Bobby Fischer On Spassky Rematch

Bobby Fischer interview after becoming the 11th World Chess Champion.

LM Brian Wall On Bobby Fischer:

Bobby said and did things no one else ever said or did.

At 12 he told his correspondence opponents he was going to be World Champion.
How does a 12 year old sense his destiny already?

At 28 he said,
The Russians have had MY title for 10 years.

I am on a mission from God to take the title away from the Russians.

Every game is a challenge I must meet.

As Bobby was preparing for his next opponent, his friend GM Helgi Olafsson said,
"Why bother? "

Bobby replied ,
" You can afford to think that way, I can't."

Bobby knew his great strength and made funny jokes.

On giving up Board 1 to Larsen at the USSR vs World match at Euwe's request
because he hadn't played in a year and a half,

I must have been crazy.

On beating Taimanov and Larsen 6-0,

I am going to send a telegram to Spassky congratulating him on the right to play
me.

Bobby seemed inhumanly powerful and supremely confident.

The game made a strong impression on me-

1. Bobby didn't get embroiled in Nimzovich-Larsen Chess with a reversed Dutch,
he set up his own system where Larsen did not control e5 as a springboard to
attack.

2. Bobby never left the board, he used every ounce of energy to win. He would
complain to the organizers about disturbing crowd noise.

3. Bobby beating Larsen 6-0 was probably the greatest Chess spectacle ever
witnessed. No other World Championship Chess Candidates matches in history,
past or future, will ever go 12-0.

4. American Chess was at an all-time high, Goichberg reported his tournments
were filling up hotel rooms to the rafters.

What drives a man to win the US Championship 11-0, to win 20 games in a row
against GMs, including World Championhip candidates? Kasparov in his prime only
beat 5 GMs in a row, which he explained by saying Bobby was the first true
professional, that Bobby played the way Chessplayers played 15 years later and
that the gap between World Champion Bobby and the rest of his peers was the
greatest ever.

"There's something called genes which makes me a great Chess Champion and you're
not." he told a friend.

Everyone knew at the time it was a great privilige to watch Bobby play but no
dreamed it would end soon. I got the feeling that he devoted all his energy to
winning the title and after he started experiencing life he couldn't put the
genie back in the bottle. Chess couldn't be the only thing any more, he had
betrayed his first love Caissa in his mind, the price was too high and he didn't
wanted to be the Chess priest any more. The 20's don't last forever.

Bobby never said anything negative about Larsen, before or after the game, they
were reasonable friends, they had worked together in the past, they knew how
each other thought and felt. Larsen was Bobby's second 9 years earlier but
never asked for a second himself and even had to argue with the Danish
authorities about it. Larsen found seconds "annoying", he wanted to analyze the
adjourned positions himself. Bobby didn't gloat about beating Larsen, it felt
more like a rabbit an Africa hunter killed on his way to stalking a giraffe.

After it was all over, Bobby said that Taimanov, Larsen and Petrosian seemed to
give up internally halfway through the match but Spassky never did, Spassky
tried his best from start to finish.

Larsen blamed the heat but no one listened. They just said, Genius.
Despite wanting to beat the Russians Bobby was a secret hero to millions inside
the USSR, not just for his pure Chess but for his verbal freedom to express
himself. Bobby might have been the most famous man in the world at that point.

Category:

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[capricious71]

Nicolas Cage should have played him in a film a few years back. :)

[gentilguy]

Did he really say = «I am on a mission from God to take the title away from the Russians.»

Because that's reaaaaally weird. I can understand his personality now.

[carpet691]

hes charismatic

[globeisnotpyramid]

He would have needed a present father.

[kr3ml]

Fischer exposed chess for what it is - a board game that has been exploited where you can no longer show your intellectual skills, it's all a memorization of previous chess algorithm combinations.

Fischer random is much harder, and should be THE chessboard game of the future.

[FleaIsDaMan]

@capricious71 Dear lord no. I'd never want to see such a mediocre actor portray a mysterious, reclusive legend.

[wrich1162]

upgrade the game of chess? I thought fischer wanted to degrade it, he was always saying there was way too much book and course he's right. I reckon chess was a really good and interesting game in the 1700.

[Migue261]

"How would you rate him, compared to other players?" -"the best, definitely"

Spassky without soviet union pressure would've been another player

[Migue261]

@capricious71 nice observation haha

[thedenimvault]

@prezlla they all crumble to the FISCHER GOD except that fucking muslim kasparov

[thedenimvault]

@Zennuts1 stfu and respect bobby fischer. He had a 180 IQ. if he says something then it's true, you're a too much of a PEASANT to question his judgement.

[addycorp2]

fischer is one funny dude