011, p. 297.
[47] On the very morning Fischer was to depart [for Reykjavik], he called Lombardy on the phone. 'Well, are you
coming?' he inquired of the priest. Lombardy told him
he wasn't sure he could release himself from his television commitments. 'Without me, there won't be a television show!' he informed Bobby. 'Thats O.K.,' countered
Bobby, 'without me, there won't be a match!' When Fischers plane touched down at Keavik Airport in Iceland...
Lombardy, dressed in his clericals, was by his side. Brady
1973, p. 234.

24

[48] "...I met and spent time with Grandmaster William Lombardy, who of course gured so prominently in Bobby Fischers rise to the World Chess title. Ponterotto 2012, p.
xx.
[49] Brady 2011, pp. 98100.
[50] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 26.
[51] Brady 2011, p. 102.
[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.
[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
Spassky...when he led the United States to rst place in the
1960 World Student Team Championship in Leningrad.
Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 133.
[56] Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 233.
[57] Schonberg 1973, p. 283.
[58] Steiner 1974, p. 24.
[59] "[Lombardy] was a loyal and competent analyst of adjourned positions for Fischer, and served him well as
friend and companion. Brady 1973, p. 225.
[60] Fischer and Lombardy had breakfast at the Loftleider
Hotel cafeteria. They sat at their table for over two hours,
analyzing the twelfth game. Brady 1973, p. 253.
[61] Bobby and Lombardy meanwhile were tearing [the rst]
game to pieces. Bobby brushed aside the alarming matter
of that freakish twenty-ninth move. 'I moved too fast,' he
said with a wave of his arm. 'All that noise.' Then Lombardy showed him the move he should have made just before the game ended. Bobby strode up and down clutching
his head and crying out, 'Oh! Oh! Why didn't I think of
that!'... From 10:30 that night until 6:00 the next morning, Bobby and Lombardy worked like maniacs to nd a
draw for Black. No luck. White won in every variation.
Darrach 1974, pp. 17576.
[62] Fischer lodged a formal protest [over the second-gameforfeit] less than six hours after the forfeiture. It was overruled by the match committee... Everyone knew that Fischer wouldn't accept it lightly. And he didn't. His instant
reaction was to make a reservation to y home immediately. He was dissuaded by Lombardy, but it seemed likely
that he'd refuse to continue the match unless the forfeit
was removed. Brady 2011, p. 193.
[63] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 156, 160, 171, 175, and
223.

21

REFERENCES

[64] Very few people expected Fischer to come on that Sunday to the tournament hall and continue the match. Probably, neither did Spassky. Fischer had reserved a seat
to New York, yet, two hours before the third game was
to begin, Fischers lawyer Paul Marshall and his second
William Lombardy called the referee and asked, on behalf of Fischer, the favour that the game be played in a
room behind the stage. That call produced a chance of
compromise. Schmid called Spassky and the champion
generously agreed. Gligori 1972, pp. 5455.
[65] In the morning and early afternoon of Sunday, July 16,
anyone willing to bet that the third game would come o
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 Fischers 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.
26768.
[66] "...let me point out that there were 14 adjourned games.
Bobby and I worked together on those adjourned positions
without making a single technical error! Beyond that I
bested the Soviet team psychology, even though that team
had a so-called professional psychologist. For little remuneration, I dedicated my services in the Icelandic capital
to guarantee that Bobby followed through and nished the
match victoriously. First and foremost, that is what I cared
about. Since Bobby, when I rst met him at age 11, actually at that time stated that he would be world chess champion, I believed it was my job as his friend and condant
to do everything legitimately in my power to ensure that
that young players dream would come true! Working for
what worked out to be about $5$6 per hour at Reykjavik,
I was even then not about to see that dream shattered at
any earthly price!" Lombardy 2011, pp. 21920.
[67] Brady 2011, p. 6.
[68] Dylan Loeb McClain (December 4, 2001). John W.
Collins, 89, Dies; Was Fischers Chess Tutor. The New
York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
[69] Brady 1973, p. 12.
[70] Brady, 2011, p. 50.
[71] "'He taught Bobby Fischer to play chess" is the way I
am sometimes publicly and privately introduced. Collins
1974, p. 47.
[72] Collins, for his part, said that he never 'taught' Bobby
in the strictest sense and that Fischer knew before instructed. Collins 1974, pp. 4849. Quoted in Brady
2011, p. 52.
[73] Collins was Bobby Fischers mentor. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 6, 30, and 221.
[74] Collins was Fischers mentor. Donaldson & Tangborn
1999, p. 27.
[75] Collins was my friend and mentor but not my teacher.
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 le).
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. 1011.
[107] Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 127.
[78] Collins 1974, pp. 3435.
[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 le).
[82] Chess Life, May 20, 1956, p. 4. Also available on DVD
(p. 76 in Chess Life 1956 PDF le).
[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 le).
turned to New York, both the Marshall and Manhattan
[84] Brady 1973, p. 15.
chess clubs conducted victory celebrations, and he was
lauded as Americas new chess hero. Brady 2011, p. 75.
[85] Collins 1974, pp. 5556.
[113] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 13840.
[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 le).
[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 le).

Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 13537.

Harkness 1967, p. 272.
Brady 1973, p. 20.
Kai 1974, pp. 27374.
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 le).

[121] Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 51.

[122] Di Felice 2010, p. 196.
[123] Brady 1973, pp. 2021.
[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 greatest games ever
April 1958, p. 106).
played, it is certainly the nest game ever produced by one
[126] Chess Life, March 5, 1958. Quoted in Mller 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. 8990.
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 had agreed to invite Bobby to Moscow,
and generously pay all expenses for him and his sister...
[104] To wrest a draw from a former World Champion was neiMarshall Chess Foundation Archive, Letter from Regina
ther small cheese nor minor chess, but Bobby was unhappy
Fischer to Bobby Fischer, c. June 1958. Quoted in Brady
since he'd lost the match, 1. Brady 2011, p. 67.
2011, p. 93.
[103] Brady 1973, p. 17.

26

21

[131] Brady 2011, p. 91.

[158] Denker & Parr, pp. 10304.

[132] Brady 2011, p. 92.

[159] Brady 1965, p. 35.

REFERENCES

[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. 12021.
[161] Ginzburg 1962, pp. 5354.
[135] Golombek, Golombeks Encyclopedia, pp.
23637.
[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
Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 16364.
puzzles or chess for hours, but he dgeted and grew restless when confronted with reading, writing, and arithBrady 1973, p. 25.
metic... he was accepted by Community Woodward with
the understanding that he'd teach the other students to
Leonard Barden, From Portoro 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.
Just before Larsen played Fischer in their individual game,
Larsen predicted that he would be victorious, only to nd [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 Fischers 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.
Wade & O'Connell 1972. pp. 33234, 347.
[169] Brady 1965, pp. 1, 25.
Kasparov 2004, pp. 22526.
[170] Collins 1974, p. 52.
Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 2021.
[171] Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 47.
This record stood until 1991, when it was broken by Judit
Polgr. Forbes 1992, p. 171.
[172] Brady 1965, p. 25.

[138] Brady 2011, pp. 9496.

[139]
[140]
[141]
[142]

[143]
[144]
[145]
[146]

[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.
stu 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. 2930.

[177] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, pp. 28284.

[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. 13637.
G. Wade and Kevin J. O'Connell, London, Batsford 1973;
[179] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 51 (1-point margin in 1957
special article by Paul Keres, entitled From the Opposite
58), 57 (1-point margin in 195859), 62 (1-point margin
Side of the Board.
in 195960), 67 (2-point margin in 196061), 71 (1-point
margin in 196263), 77 (2-point margin in 196364),
[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] Mller 2009, pp. 399400.

[181]
[182]
[183]
[184]
[185]
[186]

[205] Later Gheorghiu stated that when he oered 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.
Mller 2009, p. 85.
Nevertheless, all of the players and spectators considered
Mller 2009, p. 104.
Bobby to be the real hero of the most magnicent chess
event in history. Brady 1973, p. 120.
Mller 2009, p. 148.
[206] Brady 1973, p. 65.
Mller 2009, p. 181.
[207] Mller 2009, pp. 22425.
Mller 2009, p. 231.

[187] Mller 2009, p. 243.

[208] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 28687.

[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
Mller 2009, p. 263.
of his demands in Lugano were absolutely justied. 'It was
Mller 2009, p. 285.
not only Fischer who did not like the conditions,' writes
Petrosian. 'This also applied to me and my colleagues.
Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 283.
Imagine a hall, in which three thousand players, trainers
Mednis 1997, pp. xxi, 17983, 20211.
and spectators are gathered, a hall without any ventilation and in addition with poor lighting. I have never comLarry Evans, in Mller 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
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 ocials 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 rst 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] Mller 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 ocials and those at the ACF... always accom- [214] Bronstein wrote of their rst meeting at Mar del Plata,
modated Sammy. Lombardy 2011, pp. 9496.
They became friends instantly and have remained so until

[188] Mller 2009, p. 262.

[189]
[190]
[191]
[192]
[193]
[194]

this day. Bronstein & Frstenberg 1995, p. 121.

