In the past, I have written satirical 'treatise' countering Fischerphobs' conspiracies about Fischer being scared of Karpov. "Who would win Fischer or Karpov" is one of the most discussed topics on chess forums but I argue it is not even disputable: Karpov would have won in 1975.
I am not gonna evaluate based on what-ifs. I argue based on what were, not what c/would have been.
To do so, I look at Fischer's situation back in 1975 and prior to the aborted match. We can say the following from what is known about Bobby:
- It is well known that Fischer resigned his title in June of 1974.
- As early as June 1973, American grandmasters and chess enthusiasts who were close to Fischer were already stating that Fischer was no longer following chess tournaments anymore.
- After gaining the championship and till 1975, it is known that Fischer was travelling extensively and reading history books.
- The match was planned to be played on the summer of 1975 and Fischer's deadline to respond to FIDE was the 3rd of April, 1975 to which Fischer did not respond to.
Now, what can be concluded from above? Considering Fischer declared his resignation in June 1974, he probably was not preparing for the match against Karpov. Considering he was travelling and reading history books since his match with Spassky, he probably was never prepared after the 72 match.
If FIDE somehow managed to persuade Fischer to play Karpov in 1975, Fischer would have entered the match without preparation and about 3 years of lack of practice. If Fischer consented to play match on the April of 1975, he would have 2 to 3 months to prepare against Karpov while Karpov was very active and well prepared with a chorus of experts on any field of chess.
The proponents of Fischer might say Karpov would have collapsed in a long match (supposing FIDE would have persuaded Fischer by granting him Cramer rules) whereas Fischer would endure but that is not a supportable assertion: We may support the Karpov part by pointing out his performance against Korchnoi - but that is baseless. We do not know if Karpov collapsed physically during that match. And we may not support the part about Fischer. We do not know if Fischer could endure a long match. After 11 games against Spassky, Fischer's game's quality decreased. One might say Fischer deliberately played passively to not risk his lead. Even if we agree with that, there is no basis to support the idea that Fischer would endure. We just do not know if Fischer could endure it, Fischer was not tested in that part. His prior matches in 71 run were sets of 6 matches, that is the longest he was tested. A decade earlier he played 11 games against Reshevsky. We just do not know if Fischer would endure - he just was not tested. Nor do we know if Karpov would collapse. The idea of Karpov collapsing in a long match might have come from his 1984 match against Karpov in which he bottled 5-0 win but his first loss came after 31 games + he was still fighting even after 40 games + according to what are written about the match, he ran out of chess preparation ideas, not his physical stamina.
Considering all of these, no matter how good Fischer had been in 71-72, he was unprepared after that. Karpov would definitely win.
Note: This post is not about "what if peak Fischer faced peak Karpov?" or "What if Fischer did not quit after 72, was active till 72 and faced Karpov?" or "What if Fischer did not resign in 74 but prepared to defend his title?" etc. It is about what actually were, not what might have been. The only hypothetical scenario here is Fischer acknowledging his participation on the 3rd of April, 1975 and faced Karpov.
How is a prediction undisputable? Sorry?
#19
"without compromising even one of his demands"
This is the core of Fischer: no compromise neither on the chess board, nor aside of it.
Fischer was famous for playing on in theoretically drawn positions and even winning them e.g. against Geller in the Palma de Mallorca interzonal 1970.
He flew to the Lugano 1968 Olympiad to play board 1 of the USA, but he disliked the pieces, the chairs, the tables, the lighting. Organisers refused to meet his demands and Fischer flew home, renouncing his fee.
At the Sousse Interzonal 1967 he withdrew while leading because of some dispute.
Because of some dispute he refused to play the US Championship which counted as the zonal tournament and he only could play the Palma de Mallorca interzonal 1970 because Pal Benkö gave up his spot.