Why Didn't Bobby Fischer Defend HIs World Title?

Geller beat Fischer 5 times and had a plus score.

Several players had plus scores versus Tal, but of course every world champion was extraordinary.

I think I'd rather hear it from someone of higher authority.

Johnmusacha: I happen to like the KGB theory as it makes sense ( your Title or your life  lol ). As I said nothing else here is any better and we all await the finding of that elusive letter written by Fischer.   

Yes there is one explanation that is much better.  That's the historically accepted factual one about Fischer not being satisfied with the terms of the match.

Sorry if it's not interesting enough for you.

Oh I see, and you got that info direct from Bobby I assume. Was it via letters or over the phone ?  

That evidence is completely clear from the historical record.  Plus we already had the discussion of how stupid it would be for the USSR to risk a major warlike international incident over Bobby Fischer and the FIDE chess title.

I mean, the Cuban missle crisis is one thing, but who's world champ in chess is something on an order of considerably lesser import.

You wouldn't be saying that if John Gotti was champ.

According to what I read about communism and Soviet chess culture, chess was encouraged by the government, to help expand the mind of the people and to demonstrate the superiority of the Soviet. That is why it was so important there. It still is too, more so because it is a tradition now ,still some what prestigious and certainly it lends creedence to the idea of intelligence and resourcefulness.

I agree, that it isn't something to risk WW3 over.

OK Johnmusacha since you seem to have had a direct line to Bobby Fischer and also to the Russian Central Commitee you must have all of the info. I do wish tho that you would write a book and clear these things up for us.

I gather that Old Johnny got the heave-ho, adios buddy  rofl.      

I have just as much of a direct line as you do.  The difference is I just don't randomly make stuff up to explain mundane events.

Like, oh yeah, It was because he was being blackmailed by a troupe of transsexual carnival midgets that had compromising photographs of him and J. Edgar Hoover!  Yeah, that's the ticket?  Got any evidence to disprove it? huh?  Well, I guess it's a plausible theory then, right?

You conspiracy types need a good smack in the mouth.

John, I wouldn't waste my time on trollish Fischer haters...

they will enjoy torturing you, as much as, defaming Fischer.

whatever the reasons he had m he was wrong to do it , IF he was the best that has ever been he took away the chance to prove it , if he wasnt then there is your andwer , he knew it and he decided to save himself the humilliation either way he was wrong.

Fischer was a nutbag (heehee!)

Well I must say that we appear to have a very polite group here  lol. Freedom Of Speech seems to be in short supply in this thread ( as indeed are good manners as well ).

Every dog has it's day...I think Fischer was smart enough to know his had past, before anyone could make a fool of him. To me that adds to his genius.

Bobby never defended his title because Hansie Cronje got the devil to take it off him.

I think the question rather should be why Fischer stopped playing chess in 1972 than why he didn't defend his title in 1975. It had been difficult to make him play for a long time, and the rules had to be bent more than once to accomodate him. This just got worse, and after 1972 it just wasn't possible for him or anyone else to make him play a serious game of chess. This wasn't a surprise to some of the people who knew him at the time, and it had nothing to do with FIDE or anything else than Fischer himself.

Larry Evans was probably the person to be closest to Fischer back then, and he said that he realised something was seriously wrong around 1968, when Fischer walked out on the Olympiad team after not having his demands for special treatment from the organizers accomodated. Evans was Fischer's second, and never asked to get paid for his services. When Fischer imposed more conditions on Evans (he wasn't allowed to bring his wife etc) the latter eventually quit. Evans recalls that his wife had said before the 1972 match that Fischer would quit chess after it.

That about sums it up.

You have to remember that Fischer had already completed his goal in life.

Another title would be nothing to him. He would always consider himself a chess champion. FIDE would not change that.

During his 92' match against Spassky, he played the tournament as if it was the World Chess Championship, disregarding the fact that Karpov won the title through FIDE.

Poor Karpov

He is being remembered as the guy who Fischer never played and the guy who was defeated by Kasparov