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Bobby Fischer playing strength in 1992

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johnnykontant

Does anyone have any information on what Bobby Fischer's real playing strength was in 1992? I believe i once read Kasparov said Fischer was playing at around 2600-2650, but how strong was that in those days? Surely higher than today, when it would be about top 100 i believe. And is it likely Fischer could have gotten stronger after Spassky 92 if he continued to play matches and maybe tournaments? Maybe he would have gotten better with practice and more opening knowledge that was up to date? I ofcourse dont know if his openings in 92 were good or bad, i have just read many top players saying they were playing " openings of the past " and i believe Kasparov once said they were playing 1972 chess. Any thoughts?

notmtwain
johnnykontant wrote:

Does anyone have any information on what Bobby Fischer's real playing strength was in 1992? I believe i once read Kasparov said Fischer was playing at around 2600-2650, but how strong was that in those days? Surely higher than today, when it would be about top 100 i believe. And is it likely Fischer could have gotten stronger after Spassky 92 if he continued to play matches and maybe tournaments? Maybe he would have gotten better with practice and more opening knowledge that was up to date? I ofcourse dont know if his openings in 92 were good or bad, i have just read many top players saying they were playing " openings of the past " and i believe Kasparov once said they were playing 1972 chess. Any thoughts?

Silman's column reported that kasparov was perhaps a little too harsh in his criticism of Fischer's play in 1992: 

http://www.chess.com/article/view/fischer---spassky-1992

As for how far he could have come back, or what his rating really was, who knows?

fabelhaft

Soltis wrote that the Fischer-Spassky match in 1992 was of a high quality compared to Kasparov's last three title matches, but I find that a very strange statement. Spassky was a few decades past his best and out of the top 100, while Fischer understandably was rusty after 20 years without playing and could have lost more than the five games he lost to Spassky. Anand won against Spassky already in 1989 when still a 2500, and was many classes stronger than that a few years later. I don't think Spassky would have beaten him in a single game in a match in 1992 and even less so in 1995, when Kasparov won the match against Anand. The level in Fischer vs Spassky 1992 simply wasn't higher than the level of the title matches the coming decade, the oldies were naturally not playing better than the top players.

GMaspirant2015

Kasparov also mentioned about Fischer's spark from time to time during the 92' match but unfortunately the old man couldn't keep up with the consistencies. He was out of practice for 20 years and hence played below par.

flip270

Fischer-Spassky in 1992 was like Ali-Frazier 3. Kasparov in 1984 would have destroyed them both.

johnnykontant
Ofcourse Kasparov would have beaten him at that time. That is obvious. Its also an unfair comparison to the older player. Kasparov Carlsen wouldnt have been competitive today either.
TheOldReb
flip270 wrote:

Fischer-Spassky in 1992 was like Ali-Frazier 3. Kasparov in 1984 would have destroyed them both.

Kasparov of 84 didnt destroy Spassky in 84 in fact from 83-88 they played each other 4 games with Spassky winning once and drawing the other games for a plus against Kasparov .  So , you must mean that the Kasparov of 84 would beat the Spassky and Fischer of 92 ?!  I guess so !  Undecided