[195] The Games of Robert J. Fischer, Batsford, 1973, section
on chess Olympiads by Robert Wade.
[215] Donner 2006, p. 228.
[196] Fischer, Robert James, Mens 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) Mens Chess Olympiads. olimpbase. 2015. Retrieved September 23, 2015.
[218] One of his rivals in that tournament was American grandmaster 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 Fischer with her charms. This approach proved successful for
[199] Di Felice 2013a, p. 251.
Evans, as Fischer nished thirteenth in the tournament...
[200] Di Felice 2013b, p. 326.
Donner 2006, p. 228.
[201] Di Felice 2013c, p. 366.
[202] Kai 1974, pp. 75, 81, 94, 108.

[219] Benko & Silman, pp. 42627 (interview with Benko).

[220] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 19697.

[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 Petrosians 88.46%, although Bobby had played four more games and faced, [223]
overall, stronger opposition than [Petrosian]". Mller
[224]
2009, pp. 27677.

Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 198.

The ocers 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. 4346.

28

21

REFERENCES

[225] The match was forfeited by Fischer when he refused to [253] Body of chess legend 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. 4950.
[226] Brady 1973, p. 46.
[255] Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 81.
[227] Di Felice 2013a, p. 17.
[256] Soltis 2002, pp. 8183.
[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] Mller 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.
[234] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 81.

[261] Brady 1973, pp. 8081.

[262] Donaldson 2005, pp. 7, 11.

[235] Brady 1973, pp. 5354.

[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. 12728.

[238] Kai 1974, pp. 18889.

[266] Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 209.

[239] Benko & Silman, p. 155.

[267] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 213.

[240] According to Lombardy, Fischers 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 Curaao. Lombardy
2011, p. 122.

[268] Brady 1973, pp. 8689.

[241] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 2930, 37, 40, 83.

[273] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 127.

[269] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 12731.

[270] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 160, 209.
[271] Pachman 1975, p. 215.
[272] Brady 1973, pp. 8889.

[242] Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fis- [274]
cher, Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2008, p. D8.
[275]
[243] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 33146.
[276]
[244] Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 20708.
[277]
[245] Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49.
[278]
[246] Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49.
[279]
[247] At the time he was also writing for Chess Life, a column
called Fischer Talks Chess, and he made some very fa- [280]
vorable comments about the overall quality of the opposition he faced as well as the organization of the tourna- [281]
ments. Mller 2009, p. 237.
[282]
[248] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 14951.
[283]
[249] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 15253.
[284]
[250] Brady 1973, p. 70.
[285]
[251] Levy 1975, p. 91.
[286]
[252] The Amazing Victory Streak of Bobby Fischer. Sports
Illustrated. January 13, 1964. Retrieved May 12, 2007. [287]

Brady 1973, pp. 8688.

Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 209.
Di Felice 2013b, p. 167.
Brady 1973, pp. 9294.
Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 8286.
Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 134.
Kashdan 1977, p. v..
Kasparov 2004, p. 322.
Mller 2009, pp. 28485.
Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 8791.
Di Felice 2013b, p. 396.
Di Felice 2013b, pp. 42324.
Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 23647.
Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 45053.

29

[288] "[At the Sousse Internzonal], Fischer quit at the halfway [310] Mller 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 playos, 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. 25657.
[313] To even greater amazement, when the Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen demanded that he play on Board One
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
Di Felice 2013c, pp. 5657.
and agreed to step down to Board Two. It meant that he
played Petrosian rather than Spassky. Edmonds & EidiDi Felice 2013c, p. 91.
now 2004, pp. 8283.
Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 24859.
[314] Brady 2011, p. 165.
Mller 2009, pp. 32021.
[315] Schonberg 1973, p. 267.
Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 15455.
[316] Chess Digest 1971, p. 83.
Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 170.
[317] Denker & Parr 1995, p. 105.
In this new book, his rstand, ultimately, only
serious work as an adult, Fischer was anything but sparse... [318] Chess Digest 1971, pp. 8392.
what he produced was one of the most painstakingly precise and delightful chess books ever written, rivaling the [319] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 18889.
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. 16263.

[289] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 16166.

[290]
[291]
[292]
[293]
[294]
[295]
[296]
[297]

[298] Benko & Silman, p. 426.

[299] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 8486.
[300] Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 137.
[301] Mller 2009, p. 343.
[302] Leonard Barden, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 342.
[303] Brady 1973, p. 174.

[322] I was among the best blitz players around [due to the fact
that] I trained regularly with Bobby since he was 11-years
old. Lombardy 2011, p. 90.
[323] As for Bobbys 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 4 points ahead
of Tal did come as a pleasant surprise!" Lombardy 2011,
pp. 9091.

[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. 26370.
lled this condition. Chess Life & Review, July 1975, Vol.
[326] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 27178.
XXX, No. 7.
[305] Sonas, Je (May 25, 2005). The Greatest Chess Player [327] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 20102.
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. 34244.

