Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008) is an American chess grandmaster and World Chess Champion to eleven. Many consider him the greatest chess player of all time.
Fischer showed great skills in chess from an early age; at the age of 13, he won the brilliancy known as "The Game of the Century". At the age of 14, he became US Chess Champion, and at the age of 15, he became the youngest grandmaster (GM) up to that time and the youngest candidate for the World Championships. At age 20, Fischer won the 1963-64 US Championships with 11 wins in 11 games, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. His book My 60 Memorable Games , published in 1969, is considered a classic piece of chess literature. He won the 1970 Interzonal Tournament with a record of 3½½ points, and won 20 consecutive games, including an unprecedented 2-0 6-0, in the Candidate Match. In July 1971, he became the number one official FIDE first player.
Fischer won the World Chess Championship in 1972, beating Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, in a match held in Reykjavik, Iceland. Published as a Cold War confrontation between the US and the Soviet Union, it attracted more worldwide interest than chess championships before or after. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, the international chess body, above one of the conditions for the match. Under FIDE rules, this produces Soviet GM Anatoly Karpov, who has won the Qualification Candidate cycle, was named the new world champion by default.
Having lost his title as World Champion, Fischer became closed and sometimes erratic, disappearing from both competitive chess and the public eye. In 1992, he reappeared to win an unofficial rematch against Spassky. It was held in Yugoslavia, which was under the UN embargo at the time. His participation led to a conflict with the US government, which warned Fischer that his participation in the game would violate an executive order imposing US sanctions on Yugoslavia, and eventually issued a warrant for his arrest. After that, he lived his life as ÃÆ' Â © migrÃÆ'Â ©. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan and detained for several months for using a passport that had been revoked by the US government. Finally, he was granted an Icelandic passport and citizenship by a special act from Iceland Althing, allowing him to stay in Iceland until his death in 2008.
Fischer made many enduring contributions to chess. In the 1990s, he patented a modified chess time system that added time after every step, now a standard practice in top tournaments and matches. He also discovered Fischerandom, a new variant of chess known today as "Chess960".
Video Bobby Fischer
Initial years
Bobby Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on March 9, 1943. His birth certificate enrolled his father as Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, also known as Gerardo Liebscher, a German biophysicist. His mother, Regina Wender Fischer, is a US citizen, born in Switzerland; his parents are Polish Jews. Raised at St. Louis, Missouri, Regina became a teacher, registered nurse, and then a doctor.
After graduating from college in his teen years, Regina went to Germany to visit his brother. It was there that he met genetics and the future Nobel Prize winner Hermann Joseph Muller, who persuaded him to move to Moscow to study medicine. He enrolled in I.M. Sechenov, Moscow First State University of Medicine, where he met Hans-Gerhardt, whom he married in November 1933. In 1938, Hans-Gerhardt and Regina had a daughter, Joan Fischer. The re-emergence of anti-Semitism under Stalin encouraged Regina to go with Joan to Paris, where Regina became an English teacher. The threat of German invasion led him and Joan to go to the United States in 1939. Hans-Gerhardt attempted to follow the couple but, at the time, his German nationality forbade him from entering the United States. Regina and Hans-Gerhardt had split up in Moscow, although they were not officially divorced until 1945.
At the time of his son's birth, Regina was homeless and went to jobs and schools across the country to support her family. He was involved in political activism, and appointed Bobby and Joan as single parents.
In 1949, his family moved to Brooklyn, New York City, where he studied for a master's degree in nursing and then began working in that field.
Paul Nemenyi as Fischer's father
Sources implying that Paul Nemenyi, a Hungarian-Jewish mathematician and physicist and an expert in fluid and applied mechanics, was Fischer's biological father first published in a 2002 investigation by Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer . Throughout the 1950s, the FBI investigated Regina and his circle for his alleged communist sympathizer, as well as his time in Moscow.
The FBI file identifies Paul Nemenyi as Bobby Fischer's biological father, pointing out that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered the United States, being denied entry by US immigration officials because of his alleged communist sympathizer. Not only Regina and Nemenyi were reportedly having an affair in 1942, but Nemenyi made monthly childhood payment payments to Regina and paid Bobby's school until her own death in 1952. Nemenyi has filed a complaint to social workers, saying that she worries about Regina's way of raising Bobby , to the point that, at least on one occasion, Nemenyi cried. Later, Bobby told the Hungarian chess player Zita RajcsÃÆ'¡nyi that Paul Nemenyi would occasionally appear in the Brooklyn family apartment and take him for a walk.
After Paul Nemenyi died in 1952, Regina Fischer wrote a letter to the first son of Nemenyi, Peter, asking if Paul had left money for Bobby in his will:
Bobby is sick 2 days with fever and sore throat and of course a doctor or medicine is not possible. I do not think Paul wants to leave Bobby this way and will ask you to let me know if Paul leaves something for Bobby.
On one occasion, Regina told a social worker that the last time she had seen Hans-Gerhardt Fischer in 1939, four years before Bobby was born. On another occasion, he told the same social worker he had visited Mexico to meet Hans-Gerhardt in June 1942 and that Bobby was conceived during the meeting. According to Bobby Fischer's brother-in-law, Russell Targ (who married Joan), Regina hides the fact that Nemenyi is Bobby's father because he wants to avoid the stigma of illegitimate birth.
Initial chess
Poor childhood
In March 1949, the 6-year-old Bobby and his sister, Joan, learned how to play chess using the instructions of the set purchased at the candy store. When Joan lost interest in chess and Regina did not have time to play, it made Fischer play many of her first match against herself. When the family was vacationing in Patchogue, Long Island, New York, that summer, Bobby found an old chess game book and studied it intently.
Fischer biographer Frank Brady describes the family move from Manhattan to Brooklyn in 1950:
In the fall of 1950, Regina moved her family from Manhattan and crossed the bridge to Brooklyn, where she rented an inexpensive apartment near Union and Franklin intersections. It's only temporary: He tries to get closer to a better environment. Robbed his medical degree in Russia for war, he is now determined to obtain a nursing diploma. Once she enrolled in Prospect Nursing High School, the moving Fischer family, somebody out of nowhere, moved once more - the tenth transit in six years - to a two-month two-month flat $ 52 per month at 560 Lincoln Place in Brooklyn.
