David Attie, Chess Master Bobby Fischer, August 10, 1971, Courtesy of the David Attie Archive
3 1949 BEGAN PLAYING CHESS AT THE AGE OF SIX 1956 YOUNGEST PLAYER TO EVER WIN A U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPIONSHIP 1957 REPEATED AS U.S. JUNIOR CHAMPION | WON THE U.S. OPEN 1957/58 YOUNGEST PLAYER TO WIN THE U.S. CHAMPIONSHIP AT AGE 14 1957/58–1966 WON ALL EIGHT OF THE U.S. CHESS CHAMPIONSHIPS THAT HE PARTICIPATED IN 1958 YOUNGEST INTERNATIONAL MASTER AT THE AGE OF 15 | YOUNGEST GRANDMASTER EVER AT THE AGE OF 15 YEARS, SIX MONTHS, AND ONE DAY | YOUNGEST PERSON EVER TO QUALIFY FOR THE CANDIDATES TOURNAMENT 1960–1970 PLAYED IN FOUR CHESS OLYMPIADS, WINNING TEAM SILVER IN TWO 1962 FIRST NON-SOVIET TO WIN AN INTERZONAL TOURNAMENT 1963/64 WON ALL 11 GAMES IN THE U.S. CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP 1969 AUTHORED MY 60 MEMORABLE GAMES, WHICH IS WIDELY CONSIDERED ONE OF THE GREATEST PIECES OF CHESS LITERATURE 1970 WON A SECOND INTERZONAL 1970/71 WON 20 CONSECUTIVE GAMES IN THE WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP CANDIDATES MATCHES 1972 FIRST AND TO DATE ONLY AMERICAN-BORN WORLD CHESS CHAMPION AT THE AGE OF 29 1972–1975 ELEVENTH WORLD CHAMPION
1972 FISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
1972 was filled with many newswor thy events: the Watergate Scandal, the continuation of Vietnam, and the on-going Cold War, but one seeming ly minor event seemed to pique the interest of the entire world—Bobby Fischer winning the World Chess Championship, a feat which would forever change the face of chess in the UnitedRobertStates.“Bobby”
Fischer was born in 1943, and at the age of 6, he was gifted an inexpensive chess set by his older sister, Joan, to help curb his bored and hyperactive personality. Learning how to play by just reading the instructions that came with the board and set, Bobby immediately became obsessed with the game and would go on to change chess history forever in a few short years. After getting hooked up with some New York City chess clubs and chess teachers, Fischer would go on by the age of 16 to become the youngest play er ever to win a U.S. Junior Cham pionship; win a U.S. Championship (record still stands today); become a grandmaster ever at the time; become a master player at that time, and qual ify for the Candidates Tournament. In addition, he won the U.S. Open in 1957, was the first non-Soviet to win an Interzonal in 1962, and authored My 60 Memorable Games in 1969, which is widely considered to be one of the greatest pieces of chess litera ture. Fischer won all eight of the U.S. Chess Championships that he partic ipated in and won all 11 games in the 1963/64 U.S. Championship—a record that still stands today. He appeared on the pages of LIFE Magazine and Sports Illustrated and on numerous television programs, bringing the game of chess to a wider audience in the United States. Prior to qualifying for the World Championship match, Fischer won 20 consecutive games in 1970-71 against the world’s top players. All of this was a remarkable achievement for an American chess player considering the lack of available resources compared to those in other countries, especially the Soviet Union. With the American Fischer chal lenging the respectable Russian Boris Spassky in Reykjavík, Iceland, that summer of 1972, this often-over looked event became a Cold War battle over a chessboard. Never before had a chess tournament been broad cast nightly on network news stations or reported on national newspapers on the front page above the fold, but never had an American had a chance to challenge a Russian on this partic ular stage. The match was not easy for the players, the spectators, or the organizers as it was filled with drama with the players arguing over condi tions of the match, agreeing on the prize fund, Fischer’s possible mind games, and accusations of Soviet in terference. The first game took place on July 11 and the last game began on August 31 and was adjourned after 40 moves. Spassky resigned the next day without resuming play and the 29-year-old Fischer won the match 12 ½-8 ½, becoming the 11th World Chess Champion and the first Amer ican-born player to do so—ending 24 years of Soviet domination of the World Chess Championship. Fisch er was welcomed back home in New York City as an American hero. Though Fischer’s later years were marred by controversy, his win in 1972 caused what is known as the “Fischer Boom”—an absolute explo sion of chess enthusiasm in Ameri ca. Membership in US Chess nearly doubled, rising to 59,250 members and many of these new chess players would go on to become future U.S. champions, authors, inductees into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame, and ma jor supporters of the game. Films such as Searching for Bobby Fischer, Bobby Fischer Against the World, Pawn Sac rifice, and the Broadway play Chess the Musical would continue to bring Bobby and his accomplishments into the mainstream even after his death in Fischer’s2008. victory in the 1972 World Chess Championship inspired Saint Louis Chess Campus co-founder Rex Sinquefield’s love of chess. He and his wife Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinque field founded the Saint Louis Chess Club in 2008. Additionally, Dr. Essays by Shannon Bailey, ChiefEmilyCurator,&Allred,Curator
1972 Fischer/Spassky: The Match, its Origin, and Influence also includes never-before-exhibited items related to the career of World Chess Cham pion and World Chess Hall of Fame inductee Boris Spassky. These offer insight into his achievements, his preparations for and thoughts about the 1972 World Championship, and his accomplishments after the match.
This brochure contains photographs of many of these artifacts as well as essays from noted authors Frank Brady, IM John Donaldson, and GM Andrew Soltis as well as U.S. Chess Champion Hikaru Nakamura, whose success on the chessboard and as a chess streamer has made him the most famous player among the American public today. It also includes a Q&A with Boris Spassky Jr. about the legacy of his legendary father. We hope that you will enjoy these pieces and be en couraged to learn more not only about Fischer’s place in chess and world history, but also about 20th-century chess history. SB EA
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 5
The exhibition showcases many highlights of the collec tion of the World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) that are rarely on view, including the furniture from the Hawthorne Chess Club, where Fischer spent many hours playing chess with his mentor John “Jack” Collins. We are also fortunate to have loans from the prestigious Fischer Library of Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield and Rex Sinquefield. Among the highlights of their collection are the “red book” that Fischer can be seen studying in numerous news stories from the leadup to the 1972 match as well as a chess set with an extraordinary history. It was used in game three of the 1972 World Chess Championship, the first game in which Fischer defeated Spassky during his career.
