The DKos Chess Tournament 2009 is celebrating a special chess match on Independence Day. As such, I will not be posting updated standings or results today.
If you missed this week's highlights from Round 3:
July 1: Cobbler vs. M31.
July 2: Gangster Octopus vs. ben masel.
July 3: mquander vs. montrealdan.
Today, in honor of America and the Fourth of July, I will look at one of the most famous and "patriotic" chess matches in history: The 1972 championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, which took place almost exactly 37 years ago to the day.
Fischer vs. Spassky, 1972
On July 1, 1972, the opening ceremonies for the World Chess Championship were held in Reykjavik, Iceland. Grandmaster Bobby Fischer was the first American to earn the right to play for the world chess title since 1948, as the championship had been dominated by the Soviet Union for decades. The first game between Fischer and Soviet grandmaster and defending champion Boris Spassky -- then dubbed the "Match of the Century" -- was scheduled to take place on July 2. The championship was set up as a best of 24 games, with 1 point for a win and 0.5 points for a draw. Fischer needed 12.5 points to win, because if the score was 12-12 after 24 games, then the tiebreaker would be awarded to the defending champ (Spassky). The match also took place during a period of detente during the Cold War, so in addition to the tension of playing for a world chess title, the championship took on a special sort of political significance.
Fischer, however, was not in attendance for the either the opening ceremony or the scheduled first game. Fischer was late because he held out for an increase in the originally agreed upon $125,000 prize money -- $78,125 for the winner -- and 30% of the box office receipts. It was not until after a phone call from Henry Kissinger and a generous donation by a Jim Slater, a British financier who had agreed to donate an additional $125,000 to the prize fund, that Fischer would eventually arrive in Iceland on July 4, 1972. The first game was postponed until July 11, which Spassky would win after Fischer blundered away a Bishop in the endgame. Fischer had showed up late to that first game too, a whole seven minutes after the clock had started!
Fischer also hated playing in front of the camera, protesting that TV cameras had distracted his concentration and demanding that they be removed from the room during the second game. Fischer would again show up late, but the tournament organizers had agreed to remove the cameras as per his request. Still, Fischer refused to play unless his clock be reset to zero. When that request was denied, Fischer forfeited the game.
Within an instant, Fischer was already trailing against the defending champion Spassky 2-0. But the eccentric and demanding American grandmaster was not finished. The turning point had occurred during the third game, in which Fischer continued to test the patience of the tournament organizers and, more importantly, Spassky, who became rattled with Fischer's antics. As William Lombardy, one of Fischer's assistants in the tournament, would write in 1974:
Spassky agreed to play the third game in the Ping-Pong room, though he acknowledged later it was a great psychological error. Fischer was willing to permit a remote-control, closed-circuit TV to monitor the proceedings; he never objected to remote-control cameras if they operated silently. When Bobby arrived, Boris was, as usual, seated at the table. Bobby did not sit down but went around inspecting the television equipment, and at this point Boris betrayed indignant agitation.
...
Spassky had mysteriously lost his fighting spirit long before Reykjavik. But even this cannot account for his petrifyingly passive approach to the third game. Such a stance succeeded in the first game only because of Fischer's impetuosity and his distracted play. Boris disdained every chance to pry open the third game. And, finally, he strayed from his customary habit of immediately adjourning the game upon completion of 40 moves. His 41st move was a gross blunder.
Fischer had won the third game, and with it a psychological victory over his opponent. Over the next several weeks, Fischer would go on to win or draw in 16 of the next 17 games against Spassky -- winning five games, losing just once, and drawing in 11 of the others. With Fischer leading 11.5-8.5, the 21st game would become the deciding contest of the championship.
Spassky vs. Fischer, 1972: Game 21
Fischer, playing as Black, would grab control of the middle with 6...Nf6 7. Bd3 d5 8. exd5 exd5, and after Move 13 to advance his Pawn to c5 and threaten the White Bishop, Fischer would goad Spassky into a war of attrition in which the Queens were removed and Fischer would keep both Bishops against one Bishop and a Knight. Spassky blundered with 20. Rxd5?, allowing Fischer to sacrifice his second Bishop to gain a Rook, a maneuver which would later prove critical. Despite Spassky's Pawn advantage on the left side at Move 26, and despite Spassky's two-Pawn advantage overall at Move 31, Fischer was able to easily counteract this threat with his Rook and by advancing to f6. Spassky was forced to use his light-squared Bishop to defend against Fischer's Rook, and Fischer brought his King into a far better defensive position to promote the h Pawn. With the ending sequence:
35...Ke5 36. Be6 Kf4 37. Bd7 Rb1 38. Be6 Rb2 39. Bc4 Ra2 40. Be6 h5 41. Bd7
Fischer had advanced his h Pawn further than either the White a or b Pawns, and got Spassky to run in circles with his Bishop -- which found itself on the same square on Move 41 as it was on Move 36, with the a and b Pawns having gone nowhere at all.
After the 41st move, the match would be adjourned. But Spassky was finished.
Of course, Fischer did not yet win the title. As had been the case since the beginning of the championship, the official declaration of victory didn't come without some strange antics, this time on the part of Spassky. Tournament arbiter Lothar Schmid had informed Fischer that Spassky had resigned by telephone, a legal form of resignation. Spassky also did not show up the following day to shake Fischer's hand in congratulation, while seemed unbecoming of the former defending champ, who had displayed far better form and manners throughout the match in tolerating Fischer's logistical and financial demands for playing chess.
With Spassky's resignation, Fischer had won. He was an American chess champion of the world.
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Bobby Fischer was a very complex individual. Gifted with incredible chess skill and genius, he was a difficult and impossible man, to say the least. Besides having won the Greatest Chess Match Ever Played, he is also well-known for escaping into seclusion for several months and years at a time, reappearing to make controversial anti-Semitic remarks (the Jews are a "filthy, lying bastard people") and anti-American comments on September 11 ("This is wonderul news... Fuck the U.S. I want to see the U.S. wiped out").
This diary is not meant to celebrate Bobby Fischer the man. His hateful comments made him a detestable human being. But he was a chess legend, and neither his remarks nor his contempt for other chess players change that. On this day that we celebrate the birth of our country, my goal for this diary was merely to honor the (arguably) most memorable chess match ever played in history, for which an American was victorious.
Thanks for reading, and have a wonderful Fourth of July. Enjoy the fireworks!