The family lives in Q apartment, a "small, basic, but livable" apartment. It was there that "Fischer soon became so engrossed in the game that Regina was afraid she spent too much time alone". As a result, on November 14, 1950, Regina sent a postcard to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, trying to place an ad asking if other children of Bobby's age might be interested in playing chess with her. The paper rejected his advertisement because no one knew how to classify it, but continued his investigation into Hermann Helms, "American Chess Dean", who told him that Master Max Pavey, a former Scottish champion, would give a simultaneous exhibition. on January 17, 1951. Fischer played at the exhibition. Though he survived for 15 minutes, drew the crowd of spectators, he eventually lost to the chess master.
One of the audience was the Brooklyn Chess Club President, Carmine Nigro, an American chess master close to the master's powers and an instructor. Nigro was so impressed with Fischer's game that he introduced him to the club and began to teach him. Fischer recorded his time with Nigro: "Mr. Nigro may not be the best player in the world, but he is a very good teacher meeting him may be the deciding factor in continuing me with chess."
Nigro hosted Fischer's first chess tournament at his home in 1952. In the summer of 1955, Fischer, then twelve years old, joined the Manhattan Chess Club, the country's strongest chess club. Fischer's relationship with Nigro lasted until 1956, when Nigro moved.
Hawthorne Chess Club
In June 1956, Fischer began attending Hawthorne Chess Club, which was based in the home of John's master "Jack" W. Collins. For many years it was believed that Collins was Fischer's teacher and coach, although Collins stated that he did not teach Fischer. It is now believed that Collins was Fischer's mentor, not his teacher or coach.
Fischer played thousands of flash and offhand games with Collins and other powerful players, studying the books at Collins's large chess library, and eating nearly as much dinner at Collins's home as his own.
Maps Bobby Fischer
Young champion
In 1956, Fischer experienced a "meteor rise" in the strength of his game. On the list of the tenth national rankings of the United States Chess Federation (USCF), published on May 20, 1956, Fischer's rank was 1726, more than 900 points below Samuel Reshevsky's (2663).
In March 1956, Chess Log Cabin Club of Orange, New Jersey, took Fischer on tour to Cuba, where he gave a 12-board simultaneous exhibition at Havana's Capablanca Chess Club, winning ten games and drawing two. In this tour the club plays a series of matches against other clubs. Fischer plays second board , behind Master International Norman Whitaker. Whitaker and Fischer are top scorers for the club, each scoring 5.5 points from 7 matches.
In July 1956, Fischer won the US Junior Chess Championship, scoring 8 1/2/10 in Philadelphia to become Youngest Youngest Champion at the age of 13. At the 1956 US Open Chess Championship in Oklahoma City, he scored 8 ½/12 to tie for 4 -8 places, with Arthur Bisguier winning. In the first Canadian Open Chess Championship in Montreal in 1956, he scored 7/10 to draw for 8-12 places, with the victory of Larry Evans. In November, Fischer played in the 1956 Eastern Open Championships in Washington, D.C., tied for second with William Lombardy, Nicholas Rossolimo, and Arthur Feuerstein, with Hans Berliner taking the first by half a point.
Fischer received an invitation to play in the Third J. Rosenwald Wrestling Tournament in New York City (1956), a major tournament limited to 12 players considered the best in the country. Although Fischer's rank is not among the top 12 in the country, he receives the entry with special consideration. Playing against top teams, 13-year-old Fischer can only score 4 ½/11, and fight for 8-9 positions. However, he won brilliancy gift for " - his 'immortal' game 'landscape' against International Master Donald Byrne, in which Fischer sacrificed his queen to release an unstoppable attack Hans Kmoch called it "The Game of the Century", wrote: "The following game, a stunning work of play performed by a 13 year old boy against a formidable opponent, matches the best record in the history of chess miracles. "According to Frank Brady, The Game of the Century has been discussed, analyzed, and admired for over fifty years, and that will probably be part of the chess canon for years to come. "" In reflecting on his game moments after it happened i, Bobby is very simple: 'I just make the moves that I think are best. I was just lucky. ' "
In 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former World Champion Max Euwe in New York, losing ½ -1 ½. On the eleventh national ranking of the USCF, published on 5 May 1957, Fischer was ranked 2231 - more than 500 points higher than its value a year earlier. This made him the youngest chess master in the country, until then. In July, he managed to defend his US Junior title, scoring 8½/9 in San Francisco. As a result of the tournament's strong results, Fischer's ranking went up to 2298, "making it among the top ten active players in the country". In August, he scored 10/12 at the US Open Chess Championships in Cleveland, winning on tie-break points over Arthur Bisguier. This made Fischer the youngest US Open Champion. He won the New Jersey Open Championship, scoring 6 1/2/7. He then beat Filipino youngster Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 6-2 in a New York match sponsored by Pepsi-Cola.
Won the first US title
Based on Fischer rankings and strong results, USCF invited him to play in the 1957-58 US Championships. The tournament included figures such as six-time US champion Samuel Reshevsky, defending US champion Arthur Bisguier, and William Lombardy, who in August had won the Junior World Championships. Bisguier estimates that Fischer will "finish slightly above the center mark". Despite all the contrary predictions, Fischer scored eight wins and five draws to win the tournament by a point difference, with 10 ½/13. Still two months before his fifteenth birthday, Fischer became the youngest US Champion. Since that year's championship is also a US Zonal Championship, Fischer's victory earned him an International Master's degree. Fischer's victory in the US Championship sent his rank up to 2626, making it the second highest ranked player in the United States, behind only Reshevsky (2713), and qualifies him to participate in Portoro 1958? Interzonal, the next step towards challenging the World Champion.