The exhibition also offers opportunities for visitors to see a number of new donations to the collection of the WCHOF, including a selection of drawings of the 1972 match by LeRoy Neiman from the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Foundation. Neiman, an artist famed for his colorful depictions of sport and leisure, traveled to Iceland, and he appeared on ABC’s Wide World of Sports coverage of the championship. Another highlight of the show, which is on loan to the WCHOF, is a replica of the chess table used in the 1972 match, created by famed Icelandic furniture designer Gunnar Magnússon and produced by cabinetmaker Ragnar Haraldsson.
Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield launched the Scouts BSA chess merit badge in 2011, which has now been awarded to 250,000 Scouts. Their prestigious international tournaments the Sin quefield Cup and the Cairns Cup have brought numerous top inter national players to the U.S. and their efforts have made the United States a global chess capital, attracting more grandmasters to America and en couraging many people to take up the game in what is now known as the “Sinquefield Effect.” The World Chess Hall of Fame is honored to celebrate Bobby Fischer’s historic win during this important anniver sary year. Over 500 artifacts will help tell the incredible story of Bobby Fischer’s life, his childhood training, his incredible achievements, his sig nificant win, as well as his amicable and respectful relationship he had with his contender, Boris Spassky. I hope you will be inspired by his great American story, as you learn about the history of chess in the U.S. in the mid-20th century and the great summer of chess in 1972. 2022 marks the 50th anniversary of a remarkable event in the history of American chess—Bobby Fisch er’s victory in the 1972 World Chess Championship. Bobby’s meteoric rise from promising young player to king of the chess world brought new re spect and media coverage to the game in the United States. 1972 Fischer/ Spassky: The Match, its Origin, and Influence explores Fischer’s experi ences as a chess prodigy in Brooklyn, his record-setting career in the 1950s and 1960s, the legendary 1972 World Chess Championship, and his tragic and controversial later years. The exhibition also includes material related to the influential career of World Chess Champion Boris Spassky. While many world championships before and since 1972 have spawned stories retold among chess fans, the 1972 match still holds a special appeal due to its Cold War setting. The spectacle of an American, who insisted he was working alone, taking on 24 years of Soviet chess dominance, gained resonance with people throughout the United States in an era when the two countries were competing in the realms of politics, technology, space exploration, and sports.
Bobby Fischer andWorldHis Eagle asking if they knew any boys his age Bobby could play chess with. A reply came from Hermann Helms, known as the dean of American chess. He suggested young Fischer go to a chess exhibition at the Grand Army Plaza Library in Brooklyn on January 17, 1951. This was Bobby’s first exposure to the world of organized chess, and although he only managed to last 15 minutes against Senior Master Max Pavey, he made a very important con nection that evening. Watching in the crowd was Carmine Nigro, president of the Brooklyn Chess Club. A late comer to the game who still managed to become an expert-rated player, Ni gro was a gifted teacher who enjoyed working with young players decades before scholastic chess would become popular. Bobby made steady progress under his tutelage and was taken to a variety of places to play. This includ ed regular practice at the Brooklyn Chess Club every Friday night and playing in Washington Square Park and the Chess and Checkers House in Central Park. Just as Bobby was outgrowing Nigro, he made another important connection. He paid his first visit to the Hawthorne Chess Club in June of 1956. The Hawthorne Chess Club, located around the corner from Erasmus High School, doubled as the home of John "Jack" Collins and his sister Ethel. A strong player in his own right, Collins served as the mentor to several future U.S. Chess Hall of Famers (William Lombardy and the brothers Donald and Robert Byrne were others), but Bobby especially benefited from the relationship. When not in school or sleeping, he was at the Hawthorne, where he lived and breathed chess. This total immersion in the game led Fischer to make a quantum leap in strength in a little over two years. During this time, he went from a promising Class B player at age 12 to U.S. champion and candidate for the World Championship by late summer of 1958. Such rapid ad vancement in such a short period of time has never been seen before or since.
THE 1972AMERICANOFRISEANCHESSLEGENDFISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
B obby Fischer was born on March 9, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois, but he did not stay long. His mother Regina was a rest less soul, and over the next few years she, Bobby, and his older sister Joan traveled around the United States before finally settling down in New York in 1949. This turned out to be an auspicious decision when a few months later Joan, who was 11 at the time, went into a local candy store and happened to buy a chess set.
Bobby had been exposed to other games before, but this newfound interest in chess was to dramati cally change his life. It was a huge help that he first learned to play in New York, the undisputed center of American chess. Had Fischer picked up the game anywhere else in the U.S., he would have never realized hisThepotential.nextyear or so Bobby played chess occasionally with boys he taught or by himself, but everything changed on November 14, 1950. That day his mother sent a postcard to the chess column of the Brooklyn IM John Donaldson joined the Tacoma Chess Club in the fall of 1972, inspired by the FischerSpassky match. An international master, with two grandmas ter norms, Donald son has withOlympiadthecaptainedU.S.Chessteamon14occasions.Heistheauthorofover40booksonchesshismostrecenteffortbeing
Opposite: Chess Review, Vol. 31, No. 2, February 1962, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, Image used with permission of US unknown,PhotographerRight:ChessBobby Fischer during Round One of the Rosenwold Tournament, October 7, 1956, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame Shortly after working with Col lins, Bobby won the first of two U.S. Junior Open Championship titles. His win over Donald Byrne in the so-called “Game of the Century” that fall first alerted chess players outside of New York to Bobby’s great talent. The following year, he broke through at the national level by win ning the U.S. Open in Cleveland, but no one was prepared for what was about to come next. First, he won the U.S. Championship at the age of 14 against the very best players in the United States. This qualified him to play in the Interzonal in Yugoslavia in the summer of 1958. Few held out hope of the young Bobby advancing against seasoned adult professionals from around the globe, but he surprised everyone by finishing near the top. This not only earned him the grandmaster title but also the right to play in another tournament—this time against the very best players in the world. The winner would earn the right to play for the World Championship. The transformation from being a top-ten player to world champi on is a long and difficult journey. Roughly a dozen years would pass before Bobby got close to achieving this goal. Along the way there would be successes and failures including an 11-0 triumph in the 1963/64 U.S. Championship, a disappointment at the 1962 Curaçao Candidates Tour nament, and withdrawing from the 1967 Sousse Interzonal while leading the event. The latter caused many to question if Bobby would ever become world champion. He had the ability, but did he also have the necessary nerves and commitment to battle the state-supported players of the Soviet Union? These questions were soonPalmaanswered.deMallorca, Spain, hosted the 1970 Interzonal Tournament, which Fischer dominated, winning by three points. He followed this up with unprecedented 6-0 victories over Grandmasters Bent Larsen of Den mark and Mark Taimanov of the So viet Union, something unique in the history of chess. This set the stage for his Candidates final against former World Champion Tigran Petrosian. “Iron Tigran” had a justly-deserved reputation as a tough player to beat, and his formidable defensive skills caused Bobby plenty of troubles when he was younger. This still seemed to be the case during the first half of their 1971 match with the score tied after five games the match, but then Bobby went into super drive. He won the final four games to take the match and earn the right to play Boris Spass ky for the World Championship title. Bobby, after nearly two decades of playing in tournaments, was nearing his goal of becoming World Champion and the chess world was not the only one to take no tice. Media all over the world were captivated by the story of the lonely American taking on the Soviet chess machine. Fischer’s face could be found on the front pages of news papers and on the evening news for much of 1972.
