Bobby Fischer

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a former world chess champion, who on September 1, 1972 became the only American to win the FIDE World Chess Championship. He lost the title when he refused to defend it on April 3, 1975. Garry Kasparov wrote that of all world champions of chess, the skill gap between Fischer and his contemporaries was the largest in history {{ref|Kasparov}}. Fischer is also well known for his eccentricity, unconventional behavior, and outspoken, anti-Semitic political views. Despite his prolonged absence from competitive play, or perhaps because of it, Fischer is still among the best known of all chess players.

Playing career before 1967

Fischer's first real triumph was winning the U.S. Junior Chess Championship in July 1956. In the same year, he played several brilliant games; his game against Donald Byrne, who later became an International Master, is referred to as "The Game of the Century".

Related Topics:
U.S. Junior Chess Championship - 1956 - Donald Byrne - International Master - The Game of the Century

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In 1957, Fischer won the US Open Chess Championship in Cleveland, Ohio on tie-breaking points over Arthur Bisguier. Because of this result, Fischer was given entry into the invitational U.S. Championship. This was controversial because it was believed that Fischer was too weak and would finish last. Instead, he finished first.

Related Topics:
1957 - US Open Chess Championship - Cleveland - Ohio - Arthur Bisguier

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In January 1958, Fischer became the U.S. champion. At age 14, he holds the record for being the youngest to hold the title. Along with the title, he qualified to participate in the Interzonals, the next step toward challenging the World Champion. Nobody gave the young Fischer high odds of qualifying from the Interzonal, so it was a surprise when, after a good finish, Fischer tied for fifth place. The top six places qualified for the Candidates Tournament. His result also earned him the title of International Grandmaster. At the time, he was the youngest Grandmaster in history, a record that stood until Judit Polgár of Hungary became a Grandmaster in 1991.

Related Topics:
1958 - Candidates Tournament - International Grandmaster - Judit Polgár - 1991

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It was at this stage, during the Candidates Tournament in Yugoslavia in 1959, that Fischer came face to face with the Russian chess juggernaut, which was to set the tone for the rest of his playing career. It was alleged by Fischer and others that because of the number of Russian players involved in the tournament (the Soviet Union dominated international chess competition throughout most of its history), it was possible for them to agree on short draws among themselves and concentrate their full efforts on the non-Russian contingent. Once the non-Russians were effectively eliminated, the Russians would then be left to fight against each other for the right to challenge the reigning World Champion, (Mikhail Botvinnik). These claims were substantiated many years later from interviews with Soviet players. Fischer finished the tournament in the middle of the pack (12.5/28) and lost his four games against the winner of the tournament, Mikhail Tal, who also went on to defeat Botvinnik and become World Champion.

Related Topics:
Yugoslavia - Juggernaut - Soviet Union - Mikhail Botvinnik - Mikhail Tal

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For many years Fischer remained one of the strongest non-Soviet players, together with Lajos Portisch, Svetozar Gligoric, and Bent Larsen, but did not qualify for a World Championship match. In the 1962 cycle he confidently won the Stockholm interzonal (17.5/22) but in the Candidates tournament in Curaçao he finished 4th with a score of 14 out of 27. This was a big disappointment for him, since he had been playing very strongly in the previous year

Related Topics:
Lajos Portisch - Svetozar Gligoric - Bent Larsen - 1962 - Stockholm - Curaçao - Mar del Plata - 1960 - Leipzig - Bled - 1961

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In the next cycle, Fischer did not compete. He reaffirmed his conviction that the Soviet players had a non-aggression pact and concentrated on playing against him. Therefore, he decided not to participate in the Amsterdam interzonal in 1964. He held to this decision even when FIDE changed the format of the eight-player Candidates Tournament from a round-robin to a series of knockout matches. (In the previous two cycles, FIDE had sought to address complaints of Soviet collusion by limiting the number of Soviet participants, which was a situation that Soviet chessplayers considered extremely unfair.) In the next cycle, at the Sousse Interzonal (1967), he failed to qualify for the final stages of the World Championship due to a very controversial forfeit.

Related Topics:
Amsterdam - 1964 - FIDE - Round-robin - Knockout - 1967

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At home, Fischer won all eight U.S. Championships that he competed in, beginning with the 1957-1958 championship and ending with the 1966-1967 championship. This string includes his win in the 1963-1964 championship, which he won with an 11-0 record, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament.

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