Bobby wanted to go to Moscow. On his petition, "Regina wrote directly to the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev, requesting an invitation to Bobby to participate in the World Youth and Student Festival.The answer - affirmative - came too late for her to leave." Regina did not have the money to pay for plane tickets, but the following year Fischer was invited to a game show I've Got a Secret, where, thanks to Regina's efforts, the show's producers arranged two round-trip tickets to Russia.
Once in Russia, Fischer was invited by the Soviet Union to Moscow, where International Mr. Lev Abramov would serve as a guide for Bobby and his sister, Joan. Upon arrival, Fischer immediately demanded that he be taken to Moscow Central Chess Club, where he played fast chess with "two young Soviet masters", Evgeni Vasiukov and Alexander Nikitin, winning every game. The author of Chess VI Linder writes about the impression Fischer gave grandmaster Vladimir Alatortsev when he played a blitz against the Soviet master: "Back in 1958, at Central Chess Club, Vladimir Alatortsev saw a tall, tall, tall young man who, in a game buzz, all those who crossed his path... Alatortsev was no exception, losing all three games He was stunned by the game of young American Robert Fischer, his fantastic confidence, incredible chess knowledge, and his brilliant game! arrived home, Vladimir said with amazed to his wife: 'This is the future world champion! ' "
Fischer was asked to play against Mikhail Botvinnik, the reigning World Champion. When told that this was not possible, Fischer was asked to play Keres. "Finally, Tigran Petrosian, on a semi-official basis, was summoned to the club..." where he played a speed game with Fischer, winning the majority. "When Bobby discovers that he will not play the formal game...... he goes into a less than quiet anger," saying he's fed up "with this Russian pig", which infuriated the Soviets who saw Fischer. as their honorable guest. It was then that Yugoslav chess officials offered to take Fischer and Joan as early guests to Interzonal. Fischer took the offer, arrived in Yugoslavia to play two short training matches against master Dragoljub Jano? Evi? and Milan Matulovi ?. Fischer pulled both games against Jano? Evi? and then defeat Matulovi? in Belgrade by 2½ ½ -1 ½.
At Portoro ?, Fischer was accompanied by Lombardy. The top six players at Interzonal will qualify for the Candidate Tournament. Most observers doubt that a 15-year-old without international experience can finish between six qualifiers at Interzonal, but Fischer told reporters Miro Radoicic, "I can draw with the grandmasters, and there are half a dozen span title = "See the entry at: Glossary chess Ã,§ patzer"> patzers in a tournament I plan to defeat. "Despite some bumps in the road and troubled start, Fischer succeeds in his plan: after finished strongly, it ends with 12/20 (6-2 = 12) to tie 5-6. Soviet Grandmaster Yuri Averbakh observes,
In the struggle on the board, this young man, almost still a child, shows himself as a full-fledged warrior, showing tremendous tranquility, proper calculations and evil intelligence. I was particularly impressed by his extensive opening knowledge, but his struggles were everywhere to find a new way. In Fischer's game, an extraordinary talent is felt, and in addition, one feels a lot of work in learning chess.
Soviet Grandmaster David Bronstein said of Fischer's time in Portoro: "It was interesting for me to observe Fischer, but for a long time I could not understand why this 15-year-old boy played chess well." Fischer became the youngest person ever to qualify for Candidate and youngest grandmaster in 15 years, 6 months, 1 day. "At that time everyone knew we had a genius in our hands."
Prior to the Candidate Tournament, Fischer won the 1958-59 US Championship (scoring 8½/11). He is tied for third (with Borislav Ivkov) in Mar del Plata (scored 10/14), half a point behind Ludep Pachman and Miguel Najdorf. He is tied for 4-6 in Santiago (scored 7 ½/12) behind Ivkov, Pachman, and Herman Pilnik.
At the ZÃÆ'¼rich International Tournament, spring 1959, Fischer completed a point behind future world champion Mikhail Tal and a half point behind Yugoslavian grandmaster Svetozar Gligori.
Although Fischer had ended his formal education at the age of 16, dropping out at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn, he later taught himself several foreign languages ​​so he could read foreign chess magazines. According to Latvian chess master Alexander Koblencs, even he and Tal could not match Fischer's commitment to chess. Remembering the tournament conversation: " 'Tell me, Bobby,' Tal continued, 'what do you think about Larissa Volpert's play style?' "He's too cautious. But you have another girl, Dmitrieva. The game really appeals to me! "Here we are left totally dumbfounded Misha and I have seen thousands of games, but it never occurred to us to learn the game of our women players How can we find time for this? But Bobby, , has found time! ' "
Until late 1959, Fischer "dressed badly for a champion, performed at the greatest and most respected national and international event in sweaters and corduroys." Now, encouraged by Pal Benko to dress more intelligently, Fischer "began buying clothes from around the world, tailored to hand and made to order." He told reporters Ralph Ginzburg that he had 17 suits made by hand and that all his clothes and shoes were made by hand.
At the age of 16, Fischer ranks fifth from eight (top non-Soviet player) in the 1959 Candidate Tournament in Bled/Zagreb/​​Belgrade, Yugoslavia, scored 12 1/2/28. He was defeated by Tal tournament winner, who winning all four of their individual matches. That year, Fischer released his first book of games collected: Chess Game Bobby Fischer, published by Simon & amp; Schuster. Sign out of school
Fischer's interest in chess became more important than schoolwork, to the point that "by the time he reached fourth grade, he was in and out of six schools." In 1952, Regina was awarded a Bobby scholarship (based on chess talent and "high IQ astronomy") to the Brooklyn Woodward Community. Fischer then attended Erasmus Hall High School at the same time as Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond. In 1959, his student council gave him a gold medal for his chess accomplishments. That same year, Fischer dropped out of school when he was 16, the earliest he could legally do so. He then explained to Ralph Ginzburg, "You do not learn anything at school."