[307] I was acting as Fischers second... Evans, Larry Melvyn [330] Di Felice 2013c, pp. 32021.
(April 20, 1970). The Rest Of The World Sort Of Strikes
Back. Sports Illustrated, cited on chessgames.com. Re- [331] Weeks, Mark (19972008). World Chess Championship
1970 Palma de Mallorca Interzonal Tournament. Printer.
trieved September 19, 2015.
Retrieved October 4, 2008.
[308] Brady 2011, p. 164.
[332] Fischers 3-point margin set a new record for an In[309] Fischer was intrigued and agreed to play on rst board
terzonal, beating Alexander Kotovs 3-point margin at
for the '"Rest of the World"' team.
Saltsjbaden 1952. Kai 1974, pp. 17172.

30

21

REFERENCES

[333] Panno refused to play in protest of the organizers [360] Karpov 1991, p. 114.
rescheduling of the game to accommodate Fischers desire not to play on his religions 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 rst move (1.c4) and went to
rapidly ascending to the chess throne. There was practiget Panno to convince him to play. Forty-ve minutes
cally no doubt that Spassky would be able to deal with him,
later, Panno came to the board and resigned. Brady 1973,
but in the Sports Committee they decided that it was better
p. 179.
if it didn't come to this... And so the ocials 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. 22022.
[363] Brady 1973, p. 195.
[341] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 22526.
[364] Kasparov 2004, pp. 40817.
[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
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simply incredible that three grandmasters could have left [366] Soltis 2003, pp. 25962.
a rook en prise a mere three moves after the resumption
[367] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 31112.
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[368] Soltis 2002, p.?
[344] Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 41216.
[369] Mednis 1997, pp. 26670.
[345] Leonard Barden, From Portoro 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.
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[347] The British chess player P.H. Clarke wrote that 'this per- [371] Cantwell, Robert (November 8, 1971). Bobby Clears
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[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. 9192.
[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, ahovski Informator, 1973,
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[353] Caerty 1972, p. 102.
[354] "...the chess world... was positively sent reeling by Bobbys [378] All Time Rankings Archived November 26, 2009, at the
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[355] Byrne & Nei 1974, p. 19.

[379] Elo 1978, p. 43.

[356] Kasparov 2004, pp. 40506.

[380] Life, November 12, 1971, The Deadly Gamesman.

[357] Sonas, Je (April 28, 2005). The Greatest Chess Player [381] Kasparov 2004, p. 429.
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[359] Petrosians 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] Gligori 1972, pp. 1011.

[411] Anand wins Chess Oscar for third time. Redi. May 6,
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[384] Gligori 1972, pp. 1112.

[385] CPI Ination Calculator.
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[386] Gligori 1972, p. 13.

[387] Gligori 1972, p. 47.
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Retrieved

[412] The 1972 championship will become immortalized in

lm, 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 Soviets claim that their chess hegemony reected the superiority of their political system...
Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 23.

[389] Alexander 1972, p. 141.

[390]
[391]
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[393]

[413] Karpov beat Lev Polugaevsky in a Candidates quarternal match in JanuaryFebruary 1974 (+30=5). Byrne
Moss, Stephen (2008-01-19). Death of a madman driven
1976, p. 19. In the semi-nals, held in AprilMay 1974,
sane by chess. The Guardian. Retrieved 2016-01-04.
he beat Spassky (+41=6). Id., p. 79. In the nals, held
in SeptemberNovember 1974, he beat Viktor Korchnoi
Alexander 1972, pp. 8487.
(+32=19). Id., p. 113.
Gligori 1972, p. 37.
[414] Kasparov 2004, p. 471.
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[415] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 41213.

[394] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 27173.

[416] Brady 2011, pp. 21819.

[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. 41314.
The New York Times Report on the Chess Match of the Cen[419] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 414.
tury
[397] Even before a move has been made, this breathtaking, [420] Grandmaster Hans Ree remarked of Fischers demand
that the champion keep his title in the event of a 99 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. Bhm & 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. 41718.
19596.
[422] Korchnoi and Alburt observed that Karpov, in later se[399] Mller 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 65 and 65: an ag[401] Mller 2009, p. 15.
gregate score of +2 and a minimum win requirement +2
greater than Karpov would have needed in 1975. This sce[402] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 89.
nario nearly materialized since the 1978 match was tied
55 after 31 games before Karpov won the 32nd game.
[403] Mller 2009, p. 13.
Korchnoi could, in theory, have won 60 in the rst match
and lost 56 in the second, with an aggregate win total of
[404] Soltis 2003, pp. 1011.
11 games to Karpovs 6. Recognizing this, FIDE presi[405] Wearing citys 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 56, but Karpov rejected this
attending... Saidy & Lessing 1974, photo on pp. 22425;
proposal. Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 41819.
captions on p. 227.
[423] In a letter to Larry Evans, published in Chess Life in
[406] Larry Evans, in Mller 2009, p. 13.
November 1974, Fischer claimed the usual system (24
games with the rst player to get 12 points winning, and
[407] BOBBY'S CHESSBOARD MASTERY. Sports Illusthe champion retaining his title in the event of a 1212 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 worlds 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 layo. Denker
2014.
& Parr 1995, pp. 11011.