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 7 PRE 1972
In 1949, Bobby Fischer and his family settled in New York, the heart of the American chess world in the 1950s and 60s. This environment would prove vital to his development as a chess player. There were numerous chess clubs, including the Manhattan and Marshall, where Fischer was able to meet many of the top American players of the day. New York often hosted the U.S. Chess Championship as well as other important tournaments. Fischer met the only person he ever referred to as his chess teacher, Carmine Nigro, during a si multaneous exhibition held at the Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza. He soon began to go to Nigro’s house every weekend. He later joined the Hawthorne Chess Club, and the chess expe rience he gained under his mentor John “Jack” Collins proved key to helping him transform from his mother’s “little chess miracle” to a top player. Fischer was also self-taught. He had a voracious appetite for chess literature, from the past and the present, the United States as well as the chess mecca of the Soviet Union, which he filled by ob taining publications from the library, bookstores, and friends.
WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME1972 FISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE
TRAEFISCHER’SBOBBYARLYLIFENDAINING
The Hawthorne Chess Club
Opposite above: Holiday Card from Regina Fischer to Jerry Spann, 1956, Collection of US OppositeChess below: Maker unknown, Furniture Owned by Jack Collins, c. mid-20th century, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, Photo by Austin Above:Fuller, Manhattan Chess Club Sign in Sheet, c. 1955, Collection of Dr. unknown,PhotographerLeft:andCairnsJeanneSinquefieldRexSinquefield Carmine Nigro, Date un known, Collection of Bill Nigro PRE 1972
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 9
The only person whom Fischer referred to as his teacher, Carmine Nigro met the future world chess champion at a simultaneous exhibition match given by Scottish Chess Champion Max Pavey at the Brooklyn Public Library, Grand Army Plaza. Fischer would later say, “Mr. Nigro was possi bly not the best player in the world but he was a very good teacher. Meeting him was probably a decisive factor in my going ahead in chess.”
Housed in the apartment of U.S. Chess Hall of Fame induct ee John “Jack” Collins and his sister Ethel, the Hawthorne Chess Club proved important to Fischer’s development as a chess player. Collins, who was once one of the top 20 players in the United States, founded the Hawthorne after he learned to play chess in his teens. Fischer started visiting in June 1956. Collins and Fischer would analyze positions and games together. Collins also purchased a chess clock from Germany with a ten-second timer, which encouraged Fischer to think and play more rapidly. Fischer often spent six hours a day at the Collins’ apartment as the the Hawthorne was only a short walk from Erasmus High School.
Regina Fischer, Bobby’s mother, provided important support for his early career. Hoping to promote his talent, she formed relationships with officials in the US Chess Federation, in cluding future US Chess President Jerry Spann, the recipient of this holiday card. In the text, she predicts that Bobby may “strike oil” in next year’s U.S. Open Chess Championship. In 1956, the year she sent this card, Bobby had won the U.S. Junior Championship and tied for fourth-eighth place in the U.S. Open Championship.
Holiday Card
The Manhattan Chess Club Showing the signatures of Fischer and his early chess teacher Carmine Nigro, this 1955 sign-in sheet from the Manhattan Chess Club bears witness to Bobby’s early entry into the New York chess scene. The Manhattan, unlike the other great New York chess club, the Marshall, had no junior players as young as Bobby at the time. Club President Maurice Kasper made an exception for the prodigy and gave him a free membership as further encouragement at this early point of his career. Carmine Nigro
Curaçao Following the 1962 Candidates Tournament in Curaçao, Fischer accused three of his Soviet opponents—Grand masters Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller, and Paul Keres—of collusion. He alleged that they arranged draws with each other in an article that was printed in Sports Illustrated on August 20, 1962. Fischer not only was upset that he believed this cooperation kept him from winning the tournament; he also felt that it was harmful to organized chess, stating, “The present arrangement for selecting a challenger for the championship is bad for chess, bad for the players taking part in it, and bad for any real stan dard of the world championship.” Grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi, another Soviet competitor, later supported Fischer’s assertions.
Above: Dr. Robert Cantwell, Mikhail Tal Making a Move Against Bobby Fischer During Hospital Visit, 1962, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, gift of John Donaldson
Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal Mikhail Tal dropped out of the 1962 Curaçao Candidates Tournament due to illness, and this image documents a visit that Fischer made to him in the hospital. Known as the “Wizard of Riga,” Tal won the World Chess Championship in 1960. He was a competitor in Fisch er’s very first Interzonal Tournament, Portorož 1958.