When Fischer was 16, his mother moved out of their apartment for medical training. His friend Joan Rodker, who had met Regina when both were "idealist communists" who lived in Moscow in the 1930s, believed that Fischer hated his mother for being absent mostly as a mother, communist activist and admirer of the Soviet Union and that this caused her hatred of the Soviet Union. In letters to Rodker, Fischer's mother expressed his desire to pursue his own "obsession" in medical training and wrote that his son had to live in their apartment in Brooklyn without him: "It sounds horrible to leave a 16-year-old boy for his own device, happier in that way ". The apartment is on the edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant, the neighborhood that has one of the highest murder and crime rates in New York City. Although the exile from his son, Regina, in 1960, protested against the practice of the American Chess Foundation and held a five-hour protest in front of the White House, urging President Dwight D. Eisenhower to send American teams to the chess Olympics that year. (set for Leipzig, East Germany, behind the Iron Curtain) and to help support the team financially.
US Championship
Fischer plays in eight US Championships, winning everything, at least by a point difference. The result is:
Fischer missed the 1961-62 Championship (he was preparing Interzonal 1962), and no 1964-65 events. In eight US Chess Championships, Fischer lost only three games; to Edmar Mednis in the 1962-63 event, and in consecutive rounds to Samuel Reshevsky, and Robert Byrne in the 1965 championship, culminating in a total score of 74/90 (61 victories, 26 draws, 3 losses).
Olympics
Fischer refused to play in the 1958 Munich Olympics when his request to play first board in front Samuel Reshevsky was rejected. Some sources state that 15-year-old Fischer was unable to arrange leave from attending high school. Fischer then represented the United States on the first board in four Men's Chess Olympics, winning two Silver Bronze medals and one individual individual:
Of the four Men's Chess Olympics, Fischer scored 40-7 = 18, to 49/65: 75.4%. In 1966, Fischer nearly lost individual gold medals, scoring 88.23% to the World Petroleum Petroleum Champion 88.46%. He plays four more games than Petrosian, faces tougher opposition, and will win gold if he accepts Florin Gheorghiu's appealing offer, rather than rejecting him and suffering his only loss.
At the 1962 Varna Olympics, Fischer predicted that he would defeat GM Argentina Miguel Najdorf in 25 movements. Fischer actually did it at 24, becoming the only player to beat Najdorf in the tournament. Ironically, Najdorf lost the game while using an opening variation named after him: Najdorf Sicily.
Fischer had planned to play for the US at the 1968 Olympic Games, but retreated when he saw poor playing conditions. Both former World Champion Petrosian Tigran and Belgian-American International Master George Koltanowski, leader of the American team that year, felt that Fischer was justified not participating in the Olympics. According to Lombardy, Fischer's non-participation was due to Reshevsky's refusal to produce the first board.
1960-61
In 1960, Fischer tied for first place with Soviet star Boris Spassky at the powerful Mar del Plata Tournament in Argentina, winning by two points, scoring 13 ½/15 (13-1 = 1), ahead of David Bronstein. Fischer only lost to Spassky; this is the beginning of their lifelong friendship.
Fischer experienced the only failure in his competitive career in the Buenos Aires Tournament (1960), ending with 8 ½/19 (3-5 = 11), well behind winners Viktor Korchnoi and Samuel Reshevsky by 13/19. According to Larry Evans, Fischer's first sexual experience was with a girl that Evans introduced to him during the tournament. Pal Benko said that Fischer was really awful in the tournament "because he was caught by women and sex, and after that, Fischer said he never mixed women and chess together, and kept his promise." Fischer concluded 1960 by winning a small tournament in ReykjavÃÆ'k with 4½/5, and defeated Klaus Darga in an exhibition match in West Berlin.
In 1961, Fischer started a 16-game match with Reshevsky, split between New York and Los Angeles. Reshevsky, 32, senior Fischer, is considered a favorite, as he has much more match experience and has never lost a match. After 11 games and a draw score (two wins each with seven draws), the match ended prematurely due to a scheduling dispute between Fischer and match organizers and sponsors Jacqueline Piatigorsky. Reshevsky is declared the winner, by default, and receives the winning part of the prize fund.
Fischer was second in the super-class field, behind only former World Champion Tal, in Bled, 1961. However, Fischer beat Tal head-to-head for the first time in their individual game, scoring 3 ½/4 against the Soviet contingent , and finished as the only unbeaten player, with 13 ½/19 (8-0 = 11).
1962: success, setbacks, accusations of collusion
Fischer won Interzonal Stockholm 1962 with a margin of 2 ½ points, unbeaten, with 17 ½/22 (13-0 = 9). He was the first non-Soviet player to win Interzonal since FIDE instituted the tournament in 1948. Russian Grandmaster Alexander Kotov said of Fischer:
I have discussed Fischer's game with Max Euwe and Gideon Stahlberg. All of us, experiencing an 'old-timer tournament', were surprised by Fischer's endgame skills. When a young player is good at attacking or on a combination, this is understandable, but the perfect endgame technique at age 19 is rare. I can only remember one other player who at that age is equally adept at endgames - Vasily Smyslov.
Fischer's victory made him a favorite for the Candidate Tournament in CuraÃÆ'§ao. However, despite the results at Interzonal, Fischer only ranks fourth from eight with 14/27 (8-7 = 12), well behind Tigran Petrosian (17 ½/27), Efim Geller, and Paul Keres (both 17/27). ). Tal fell severely ill during the tournament, and had to retreat before it was completed. Fischer, a friend of Tal, was the only contestant to visit him in the hospital.
Accusing Soviets of collusion
After his failure in 1962 the Candidate, Fischer asserted, in an August 20, 1962 Sports Illustrated article, titled "The Russians Have Fixed World Chess", three of the five Soviet players (Tigran Petrosian, Paul) Keres, and Efim Geller) had a pre-arranged agreement to quickly withdraw their game against each other to save their energy to play against Fischer. It is generally considered that these allegations are true. Fischer states that he will never again participate in the Candidate tournament, because the format, combined with alleged collusion, makes it impossible for non-Soviet players to win. After the Fischer article, FIDE, at the end of 1962, chose to adopt a radical reform of the playoff system, replacing the Candidate tournament in a one-on-one KO match format; the format that Fischer would dominate in 1971.
