Bobby Fischer, the blip in chess history

Many times I have heard the argument that Fischer should not be counted among the best players of all time because he refused to defend his title after winning it in 1972. It should not be forgotten that Fischer was considered among the best in the world for ten years prior to him winning the title, but it was his dispute with FIDE and the realization of Soviet players consorting among themselves and agreeing to short grandmaster draws giving them an insurmountable advantage over everyone else in critical games that he refused to participate in going for the world title.

“Bobby announced that he’d never again participate in a Candidates tournament, because the FIDE system made it impossible for any but a Soviet player to win.”

“Worry about Fischer led the All-Union Scientific Research Institute of Sports, which studied the psychology of sports, to appoint a Soviet grandmaster and theoretician, Vladimir Alatortsev, to create a secret laboratory (located near the Moscow Central Chess Club). Its mission was to analyze Fischer’s games. Alatortsev and a small group of other masters and psychologists worked tirelessly for ten years attempting to “solve” the mystery of Fischer’s prowess, in addition to analyzing his personality and behavior. They rigorously studied his opening, middle game, and endings—and filtered classified analyses of their findings to the top Soviet players.” ― Frank Brady, Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness

The 1969 US Championship was also a zonal qualifier, with the top three finishers advancing to the Interzonal. Fischer, however, had sat out the US Championship because of disagreements about the tournament's format and prize fund. Pal Benko, who had at one time been tortured in a Soviet concentration camp knew Fischer was the only one who could defeat the Soviets and gave his spot up to Fischer who began a run that hasn't been seen before or since.

From 1948 until 1972 there had not been one player outside the Soviet Union that had won the world title. After Fischer, no non-Soviet player ever won the title again until 32 years later in 2007 when Viswanathan Anand from India defeated Kramnik. This shows the incredible odds Fischer faced by taking on the Soviet chess dynasty alone in winning the World Chess Title. Unlike Judit Polgar who was "nurtured" from her youth to become a great player, Bobby Fischer was discouraged from the earliest age to quit chess. His mother was so worried about her son's obsession with chess that she took him to the Children's Psychiatric Division of the Brooklyn Jewish Hospital. This shows the true genius he actually was.