Right: Photographer unknown, Bobby Fischer and Tigran Petrosian Playing a Game of Chess, 1962, Collection of US Chess
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 11
Chess Review, Vol. 26, No. 5, May 1958, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, gift of John Donaldson, Image used with permis sion of US Chess
FISCHERONTHEWORLDSTAGE
By winning the 1957/58 U.S. Chess Championship, Bobby Fischer not only became the youngest-ever winner of the competition, he also earned a place in the 1958 Interzonal Tournament, which took place in Portorož, Yugoslavia (to day Slovenia). His performance in the 1958 Portorož Interzonal earned him the grandmaster title. Through competing in the Interzonal and later the Candidates’ Tournaments, Fischer came face-to-face with some of the greatest players in the
world. Many were from the Soviet Union, which had dominated the highest levels of chess competition since the end of World War II. Fischer would go on to com pete in other Interzonals and Candidates’ Tournaments during the 1960s, but he fell short in his quest for the World Champion ship title. In 1967, he dropped out of the Sousse Interzonal due to disagreements with tournament officials and then took a break from chess competition.
Portorož Interzonal
PRE 1972
After winning the 1957/58 U.S. Championship, which qualified him to enter the 1958 Interzonal Tournament, Bobby Fischer faced a new challenge: how to find the money to fly to Portorož, Yugoslavia (today Slovenia), to participate in the competition. At that time, top American chess players did not have the same financial support as their Soviet rivals, who received stipends from the state. Fischer earned plane tickets to the competition, as well as a stay in Russia, through an appearance on the television show I’ve Got a Secret. Panelists, including Dick Clark, tried to guess why Bobby had appeared in a newspaper article titled “Teen-ager’s Strategy Defeats All Comers.”
1972CENTURYMATCHTHEOFTHEFISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
Fischer had no such assistance. No help from the United States govern ment was forthcoming. In order to prepare, he went alone to Grossing er’s, an upper-New York State resort, where he trained his body as well as his mind. He practically lived with the “Big Red Book”—number 27 of the mammoth Weltgeschichte des Schachs ( World History of Chess ) series, which contained 355 games of Spassky’s, conveniently typeset with a diagram at every fifth move. Bobby carried the book everywhere, and read it even while walking. Al most as a parlor trick, he would often ask a chessplaying visitor to pick a game at random from the book, tell him who played against Spassky and where the game was played, and then he would recite the game move by move. With his eidetic memory he could repeat any one of the more than 14,000 moves!
Fischer had great respect for Spass ky’s ability. In his famous 1964 article "The Ten Greatest Masters in Chess History," published eight years before the match, Fischer named Spassky as one of the greats along with such lu minaries as Alexander Alekhine, José Raúl Capablanca, Wilhelm Steinitz, Samuel Reshevsky, and Mikhail Tal. He revealed to a few close friends Dr. Frank Brady is the author of the first Bobby Fischer,latestbiography.FischerHisbookon Endgame, was a New York Times bestseller and has University.Fame,languages.publishedbeenin12A2021inducteeintotheU.S.ChessHallofhehasbeenrecentlyelectedasaProfessorEmeritusofSt.John’sHeisalsoPresidentEmeritusofthelegendaryMarshallChessClubinNewYork.
B oris Spassky, who was world chess champion in 1972, was scheduled to play the Amer ican challenger Bobby Fischer and was under enormous political pres sure from his government to win the match. Soviet chess had had a 24-year monopoly on the World’s Champion ship title, and chess was the zeitgeist of Russian culture and pride. The match, therefore, was not only going to be played on a wooden board with 64 squares, but as a diplomatic battle be tween two differing ideologies. Fischer was already a chess celeb rity of sorts ever since he became the youngest grandmaster in chess history and by winning what was known as “The Game of the Centu ry” at the age of 13. His dominance of the U.S. Championship—he won the title eight times, every time he competed—also splashed his name across American media. His performances in the Candidate’s Matches, with his crushing defeats of Grandmasters Mark Taimanov, Bent Larsen, and Tigran Petrosian and his previous wins at such prestigious in ternational tournaments as Palma de Mallorca, Buenos Aires, Monte Carlo, and Stockholm, were proof that he was among the strongest players in the world…save one: Boris Spassky. He had never defeated Spassky, and their lifetime score was three wins for Spassky and two draws. The Soviets had been so worried about Fischer’s possible ascent to the title that even 10 years before the 1972 match, they were attempting to “solve” the mystery of Fischer’s prowess. The All-Union Scientific Research In stitute of Sports in Moscow named Vladimir Alatortsev, a grandmaster and theoretician, to enlist a group of other masters and psychologists to study Fischer’s opening nuances, his middle game strategy, and the logic of his endings. Additionally, at least 10 of the top Soviet grandmasters were required to submit a report on Fisch er’s strengths and weaknesses, in addi tion to analyzing his personality and behavior. All of their findings were shared and discussed with Spassky.
The first game of the match was on July 11, 1972. Bobby, who was always prone to be late, rushed through the backstage corridor of Laugardalshöl, one of the largest arenas in Iceland, and sped to the board; he was play ing Black. Lothar Schmid, the arbiter of the match, had started his clock after Spassky made his first move as White. Fischer thought for 95 sec onds, and played his knight to king’s bishop three. The world chess population rallied around Fischer as the underdog, and his every move in the match was car ried on television, radio and in the print media throughout the world. So exciting were the dynamics and the drama on and off the board that what might be called a chess hysteria gripped the public. People remained glued to their televisions, thousands of people who didn’t know a knight from a rook joined chess clubs and took lessons, and what became known as “The Fischer Boom” took place and is still being felt today, 50 years later. The great American grandmaster Isaac Kashdan said, “It was the single most important chess event ever.” But in the first game, on the 29th move, with the position equal, Fischer engaged in one of the most dangerous gambles of his career: he sacrificed his bishop for two pawns in a move that thoroughly electrified the audience and sent Spassky’s eyebrows literally arching. It looked like a schoolboy’s blunder. American grandmaster Ed mar Mednis said, in retrospect: “I could not believe that Fischer was capable of such an error. How is such an error possible from a top master, or from any master?”
that he was somewhat apprehensive of playing Spassky. Little did he know that Spassky, as late as 1971, consid ered his American challenger the su perior player, based on all of Bobby’s most recent results. For a short time before the match was scheduled to be played in Reyk javík, Iceland, it appeared that the event might not come off at all. Bobby wanted more money, more from the gate receipts and television rights, more everything. Only after a call from the White House by Henry Kissinger, urging him to play for patri otic reasons, and the offer by a British financier to double the prize fund, did Bobby finally acquiesce, and he flew across the Atlantic.