Fischer defeated Bent Larsen in a 1962 summer exhibition match in Copenhagen for Danish TV. Later that year, Fischer beat Bogdan? Liwa in a team match against Poland in Warsaw.
In the 1962-63 US Championships, Fischer suffered his first single defeat (to Edmar Mednis) in the first round. Bisguier is in top shape, and Fischer catches up just at the end. Tied at 7-3, the two meet in the final round. Bisguier stood well in the middle of the road, but made a mistake, handing Fischer the fifth consecutive championship in the US.
Semi-retired in the mid-1960s
Influenced by ill will over the 1961 game that was canceled against Reshevsky, Fischer declined an invitation to play in the 1963 Piatigorsky Cup tournament in Los Angeles, which has a world-class field. In August-September 1963, Fischer won the New York State Championships at Poughkeepsie, with 7/7, his first perfect score, ahead of Arthur Bisguier and James Sherwin.
In the 1963-64 US Championships, Fischer achieved his second perfect score, this time against the country's top-ranked chess player: "This tournament became, as they say, the legend." The fact that Fischer won his sixth US is not surprising. he did it was spectacular. "" One by one Fischer slashed opponents when he cut 11-0 plots on the pitch, to show with convincing to the opposition that he is now in the class alone. " These results led Fischer to increase fame, including the profile in Life magazine. Sports Illustrated charted each of the 11 games in his article, "The Amazing Victory Streak of Bobby Fischer". Such broad chess coverage is a breakthrough for America's top sports magazine. His 11-0 victory at the 1963-64 Championship was the only perfect score in the history of the tournament, and one of about ten perfect scores in the high-end chess tournaments ever. David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld called it "the most extraordinary achievement of this kind". Fischer recalled: "Motivated by my tilted results (11-0!), Dr. [Hans] Kmoch congratulated [[Larry] Evans (second winner) on winning the tournament... and then congratulated me on 'exhibition victory'. "
The International Master Anthony Saidy remembers his last encounter with the invincible Fischer:
At the moment of delay, Saidy looks at ways to impose a draw, but is "sealed differently, misplaced," and lost. "Chess publications around the world write about unparalleled achievements Just Bent Larsen, who has always been Fischer's detractors, was not impressed: 'Fischer plays against the ' kids.
Fischer, qualified as a US Champion, decided against his participation at the 1964 Interzonal Amsterdam, taking himself out of the 1966 World Championship cycle, even after FIDE changed the format of the eight-player Candidate Tournament from round-robin into a series of knockout systems. lighters, which eliminates the possibility of collusion. Instead, Fischer embarked on tours to the United States and Canada from February to May, playing simultaneous exhibitions, and giving lectures in each of more than 40 cities. The winning percentage of 94% over 2,000 matches is one of the best ever achieved. Fischer declined an invitation to play for the US at the 1964 Olympics in Tel Aviv.
Successful return
Fischer wanted to play at the Capablanca Memorial Tournament, Havana in August and September 1965. Since the Department of Foreign Affairs refused to support Fischer's passport as legitimate to visit Cuba, he proposed, and tournament officials and players accepted, a unique setting: Fischer played his move from a room at the Marshall Chess Club, which is then forwarded by a teleprinter to Cuba. Lud? K Pachman observes that Fischer "is blocked by longer playing sessions resulting from wasted time in motion transmissions, and that is one of the reasons why he lost to his three main rivals." The tournament was a "trial" for Fischer, who had to last for eight hours and sometimes even twelve hours of play sessions. Despite the disability, Fischer is tied for second to fourth place, with 15/21 (12-3 = 6), behind former World Champion Vasily Smyslov, who defeated Fischer in their individual game. The tournament received extensive media coverage.
In December, Fischer won the seventh US Championship (1965), scoring 8Ã,½/11 (8-2 = 1), despite losing to Robert Byrne and Reshevsky in the eighth and ninth rounds. Fischer also made peace with Mrs. Piatigorsky, received an invitation to the very tough second Piatigorsky Cup (1966) tournament in Santa Monica. Fischer started misfortune and after eight rounds was tied to last with 3/8. He then staged "the most sensational comeback in the history of grandmaster chess", scoring 7/8 in the next eight rounds. In the end, World Chess Championship finalist Boris Spassky scored half a point, scoring 11 ½/18 to Fischer 11/18 (7-3 = 8). Now age 23, Fischer will win every match or tournament he completed for the rest of his life.
Fischer won the US Championships (1966-67) for the eighth and final, just three draws (8-0 = 3), In March-April and August-September, Fischer won a strong tournament in Monte Carlo, with 7/9 ( 6-1 = 2), and Skopje, with 13Ã,½/17 (12-2 = 3). In the Philippines, Fischer played nine exhibition matches against the opponents of the master, scoring 8½/9.
Withdrawal while leading Interzonal
Fischer's victory in the 1966-67 US Championship qualified him for the next World Championship.
In 1967 Interzonal, held in Sousse, Tunisia, Fischer scored 8½ points in the first 10 games, to lead the field. His adherence to the Lord's Sabbath Church throughout the world today was honored by the organizers, but depriving Fischer of several days of rest, which led to a scheduling dispute, caused Fischer to lose two games in protest and then retreat, depriving himself from the 1969 World Championships. Communication difficulties with the inexperienced local organizers are also significant factors, as Fischer knows little French and his administrators have very limited English. No one in chess Tunisia has previous experience running this stature event.
Since Fischer had completed less than half of the scheduled games, all results were canceled, which meant players who had played Fischer had canceled the game, and the score was canceled from official tournament records.
