Bobby Fischer

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Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bobby Fischer
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 January 17,

2008) was an American chess prodigy, grandmaster, and the
eleventh World Chess Champion. Many consider him the
greatest chess player of all time.[1][2][3]
At age 13 Fischer won a "brilliancy" that became known as The
Game of the Century.[4] Starting at age 14, Fischer played in
eight United States Championships, winning each one by at least
a one-point margin. At age 15, Fischer became both the
youngest grandmaster up to that time and the youngest candidate
for the World Championship. At age 20, Fischer won the 1963
64 U.S. Championship with 11/11, the only perfect score in the
history of the tournament. Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games
(1969) remains a revered work in chess literature.[5]
In 1970, Fischer "dominated his contemporaries"[6] by winning
the 1970 Interzonal Tournament by a record 3-point margin
and winning 20 consecutive games, including two unprecedented
60 sweeps in the Candidates Matches.[7] In July 1971, he
became the first official World Chess Federation (FIDE)
number-one-ranked player, spending 54 total months at number
one. In 1972, he captured the World Chess Championship from
Boris Spassky of the USSR in a match, held in Reykjavk,
Iceland, publicized as a Cold War confrontation which attracted
more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or
since.[8]
Bobby Fischer
Fischer in 1960
Full name
Robert James Fischer
Country
United States
Iceland (200508)
Born
March 9, 1943
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Died
January 17, 2008 (aged 64)

Reykjavk, Iceland
Title
Grandmaster (1958)
World
Champion
197275
Peak rating
2785 (July 1972 FIDE rating

list)
In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement

could not be reached with FIDE over one of the conditions for
the match. Afterward, Fischer became a recluse, disappearing from the public eye until 1992, when he won an
unofficial rematch against Spassky. It was held in Yugoslavia, which was under a United Nations embargo at the
time.[9][10][11] His participation led to a conflict with the U.S. government, which sought income tax on Fischer's match
winnings, and ultimately issued a warrant for his arrest.[12]
In the 1990s, Fischer patented a modified chess timing system which added a time increment after each move, now a
standard practice in top tournament and match play, and created a new variant of chess called Fischerandom
(Chess960).[13]
During the 1990s and early 2000s, Fischer lived in Hungary, Germany, the Philippines, Japan, and Iceland, and made
increasingly anti-American and anti-semitic remarks on various radio stations. Possibly as a result, his U.S. passport
was revoked.[14][15][16] Fischer, unaware of his passport's revocation, traveled to Japan, where he was arrested by
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer
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Japanese authorities,[17] and detained for over eight months (in 2004 and 2005)[18] under threat of deportation. In
March 2005, Iceland granted Fischer full citizenship,[19] leading Japanese authorities to release him from prison.[20]
Fischer flew to Iceland, where he lived until his death on January 17, 2008.[21]
Contents
1 Early years
1.1 Paul Nemenyi as Fischer's father
1.2 Chess beginnings
1.3 The Hawthorne Chess Club
2 Young champion
2.1 Wins first U.S. title
3 Grandmaster, candidate, author
3.1 Drops out of school
4 U.S. Championships
5 Olympiads
6 196061
7 1962: success, setback, accusations of collusion
7.1 Accuses Soviets of collusion
8 Religious affiliation
9 Semi-retirement in the mid-1960s
10 Successful return
10.1 Withdraws while leading Interzonal
10.2 Second semi-retirement
11 World Champion
11.1 Road to the World Championship
11.2 World Championship match
11.3 Forfeiture of title
12 Sudden obscurity
13 1992 Spassky rematch
14 Life as an migr
14.1 Anti-semitic statements
14.2 Anti-American and anti-Israel statements
14.3 Detention in Japan
14.4 Asylum in Iceland
15 Death, estate dispute, and exhumation
16 Contributions to chess
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16.1 Opening theory

