He became world champion against the soviets, who were organizing against him..
Fischer said; I'm not scared of Karpov, I've got a higher rating, better tournament record, etc
Karpov said; he probably wasn't scared of me, but himself
My guess is Karpov was someone who could beat him, and was a big challenge for Fischer after he had already taken on a lot.
Three Fischer threads a week is getting a bit too much.
It's a sign of just how good he was. Years after he died, and decades after he won the championship, people are still in awe.
Personally, my guess is that when Fischer was the challenger, he felt like he was the best, and he wanted to be recognized as the best, and he played because the only way he would get the recognition would be to win. Then, having won, I think he was afraid to play, at least in part, because he couldn't stand the thought of possibly being beaten.
Also, Fischer always had a "It has to be my way or no way" thing. When they were trying to agree to how the Fischer/Karpov match would be played, he set some rules that the Karpov camp wouldn't agree to. And being Bobby, he wouldn't give an inch.
I think he would probably have won, but I have no doubt that the Soviets would have put together an incredible team to try and beat him, and obviously, he knew that.
When he won the championship, he played some openings that Spassky hadn't spent any time on saying "Fischer would never play that, lets not waste time on it". (The English Opening was one.) If Karpov were preparing for a match with Fischer, I'm sure that wouldn't happen. He would have learned from Spassky's mistake.
Now, not many tournaments have adjourned games, but at that time, it was common. And when the russian side can bring in a whole pile of GM's to help their player, every adjounment gives an edge to their side.
That's not always enough, of course. All the analysis in the world won't turn a lost game into a won game. The last game of the championship with Spassky, Fischer sealed a winning move, and Spassky didn't bother to show up for the completion of the game.
And the first game Fischer won in the match, Fischer sealed a move and announced "I've sealed a crusher!". Spassky and crew alalyzed the position overnight, opened the envelope to see Fischers move, and resigned within minutes.
Obviously, all we can do is speculate. But if anyone is counting votes, put me down for Fischer beating Karpov. I think he would have done it, if he had played.
It's too bad he had such a twisted mind when he wasn't playing. It would sure have been nice to see him continue to play, and it would be nice if we could all respect the person, not just his chess abilities. I love what he could do on a chess board, but he was such a nutcase the rest of the time.
karpov is legend of chess.
fisher really afraid of karpov.
fisher never won against legend(karpov)
I think Karpov was correct when he said in an interview that he didn't think Fischer was "ready" for the match in 1975. Fischer would have had to be very well prepared with new opening novelties, and in top form to win that match. I think after his Match with Spassky in 1972, he was not willing to work as hard as he would have needed to for a match victory over Karpov. He was focused on other things. Fischer was probably still the best over the board analyst in the world in 1975, but Karpov and his team would have been extremely ready for Fischers opening repertoire.
This match could have ended up a repeat of Alekhine vs Capablanca in 1927 when the better player was out prepared and lost the Match!
I agree with a lot of what's on this thread, but my only knowledge comes from 2 books; "End Game", by Frank Brady, and "Bobby Fischer Goes To War", by David Edmonds,& John Eidinow. I think Bobby was afraid of failure.
Fischer was his own greatest opponent, if he had stayed focused his career would have continued, probably culminating in some legendary games against Kasparov, but we will never know! There is a syndrome that some ppl suffer from after a great achievment. It happened to the Apollo 11 Astronauts, what do you do after you have achived your greatest ambition?
Fischer spent years climbing his personal mountain & when he got there he didn't know what to do next. That allowed his own personality flaws to dictate his path which ultimately lead to a sad end & a huge loss to Chess.
These forums will be never ending as everyone has his own opinions and noone posting in these forums was really present during the 1975 cancelled match so that he could tell the real situation. Who could tell you better than the players of that time (including Karpov)?
Karpov once in his interview said "I don't want to claim that he was afraid of me (clearly indicating that Fischer was really afraid of him). Most probably he was afraid of himself. After becoming World Champion, he gave some interviews and then he believed that a World Champion has no right to make mistakes and with such claim, you cannot play chess because you cannot avoid mistakes (after all he was a human, not God)".
A little bit of interesting trivia. After a 20 year absence from Chess Fischer won the rematch against Spassky. Now Spassky was barely in the world top 100 but it was a remarkable achievement none the less. Just more tantalizing stuff to keep us wondering
I think he wouldn't have played no matter who it was. It could have been a rematch with Spassky, or anyone. I think the paranoia and obsession finally burnt him out. Remember we were lucky that the match with Spassky was played at all. Fischer was very close to quitting then too.
Besides, if it was Karpov he was afraid of, why quit chess completely? Why quit immediately after winning the title?
I agree the paranoia and obsession part burnt him out. He was living like crap in Calif, with very little money. It was the lucrative promise of money that he came out. A guarantee of $1 million, even if he lost the rematch. It took a while for someone to put up that kind of money.
"Fischer was completely beyond any other chess player alive. He could have beaten anyone."
Speculation......if it would have been that easy over Karpov why chose first to 10 wins? Thats just nuts...
Karpov had a 5-1 record over Spassky until 1975. And Fischer only beat Spassky in 1972 match, he would have been afraid of Karpov for sure.
"while Karpov only had a single serious opponent (Korchnoi) until Kasparov appeared."
Lol....what Effim geller wasnt a serious opponent for karpov? You know the guy that had a 5-3 record over Fischer.
Fischer and Korchnoi were equal in classical while Karpov had a positive record against Korchnoi so what is your point?
apparently Fischer felt 6-0 was too quick, so upped the ante for 10-0.
"apparently Fischer felt 6-0 was too quick, so upped the ante for 10-0."
hahah too quick? More like better chance to catch up of trailing the match...
yes, I'm not surprised if he planned to gift Karpovs a 9-0 cushion as similarly suggested to Kasparov in his first match.
I think the chances of young Anatoly beating Fischer in 1975 were pretty low.
But I do think fear (and obviously mental illness) did play a part in it for Fischer. Not fear of Karpov, more like fear of knowing he'd finally accomplished his goal of being world champ, and there was nowhere to go now but down. He might successfully defend the title several times, but eventually, he would lose. Even crazy Bobby had to have known that this would happen.
he may have just wanted to be world champion and had no plans for after that unfortunately and just went bazinga. he probably felt he didn't owe anybody anything as he had already produced enough brilliant chess for the world.
would have been nice if he had some quality friends to keep him on the straight and narrow but being a non-soviet world champion then took a lot of his time.
...I personally don't think Fischer was afraid of anyone...I believe he perceived himself akin to "Superman"...unbeatable, indestructable...and all that stuff...he clearly had an "air" about him...and seemed to feel that everyone else was beneath him...a larger than life persona...those with this sort of personality (or disorder) don't fear anyone, no matter the odds...
...could he have beaten Karpov at the time? Sure, why not? Could Karpov defeat Fischer? Sure, why not?...the cold hard truth of the matter is that Fischer refused to play the likes of Karpov and Kasparov for whatever reason, and has left the chess world forever thinking "what if?"...to forever fight amongst ourselves in verbal combat, about a great player who walked away from the 64 squares...