Fischer vs. Greece – clock simul 1968

1968 was a quite busy year. Alexander Dubček had come to power in Czechoslovakia, beginning a brief period of democratic reform known as the Prague Spring. The USS Pueblo was captured by North Korea, with its crew being held as prisoners of war for nearly a year. The Viet Cong launch the Tet Offensive, which was characterised by a series of surprise attacks on South Vietnam. Social conflicts over the Vietnam War and racism escalate, lead to worldwide protests and riots. Civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed outside the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee. United States politician Robert F. Kennedy was assassinated by a pro-Palestinian nationalist while campaigning for the Democratic presidential nomination at the Ambassador Hotel in Los Angeles, California. Warsaw Pact nations invaded Czechoslovakia, bringing an end to the Prague Spring. Apollo 8 became the first human spaceflight to reach the Moon. But in Greece was chess time...

The Greek Chess Federation, founded in 1948, has organised some of the most important FIDE championships, such as the 1984 and 1988 Chess Olympiads, the 1990 and 1998 Zonal Tournaments for the World Championship, the 1999 and 2000 European Youth Championships, etc. It had enough resources to organise top World and European events. One special event was a clock simul by GM Robert James Fischer against five selected top Greek players, in 1968.

In clock simuls, all games are played on a time constraint, measured by a chess clock. Usually, the number of opponents is lower in clock simuls than in the normal simuls, as the host (the strong player) has a significant time disadvantage, with his clock ticking on all boards at the same time. It is usually played on 4-5 boards.

On July 31st, 1968, the 25-year-old American grandmaster and later the 11th World Champion, Bobby Fischer, faced five Greek members/masters of the Greek National Team in Athens, in a clock simul match. He defeated four of them, drawing only to Georgios Trikaliotis.

It seems that Fischer was a bit bored or underestimated the Greek players. He probably expected a different line-up, it is said that for personal reasons some stronger players didn’t take part, e.g. the young and later powerful IM and member of the National Team, Nikolaos Skalkotas or even the strong IM Τriantafyllos Siaperas.

The fact is that the famous Bobby Fischer could have been limited to a draw or even lost the match, 2-3. Of course, his experience, his passion on the chessboard, his determination, his combativeness, protected him. And finally, he prevailed with a score of 4½-½ (+ 4 = 1).

Unfortunately, most of the event’s photos are lost in time. The only photo I could find comes from the walls of the respected Greek Chess Club ‘Skakistikos Omilos Ampelokipon’. 

Here are the games with my annotations:

And here is my full article on the event in PDF