HarryBelow:Benson, Fischer vs. Spassky, Game One, Iceland, LeRoyOpposite:©RexSinquefieldJeanneCollection1972,ofDr.CairnsandSinquefield,HarryBensonCBENeiman, En Passant. Boris Vasilievich Spass ky and onshipChessIceland,Fischer,BobbyReykjavík,WorldChampi-
Since then, tens of thousands of words have been written and analyzed about that one move. Did Fischer think that he could draw the game by making it? Did he want to give himself an irrational disadvantage to increase his own adrenaline, so that he would have to play the rest of the match in a heightened state of tension? Whatever the psychological or practical ratio nale, eventually he lost the first game. And the second game: Fischer sim ply did not show up to play and was forfeited. He complained about the noisy cameras, the noisy audience, and a host of other annoyances. Down two points, just about all who were following the match believed he would abandon it to head home to the Unit ed States. But Bobby agreed to play the next game in a private room, without cameras, and without an audience… even though there were already thou sands gathering in their seats in Lau gardalshöl mainly to see him. When Fischer entered the private room to play the third game his face was ashen. He also looked almost maniacally determined. Fischer won the game, perhaps because he need ed to prove to himself that he was capable of dominance over Spassky. As the match continued, Fischer won seven games and Spassky won only one; all the rest were drawn. When Spassky resigned the 21st game, Bobby Fischer became the 11th official world champion and America’s first. He had fulfilled his lifelong ambition. He then mysteriously disappeared from public view for 20 years.
, July 27, 1972, Courtesy of the LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne Neiman Founda tion, © 2022 LeRoy Neiman and Janet Byrne (ARS),RightsFoundationNeiman/ArtistsSocietyNY
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 13 1972
1972 FISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
Following World War II, the Soviet Union dominated the highest levels of the chess world. By the time Fischer challenged Spassky in the 1972 World Chess Championship, Soviet players had held the title for 24 years. Soviet leaders incorporated chess into military training, and also encouraged the citizenry to take up the game as a hobby. Chess was also taught in youth centers called Pioneer Palaces, and promising players received training and financial support.
During the 1972 World Chess Championship, chess became a symbol of the ideological bat tles of the Cold War. Lasting from 1947 to 1991, the Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies. The two superpowers did not come into direct military conflict. Instead, they engaged in proxy battles and tried to demon strate the supremacy of their ways of life through development of new technologies, space explo ration, and superiority in sport. In this atmosphere, Fischer’s quest for the world championship held great symbolic meaning for people around the world. It also brought new attention to the game of chess in the United States—nightly news broad casts reported the events of the match. Fischer’s victory also brought new players to the game. In 1972, the year that he clinched the world chess championship title, membership in US Chess was 30,844. In just one year, that total nearly doubled, rising to 59,250 members.
Above: Maker unknown, American vs. Russian Leaders, c. 1990s, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame, gift of Barbara and Bill Fordney, Photo by Austin Fuller Right: Halldór Pétursson, 1972 World Chess Championship, 1972, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame
US vs. USSR Chess Set
American and Soviet leaders take their political battles to the chessboard in this humorous chess set. The pieces resemble matryoshkas, or Russian nesting dolls. The language of chess is often used in reports on politics. Reporters often de scribe leaders as playing 3D chess or as playing chess while their opponent plays checkers.
1972 AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 15
1972 World Chess Championship Created by an Icelandic artist, Halldór Pétursson, this car toon illustrates the Cold War tensions of the 1972 World Chess Championship match. Fischer, shown as an American cowboy riding a knight, tries to snatch the chess crown from reigning champion Boris Spassky. The crown is adorned with hammers and sickles, a reference to the Soviet Union’s many years of chess dominance. Underneath the battling pair is the motto of FIDE (Fédération Internationale des Échecs, or International Chess Federation): Gens Una Sumus, Latin for “We are one family.”
1972 FISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME The 1972 World Chess Championship games took place between July 11 and August 31, 1972. The final game resuming play. Bobby Fischer, at the age of 29, won the match 12 ½ - 8 ½ becoming GAME 1 July 11 Spassky–Fischer 1–0 (Nimzo-Indian) GAME Fischer 0–1 (Modern Benoni) GAME 4 July 18 Fischer–Spassky Fischer 0–1 (Nimzo-Indian) GAME 6 July 23 Fischer–Spassky Fischer ½–½ (Sicilian Najdorf) GAME 8 July 27 Fischer–Spassky Spassky–Fischer ½–½ (QGD Semi-Tarrasch) GAME 10 August 11 August 6 Spassky–Fischer 1–0 (Sicilian Najdorf) GAME GAME 13 August 10 Spassky–Fischer 0–1 (Alekhine's Defense) Harrwitz) GAME 15 August 17 Spassky–Fischer ½–½ (Sicilian (Ruy Lopez Exchange) GAME 17 August 22 Spassky–Fischer er–Spassky ½–½ (Sicilian Rauzer) GAME 19 August 27 August 29 Fischer–Spassky ½–½ (Sicilian Rauzer) GAME
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 17 1972 began on August 31 but was adjourned after 40 moves. Boris Spassky resigned on September 1, 1972, without the 11th undisputed world chess champion, ending 24 years of Soviet domination. GAME 2 July 13 Fischer forfeits GAME 3 July 16 Spassky–Fischer–Spassky ½–½ (Sicilian Sozin) GAME 5 July 20 Spassky–Fischer–Spassky 1–0 (QGD Tartakower) GAME 7 July 25 Spassky–Fischer–Spassky 1–0 (English Symmetrical) GAME 9 August 1 August 3 Fischer–Spassky 1–0 (Ruy Lopez Breyer) GAME GAME 12 August 8 Fischer–Spassky ½–½ (QGD Orthodox) Defense) GAME 14 August 15 Fischer–Spassky ½–½ (QGD (Sicilian Najdorf) GAME 16 August 20 Fischer–Spassky ½–½ Spassky–Fischer ½–½ (Pirc Defense) GAME 18 August 24 FischSpassky–Fischer ½–½ (Alekhine's Defense) GAME 20 GAME 21 August 31 Spassky–Fischer 0–1 (Sicilian Taimanov)
Fischer soon became a household name with television appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson and The Dick Cavett Show But not only the casual chess players were enamored by Fischer. His bril HikaruGrandmasterNakamura is a five-time U.S. champion (2005, 2009, 2012, 2015, 2019), and a twotime NakamurasuccessesAmong(2016,Candidate2022).hismanyareTataSteelA(2011),theGibraltarMasters(2008,2015,2016.2017),theZurichChessChallenge(2015,2016,2017),theSaintLouisRapid&Blitz(2018,2021),theGrandChessTour(2018),andtheFIDEGrandPrix(2022).hasalsoestablishedhimselfastheleadingchessstreamerintheworld.AustinFuller,
W ithout a doubt, Bob by Fischer was a phe nomenon! Becoming the first person to break his record as the youngest American grand master is still one of the proudest moments in my chess career. After all, Fischer’s record had stood for 45Oneyears.of Fischer's major contri butions to chess was perhaps con vincing the world that the craft of the chess master should be elevated to the same level as that of other prominent artists and insisting that excellence in chess receive the same financial rewards as success in mu sic and the performing arts. Fischer brought recognition and respect to the life of the professional chess player. He is the one who paved the way for the modern-day grandmas ter to earn a comfortable living. Success against all odds was Fischer's trademark. He succeed ed in capturing the imagination of an American audience, many of whom were only casual chess players. What they saw was a man taking on the system, the brash American upstart fighting against the mighty Soviet machine. When Fischer wrested the world title away from Spassky in 1972, it was a mo ment of tremendous pride in our nation, proof that America could win the Cold War.
1972AMERICANANCHESSLEGACYFISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
GM Hikaru Nakamura, Winner of the 2021 Saint Louis Rapid & Blitz, August 16, 2021, Collection of the Saint Louis Chess Club liant play in the World Champion ship and in the events leading up to it had inspired many aspiring young chess players. One such person was the young Rex Sinquefield. This makes me think that Fisch er's greatest contribution to Ameri can chess was inspiring Saint Louis Chess Campus co-founder Rex Sin quefield to take up the game. Rex has frequently referred to Bobby Fischer as his "chess hero." We all know that in later life, Rex went on to establish the Saint Louis Chess Club as well as fund the relocation of the World Chess Hall of Fame to Saint Louis, which is now the nation’s chess capital. Is it Fischer, then, who is ulti mately responsible for me becoming the first elite grandmaster to come and live in Saint Louis, for Saint Louis becoming the epicenter for chess in the country, and for the United States becoming the latest chess super power in the world? Thank you, Rex. But most of all, thank you, Bobby.
Jeanne intoSinquefieldCairnsandRexSinquefieldtheU.S.ChessHallofFame, October 5, 2021, Collection
SINQUEFIELDTHEEFFECT ship. Rex even met his hero once, in passing, at an airport. When Rex moved back to Saint Louis in 2006, he dreamed of opening a chess club in the Central West End neighbor hood. Immediately all eyes in the chess world were on Saint Louis, Missouri. The US Chess Federation named Saint Louis “Chess City of the Year” in 2009 and 2011. In 2014, the activities of the Chess Campus led the U.S. Senate to declare Saint Louis the Chess Capital of the na tion. Now known as the "Saint Lou is Chess Campus” the Saint Louis Chess Club, the World Chess Hall of Fame, Q Boutique, and Kingside Diner, have quickly become a main attraction for chess and art lovers, families, children, and the gener al public. The campus represents a unique destination where visitors can play chess, experience art, dine, shop, and take a selfie with our landmark Guinness-certified World’s Largest Chess Piece. These remarkable ac complishments are now being re ferred to as the “Sinquefield Effect.” Dr. of the Saint Louis Chess Club
POST 1972 Crystal Fuller, Inductions of
D id you know that the very first World Chess Champi onship took place in Saint Louis? In 1886, Saint Louis hosted a segment of the first official World Chess Championship, which culmi nated with Wilhelm Steinitz defeating Johannes Zukertort to become the first world chess champion. Since then, there has actually been a rich history of chess in the region. The 1904 World’s Fair drew national and international visitors to Saint Louis. It also served as an occasion to hold the Seventh Annual Chess Congress in the city. Frank J. Marshall, founder of the Marshall Chess Club in New York City, was named tournament champion. Saint Louis resident and founder of the original Saint Louis Chess Club, Max Judd, was awarded second prize. Another Saint Louis chess notable was Mrs. Eveline Allen Burgess, named Woman’s Champion of the United States in 1907. Samuel Burgess, Eveline’s husband, was also actively involved in the local chess community. He served as the vice president and later president of the original Saint Louis Chess Club, of which Eveline was an honorary mem ber. Eveline was also an active mem ber of the West End Chess Club while Samuel served as its president. From the 1940s through the 1970s, Robert Steinmeyer was Missouri’s premiere chess talent, consistently winning the Saint Louis District Championship. During that time, Saint Louis repeat edly drew grandmasters to the city for simultaneous exhibitions. In the 1960s and 1970s, grandmasters like Reuben Fine, Larry Evans, Viktor Korchnoi, and former World Chess Champion Tigran Petrosian visited Saint Louis to challenge local players. But it wasn’t until Dr. Jeanne Cairns Sinquefield and Rex Sinque field opened the Saint Louis Chess Club in 2008 that the center of the chess world become Saint Louis. Rex, who loved the game of chess from the time he started playing as child, became even more enamored with the game after Bobby Fischer won the 1972 World Chess Champion
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 19
Halldór Pétursson, 1972 World Chess Championship Cartoons, 1972, Collection of the World Chess Hall of Fame
Bobby Fischer After Fischer’s victory, New York Mayor John Lindsay invited Fisch er to a celebration of his win at City Hall. Before a crowd of 1,000 people, Mayor Lindsay hailed him as “the grandest master of them all,” and said he was the “new world cham pion of a truly Brooklyn sport—the sport of intellectuals." Fischer re ceived a medal and a certificate com memorating his win.
In 1992, Fischer surprised the chess world by announcing he was emerg ing from retirement to play a match against Boris Spassky. Held in Sveti Stefan, Yugoslavia, the match was billed as a World Championship, and it had a large prize fund: a total of $5 million to be shared between the two players. Fischer won the match and earned $3.35 million. The New York Times noted that, “Fischer displayed flashes of his old genius, suggesting that with more practice he would hold his own among the chess elite.”
