i don't think they did because there were rumours at the time that fischer quit normal chess for fischer random(chess960) because he was afraid of young karpov
Fischer vs Karpov?
Sort:
hm i've never seen any games between them but i thought their careers overlapped just before Fischer 'retired'. Unfortunate if they never played. Always feel slightly sorry for Karpov as most of the time when world champion he seems to have held it by default despite clearly being worthy of the title
True. To be fair to Fischer he achieved his ambition/destiny to be world champ and his life choices were his to make. A shame for all chess fans not to see him continue but there you go. He did play Spassky again in the 90's for the big purse so perhaps he didnt need the extra cash facing Karpov or indeed Kasparov would have brought.
First @ Thetubester : I think Fischer refused to play Karpov, as in the 90's the difference in strength was that big that Karpov would have won by 7-3 in 1993 and by 7½-2½ in 1995, based on their Elo ratings : Karpov in 1993-1995 over 2800 and Fischer's going down from 2650 in 1992 to under 2600 in 1994.
And @ CuriousBarrel, post 3 : based on their Elo ratings at that time, Fischer could have won 7½-2½ in 1970/1971 ; in 1972 by 7-3 and around 1973 by still 6½-3½, although Fischer's rating was going down already.
In the second half of 1974 their Elo's were both around 2800, but Fischer stopped playing ; in the first half of 1974 Fischer still could have won ( although by 5½-4½, based on their Elo's ) ...
I know that all this is based on Elo's and guesses, but it gives some indication as to their strenght. Why they did not play each other is a remaining question, being afraid, not needing the money, whatever.
I hope others will still look for games they played, if so, lets say during the years 1969-1974 !
Several of you have said it - when Bobby got the title he made the decision there and then never to play again. He made that decision in 1972. As followers of the sport that decision was a terrible one. It was terrible for the world of chess to be deprived of Fischer's talents and it waste terible for Bobby personally because it deprived him. I know some will argue that he left the game on his terms and all that, but in his heart of hearts it is clear that he still loved the game and it's hold over him never waivered - so he was personally deprived by his own decision in 1972.
He never did play Karpov as far as we know. They did meet three times according to Karpov in 1970's but they never actually played even one game of chess against each other. What a terrible pity. My own view is that in 1975, Bobby was still the better player despite being inactive. However if he did defend the title, Karpov and the USSR would have tried every tactic and strategy to try to regain the title. Why would Fischer expose himself to that? I reckon part of him would have relished taking on the USSR system and it's posterboy Karpov. But the part of the Bobby which was afraid to risk his reputation prevailed sadly.
It is a terrible pity for posterity that they never actually played a match.
yea i hate fischer so much that i put his pic as my avatar to show my hatred for him
apart from winning the world title with no trainers, his other great achievement was exposing the general public as unforgiving.
Fischer and chips forever!
no trainers
yes, they taught him everything
how much ?
i was talking about trainers, you're talking about seconds.
i don't think we will ever see the day on this site that members will stop rubbishing Fischer.
List of his trainers please.
his tennis trainers were handmade apparently.
Bronstein predicted Fischer in 1975 would have beaten anyone, including Karpov or Korchnoi. I respect Bronstein, but I think otherwise.
IMO in pure chess strength Karpov was at least equal or even little better in 1975. However Karpov would have faced very patient and persistent opponent. Karpov had always problems in long matches.
The final outcome would have depended if Fischer had managed to exhaust Karpov before having lost the match.
Karpov - better start, Fischer - better finish.
Korchnoi would have lost to Fischer - he had always terrible problems with time management.
Fischer was pretty weird to start with and got weirder as time went on. But his weirdness did not get in the way of his genius for chess. And one aspect of his chess genius was that he was a super strong match player. He could dominate an opponent and destroy them over 8 or 10 or 20 games.
It is indeed a great pity they did not play a match. The clash of chess styles would have made for scintilating chess. But that match playing strength would, in my opinion, have given Fischer (as long as he was playing a decent amount of serious chess) a very large edge.
I'd have backed him.
so trainers or seconds----today they have tech. Fischer new no fear the period he was champ....playing white he would beat anyone playing----if they meet his demands and they did not !
sore losers! lol
you can't double stamp a double stamp!!!!
Just wondering if anybody can enlighten me. Did Fischer and Karpov ever play each other? And if so what was the outcome?