I suspect that OTB, he would have considered his reply for more than "a few seconds".
I agree that Fischer was a great player (but not a Chess God). Too bad he turned into such a weirdo.
I suspect that OTB, he would have considered his reply for more than "a few seconds".
I agree that Fischer was a great player (but not a Chess God). Too bad he turned into such a weirdo.
I would have put it more gently than that. The toothless and raving Fischer is the only one that many seem to want to remember.
Only, I feel sad about it. Unfortunately, the word wierdo partially describes the fall of a player who still wears the scorn and revenge of so many people today, and I fear for a while to come.
At least, the Icelanders appreciated what he did for them, and that he was not a bad chessplayer one way and another.
"You know, the truth is that Bobby Fischer wasn't actually that good."
You know, the truth is that he was a world champion, and one of the strongest players ever. What a moron.
/thread
They say that Russia was so preoccupied w/ their own issues in the 60's that they couldn't develop the players that were born in the 1940's like they wanted. IOW's, the 64-squares of Russia had come to a halt.
....and that opened the door for BF.
Look at the players whose game took a back seat 'cuza everything that was going on.
Wanna men's list alone ?....Lev, Yuri R, Roman D, Boris Gulko, Murey, Butnorius, Balashov, Nona G, the Tseitlins, NM Reb, Tukmakov, Dydyshko, Dvoretsky, Rashkovsky, Tseshkovsky, and the list goes on & on & on.
All these GM's were born in the 40's. Just like Fischer. And all hadta take a back seat with all the unrest happening over there.
....and all the while BF developed his game & happily bebopped his way down coronation street. IOW's, he got lucky....real lucky. Like way more lucky than good !
By the time Russia realized what was going on ?....BF had shoehorned his way n2 the system.
So whether you ever come to accept this or not ?....this is Russia's game.
....and it will be until Russia decides otherwise.
Now. Go & read, learn, & understand the inner workings of Russian Chess. Know the players. Know its history. Do just like I have.
Then come back and mouth off....
....
the 64-squares of Russia had come to a halt.
Except they didn't. There were even Russia vs the rest of the world matches in chess.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Russia_(USSR)_vs_Rest_of_the_World
It's not entirely accurate to say that Fischer hadn't played a serious game in 20 years before his match against Spassky. He played a match against Gligoric to warm up.
Fischer played 40 games in 1992. That's a fairly full slate of games, and enough to knock the rust off.
You consider the warmup with Glicoric shortly before facing Spassky "serious games"... But I don't think this is entirely accurate 
Maybe 40 games are enough to knock the rust off (idk).... But the match had ended by that time, and he didn't play any other games afterwards, without the rust.
They say that Russia was so preoccupied w/ their own issues in the 60's that they couldn't develop the players that were born in the 1940's like they wanted. IOW's, the 64-squares of Russia had come to a halt.
....and that opened the door for BF.
Look at the players whose game took a back seat 'cuza everything that was going on.
Wanna men's list alone ?....Lev, Yuri R, Roman D, Boris Gulko, Murey, Butnorius, Balashov, Nona G, the Tseitlins, Tukmakov, Dydyshko, Dvoretsky, Rashkovsky, Tseshkovsky, and the list goes on & on & on.
All these GM's were born in the 40's. Just like Fischer. And all hadta take a back seat with all the unrest happening over there.
....and all the while BF developed his game & happily bebopped his way down coronation street. IOW's, he got lucky....real lucky. Like way more lucky than good !
By the time Russia realized what was going on ?....BF had shoehorned his way n2 the system.
So whether you ever come to accept this or not ?....this is Russia's game.
....and it will be until Russia decides otherwise.
Now. Go & read, learn, & understand the inner workings of Russian Chess. Know the players. Know its history. Do just like I have.
Then come back and mouth off........
Have you tried stand-up comedy? 
Yeah, and when BF played in his 40's ?....he embarrassed himself w/ hilarious howlers that wrecked his reputation and told everyone that he couldn't play good in his 40's.
Do u have anything more dum-dum to say ?
We've already gone over this - get over yourself already.
They say that Russia was so preoccupied w/ their own issues in the 60's that they couldn't develop the players that were born in the 1940's like they wanted. IOW's, the 64-squares of Russia had come to a halt.
....and that opened the door for BF.
Look at the players whose game took a back seat 'cuza everything that was going on.
Wanna men's list alone ?....Lev, Yuri R, Roman D, Boris Gulko, Murey, Butnorius, Balashov, Nona G, the Tseitlins, Tukmakov, Dydyshko, Dvoretsky, Rashkovsky, Tseshkovsky, and the list goes on & on & on.
