50 years ago: Fischer leads 9:6

Like a large, slippery fish...

All black & white photos from the Icelandic Chess Federation Skáksamband Íslands.

In the November 1972 issue of Chess Life & Review, which today has become the official magazine of the US Chess Federation Chess Life, Anthony Saidy wrote:

The great Steinitz had died in poverty. Schlechter had starved to death. Even today, the best talents outside of the "socialist" countries are faced with insecurity, usually forced to pursue other occupations. But Fischer sensed that chess is an art, chess is important, he deemed it worthy of all-consuming attention of a genius. The rewards should be commensurate! Why should a Fischer deserve less than a Muhammad Ali? (Let's leave aside the question if anyone deserves that much.)

Bobby had sacrificed much for chess and borne indignities. On the eve of the match that would bring him (a decade late, he felt) the title, he wanted the greater part of the proceeds to go to him (and to Spassky) and not to entrepreneurs and organizers. After all, who was it that played beautiful chess and made it all possible?

Fischer was the only superstar without a paid agent, lawyer, public relations man. He trusted no one to make his decisions and neglected the expertise of some who could have helped. In the last several weeks before the scheduled starting date, Fischer, without an authorized representative, became isolated. At a New York resort he looked at Spassky's games and waited. No one sat down to negotiate a contract with him, and his only "agreement" was a cable sent for him: Fischer will play "under protest."

In Bobby Fischer there is a rare, unbending kind of integrity and a conviction of his own rightness. He will be liked by those who prize honesty over diplomacy. ("Before, they used to call me arrogant and conceited. Now that I've won all these matches, they've stopped. It's just an obvious fact that I'm the best.")

To Fischer, his status as the world's best was self-evident to all, match or no match. And as he made his terms difficult for those (unwanted) organizers to meet—in the end, too difficult. I can testify that he evinced no fear at all of Spassky. His opponent in the "war of nerves" was the Icelandic Chess Federation. Perhaps they somehow symbolized to him all the insensitive organizers of the past who had dictated terms for top stars. They were to gain tremendously by his very presence—as one businessman remarked, "This match is a headache but its worth to us millions in publicity."

All material from Chess Life and Review, including Anthony Saidy's commentary and GM Robert Byrne's original annotations, appear here courtesy of US Chess.

On August 11th 1972 the 13th game adjournament session ended and Fischer had restored his three-point lead.

In Chess Life & Review Saidy wrote: "Bobby Fischer now had six outright wins, a criterion he had long ago recommended for deciding a chess match. He seemed to slacken his effort, to relax a bit, for the remainder—except for increasingly strident complaints about spectator noise, demanding the removal of the front row and even threatening once to walk out. The next seven games were all drawn, as Spassky repeatedly took a slight initiative that proved insufficient to win."

In the magazine New in Chess vol 6/2012, GM Lubomir Kavalek, who was in Reykjavik for the Match of the Century, both as a journalist and, in the second half, as one of Fischer’s seconds, writes: "Game 13 sapped the energy of both players and mutual errors crept in. No matter what they did, they drew game after game. Bobby Fischer drew seven games in a row! It was almost as unbelievable as his 6-0 victories against Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen in the Candidates. 'It looks like you are already defending the world title,’ I teased him. ‘Well, I have a nice lead,’ he said. ‘It is really Spassky’s responsibility to try to win games. All these draws are in my favour.’ Exhausted, he was inching towards overall victory."

In Garry Kasparov On My Great Predecessors, Part 4 the author described the situation after the thirteenth games:

"It is probable that, after such a dramatic defeat, Spassky finally realised at heart that he was no longer destined to catch up. The challenger was leading by +3. And although subsequently the match initiative passed to Spassky, he was quite unable to win: all the time he was lacking a little something. What told, apparently, was the psychological blow that he suffered at the start of the match. In the 14th game he spoiled things in the endgame, in the 15th he 'achieved a strategically won position, but in the tactical sense he was not up to the mark' (Bondarevsky), and in the 16th he easily equalised in the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez and even had a small advantage, but Fischer defended himself...

The match was inexorably coming to a head, but despite all his efforts, Spassky was unable to reduce the deficit. 'In the last eight games nearly all the time I felt that Fischer was like a large fish in my hands,' he lamented after the match, 'but a fish is slippery and hard to hold on to, and at certain moments I let him slip. And then again the psychological torment would begin. Everything had to be begun again from the start...' He certainly had reason to feel despondent."

Fischer too had his problems. Apparently he thought that he would easily finish off the match, and such fierce resistance by Spassky came as an unpleasant surprise to him. Bobby again became nervous.

Byrne in Chess Life

Robert Byrne | Photo: Burt Hochberg

GM Robert Byrne, (April 20, 1928 – April 12, 2013), was US Champion in 1972, World Championship Candidate in 1974, nine times member of the US Olympiad team (from 1952 to 1976), university professor and New York Times chess columnist (from 1972 to 2006). He was a good friend whom I met on a number of occasions. I especially remember a visit to his home in Ossining, New York, where we had dinner and then, over glasses of wine, he spent hours telling me about his 1972 stay in Reykjavik. He showed me games on a chessboard and described what he had experienced at the time. I also got his book on the match, with a nice dedication.

After the very dramatic game 13 Robert, reporting from Reykjavik, wrote:

"That monumental battle knocked both players for a loop. Spassky was granted a postponement on the advice of match doctor Uifar Thordarsson, who rescheduled Sunday's round 14 for Tuesday. That was still too soon. The game produced a comedy of errors, with first Fischer blundering a pawn away and then Spassky following right behind, giving the pawn back for nothing. Not even these two stalwarts are immune from chess nerves. Finally, shocked into sobriety by their glaring errors, they succeeded in quietly drawing without further mishap."