32

[425] Mednis 1997, p. 282.

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[426] Bozidar Kazic. 1975. Anatoly Karpov New World

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[452] Mller 2009, p. 382.

[428] Kasparov 2004, p. 473.

[453] Waitzkin 1993, p. 298.

[429] Karpov 1991, pp. 159165.

[454] Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 283.

[430] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 41920.

[455] The tenth press conference was not transcribed. Seirawan

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[431] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 418.
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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 the end of his Moscow match with Korchnoi he required
anusha.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
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natic asylum.'" Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 419.
Silence With Rancor. The New York Times. Retrieved
[433] "'Roger Cohen: Why, after turning down so many oers
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to make a comeback, did you accept this one? Bobby
Fischer: Thats not quite true. As I recall, for example, [460] Labaton, Stephen (December 16, 1992). FISCHER IS
INDICTED OVER CHESS MATCH. The New York
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[434] Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 22.

[461] Will Fischer be extradited?". chessbase.com. July 19,

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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
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[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. 314.
sanctions, through an executive order issued by President
George Bush. A letter to that eect was sent to Bobby in
[439] Fischer 1982, pp. 1012.
Belgrade, and upon announcement of the indictment, fed[440] Fischer 1982, p. 14.
eral ocials 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] "[Fischers] worry was that the U.S. government might [442] Chun, Rene (December 2002). "Bobby Fischers Pathetic
Endgame". The Atlantic. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
[443] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 302.
[444] Brady 2011, p. 224.
[445] Nack, William (July 29, 1985). Bobby Fischer. Sports
Illustrated. Retrieved March 12, 2016.

nally have caught up with him. He'd violated State Department economic sanctions against Yugoslavia by playing a $5 million chess match against Boris Spassky in Sveti
Stefan, Montenegro, in 1992, and an arrest warrant had
been issued at that time. If he went back to the United
States, he'd have to stand trial, and the penalty, if he was
convicted, would be anywhere from ten years in prison to
$250,000 in nes, or both, plus possible forfeiture of his
$3.5 million winnings. Brady 2011, p. 2.

[446] Weeks, Mark (19972008). 1992 Fischer Spassky Rematch Highlights. Printer. Retrieved January 28, 2014. [465] Winter, Edward. "Fischer v Gligori Training Match
(1992)", Chess Notes
[447] Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 8.
[466] Daniszewski, John (September 4, 1992). Fischers 19Year-Old Companion Shares Chess Limelight. Commu[448] Bobby Fischer arrives in Iceland. BBC News. March 25,
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[449] Question of Yugoslavia (1992)". Ozone Secretariat.
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[467] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 65, 10609.

33

[468] Brady 2011, pp. 25562.

[488] Fischer wrote of Natures Eternal Religion in a 1979 letter

to Benko, "'The book shows that Christianity itself is just
[469] Soa 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 interest in Fischerandom
Chess. Gligori 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 Youngs 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: Fischers daughter Jinky les 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). Fischers Filipino
out in favor of 9/11 attacks; Brief Article; Transcript.
heirs going after estate. Philippine Daily Inquirer. ReHarpers Magazine. 304 (1822): 27. March 1, 2002.
trieved January 3, 2010.
0017-789X.
[474] Bobby Fischers Pinay heir may get settlement. [493] Bhm & 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] Fischers 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] Fischers daughter Jinky les 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] Fischers radio broadcasts show that he was out of his
[477] 4 gera krfu dnarb Fischers (Four parties make
mind ... a victim of his own mental illness. Bhm &
claims)". RV. April 22, 2008. Archived from the origiJongkind 2003, pp. 6667.
nal on April 23, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
[497] Executive Board Actions (EB 02-40)" (PDF). USCF.
[478] DNA tests on chess champions corpse exclude pater2002.
nity. Reuters. August 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29,
[498] Unocial 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 ocial 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.
Ginzburgs January 1962 interview, Harpers Magazine.
[500] Frederick, Jim (August 23, 2004). Kings Gambit.
Retrieved January 21, 2008.
TIME. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
[481] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 30, 44.
[501] Fischer er jkvur og skr hugsun. (Icelandic).
[482] Nathaniel Popper, Chess Master Pawned Identity for Ha[502] Tweedie, Neil (January 25, 2008). Bobby Fischers nal
tred, The Jewish Daily Forward, July 23, 2004.
bizarre act. The Telegraph. Retrieved May 12, 2016.
[483] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 41, 45, 61, 66, 90, 92, 95,
[503] There was problems with the revocation of the passport,
101, 107, 11720.
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] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 123.
given to the embassy) and was returned to them with no
forwarding address appended. It was dated December 11,
[486] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 41, 6566, 11819, 121.
2003, and when a faxed copy of the letter was ultimately
[487] DeLucia 2009, pp. 16062, 166. Chess historian Edward
examined, it didn't have an address for Fischer on it, the
Winter, in his review of DeLucias 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. 28182.