16.2 Endgame
16.3 Fischer clock
16.4 Fischerandom Chess
16.5 Legacy
16.6 Internet Bobby Fischer theory
16.7 Bobby Fischer on film
17 In popular culture
18 Writings
18.1 Under Fischer's name
19 Tournament and match summaries
19.1 Tournaments
19.2 Matches
19.3 Team events
20 Notable games
21 See also
22 References
23 Further reading
24 External links
Early years
Bobby Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois on March 9, 1943.[22] His birth certificate
listed his father as Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, also known as Gerardo Liebscher,[23] a German biophysicist. His mother,
Regina Wender Fischer, was an American citizen of Polish-Russian Jewish[24] descent.[25][26] Born in Switzerland and
raised in St. Louis, Missouri,[22] Regina became a teacher, registered nurse, and later a physician.[27]
After graduating from college in her teens, Regina traveled to Germany to visit her brother. It was there she met
geneticist, and future Nobel Prize winner, Hermann Joseph Muller, who persuaded Regina to move to Moscow to
study medicine. She enrolled at I.M. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, where she met and married
Hans-Gerhardt in November 1933.[28] In 1938, Hans and Regina had a daughter, Joan Fischer. The reemergence of
anti-Semitism under Joseph Stalin prompted Regina to go with Joan to Paris, France, where Regina became an English
teacher; the threat of a German invasion led her and Joan to go to the United States in 1939. Hans-Gerhardt attempted
to follow the pair but his German citizenship barred him from entering the United States.[28] Regina and Hans-Gerhardt
had separated in Moscow although they did not officially divorce until 1945.[28]
"In June 1942, Regina became pregnant", and "on March 9, 1943", "Bobby [Fischer] was born at the Michael Reese
Hospital in Chicago".[29] At the time, Regina was "homeless"[29] and shuttled to different jobs and schools around the
country to support her family. She engaged in political activism, and raised both Bobby and Joan as a single
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parent.[30][31][32]
In 1949, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York,[33] where she could "study for a master's degree in nursing and
subsequently enter a career as a nurse".[32]
Paul Nemenyi as Fischer's father

Sources implying that Paul Nemenyi, a Hungarian Jewish physicist, and an expert in fluid and applied mechanics, may
have been Fischer's biological father, were first made public in a 2002 investigation by Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson
of The Philadelphia Inquirer.[30][34][35] Throughout the 1950s, the FBI investigated Regina and her circle for her
alleged communist sympathies, as well as her previous life in Moscow.[36] The FBI files identify Paul Nemenyi as
Bobby Fischer's biological father, showing that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered the United States, having been
refused admission by U.S. immigration officials due to his alleged Communist sympathies.[34][37][38] Not only were
Regina and Nemenyi reported to have had an affair, in 1942, but Nemenyi made monthly child support payments to
Regina, and paid for Bobby's schooling until his own death in 1952.[39] Nemenyi had lodged complaints with social
workers, saying he was concerned about the way that Regina was raising Bobby, to the point that, on at least one
occasion, Nemenyi broke down in tears.[34] Later on Bobby told the Hungarian chess player Zita Rajcsanyi that Paul
Nemenyi would sometimes show up at the family's Brooklyn apartment and take him on outings.[30] After Paul
Nemenyi died, in 1952, Regina Fischer wrote a letter to Paul Nemenyi's first son (Peter), asking if Paul had left money
for Bobby in his will:[34]
Bobby was sick 2 days with fever and sore throat and of course a doctor or medicine was out of the
question. I don't think Paul would have wanted to leave Bobby this way and would ask you most urgently
to let me know if Paul left anything for Bobby.