Second semifinal pension
In 1968, Fischer won the tournament in Netanya, with 11Ã,½/13 (10-0 = 3), and Vinkovci, with 11/13 (9-0 = 4), with a large margin. Fischer then stopped playing for the next 18 months, except for victory against Anthony Saidy in the New York Metropolitan League team match in 1969. That year, Fischer (assisted by grandmaster Larry Evans) released the second book of the game collected: My 60 Memorable Games , published by Simon & amp; Schuster. The book "immediate success".
1969-1972: World Champion
In 1970, Fischer started a new effort to become a World Champion. The dramatic march towards the title made it a household name and made chess headlines for a while. He won the title in 1972, but lost it three years later.
The Road to the World Championships
The 1969 US Championship is also a zone qualifier, with the top three teams advancing to Interzonal. Fischer, however, has been sitting outside the US Championships due to disputes over tournament formats and prize funds. Benko, one of three qualifiers, agreed to leave his place at Interzonal to give Fischer another shot at the World Championships. "When it was suggested to Fischer that Benko was considering the cue based on the large amount of money to be paid to him, Bobby replied that Benko would not give up his place just for the money. "Lombardy, next in line with the right to participate, was asked if he would also step aside.'I wanted to play, 'he replied,' but Fischer must have a chance. '
In 1970 and 1971, Fischer "dominated his contemporaries to the extent that had never been seen before or since."
Prior to Interzonal, in March and April 1970, the world's best players competed in the USSR vs. The rest of the World game in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, is often referred to as the "Match of the Century". There were many surprises when Fischer decided to participate:
Fischer had never played competitive chess for eighteen months, and many thought he would never return. Then, for his general surprise and joy, he agreed to participate in the Soviet Union vs. Rest of the World in 1970 in Belgrade.
With Evans as the second, Fischer flies to Belgrade with the aim of playing one for the whole world. However, the Danish grandmaster, Bent Larsen, (due to his recent tournament victory) demands to play first board instead of Fischer, even though Fischer has a higher Elo rating. To everyone's surprise, Fischer agreed. Although the USSR team added 20 ½-19 ½ victories, "On the top four boards, the Soviets managed to win just one game out of possibly sixteen.Bobby Fischer is the top scorer for his team, with a 3-1 win against Petrosian (two wins and two "Fischer does not doubt in anyone's mind that he has placed a temporary break from the tournament circuit for good use." Petrosian is almost unrecognizable in the first two games, and by the time he gathers himself, despite pressing his opponent, he can do no more than drawing the last two games of four games ".
After the Soviet Union versus the rest of the World Match, the Lightning Chess Championship (5 minutes of game) officially unofficially held at Herceg Novi. "[Russians] made up Fischer's lesson and brought him to one or two." Petrosian and Tal are considered favorites, but Fischer overwhelmed the super-class field by 19/22 (17-1 = 4), well ahead of Tal (14Ã,½), Korchnoi (14), Petrosian (13Ã,½), and Bronstein (13). Fischer only lost one game (for Korchnoi, who is also the only player to reach the score even against him in double round robin tournament). Fischer "destroyed the blitz kings like Tal, Petrosian and Vasily Smyslov with a clean score". Tal was amazed that, "During the entire tournament, he did not leave any pawnshop prizes!", While other players "knights and bishops are misguided". For Lombardy, who has played many blitz matches with Fischer, Fermer's margin of 4 points ½ points "came as a pleasant surprise".
In April-May 1970, Fischer won in Rovinj/Zagreb 13/17 (10-1 = 6), two points ahead of Gligori, Hort, Korchnoi, Smyslov, and Petrosian. In July-August, Fischer destroyed most of the grandmasters in Buenos Aires, winning by a margin of 3 ½ points, scoring 15/17 (13-0 = 4). Fischer then played the first board for the US Team in the 19th Chess Games at Siegen, where he won a silver medal, scoring 10/13 (8-1 = 4), with his only defeat being for World Champion Boris Spassky. Right after the Olympics, Fischer defeated Ulf Andersson in an exhibition match for the Swedish newspaper Expressen . Fischer has taken his game to new levels.
Fischer won Interzonal (held at Palma de Mallorca in November and December 1970) with 18 ½/23 (15-1 = 7), well ahead of Larsen, Efim Geller, and Robert HÃÆ'¼bner, with 15/23. Fischer completed the tournament with seven consecutive wins. Despite Sousse Interzonal (who Fischer pulled from the lead), Fischer's victory gave him a series of eight first prizes in a row at the tournament. Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik is not, however, impressed by Fischer's results, stating: "Fischer has been declared a genius.I do not agree with this... To be properly declared a genius in chess, you must defeat the opposite by a big difference. do this ". Despite Botvinnik's comment, "Fischer started a miraculous year in chess history".
In the 1971 Prospective match, Fischer was set to play against the Soviet grandmaster and concert pianist Mark Taimanov in the quarter-finals. "Their match will begin in May 1971 in Vancouver, Canada, on the beautiful campus of the University of British Columbia." "Analysts and players predict that Fischer will win the Candidate, but not without a struggle." Tal estimates that Fischer will win 5 ½ -4Ã,½ against Taimanov. " "[Fischer] sees himself as a firm favorite in the Taimanov game, he is not alone, the non-communist press has the same mind, only Taimanov insists he can win, refusing Fischer as a computer. Taimanov had reason to believe. He is supported by Botvinnik's firm guidance, who "has thoroughly analyzed Fischer's notes and composed a 'file' on him", from when he was in talks to play Fischer in a "few years before" match. After Fischer defeats Taimanov in the second match of the match, Taimanov asks Fischer how he succeeds in step 12. N1c3, which Fischer replied "that the idea was not his - he had found it in a monograph by Soviet master Alexander Nikitin in footnotes". Taimanov said this: "It is very surprising that I, an expert on Sicily, should have missed this important theoretically important idea by my compatriot, while Fischer has found it in a book in a foreign language!" With a score of 4-0, according to Fischer, the delay of the fifth game is a sight to behold. Schonberg explains the scene:
Taimanov came to Vancouver with two seconds, both grandmasters. Fischer is alone. He thought that seeing Taimanov and his seconds was the funniest thing he had ever seen. There was Taimanov and the seconds would sit, six flying hands, pocket sets waving in the air, while variations were spraying all over the place. And there sat Taimanov with a puzzled expression on his face. Just before continuing the game [in the fifth game] seconds gave Taimanov some last-minute suggestions. When poor Taimanov enters the playroom and sits down to face Fischer, his head is so full of conflicting continuity that he becomes confused, leaving Rook gift id and immediately resigns.