34

21

REFERENCES

[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] Its possible that Fischers 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 oer of residence in Iceland that your
charge against him. Brady 2011, pp. 28283.
Minister of Foreign Aairs, 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. 28889.
have arrested Bobby anytime post-1992, but they didn't,

[507]

[508]

[509]

[510]

[511]

and only went after him when 'suddenly he started to at[519] Fangavist frnleikans (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
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
went to Narita Airport in Tokyo to board a plane bound for
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". lafsson 2014, p. 67.
"...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. ReSuzuki, 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 virtuSpassky 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 Franois Mitextent of the emergency. The answers were succinct and
terrand in 1992. Bobby and myself committed the same
forthcoming: Bobby Fischers 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 countrys help. Act RespectProle: 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] Fischers next moves: renounce U.S. citizenship and

[524] Yanchulis, Kelly. ESPNs Jeremy Schaap Opens Up with
marry a Japanese | The Japan Times Online". japanStudents. Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism,
times.co.jp. August 17, 2004. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
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[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.
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[527] Brady 2011, p. 319.
[515] Bobby Fischers Deportation Appeal Rejected. Associated Press. July 28, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2014. [528] Bobby Fischers nal manoeuvre. The Sunday Times.
April 20, 2008.
[516] Asia-Pacic | 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.
[531] Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 118.
293.

35

[532] Bobby Fischer: Chesss 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 rst denying that anything was seriously wrong with
him. His lungs were also bothering him and he was having diculty 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. 2627.
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. 31617.
[535] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 15.
[548] Its 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
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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 several years, 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 nal weeks. chessbase.com. Janthey even ew 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. 30102. [552] Burial:
[539] Darrach, Brad (August 11, 1972). Bobby is Not a Nasty
Kid. Life. p. 40. Retrieved March 25, 2013.

Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland. chessbase.com.

January 22, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

[540] This led Fischer to believe that Armstrong was really a

false prophet. Brady 2011, p. 212.

Find A Grave Robert James Fischer. ndagrave.com. January 18, 2008. Retrieved January
29, 2014.

[541] Martin, Douglas (September 17, 2003). Garner Ted

Armstrong, Evangelist, 73, Dies. The New York Times.
Retrieved January 27, 2014.
[542] Brady 2011, p. 317.
[543] Batty, David (January 18, 2008). Chess champion Bobby
Fischer dies. The Guardian. Retrieved January 28, 2014.

"tfr Fischers kyrrey (in Icelandic). January

21, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014..
Unnustan rur hvlusta Bobbys (in Icelandic).
visir.is. January 19, 2008. Retrieved January 29,
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Bragadottir, Kristin Arna (January 21, 2008).
Chess champion Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland.
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[544] Dnarorsk Fischers var nrnabilun (in Icelandic). [553] Andrew Soltis,Fi$cher Family Feud, New York Post,
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[545] Death:

[554] McClain, Dylan Loeb (July 5, 2010). Bobby Fischer Is

Exhumed. The New York Times (Online Chess Blog).
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[556] McClain, Dylan Loeb (June 17, 2010). Iceland: Bobby
Chess legend Fischer dies at 64. BBC News. January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

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Bobby Fischer: Obituary. The Sunday Times. [557] Court rules Bobby Fischers body can be exhumed.
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CNN.com. June 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
[546] Weber, Bruce (January 19, 2008). Bobby Fischer, Chess [558] Helgason, Gudjon (July 5, 2010). Chess icon Fischers
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36

21

[559] Miyoko Watai Ruled Bobby Fischers Legal Heir. Iceland Review Online. March 3, 2011. Retrieved January
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[582] Hansen 2002, p. 132.
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[563] Brady 2011, p. 318.

[583] Pliester 1995, p. 272.