On one occasion, Regina told a social worker that the last time she had ever seen Hans-Gerhardt Fischer was in 1939,
four years before Bobby was born. On another occasion, she told the same social worker she had traveled to Mexico
to see Hans-Gerhardt in June 1942, and that Bobby was conceived during that meeting.[30] According to Bobby
Fischer's brother-in-law, Russell Targ, who was married to Bobby's half-sister, Joan, for 40 years, Regina concealed
the fact that Nemenyi was Bobby's father because she wanted to avoid the stigma of an out-of-wedlock birth.[30]
Chess beginnings
In March 1949, six-year-old Bobby, and his sister Joan, learned how to play chess using the instructions from a set
bought at a candy store.[40] When Joan lost interest in chess and Regina didn't have time to play, it left Fischer to play
many of his first games against himself.[41] When the family vacationed at Patchogue, Long Island that summer, Bobby
found a book of old chess games, and studied it intensely.[42] Fischer biographer Frank Brady describes the family's
move from Manhattan to Brooklyn in 1950:[43]
In the fall of 1950, Regina moved the family out of Manhattan and across the bridge to Brooklyn, where
she rented an inexpensive apartment near the intersection of Union and Franklin streets. It was only
temporary: She was trying to get closer to a better neighborhood. Robbed of her medical degree in
Russia because of the war, she was now determined to acquire a nursing diploma. As soon as she
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enrolled in the Prospect Heights School of Nursing, the peripatetic Fischer family, citizens of nowhere,
moved once againits tenth transit in six yearsto a $52-a-month two-bedroom flat at 560 Lincoln
Place in Brooklyn.
The family resided in apartment Q, a "small, basic, but habitable" apartment.[32] It was there that "Fischer soon became
so engrossed in the game that Regina feared he was spending too much time alone".[32] As a result, on November 14,
1950, Regina sent a postcard to the Brooklyn Eagle newspaper, seeking to place an ad, inquiring whether other
children of Bobby's age might be interested in playing chess with him. The paper rejected her ad because no one could
figure out how to classify it, but forwarded her inquiry to Hermann Helms, the "Dean of American Chess", who told her
that Master Max Pavey would be giving a simultaneous exhibition on January 17, 1951.[44][45] Fischer played in the
exhibition. Although he held on for 15 minutes, even drawing a crowd of onlookers, he eventually lost to the chess
master.[46] One of the spectators was Brooklyn Chess Club President Carmine Nigro, who was so impressed with
Fischer's play[47] that he introduced him to the club, and began teaching him.[48][49][50] In the summer of 1955, Fischer,
then 12 years old, joined the Manhattan Chess Club, the strongest chess club in the country.[51][52] Fischer's
relationship with Nigro lasted until 1956,[53][54] when Nigro moved away.[54]
Carmine Nigro introduced Fischer to future grandmaster William Lombardy,[55] and, starting in September 1954,[56]
Lombardy began coaching Fischer in private.[57][58] "We spent hours in our sessions, simply playing over quality
games", said Lombardy, going on to say that "I tried to instill in Bobby the secret of my own speedy rise. Eidetic
Imagery and Total Immersion".[59] Based on a 1956 game Lombardy played against Pavilias Vaitonis (in which he
agreed to a draw offer after only 13 moves), he told Fischer: "Do not accept draw offers. For an ambitious and
talented player, accepting a draw is death to a top result. Opponents fear an uncompromising opponent and thus make
more mistakes. Act as I advise and do not copy my timidity".[60] Lombardy played a key part in Fischer becoming
World Champion.[61][62] He was Fischer's aide at Portoro[63][64] where they analyzed Fischer's games.[65] He was
Bobby's second in Reykjavik,[66][67][68][69][70][71] where he analyzed with Fischer,[72][73][74] and helped keep Fischer
in the match.[75][76][77][78][79]
The Hawthorne Chess Club