Fischer beat Taimanov with a score of 6-0. "The book record shows that the only achievement that is comparable to a 6-0 score against Taimanov is Wilhelm Steinitz's 7-0 victory against Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1876 in the era of more primitive defense techniques." "Who would have imagined that any challenger's game would ever be decided with a perfect score, when the participants should all be ranked among the strongest players in the world?" "It's hard to describe a large non-chess player of such shutout.The typical result between a very fit player might be, say, six wins four, with nine draws." Taimanov then recalled, "When the Grand Master plays, they see the logic of their opponent's movements.The movements of a person may be so strong that others may not be able to stop him, but the plans behind the movement will be clear.Not so with Fischer.It does not make sense... "
After losing the last game of the match, Taimanov shrugged his shoulders, said sadly to Fischer: "Well, I still have my music." As a result of his performance, Taimanov was "expelled from the Soviet Union team and banned from traveling for two years... He was banned from writing articles, deprived of his monthly salary... Ã, [and] the authorities forbade him from performing on the concert platform." " almost ending Taimanov's chess career. "
Fischer is next scheduled to play against Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen. "Sparsky predicted a fierce struggle: 'Larsen is a little stronger in spirit. ' " Before the game, Botvinnik told the Soviet television audience:
It's hard to say how their game will end, but it's clear that easy victories like in Vancouver [against Taimanov] will not be given to Fischer. I think Larsen had an unpleasant surprise at the store for [Fischer], moreover because he had dealt with Taimanov so, Fischer would have wanted to do the same for Larsen and this was impossible.
Fischer beat Larsen 6-0. Robert Byrne writes: "To some extent I can understand Taimanov's game as a kind of curiosity - almost weird, a strange chess event that will never happen again.But now I'm losing whatever I have to say... So it's impossible for me to explain how Bobby, how people, can win six games in a row from genius games like Bent Larsen ". Just a year earlier, Larsen had played the first council for the World of More teams in front of Fischer, and had given Fischer his only defeat at Interzonal. Garry Kasparov later wrote that no player has ever demonstrated superiority over his rivals in proportion to Fischer's "incredible" 12-0 score in two games. Chess statistician Jeff Sonas concluded that the victory over Larsen gave Fischer "the highest single-match performance rating".
On August 8, 1971, while preparing for his Final Candidate match with former Petrosian Tigrant World Champion, Fischer played in the Manhattan Chess Club Rapid Tournament, winning 21½/22 against a strong field.
Although Fischer's results against Taimanov and Larsen, his upcoming match against Petrosian seems a daunting task. Nevertheless, the Soviet government worried about Fischer. "The reporter asked Petrosian whether the match would last twelve matches... 'It may be that I won early,' Petrosian replied, 'and then stated:" Fischer's [nineteen consecutive] victory did not impress me. a great chess player but not a genius. "Petrosian plays strong theoretical novelty in the first game, get profit, but Fischer finally winning the match after Petrosian stalled.This gave Fischer 20 consecutive wins against the world's top players (in Interzonal and Candidate matches), a winning streak only achieved by Steinitz's 25 straight victories in 1873-1882. Petrosian won the second game, finally breaking the Fischer cutout. three consecutive draws, Fischer swept the next four games to win the match 6 ½-2Ã,½ (5-1 = 3). Sports Illustrated contains an article about the match, highlighting Fischer's dominance of Petrosian because of the Petrosian preparation system which is outdated:
Fischer's latest notes show the distinct possibility that he has made a breakthrough in modern chess theory. Her response to Petrosian's complicated plot of the 11th step in the first game is an example: Russian experts have been working in variations for weeks, but when it was thrown at Fischer suddenly, he faced his own consequences and won by applying the principles of his own. simple classical principles.
After finishing the match, Petrosian commented: "After the sixth game Fischer really became a genius, I was on the other side, either having trouble or tired, or something else happened, but the last three games were no longer chess." "Some experts continue to insist that Petrosian is inactive, and that he should get a plus at the end of the sixth game... "Fischer answered," People have been playing against me under power for fifteen years. " Fischer's match results puzzled Botvinnik: "It's hard to talk about the Fischer match." From the moment he played it, the magic has started. " "When Petrosian played like Petrosian, Fischer played like a very strong grandmaster, but when Petrosian started making mistakes, Fischer turned into a genius."
Fischer earned a much higher ranking than any player in history until then. On the FIDE rating list of July 1972, his Elo rating of 2785 is 125 points above (World Specters 2) Spassky's rating of 2660. The result puts him on the cover of Life magazine, and allows him to challenge the World Champion Boris Spassky, which he has never defeated (0-3 = 2).
World Championship match
Fischer's long laziness about matches and tournament conditions was again visible ahead of the game with Spassky. Of the possible sites, Fischer's first choice was Belgrade, Yugoslavia, while Spassky was ReykjavÃÆ'k, Iceland. For a moment it seems that the dispute will be resolved by separating the match between the two locations, but the arrangement fails. After the matter was resolved, Fischer refused to appear in Iceland until the prize fund was upgraded. London financier Jim Slater contributed an additional US $ 125,000, bringing an unprecedented $ 250,000 gift ($ 1.46 million today) prize and Fischer finally agreed to play.
Before and during the game, Fischer paid special attention to his physical training and fitness, which was a relatively new approach for top chess players at the time. He has developed tennis skills to a good level, and often plays during the days in ReykjavÃk. She also arranges the exclusive use of her hotel pool during certain hours, and swims for long periods of time, usually late at night. According to Soviet grandmaster Nikolai Krogius, Fischer "was very attentive to sports, and he swam and even boxed..."