[564] He employs a limited range of openings. Of course, this [584] Gligori 1985, p. 65.
is not a sign of Fischers 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
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2005, p. 270.
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attack. Watson 2006, p. 199.
[565] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 25162.
[566] Fischers 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 of stratagems 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] 90/118 (+729=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 (+11123=48): 74.17% Robert James Fis- [587] The Poisoned Pawn Variation was considered dubious by
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[569] 38/52 (+317=14): 73.07% Robert James Fischer [588] Andrew Soltis, in Mller 2009, p. 30.
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[570] 42/68 (+3418=16): 61.76% Robert James Fischer
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[591] Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 146.
[571] 22/40 (+1713=10): 55% Robert James Fischer playing the French Winawer as White (C15-C19)". chess- [592] Mednis calls 6.Bc4 against the Najdorf Variation Fischers 6 B-QB4. Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 74, 80, 88.
games.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
[572] Mller 2009, p. 31.
[573] Fischer 1969, p. 151.
[574] Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 208.

[593] Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer, Mar del Plata

(1960), Kings Gambit: Accepted. Kieseritsky Gambit
Rubinstein Variation (C39)". chessgames.com. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.

[594]
[575] Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 322 (quoting March 20,
1972 letter from Paul Keres to the USSR Chess Federa- [595]
tion).
[596]
[576] The Exchange Variation was a feared weapon in the
hands of Bobby Fischer. Kasparov & Keene 1989, p. [597]
382.
[598]
[577] The modern version of the Spanish Exchange variation,
[599]
in which White moves 5.0-0 after the exchange on move
4, should be named after former World Champion Bobby [600]
Fischer. Fischer, after nding an improvement on a 1965
game Barendregt-Teschner, which Black won, started to [601]

Fischer 1961, p. 4.
Fischer 1961, pp. 49.
Estrin & Glaskov 1982, p. 115.
Korchnoi & Zak 1975, p. 39.
Andrew Soltis, in Mller 2009, p. 29.
Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 27, 7677, 253, 256.
Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 214.
Silman 2007, pp. 51023.

37

[602] Mller & Lamprecht 2001, p. 304.

Schonberg 1973, pp. 271, 302.

[603] Mayer 1997, p. 201.

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 and in 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.

Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 13334.

Divinsky 1990. p. 67.
Eade 2011, p. 308.
Euwe 1979, p. ix.
Golombek 1977. p. 117.
Kasparov 2004, p. 490.

Mednis 1997, p. xiii.

[606] Bobbys invention of a new chess clock that operated dif Soltis 2003, p. 9.
ferently from those traditionally used in tournaments had
Wol 2001, p. 273.
to be specially manufactured for the match, and [Jezdimir]
Vasiljevic had it made. Bobby insisted that it be used in [618] William Lombardy characterized Fischers game as mathe match. The game would start with each player having
chinelike, with 'terrically 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 players time. Bobbys theory
His end game is practically awless. 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
fteen or twenty minutes to make his move; other grandfty-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 and after 80 and each 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] "[Fischers] 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. Mller 2009, p. 382.
[621] Player Prole: 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.

[625] Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 23.

[614] Mller 2009, p. 23.

[626] Kasparov, Garry (January 26, 2008). The Chessman.

TIME. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

[615] Wol 2001, p. 273.

[616] Greatest player ever:

[627] The Telegraph Calcutta (Kolkata) | Sports | Fischer is

greatest ever, says Anand. Calcutta, India: Telegraphindia.com. January 16, 2009. Retrieved January 29, 2014.

Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 47 (Ree interview),

[628] All participants at U.S. Chess Championship now o91 (Timman interview), 113 (Short interview).
cially ineligible for $64,000 Fischer memorial prize for a
Hartston 1985, p. 157.
'sweep'". saintlouischessclub.org. Retrieved January 29,
Levy 1975, p. 9.
2014.
Lombardy 2011, p. 220.
Mller 2009, p. 23.

[629] chess games. chessgames.com. 22 September 2015.

Retrieved 22 September 2015.

38

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01-04.
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resigned on the rst move
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[657] Wade & O'Connell BFCG Doubleday 1972, p. 11.
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today to create an urban legend that will stay alive in chess
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[660] includes one forfeit
Retrieved January 29, 2014.
[637] William Hartston, Chess: The Making of the Musical,
Pavilion Books, 1986, p. 10. ISBN 1-85145-006-8.

[661] Only decisive games counted; percentage = won

(won+lost).

[662] Verwer 2010, p. 116.