In June 1956, Fischer began attending the "Hawthorne Chess Club", based in master John "Jack" W. Collins' home.[80]
For years it was believed that Collins was Fischer's teacher and coach,[81][82][83][84] even though Collins stated that he
did not teach Fischer.[85] It is now believed that Collins was Fischer's mentor, not his teacher or coach.[86][87][88][89] A
mentor and a friend, Fischer played thousands of blitz and offhand games with Collins and other strong players, studied
the books in Collins' large chess library, and ate almost as many dinners at Collins' home as his own.[90][91][92]
Future grandmaster Arnold Denker was also a mentor to young Bobby, often taking him to watch the New York
Rangers play hockey at Madison Square Garden. Bobby enjoyed those treats and never forgot them; the two became
lifelong friends.[93]
Young champion
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In 1956, Fischer experienced a "meteoric rise" in his playing strength.[94] On the tenth national rating list of the United
States Chess Federation (USCF), published on May 20, 1956, Fischer's rating was 1726,[95] more than 900 points
below top-rated Samuel Reshevsky (2663).[96]
In March 1956, the Log Cabin Chess Club of Orange, New Jersey, took Fischer on a tour to Cuba, where he gave a
12-board simultaneous exhibition at Havana's Capablanca Chess Club, winning ten games and drawing two.[97][98] On
this tour the club played a series of matches against other clubs. Fischer played second board, behind International
Master Norman Whitaker. Whitaker and Fischer were the leading scorers for the club, each scoring 5 points out of 7
games.[99]
In July 1956, Fischer won the U.S. Junior Chess Championship, scoring 8/10 at Philadelphia to become the
youngest-ever Junior Champion at age 13,[100] At the 1956 U.S. Open Chess Championship in Oklahoma City,
Bobby scored 8/12 to tie for 48th places, with Arthur Bisguier winning.[101] In the first Canadian Open Chess
Championship at Montreal 1956, Bobby scored 7/10 to tie for 812th places, with Larry Evans winning.[102] In
November, Fischer played in the 1956 Eastern States Open Championship in Washington DC, tying for second with
William Lombardy, Nicholas Rossolimo, and Arthur Feuerstein, with Hans Berliner taking first by a half-point
margin.[103]
Fischer accepted an invitation to play in the Third Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy Tournament in New York City
(1956), a premier tournament limited to the 12 players considered the best in the country.[104] Although Fischer's rating
was not among the top 12 in the country, he received entry by special consideration. Playing against top opposition, the
13-year-old Fischer could only score 4/11, tying for 89th place.[105] Yet, Bobby won the brilliancy prize[106] for his
'"immortal"'[107] game against International Master[108] Donald Byrne,[104] in which Bobby sacrificed his queen to
unleash an unstoppable attack. Hans Kmoch called it "The Game of the Century". Wrote Kmoch, "The following game,
a stunning masterpiece of combination play performed by a boy of 13 against a formidable opponent, matches the
finest on record in the history of chess prodigies".[109][110] "'The Game of the Century' has been talked about,
analyzed, and admired for more than fifty years, and it will probably be a part of the canon of chess for many years to
come".[111] "In reflecting on his game a while after it occurred, Bobby was refreshingly modest: 'I just made the moves
I thought were best. I was just lucky.' "[112]
In 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former World Champion Max Euwe at New York, losing
1.[113][114][115] On the USCF's eleventh national rating list, published on May 5, 1957, Fischer was rated 2231, a
masterover 500 points higher than his rating a year before.[116] This made him, at that time, the country's youngest
ever chess master.[117] In July, Bobby successfully defended his U.S. Junior title, scoring 8/9 at San Francisco.[118]
As a result of his strong tournament results, Fischer's rating went up to 2298, "making him among the top ten active
players in the country".[119] In August, Fischer scored 10/12 at the U.S. Open Chess Championship in Cleveland,
winning on tie-breaking points over Arthur Bisguier.[120][121] This made Bobby the youngest ever U.S. Open
Champion.[122][123] Bobby won the New Jersey Open Championship, scoring 6/7.[124] He then defeated the young
Filipino master Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 62 in a New York match sponsored by Pepsi-Cola.[125][126]
Wins first U.S. title
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Based on Fischer's rating and strong results, the USCF invited him to play in the 195758 U.S. Championship.[127]
The tournament included such luminaries as six-time U.S. champion Samuel Reshevsky, defending U.S. champion
Arthur Bisguier, and World Junior Champion William Lombardy, who in August had won the World Junior
Championship with the only perfect score (110) in the history of the event.[128][129][130] Bisguier predicted that
Fischer would "finish slightly over the center mark".[128][131] Despite all the predictions to the contrary, Fischer scored
eight wins and five draws to win the tournament by a one-point margin, with 10/13.[132][133] Still two months shy of
his 15th birthday, Fischer became the youngest ever U.S. Champion[134] Since the championship that year was also the
U.S. Zonal Championship, Fischer's victory earned him the title of International Master.[135][136] Fischer's victory in the
U.S. Championship sent his rating up to 2626; the second-best U.S. player, behind only Reshevsky (2713),[137] and
qualified him to participate in the 1958 Portoro Interzonal, the next step toward challenging the World Champion.[125]
Grandmaster, candidate, author

