Chess by Larry Evans: What Bobby Fischer lost
June 15, 2008
Bobby Fischer wrested the title of World Chess Champion from Boris Spassky in 1972 at age 29, but his refusal to defend it against Anatoly Karpov in 1975 was disastrous. Most fans expected him to win and wondered if he was crazy for spurning millions to play Karpov in a match.
Everyone was disappointed. His colleagues were bitter because he did nothing to promote chess during his self-imposed exile in the California sun.
A mathematician claimed that his demands against Karpov — 10 wins but he keeps the title on a 9-9 tie — gave his challenger a better break. A French playwright called our hero “a persecuted poet defending human dignity.” And a psychiatrist pontificated: “A paramount theme is his refusal to compromise his principles.” Diehards blamed it all on a Commie plot, even claiming he was afraid the Soviets would have him killed if he beat Karpov.
This claptrap only encouraged Fischer to dig his own grave. I tried to persuade him to set a shining example by not seeking any advantage, yet reasoning with him was futile. “You didn’t think the champ should have any edge when you were the challenger,” I argued. “The Russkies always made the rules and got away with it. Let’s give ’em a dose of their own medicine,” he replied.
I don’t think he ever quite forgave me for trying to get him to do the right thing. Why he didn’t play again for 20 years, until his rematch with Spassky in 1992, is a mystery.
Fischer blamed it all on a Jewish conspiracy. In his later years, he claimed in a radio rant that Jews were telling me what to write about him. I told friends that paranoia is the state with the prettiest name.
In the book Bobby Fischer Goes to War (2004), which may become a film, David Edmonds and John Eidenow note: “In 1972 Fischer stated he would not shrink from defending his title; on the contrary, he would regularly take on challengers. Few expected him to be knocked off his throne for a decade or more.
Former Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos offered $5 million to host a title match with Karpov in Manila, but Fischer wouldn’t budge unless FIDE agreed to all of his demands. Karpov probably was eager to play in 1975 but was pressured by the Kremlin to make no concessions.
Source: Sun Sentinel
I think it would have been more interesting if Fischer would have played Karpov in 1992 rather than Spassky. Give us the match that never was instead of a tepid repeat of the great one.
Yes, I always wandered why he chose Spassky for his 1992 “world championship” match. If he really wanted to prove something he should have played Kasparov (the reigning FIDE champion at that time) or at least Karpov (his rightfull challenger). You know, the two Soviet patzers who played pre-aranged matches. But I guess he was afraid that those two patzers would just beat the crap out of him, so he chose Spassky which he knew he would be able to defeat.
Oh well, I guess it was all about the money.
I wish Larry would stop posting these.
He’s famous by association only.
Over the years Fischer pushed into the public eye the possibility of a new match–and always it was a player of the older school. Spassky, Gligorich, et al. By that time he was probably doubting himself against someone younger and so strong like Karpov.
Better for him. If he would have played and lost, then the myths that gathered over the years around him would also disapear.
I think anon 3:16 has a valid point about Fischer wanting to play the old school players and not the newer ones (which I have also thought for some time). He spent many years preparing for them. If the 1975 match had been against Spassky, Korchnoi, or Petrosian, etc, it might have been more likely that he would have played. They were known quantities to him – Karpov was not.
Hi!
I wonder how anybody could critize Fischer nowadays for his demand to protect him from possible cheating or injustice.
We don’T have to look at other sports and there scandals to get valid reasons for Fischer’s demands, but we could just read about the world champion fights before Fischer with their dubious settings or such high financial demands that it was difficult for any challenger to even get a chance of playing the reining champion – and if that is not enough there are more examples of the recent past including Kramnik vs Topalov, the (maybe) coming Kamsky vs Topalov, not to forget the “noise” surrounding even a US women cch.
Armageddon games? Fischer would only have laughed about such things.