Fischer-Spassky 1972 and Beyond

Lately there has been a spate of topics about Bobby Fischer.  In the volume of such discourses there have been, of course, a ton of errors, biases, assumptions, agendas and general nonsense as well as some thoughtful and well-researched contributions.

Whether Fischer deserves such attention can be debated, and there can be no doubt that the extreme divisiveness the name Fischer evokes stirs up emotions as much as  it does as intellectual curiosity.   This makes objective  discussions nearly impossible... and seems to make no discussion equally impossible.

This isn't meant to be a yet-another-discussion thread but rather a saner and safer one, just a light pointing out some insightful and authoritative articles, particularly on the 1972 title match but with a tiny sprinkle f other things

Nikolai Krogius was a Russian grandmaster, coach and trainer. He was also a doctor of psychology.  Krogius was part of Spassky's team in his preparation for Reykjavik.  Krogius authored a 2 book biography of Spassky.   A year ago member Spektrowski generously translated  lengthy excerpts of Krogius' books for our benefit:

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/nikolai-krogius-quotpreparing-for-the-match-against-fischerquot-excerpts-from-boris-spasskys

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-match-diary-by-nikolai-krogius-part-1

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-match-diary-by-nikolai-krogius-part-2

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-match-diary-by-nikolai-krogius-part-3

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-match-diary-by-nikolai-krogius-part-4

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-match-diary-by-nikolai-krogius-part-5

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-match-diary-by-nikolai-krogius-part-6

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-match-diary-by-nikolai-krogius-part-7

https://www.chess.com/blog/Spektrowski/spassky---fischer-the-return-match

I had posted in these forums two articles I happened upon:

A Tale of Two Titans written by Anthony Saidy immediately following the match - https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/a-tale-of-two-titans

and a post-match radio interviews with both Fischer and Spassky conducted by Svetozar Gligorić.
https://www.chess.com/forum/view/general/fischerspassky-1972

A lot of stuff here . . . .

HAPPY holidays Bat Girl

DENVER

You too Denver.

I'm ignorant of your age Batgirl, but I really got interested in chess because of the Fischer/Spassky match. The Fischer boom after the match lasted about a decade. You could play in OTB tournaments nearly every weekend here in the podunk state of Indiana with entry fees in the $5-$10 range. Ahhh, the good old days. I've read quite a bit about Fischer and realize he was a warped individual, but for me and many others my age, there will always be a soft spot in my heart for the guy.

The Fischer Spassky match caused an incredible increase in interest in chess during the seventies. Our local league increased from eight to ten divisions and in the higher divisions matches were played over an increased numbers of boards from six. Alas it is has contracted to six divisions now.

The match was featured on national news and no doubt was the  'cold war' being fought by proxy. Both participants have since shown themselves as more than puppets of these supposed opposing ideologies of 'capitalism' and 'communism'  - Wall St gold fueled the Russian revolution but that's a story for another day.

Could it be that the mainstream media in it's cold war posturing actually did some good for chess ? That's an intriguing thought...

Here's the state of chess the month I was born (the Fischer-Boom preceded me):

Botvinnik was number 8 in 1973?!

Elo doesn't lie  :-D

This is extremely interesting. And Spassky had been surpassed by Karpov yet... and Tal!

THat's a coincidence - I have 2 issues of Chess Life and Review and that December 73 issue is one of them (the other is Jan 74). Batgirl, if you want me to mail you this then message me (although I suspect you already own a copy since you posted a picture of the front cover)

Tal was still a beast into the later 1980s. He had won the World Blitz title only a few days before I played him.

Matt, thanks so much for the offer, but you are right, I do have those issues. 

In the Dec. 1973 issue, you'll see articles/columns  by Pal Benko,  Lubosh Kavalek, Lazlo Szabo,  Yefim Geller, Sammy Reshevsky, Svetozar Gligoric, George Koltanowski, Edmar Mednis, Larry Evans, of course, Roberston Sillars (Kate Sillar's dad), Jack Straley Battell and David Levy whose prediction I posted below:

Go on then - what happened? Did you beat him so bad he was never the same player after? 

 Hi batgirl, I've just skimmed through the David Levy article again. He also wrote that not only was he confident of winning his £1000 bet (that no computer could beat him by 1978) but also that be could also beat any computer for another 10 years after.

He won his 1978 bet, not sure if he made any further bets. 

Then he goes on to say that he doesn't think a computer would make I.M. by year 2000.

Yeah, Levy's argument was based on a straight-line rate of improvement in computers.  I don't think he could even imagine the highly accelerated rate of improvement, not just in chess applications, algorithms  and databases but in computer hardware itself.   It's understandable of course, but still seems naive from our more enlightened perspective. 

Exactly half of top 60 were from USSR