Here are his notes for Chess Life and Review (November 1972, pp. 686-687):

Anti-Najdorf battle

In Chess Life & Review December 1972 Robert Byrne writes:

"In game 15 Fischer returned to his favorite Najdorf Sicilian Defense, but even though he avoided the "poisoned pawn" variation which Spassky blasted in the 11th game, he still could not escape trouble. Boris struck with another of his powerful anti-Najdorf weapons as early as move 12 and followed up sharply to force the win of a pawn two moves later, landing Bobby in a lost game. However, impatient to force the position, Boris precipitously advanced his King pawn, throwing the game into a turmoil of complications, and also throwing away the win. When Spassky spurned the draw that was his for the taking, Fischer came at him with a savage attack, and after one more error by Spassky the challenger had a won game. Playing as though the world speed chess championship was at stake, despite ample time on his clock, Fischer finally made enough errors of his own to ensure Spassky the draw."

Spassky relaxing during the match in Reykjavik | Photo: Skáksamband Íslands

We bring you abbreviated notes by GM Robert Byrne in Chess Life & Review December 1972, pp. 743-745. The game is extensively analysed there, but you can work out many of the tactical details by switching on an engine and analysing on our game viewer, below:

Byrne: "At this stage of the match, the hard-fought relentless chess both players had been serving up throughout was taking its toll. Like two game but battered prizefighters, Boris and Bobby were still swinging from the heels but the blows were striking just off center."

Byrne's book

An Analysis of the Fischer/Spassky Chess Match Paperback – by Robert Byrne and Iivo Nei.

An analysis of the 1972 World Championship Chess Match from both sides of the chessboard – a Russian and an American analysis. After all the “rush” books on the most dramatic chess confrontation in history – Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky – have had their brief dry in the sun, this deeply considered and unique volume makes its bid for classic status.

International Grandmaster Robert Byrne, distinguished chess columnist for The New York Times and the 1972 U.S. Chess Champion, who is justly famed for the thoroughness, accuracy and penetrating insight of his chess analysis:

• He debunks much of the erroneous analysis published within weeks of the match in books admirable for their timeliness but understandably lacking in depth;
• He provides a new view of the games since he is aware of the tensions and psychological burdens of both great masters.'

International Grandmaster Ivo Nei, a Spassky confidant, one of Russia's leading theoreticians and a member of the Soviet team at Reykjavik – and himself a brilliant annotator:

• He reveals many intriguing secrets of the match for the first time anywhere;
• He sheds new light on the hitherto dark side of Soviet chess, pre-match preparations.

The definitive book on the match . . . objective, thorough, revealing, penetrating . . . no chess lover will want to be without. A few used copies of this book are available from AbeBooks.

On August 18th 1972, exactly 50 years ago, the 15th game ended and Fischer had retained his three-point lead.

Move times and adjournments

Here are the times for games fourteen and fifteen, as recorded by Lawrence Stevens, who visited the match in Reykjavik and jotted them down from the video screens:

Previous articles

Fischer vs Spassky – 50 years ago
7/11/2022 – Half a century ago, exactly on this day, the most famous chess match in history began: Boris Spassky vs Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik, Iceland. Five year ago we celebrated the event by reporting on it, game for game, as if it was all taking place live. Today we bring you links to all the reports we published at the time, starting with our full report on the drama that surrounded game one. It contains original film footage which nobody should miss.

Bobby Fischer in Iceland – 50 years ago
7/19/2022 – Fifty years ago, after the disaster he suffered in game one, Bobby Fischer was on the verge of abandoning the entire event and returning home. The challenger continued his vigorous protest, and when his demands were not met, Fischer did not turn up for game two. He was forfeited and the score was 0-2. Bobby booked a flight back to New York, but practically at the very last moment decided to play game three – in an isolated ping-pong room!

50 years ago today: Fischer-Spassky, game six
7/24/2022 – Today we offer readers a glimpse of what had been happening behind the scenes of “The Match of The Century”, especially in the Russian camp, exactly fifty years ago. A tense Boris Spassky, cajoled by seconds Efim Geller and Nikolai Krogius, nevertheless failed to perform, to the dismay of his friends and admirers. It’s also the story of a gamble that could have hurtled Bobby down the precipice in that fateful Game 6 of the match. A cautionary tale and object lesson for aspiring players. 

Fifty years ago: Fischer leads 6½:3½
8/4/2022 – After the first two traumatic games World Champion Boris Spassky was leading 2-0 in the Match of the Century. But then Fischer started to play and struck back: in the next eight games he scored 6½ points, chalking up a 6.5-3.5 lead. Games 8, 9 and 10 were quite spectacular, and are the subject of today's report – exactly fifty years after game ten. Younger players will also learn about "adjournments" and how exactly "sealed moves" were handled. Some were born after these practices were abandoned.

On August 11th 1972, exactly 50 years ago, the 13th game adjournment session ended and Fischer had restored his three-point lead.

Fifty years ago: Fischer leads 8:5
8/13/2022 – After ten games in the World Championship match in Reykjavik, 1972, the score was 6½-3½ for Challenger Bobby Fischer. The match seemed virtually over – in the last eight games Boris Spassky had only managed to score 1½ points. In game 11 Spassky took on the Poisoned Pawn variation of the Najdorf Sicilian. "Fighting with the desperation of the doomed: he sensationally crushed his opponent in the 11th game" (Kasparov). In the twelfth he held Fischer to a comfortable draw. And then came the 13th round. Fischer played, for the first time in a top-level game, the Alekhine Defence. It turned into one of the most exciting battles of the match, and is beautifully annotated by GM Robert Byrne.