Russians versus Fischer:Part VIII
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chessbibliophile on Wed, 10/21/2009 at 8:32am.
Russians versus Fischer
by Dmitri Plisetsky and Sergey Voronkov
Hardcover, 462 pages
Everyman Chess.2005
http://www.everymanchess.com/
“Spassky was a very talented man, but his character was weak, he didn’t work hard, he was lazy and he loved the good things of life…”-Viktor Baturinsky, chess official
http://www.chess.com/article/view/russians-versus-fischerpart-vii
The defeated world champion did face music when he returned to Moscow. In a meeting of grandmasters and administrators he was roundly criticized for his poor performance. Korchnoi, with characteristic bluntness said, Spassky had not studied chess since 1969, and had not taken part in any serious events. Petrosian maintained, his theoretical preparation was inadequate.In the openings, with the exception of the Sicilian Defence,Spassky was simply “all at sea”. Isaak Boleslavky had participated in the training for a few months before the Match. The soft-spoken grandmaster was one of the greatest opening experts of his time. Even he expressed his disappointment that Spassky did not keep to a strict regime, “And of course alcohol and training are incompatible. But it is Geller’s testimony in this book that makes fascinating reading.He said, the theoretical preparation had been appropriate, but Spassky had deviated from variations prepared beforehand.he hinted at Nei, a member of the team leaking information to Fischer’s camp.Geller had ousted Bondarevsky,Spassky’s old coach and become the chief trainer.He knew he would be blamed for lack of preparation.The duo had spent time playing cards and drinking whisky together.They had fallen out only later.How was he going to tell the meeting what he he had done? But nobody was stupid.Every one knew.They had lost the Match not in Reykjavik, but in Moscow. The mood of the authorities was grim.One of the comrades said, “We spend millions on chess-to get an American world champion!”
What’s more, Fischer was by no means a ‘quiet’ American, remote from politics.He spoke out bluntly about Soviet chess machinations…he publicly advised the US Government not to supply the Soviet Union with machinery or grain on credit terms.The cold war had ended, and détente had begun.Soviet economy had declined, and they badly needed détente for favorable terms on trade.Here was Bobby who, after destroying their hegemony in chess, was now underminiing public faith in détente. He had to be brought to book by a new star of their own.That was Anatoly Karpov.
The young grandmaster from Urals proved his worth by beating his rivals, Polugaevsky, Spassky and Korchnoi in successive Candidates' Matches and becoming the official challenger in 1975.As for Bobby, he did not play in a single tournament after winning the title.It was only in the FIDE Congress, Nice that his new conditions were placed on his behalf by Fred Cramer,President of the American Zone: In stead of a match of 24 games under the old system since 1948, there should be a match of unlimited games,draws not counting.The player with 10 wins would be the winner of the match.In the event of 9:9 score the champion would retain the title.FIDE met Bobby's demands half way, but refused to accept his second condition of retaining the title in the event of a 9:9 tie. In effect Bobby was asking for 2-point handicap in favour of himself, the reigning champion.This was not acceptable to the Soviets.Euwe, the then President, FIDE sought a compromise between both sides, and it just did not work out.On 24th April,1975 Karpov was declared the World Champion. Bobby had fought for 15 years to wrest the title from the Soviets, only to lose it back to them.For young Karpov It was an unhappy situation because he had won by the title, only by default against Bobby.He spent the next 10 years of his career, winning tournament after tournament seeking legitimacy for his title. His contests with Kasparov raised the standard of play in world championships.
Here is a glimpse of Anatoly's razor -sharp tactical skill.No,this position did not even occur over the board. It was all "behind the scenes." It appears that White is in trouble as his rook is pinned.How can he extricate himself?
In the next part of the article we shall see how Karpov met his brilliant predecessor in secret.
To be continued
Notes:
1)Midway through the Match Nei was meeting the American grandmaster, Robert Byrne to collaborate on a book* on the ongoing the World Championship. Both the Soviet Embassy and other members of the team became suspicious of his extra-mural activities.But they were not able to find anything like proof of his collusion with the Americans. In any case not even the Soviets could believe that Bobby could accept this kind of help from a "collaborator". In the blame game that followed in the meeting, Spassky said, Nei should not have been taken to Reykjavik.But every one knew that Nei was Spassky's favourite during the training before the Match.Boris had spent more time with this partner playing tennis, than on preparing over the board.An angry Baturinsky retorted that Nei was his choice.
*(The title,Both Sides of the Chess Board by Robert Byrne and Ivo Nei was published two years later.)
2)Karpov had a poor opinion of the Fischer-Spassky Match.When he was asked for his views, he was dismissive:"Just a few good games."
For more on the Match,follow the link here:
http://www.chessville.com/reviews/FischerWorldChampion.htm
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