All these GM's were born in the 40's. Just like Fischer. And all hadta take a back seat with all the unrest happening over there.
....and all the while BF developed his game & happily bebopped his way down coronation street. IOW's, he got lucky....real lucky. Like way more lucky than good !
By the time Russia realized what was going on ?....BF had shoehorned his way n2 the system.
So whether you ever come to accept this or not ?....this is Russia's game.
....and it will be until Russia decides otherwise.
Now. Go & read, learn, & understand the inner workings of Russian Chess. Know the players. Know its history. Do just like I have.
Then come back and mouth off........
So, the Soviet system was corrupt, which was Bobby's point at all times. Glad you came to that conclusion. the wall came down, and the new Russia, a slight improvement, emerged.
Who said anything about corruption ?....
....that's not any conclusion I reached. That's something BF came up w/ to try to justify why he couldn't win the Soviet players in the 60's. The fact is is that they were at their chess peaks and he couldn't overcome them. He just didn't have the skill !
You dum-dum Fischer Boomers (like NM Reb) are gonna hafta get over it in that he entruly wasn't the best player thruout the 60's. Not even close !
He needed all those top 60's players to recede in ability - due to their age - before it was his turn. And short-lived it was !
Boris Spassky basically said that his best game was well in his rear view mirror by 1972.
Amazing theory, that Bobby's false claim to greatness was based on the aging of the Soviet"s best.
Short-lived was Fischer's hold on the title? Surely his reluctance was not based on the young punk, Karpov, who finally ran out of puff against Kasparov, the only modern player who would have given the Fischer at his prime a run for his money.
THAT, my friend's would have neen a match, which I, you, Fischer, Kasparov and the world would have loved to see, and find out who was really the greatest.
Unfortunately, we never had the chance to find out, but Kasparov was honest enough to tacitly admit that his predecessor would have given him a run for his money.
What a match, Kasparov vs Fischer, and what Chess!
And hopefully it wouldn't have been played in 1992 'cuz Kasparov would have WON EVERY GAME !!
No draws....let alone any losses.
If Garry would have played BF when BF was in his 40's ?....I would venture to say Garry would have gone 18-0-0....literally !!
Boris Spassky basically said that his best game was well in his rear view mirror by 1972.
FACT : Spassky won the USSR Championship in 1973 ahead of Karpov .
Kasparov in 1992 would have won every game against Fiischer.
A mature Kasparov in 1971 would have had the match of his life on his hands.
As early as 1973, it might have been different, given that Fischer, in his terrible state of mind, had achieved his Everest. The Title was secondary, Chess was secondary, Kasparov, Karpov, or whoever could have the piece of straw in his mind that was the World Chess Championship, and he could subside into the insanity which drove him to play superhuman Chess.
He was one of a long sad list where the obsession with Chess masked already existing madness.
Perhaps, Fischer's biggest mistake was to discover Chess in the first place.
(#532) A mature Kasparov in 1971 would have had the match of his life on his hands.
Right....especially at 8 years old.
Guys may we accept historical facts as they are. In the 60's the russian machine was well oiled and then Bobby Fischer - The Fischer King Dismantled the Russian Machine, not primarily because of the ages of their players but because the Fischer King did his homework on each of the russian players. Please note that homework was done thoroughly, with precision and dedication. lets not forget that in the 60's when the Russian machine was still on fire Russian G.Ms deliberately drew their games with each other and that kind of pissed Fischer off.
Russia's day as the dominant chess power has been over for a long time, and won't be back. And even when "Russia" was the dominant chess power, most of the greatest players were not ethnic Russians.
You're gonna hafta go back & learn the difference between a Russian & a Soviet and those time periods. Then get back to us....there smarty pants.
Boris Spassky basically said that his best game was well in his rear view mirror by 1972.
FACT : Spassky won the USSR Championship in 1973 ahead of Karpov .
FACT: Anatoly Karpov was the youngest participant - 19 years young....and they drew in their only game. AK put in a 2nd place sparkling performance of 10.5/17. BS was 11.5/17.
....and I strongly suggest you go back to #519 and view the added name.
SmyslovFan, to anyone able to read the Descriptive Notation, "My 60 Memorable Games" Game #20 against Euwe, shows Fischer pointing out in the post-mortem that Euwe showed him a trap he had considered at move32, but rejected.
Bobby fell into it after a few seconds look at it. Had Euwe sprung it, would Boogy have done the same over the board?
Had he done so, we could have had a Fischer loss that could have been proudly displayed here.
Fischer lost some games now and then, so this thread has a way to go yet.
I do not mind, because Bobby's losses were nearly always excellent and instructive games, whereas his wins were often a bit too easy.