Bobby wanted to go to Moscow. At his pleading, "Regina wrote directly to the Soviet leader, Nikita Khrushchev,
requesting an invitation for [Bobby] to participate in the World Youth and Student Festival. The replyaffirmative
came too late for him to go".[138] Regina did not have the money to pay the airfare, but in the following year Fischer
was invited onto the game show I've Got a Secret, where, thanks to Regina's efforts, the producers of the show
arranged two round-trip tickets to Russia.[139]
Once in Russia, Fischer was invited by the Soviet Union to Moscow,[140] where International Master Lev Abramov
would serve as a guide to both Bobby and his sister, Joan.[141] Upon arrival, Fischer immediately demanded that he be
taken to the Moscow Central Chess Club,[142] where he played speed chess with "two young Soviet masters", Evgeni
Vasiukov and Alexander Nikitin,[143] winning every game.[142] Chess author V. I. Linder writes about the impression
Fischer gave grandmaster Vladimir Alatortsev when he played blitz against the Soviet masters: "Back in 1958, in the
Central Chess Club, Vladimir Alatortsev saw a tall, angular 15-year-old youth, who in blitz games, crushed almost
everyone who crossed his path... Alatortsev was no exception, losing all three games. He was astonished by the play of
the young American Robert Fischer, his fantastic self-confidence, amazing chess erudition and simply brilliant play! On
arriving home, Vladimir said in admiration to his wife: 'This is the future world champion!' "[144]
Fischer demanded to play against Mikhail Botvinnik, the reigning World Champion. When told that this was
impossible, Fischer asked to play Keres. "Finally, Tigran Petrosian was, on a semi-official basis, summoned to the
club..." where he played speed games with Fischer, winning the majority.[145] "When Bobby discovered that he wasn't
going to play any formal games... he went into a not-so-silent rage",[146] saying he was fed up "with these Russian
pigs",[147] which angered the Soviets who saw Fischer as their honored guest. It was then that the Yugoslavian chess
officials offered to take in Fischer and Joan as early guests to the Interzonal. Fischer took them up on the offer, arriving
in Yugoslavia to play two short training matches against masters Dragoljub Janoevi and Milan Matulovi.[148] Fischer
drew both games against Janoevi, and then defeated Matulovi in Belgrade by 21.[149]
The top six finishers in the Interzonal would qualify for the Candidates Tournament.[150] Most observers doubted that a
15-year-old with no international experience could finish among the six qualifiers at the Interzonal, but Fischer told
journalist Miro Radoicic, "I can draw with the grandmasters, and there are half-a-dozen patzers in the tournament I
reckon to beat".[151][152] Despite some bumps in the road, and a problematic start, Fischer succeeded in his plan: after
a strong finish, he ended up with 12/20 (+62=12) to tie for 56th.[153] The Soviet grandmaster Yuri Averbakh
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observed, "'In the struggle at the board this youth, almost still a child, showed himself to be a full-fledged fighter,
demonstrating amazing composure, precise calculation and devilish resourcefulness. I was especially struck not even by
his extensive opening knowledge, but his striving everywhere to seek new paths. In Fischer's play an enormous talent
was noticeable, and in addition one sensed an enormous amount of work on the study of chess.' "[154] Soviet
grandmaster Bronstein said of Fischer's time in Portoro: "It was interesting for me to observe Fischer, but for a long
time I couldn't understand why this 15-year-old boy played chess so well."[155] Fischer became the youngest person
ever to qualify for the Candidates, and the youngest ever grandmaster at 15 years, 6 months, 1 day.[156] "By then
everyone knew we had a genius on our hands."[157]
Before the Candidates' Tournament, Fischer won the 195859 U.S. Championship (scoring 8/11).[158] He tied for
third (with Borislav Ivkov) in Mar del Plata (scoring 10/14), a half-point behind Ludek Pachman and Miguel
Najdorf.[159] He tied for 46th in Santiago (scoring 7/12) behind Ivkov, Pachman, and Herman Pilnik.[160]
At the Zrich International Tournament, Fischer finished a point behind future World Champion Mikhail Tal and a halfpoint behind Yugoslavian grandmaster Svetozar Gligori.[161][162][163] Tal recalled Fischer's uncompromising style: "In
his game with the oldest competitor, the Hungarian grandmaster Gedeon Barcza, Fischer had no advantage, but, not
wishing to let his opponent go in peace, played on to the 103rd move. The game was adjourned three times and the
contestants used up two score sheets, but even when there were only the kings left on the board, Fischer made two
more moves! Draw! Stunned by such a fanatical onslaught, Barcza could barely get up from his chair, but Bobby
nonchalantly suggested: 'Let's have a look at the game from the beginning...' Barcza then began pleading: 'Look, I have
a wife and children. Who's going to support them in the event of my untimely death!' "[164]
Although Fischer had ended his formal education at age 16, he subsequently taught himself several foreign languages so
he could read foreign chess periodicals.[165] According to Latvian chess master Alexander Koblencs, even he and Tal