[638] Zhaskyran, Musin (January 2001). Chess Problems
(about chess songs of Vladimir Vysotsky)" (in Russian). [663] New Yorks New Prodigy, Chess, November 9, 1956.
Retrieved January 29, 2014.
Quoted in Soltis 2003, p. 13.
[639] Michelle Ho (September 14, 2010). Lazy Susan - Places [664] Brady 1973, p. 74.
That Made Us (2010 LP)". The AU Review. Retrieved
[665] Soltis, Andrew (1995). Winning with the Ruy Lopez ExJuly 14, 2016.
change Variation. Chess Digest. ISBN 0-87568-197-2.
[640] Ebert, Roger (August 11, 1993). Searching for Bobby
Fischer review. Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved January [666] Kopec, IM, Dr. Danny; Kostovetsky, Daniel (March
2014). The Fischer Ending. Chess Life: 3943.
29, 2014.
[641] Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)". imdb.com. Re- [667] Annotating a ShortSvidler game from the 2002 RussiaWorld match, the magazine 64 commented that even a
trieved January 29, 2014.
superbly placed Black knight on an open le will interfere with heavy pieces and therefore should be removed in
[642] Bobby was indignant and then irate when he heard about
'the classic example of the seventh game of the Fischer
it, proclaiming the lm a misrepresentation of his name
Petrosian match.'" Soltis 2003, p. 264.
and, therefore, an invasion of his privacy. Brady 2011,
p. 267.
[668] Saidy & Lessing p. 237.
[643] Bobby Fischer Moves to a Satisfying Peace, Chicago
[669] Soltis 2003, p. 271.
Sun-Times, September 26, 1993. Quoted in Brady 2011,
p. 268.

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Games. Simon and Schuster, Faber and Faber, Batsford. ISBN 1-906388-30-X.

Kasparov, Garry; Keene, Raymond (1989). Batsford Chess Openings 2. Collier Books. ISBN 0-02033991-7.

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Pasadena Jailhouse!. Printer. ASIN B0006Y6EHI.

Kasparov, Garry (2004). My Great Predecessors,

Volume IV. Gloucester Publishers. ISBN 1-85744395-0.

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41
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B00AR16QPU.

22 Further reading

Silman, Jeremy (2007). Silmans 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).
NY Chess Since 1972: A Guide Book Of Places To Go
And People You Will See Around NY Chess (Volume
1). CreateSpace. ISBN 1-4609-6141-2.

Agur, Elie (1992). Bobby Fischer: A Study of His

Approach to Chess. Cadogan. ISBN 1-85744-0013.

Soltis, Andrew (1984). The Book of Chess Lists (1st

ed.). McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-89950096-X.

Dautov, Petra (1995). Bobby Fischer wie er wirklich ist: Ein Jahr mit dem Schachgenie. P. Dautov
California-Verlag. ISBN 3-9804281-3-3.

Soltis, Andrew (2002). Chess Lists (2nd ed.). McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-1296-8.

Hbner, Robert (2008). Chessbase Monograph:

World Champion Fischer. Chessbase. ASIN
B007J8Z8E4.

Soltis, Andrew (2003). Bobby Fischer Rediscovered.

Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8846-8.
Sunnucks, Anne (1976) [1970]. The Encyclopaedia
of Chess (2nd ed.). St. Martins Press. ISBN 9780-7091-4697-1.
Steiner, George (1974) [1973]. Fields of Force.
Viking. ISBN 978-0-670-31178-1.
Verwer, Renzo (2010). Bobby Fischer for Beginners. New In Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-315-1.
Wade, Robert G.; O'Connell, Kevin J. (1973)
[1972]. Bobby Fischers Chess Games (2nd ed.).
Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-08627-X.
Waitzkin, Fred (1993). Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov. G.P. Putnams Sons.
ISBN 0-399-13827-7.

Verwer, Renzo (2010). World Chess Champions.

New in Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-315-1.

23 External links
Bobby Fischer player prole and games at
Chessgames.com
A list of books about Fischer and Kasparov compiled by Edward Winter
Archive of Fischers personal homepage
Bobby Fischer Live Radio Interviews (19992006)
Extensive collection of Fischer photographs,
Echecs-photos online

42
Bobby Fischers Pathetic Endgame, Rene Chun,
The Atlantic, December 2002

23

EXTERNAL LINKS

43

24
24.1

Text and image sources, contributors, and licenses

Text

Bobby Fischer Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer?oldid=757080835 Contributors: AxelBoldt, Slrubenstein, Arvindn,

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File:Bobby_Fischer_1972.jpg Source: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/34/Bobby_Fischer_1972.jpg License: CC

BY-SA 3.0 nl Contributors: [1] Dutch National Archives, The Hague, Fotocollectie Algemeen Nederlands Persbureau (ANeFo), 19451989, Nummer toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer 925-3512 Original artist: Verhoe, Bert / Anefo
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bekijk toegang 2.24.01.05 Bestanddeelnummer 925-3509 Original artist: Punt, [] / Anefo
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File:Bundesarchiv_Bild_183-76052-0335,_Schacholympiade,_Tal_(UdSSR)_gegen_Fischer_(USA).jpg
Source:
https:
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