Match of the century Raymond Keene
Post Botvinnik, chess began to be seen as a metaphor for the Cold War, as the new champions from the USSR, Petrosian and Spassky, faced up to the growing menace of the American grandmaster Bobby Fischer. Fischer was held at bay for a number of championship cycles, while Petrosian and Spassky fought out matches among themselves, but in the early 1970s Fischer made his spectacular breakthrough. He crushed Taimanov, Larsen and Petrosian in qualifying matches, before going on to pulverise Spassky himself at Reykjavik, in a match which seized the world’s attention as no other has done before or since. It is still called the match of the century.
Fischer’s main problem was his temperament. If he came to the board he would win, but getting him to play ‘hoc opus, hic labor est’. In this case Fischer’s resolve was strengthened by a call from Dr Henry Kissinger but, having won the title in convincing fashion, the American refused to defend and went into his standard recluse mode. Fischer was a brilliant challenger, but the worst champion of all, comparable only with his compatriot Morphy, who also failed to contest a single serious game during what might be regarded as his tenure of the top spot.
Fischer at least returned briefly — if some 20 years too late — to play out a rematch with Boris Spassky in 1992. This failed to endear him to US authorities since the match was held in embargoed Yugoslavia, and Fischer was indicted for sanctions-busting. Ironically, he now lives in Reykjavik as an Icelandic citizen and guest of the Icelandic government, which has sheltered him from American prosecution in gratitude for his putting Iceland on the global map during his 1972 match with Spassky. The arm of Caesar may be long, but apparently it does not reach as far as Ultima Thule.
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