The match took place in ReykjavÃÆ'k from July to September 1972. Fischer was accompanied by William Lombardy; In addition to assisting with the analysis, Lombardy may play an important role in getting Fischer to play in the match and survive in it. The game was the first to receive American broadcasts at prime time. Fischer lost the first two games in a strange way: the first when he played risky raids in the final game withdrawn, the second by a loss when he refused to play the game in a dispute about playing conditions. Fischer was likely to miss the entire match, but Spassky, who did not want to win by default, succumbed to Fischer's demands to move the next game into the back room, away from the camera whose presence had angered Fischer. After the match, the match was moved back onto the stage and continued without further serious incidents. Fischer won seven of the next 19 games, losing just one and drawing eleven, to win the game 12 ½ -8Ã,½ and become the 11th World Chess Champion.
The Cold War trap made the game a media sensation. It was called "The Match of the Century", and received media coverage on the front page in the United States and around the world. Fischer's victory was an American victory in a field dominated by Soviet players for a quarter of a century before; players identified closely to, and subsidized by, the Soviet state. Kasparov commented, "Fischer fits ideologically into the context of the Cold War era: a single American genius challenges the Soviet chess machine and defeats it". Dutch Grandmaster Jan Timman called Fischer's victory a "story of a lonely hero who overcame the whole empire". Adik Fischer observes, "Bobby did all this in a country almost completely without chess culture, as if an Eskimo had cleared a tennis court in the snow and gone on to win the world championship".
After Fischer returned to New York, Bobby Fischer's Day was held. He was offered a lot of support offer of products worth "at least $ 5 million" ($ 29.3 million today), all of which he rejected. She appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated with Olympic swimming champion Mark Spitz. Fischer also made an appearance on Bob Hope's special TV. Membership in the US Chess Federation doubled in 1972, and peaked in 1974; in American chess, these years are usually referred to as "Fischer Boom". Fischer won the Chess Oscar (awards, started in 1967, awarded to the best chess players, determined by sounds of chess media and leading players) for 1970, 1971, and 1972. This match attracted more worldwide interest than previous chess championships or since.
Lost title
Fischer was scheduled to defend his title in 1975 against Anatoly Karpov, who emerged as his challenger. Fischer, who has not played a competitive game since the World Championship game with Spassky, drafted a proposal for the match in September 1973, consults with official FIDE Fred Cramer. He made three major demands (non-negotiable):
- The match continues until one player wins 10 games, the series does not count.
- There is no limit to the total number of games being played.
- In the case of a score of 9-9, the champions (Fischer) defend the title, and prize funds are evenly distributed.
The FIDE Congress was held in 1974 during the Nice Olympics. The delegates voted in favor of Fischer's 10-win proposal, but rejected two other proposals, and limited the number of matches in the 36th match. In response to FIDE's decision, Fischer sent a cable to Euwe on 27 June 1974:
As I explained in my telegram to the FIDE delegates, the condition of the match I propose is not negotiable. Mr. Cramer informed me that the winner rules become the first player to win ten matches, draw not count, unlimited number of games and if nine wins up to nine matches are withdrawn with the champion regaining the title and prize fund divided by FIDE delegates. Thus, FIDE decided not to participate in the 1975 World Chess Championship. Therefore, I postpone my FIDE World Chess Championship title. Yours faithfully, Bobby Fischer.
The delegates responded by reaffirming their previous decision, but did not accept Fischer's resignation and asked that he reconsider. Many observers consider Fischer to ask 9-9 unfair clauses because it will require challengers to win at least in two games (10-8). Botvinnik calls 9-9 "unsporting". Korchnoi, David Bronstein, and Lev Alburt consider clause 9-9 to make sense.
Due to the continuous efforts of US Chess Federation officials, a special FIDE Congress was held in March 1975 in Bergen, The Netherlands, where it was accepted that the game must have an indefinite duration, but clause 9-9 was once again rejected, with a narrow margin of 35 votes to 32. FIDE set a deadline of 1 April 1975, to Fischer and Karpov to confirm their participation in the match. No reply was received from Fischer on 3 April. So, by default, Karpov officially became the World Champion. In his autobiography of 1991, Karpov admitted to regret that the match did not take place, and claimed that the lost opportunity to challenge Fischer stifled his own chess development. Karpov met with Fischer several times after 1975, in a friendly effort but ultimately failed to organize the match because Karpov would never agree to play with 10.
Brian Carney argues in The Wall Street Journal that Fischer's victory over Spassky in 1972 did not give him any evidence, except that someone might someday defeat him, and he is not interested in the risk of losing. He also argues that Fischer's refusal to recognize his colleagues also allows paranoia to flower: "The world championship he won... validates his view of himself as a chess player, but also isolates him from the influence of humanizing the world around him. can be considered a kind of madness ".
Bronstein feels that Fischer "has the right to play matches with Karpov on his own terms". Korchnoi states:
Is Fischer correct in demanding that the world title be protected by two points of obstacles - that the challenger will be considered a winner with a score of 10-8 and that the champion will defend his title in the 9-9 draw? Yes, this is quite natural: the champions deserve this, not to mention the fact that further play for the first victory in terms of even score will not be less than the lottery - the winner in the case can not claim to have won a convincing victory.
Soviet Grandmaster Lev Alburt feels that the decision to disagree with Fischer's demands lies in "the calm view of what he can do" Karpov. Years later, in a 1992 game against Spassky, Fischer said that Karpov refused to play against him under Fischer's condition.
Unclear unclear
After the 1972 World Chess Championship, Fischer has not played a competitive match in public for nearly 20 years. In 1977 at Cambridge, Massachusetts, he played three matches against MIT Greenblatt's computer program, winning it all.
He moved to the Los Angeles area and corresponded with an apocalyptic sect known as the "Church of the Lord of the World" for a while. On May 26, 1981, while walking in Pasad
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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