New York Salutes
1972 FISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
Sveti Stefan Poster
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 23 POST 1972
Opposite unknown,Photographerabove:
Bobby Fischer Awarded Gold Medal in New York City by Mayor John Linsday, 1972, Collection of World Chess Hall of Fame, Courtesy of the AssociatedArtistOppositePressleft:unknown, Fischer vs. Spassky 1992 Revenge Match Poster, 1992, Private Collection POST 1972
Following Fischer’s victory in the 1972 World Chess Cham pionship, he received a hero’s welcome in New York, where Mayor John Lindsay hosted a celebration. Fischer appeared on numerous talk shows, and re ceived lucrative financial offers. However, the World Champion ship was the last chess compe tition he would participate in for 20 years. Fischer declined to defend his title against Anatoly Karpov in 1975 due to disagree ments about the conditions of the match, and he later lived in seclusion. During his 20-year hiatus from chess, he increasingly embraced antisemitic beliefs, alienating him self from some of his friends. As his break from the chess world length ened, fans began to wonder if he would ever return to the game. In 1992, Fischer finally came out of re tirement for a rematch of the 1972 World Chess Championship against Boris Spassky. The match took place in Yugoslavia, which was then under U.N. sanctions, and the U.S. Trea sury Department warned Fischer not to compete. Fischer played the match against his old rival and won; however, he could not return to the United States, where he would be prosecuted for violating sanctions. The United States’ greatest player then lived the remainder of his life in exile, first living in Europe then splitting time between Japan and the Philippines. The experience left him embittered toward his home country, and he would later praise the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, on Philippine radio. After his passport expired, he faced ex tradition to the United States from Japan, but Iceland, the site of the 1972 World Chess Championship, offered him refuge and citizenship. He lived there until his death on January 17, 2008. Fischer left a complex legacy. He became an American Cold War hero for his victory in the 1972 World Chess Championship, but he found the spotlight uncomfortable and largely stepped away from the chess world after his win. Fischer’s fight to reach the top of the Soviet-dominat ed chess world thrilled Americans and brought many new players to the game, but at some points in his career he made discouraging com ments about the potential of female players. He successfully fought for better conditions and prize funds for players, benefiting players of later generations. Fischer also sought to make chess more respected in the United States and gain recognition for top players that was equal to that of other elite athletes. However, in his later years, Fischer’s accomplish ments on the chessboard were often overshadowed by his antisemitic and anti-American proclamations. Fifty years after his victory in the 1972 World Chess Championship, people continue to be fascinated by Fischer’s life on and off the board.
LIFE AFTER THE TITLE
NO world extremeexperiencedchampiontheswings in fortune of Boris Spassky. He was a poverty-stricken prodigy who be came one of the wealthiest of grand masters. A darling of the Kremlin, he was at heart an anti-Soviet rebel. He became an international hero, then a national disgrace who abandoned hisHehomeland.nearlydied of starvation during World War II and grew up in the mis ery of a fatherless hut in post-war Leningrad. But with the help of an admiring mentor he was awarded one of the first USSR government stipends for sports. “I was a professional at age 10,” Spassky liked to say in later years. If there had been the international junior tournaments in different age groups that exist now, he would have been a world champion several times before he was 16. But chess recov ered agonizingly slowly after the war. Spassky eventually set a record as the youngest-ever grandmaster—at the ripe old age of 18. The first of AndrewGrandmasterSoltis 's 100-plus books was a collection of Boris Spassky's best games. His New York Post chess column, now in its 50th year, was begun immediately after the Fischer-Spass ky match. Among his recent books is Tal, Petrosian, Spassky and Korchnoi: A Chess Multibiogra phy with 207 Games He and his wife Mar cy count a New York lunch with Spassky as one of their favorite chess memories.
What made Spassky’s play special were two qualities. One was an un canny sense of when the chaos he cre ated on the board—and the emotions he fostered in his opponent—had reached a combustible flash point. Time and again Spassky would find the best move when the player sit ting opposite him could not. “It’s as if two players go up a hill and meet at the top,” he explained. “The one who finds the right decision remains on top. So it is in life.” He called himself “the champion of the critical moment” and understood that what was critical was often the weakened will of his opponent. A born athlete, he likened it to hockey in Canada. “A boy of two is put on skates,” he said. “And they say: You shouldn’t look at the ice, nor at the puck but at the opponent.”
By then he was one of the world’s top ten players and qualified for a Can didates Tournament. His path to the World Championship was wide open. But Spassky was doomed to cycles of dramatic victories and almost operatic reverses. He did not reach the Candi dates level again for ten years. “Life is the sort of opponent who makes unexpected moves,” he said with his customary fatalism. “No matter how much you want to, you can never think up a reply in advance.”
KINGDOM,OFRULERTHECHESSWHOHATEDBEINGKING
The other exceptional Spassky qual ity is now commonplace among the world’s elite. He could play any kind of position with almost equal skill: Attack, defense, passive endgame, speculative sacrifice, deep calculation, subtle maneuver, slashing counterat tack. He earned the right to play his first world championship match in 1966, after eliminating the ever-spar kling Mikhail Tal with boredom. Un der orders from his trainer, Spassky played out even positions “until Tal is sick of them.” To talk of a “Spassky style” is a contradiction in terms. He was the first universal world champi on. Every great player today tries to emulate the eclectic Spassky. But he had little respect for 21st-century, openings-driven chess, in which book openings are prepared
Photographer unknown, Boris Spassky vs. Dónal Déiseach at the 1955 World Junior Chess Championship, 1955, Private Collection
Even at his best, Spassky had weak nesses. But they had little to do with chess moves. One was his Dostoevski an doubts. In 1970 he and Bent Lars en were asked in interviews “Who do you fear?” Larsen characteristically replied, “No one.” Just as character istically, Spassky said, “Myself.” He admitted he could be “a lazy Russian bear.” His friend, the Argen tine grandmaster Miguel Najdorf, said Spassky would never become world champion: “He loves life too much.”
In one of his last interviews, Spassky said, “The thing is I’m not a fighting player by character. I had colossal chess strength but a rather weakFanscharacter.”saidSpassky never recovered fully from a world championship match. But it was not just the match he lost to Bobby Fischer in 1972. It was also the one he won in 1969 from Tigran Petrosian to become then tenth world champion. He said his three-year reign was the worst time of his life. He was forced to take on responsibilities he didn’t want and punished by Soviet authorities for things he wanted to say. ”In my coun try, at that time, being a champion of chess was like being a king,” Spassky said. “And when you are king you feel a lot of responsibility, but there is nobody there to help you.”
AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 25 POST 1972
unknown,Photographer Boris Spassky vs. Tigran Petrosian at the 1969 World Chess Championship, Private1969,Collection 25-moves deep. At a 2004 memorial tournament for his longtime rival Ti gran Petrosian, he told spectators that some of the games he watched were “just library against library.” Of one 34-move draw, he asked aloud, “Did they play one move of their own?”
Spassky lived by a 19th-century Russian moral code that set him strikingly apart from Bobby Fisch er. When Fischer trailed 2-0 in the 1972 match and threatened—once again—to walk out, Soviet officials ordered Spassky to fly home. He refused. In Moscow and New York, chess authorities said his reason was money: If he left, he would be denied the winner’s share of the largest prize fund ever mounted for chess. But to Spassky it was a matter of honor: As world champion he owed his public a championship match. He had pledged to play Fischer and play he would. The match resumed. Fischer staged the greatest sustained comeback in world championship history. Spass ky applauded Fischer after losing a key game. Late in his career after losing other matches, he was asked, “What kind of person are you?” He answered, “I’m emotional. When Judit Polgar brilliantly beat me, I was in Becauseecstasy.”ofhis chess and other fail ings, Spassky was officially barred four times by his government for traveling abroad. When he married, for the third time, it was to a French woman, with whom he began a new life in France. But that marriage also failed, and he eventually returned to Russia. In another of his last inter views, he was asked whether he felt more at home in Paris or Moscow, he said, “I feel at home at the chess board. Our chess kingdom does not have boundaries."
POST 1972
Maker unknown, Boris Spassky’s Medals from Various Tournaments, Various dates, Private collection
POST 1972 Boris Spassky, Study Materials, Date unknown, Private collection 27 POST 1972
HISSPASSKYBORISWITHQ&AJR.ABOUTFATHER
Your father is famed for his life at the chessboard. What is he like outside of the game? He is a very good father. He had a lot of time for me because even though he used to play simultaneous exhibitions, and he used to travel quite extensively playing in tournaments, when he was back home he was dedicated to my mother and me. I have recollections of my mother and I picking him up at the airport quite often. When he was back home, I remember that he, like other chess players, has the ability to do everyday things like chores and still work through things in his head. We had extensive holidays (two weeks in December, two weeks in February, two weeks at Easter, two months in the summer, all the school holidays, he was with me). He liked to spend time in the Alps. Of course, the chessboard was an important part of family life. There was always one there, either in his office, or he had his little magnet board from Czecho slovakia. He was always with us at the dinner table. We never went to any restaurants or hotels because he was traveling constantly. So what he liked was being home, which I understand. He is a family man, humble, not a jet setter. He spoke to beggars and to kings in the absolute same way. He likes spending time with normal peo ple. Of course, some fantastic chess players were coming to the home. That was the chess network, but he really enjoyed talking to the local guys, the guy at the garage, the neighbors, the firemen, the workers. And he liked to live a very, very normal life. And he was quite open about every country, even the U.S. You could think that the Soviets had something against the U.S., but he always mentioned writers Mark Twain, Jack London, and James Fenimore Cooper. These were writers that I started discovering at the age of maybe 20. I read them
Boris Spassky Jr. reflects on the legacy of his father, World Chess Cham pion Boris Spassky, in this question and answer segment with WCHOFEmilycuratorAllred.
1972 FISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
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POST 1972
POST 197229AUGUST 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 unknown,PhotogrpaherOpposite: DimitrijeSpasskyBorisandBjelica, c. 1970s, unknown,PhotographercollectionPrivateAbove:
quite late, and I understand why [they interested him] because there are par allels between Russia and the U.S. in that the landscapes are huge. Do you have any favorite chess mem ories with him? He started me quite early because I liked it when I was five or six. He shared Paul Morphy’s mate in two moves problem, which is great for kids. He didn't identify much talent in me. He was very kind not to push me into it. He was passionate about tennis, and so was I. I was crazy about tennis. We talked about it all day long. Back in the day, we would watch the U.S. Open, and we would use the VHS to record all the semi-finals and fi nals, and he had a good memory, so he would debrief games and happily follow the evolution of players during their careers. We could perfectly dis cuss Boris Becker's track record, or John McEnroe’s—who was by far his favorite player—or who did what at the U.S. Open. So I can perfect ly remember the final we watched together between Boris Becker and Ivan Lendl at Flushing Meadows in 1989. The young Pete Sampras with his Greek archer jersey in 1990 was one of our favorites as well. In 1992, he sent me to Lubosh Kavalek’s house in Virginia to learn English, with the firm order to buy him Pete Sampras’ Wilson Pro Staff. Has your father ever spoken to you about the 1972 World Chess Champi onship? If so, how did he describe it? He never spoke of it as a loss, I think he never felt any regrets, sorrow, or anger. He was quite happy that Bob by won, and they were really good friends. I think he really loved him, like a brother. I think [the loss] al lowed him to pursue another life, to marry my mother, to move to France. He was not a communist, so he pret ty easily moved on. He's always been quite free. What is it like for you seeing your father’s chess legacy celebrated 50 years after the 1972 World Chess Championship? It's interesting because I see him as my father, and we've never real ly discussed chess. Of course, I can appreciate what he's done, but he's always been very humble. He's nev er made a big deal of saying, “I was the world champion.” So for me, it's always interesting. If I see a film or a documentary, like a child, I'm very curious. He's never overemphasized the importance of his position. He loved chess, but not the fame that came with it. He could spend hours telling sto ries or jokes about chess, and he liked when people listened. [The press pre sented the 1972 World Chess Cham pionship] as a kind of grand strategy moment during the Cold War. It's interesting, that's the way the press presented it, but he's never presented it this way. He's always spoken of it very personally. And the rest—Kissinger and the duel between the two super powers in the middle of the Northern Atlantic Ocean—that's more of a spy book orientation or more Tom Clancy style than my father's style. Boris Spassky Playing a Game of Tennis 1970s,collectionPrivate
Images used with permission of US Chess
1972 FISCHER/SPASSKY: THE MATCH, ITS ORIGIN, AND INFLUENCE 18, 2022 – APRIL 30, 2023 CURATED BY SHANNON BAILEY, CHIEF CURATOR, AND EMILY ALLRED, CURATOR, WORLD CHESS HALL OF FAME
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