could not match the commitment that Fischer had made to chess. Recalling a conversation from the tournament: "'Tell
me, Bobby,' Tal continued, 'what do you think of the playing style of Larissa Volpert?' 'She's too cautious. But you
have another girl, Dmitrieva. Her games do appeal to me!' Here we were left literally open-mouthed in astonishment.
Misha and I have looked at thousands of games, but it never even occurred to us to study the games of our women
players. How could we find the time for this?! Yet Bobby, it turns out, had found the time!' "[166]
Until late 1959, Fischer "had dressed atrociously for a champion, appearing at the most august and distinguished
national and international events in sweaters and corduroys".[167] A director of the Manhattan Chess Club had once
banned Fischer for not being "properly accoutered", forcing Denker to intercede to get him reinstated.[168] Now,
encouraged by Pal Benko to dress more smartly, Fischer "began buying suits from all over the world, hand-tailored and
made to order".[169][170] He told journalist Ralph Ginzburg that he had 17 hand-tailored suits, and that all of his shirts
and shoes were handmade.[171]
At the age of 16, Fischer finished equal fifth out of eight (the top non-Soviet player) at the 1959 Candidates
Tournament in Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia,[172] scoring 12/28. He was outclassed by tournament winner Tal,
who won all four of their individual games.[173] That year, Fischer released his first book of collected games: Bobby
Fischer's Games of Chess, published by Simon & Schuster.[174]
Drops out of school
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Bobby's interest in chess became more important than schoolwork, to the point that "by the time he reached the fourth
grade, he'd been in and out of six schools". In 1952, Regina got Bobby a scholarship (based on his chess talent and
"astronomically high IQ") to Brooklyn Community Woodward.[175][176] Fischer later attended Erasmus Hall High
School at the same time as Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.[177][178] In 1959, its student council awarded him a
gold medal for his chess achievements.[179][180] The same year, Fischer dropped out of high school when he turned age
16, the earliest he could legally do so.[181][182] He later explained to Ralph Ginzburg, "You don't learn anything in
school".[183][184]
When Fischer was 16, his mother moved out of their apartment to pursue medical training. Her friend Joan Rodker,
who had met Regina when the two were "idealistic communists" living in Moscow in the 1930s, believes that Fischer
resented his mother for being mostly absent as a mother, a communist activist and an admirer of the Soviet Union, and
that this led to his hatred for the Soviet Union. In letters to Rodker, Fischer's mother states her desire to pursue her
own "obsession" of training in medicine and writes that her son would have to live in their Brooklyn apartment without
her: "It sounds terrible to leave a 16-year-old to his own devices, but he is probably happier that way".[185] The
apartment was on the edge of Bedford-Stuyvesant, a neighborhood that had one of the highest homicide and general
crime rates in New York City.[186] Despite the alienation from her son, Regina, in 1960, protested the practices of the
American Chess Foundation,[187] and staged a five-hour protest in front of the White House, urging President Dwight
Eisenhower to send an American team to that year's chess Olympiad (set for Leipzig, East Germany, behind the Iron
Curtain), and to help support the team financially.[188]
U.S. Championships
Fischer played in eight U.S. Championships, winning all of them,[189][190] by at least a one-point margin.[191] His results
were:[189][192][193]
U.S. Champ.
Score
Place
Margin
Percentage Age
195758
10/13 (+80=5)[194] First
1 point
81%
14
195859
8/11 (+60=5)[195]
First
1 point
77%
15
195960
9/11 (+70=4)[196]
First
1 point
82%
16
196061
9/11 (+70=4)[197]
First
2 points
82%
17
196263
8/11 (+61=4)[198]
First
1 point
73%
19
196364
11/11 (+110=0)[199]
First
2 points 100%
20
1965[200]
8/11 (+82=1)[201]
First
1 point
77%
22
196667
9/11 (+80=3)[202]
First
2 points
86%
23
Fischer missed the 196162 Championship (he was preparing for the 1962 Interzonal), and there was no 196465
event.[203] Out of eight U.S. Chess Championships, Fischer lost only three games; to Edmar Mednis in the 196263
event, and in consecutive rounds to Samuel Reshevsky, and Robert Byrne in the 1965 championship, culminating in a
total score of 74/90 (61 wins, 26 draws, 3 losses).[204]
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Olympiads
Fischer refused to play in the 1958 Munich Olympiad when his demand to
play first board ahead of Samuel Reshevsky was rejected.[205][206] Some
sources claim that 15-year-old Fischer was unable to arrange leave from
attending high school.[207] Fischer would later represent the United States on
first board at four Men's Chess Olympiads:
Olympiad
Individual result
U.S. team result
Leipzig 1960
13/18[208] (Bronze) Silver
Varna 1962
11/17[209] (Eighth)
Havana 1966 15/17[210] (Silver)

Siegen 1970
10/13[211] (Silver)
Fourth
Silver
Fourth
Fischer at the age of 17 playing

against 23-year-old World Champion
Mikhail Tal in Leipzig
Out of four Men's Chess Olympiad's, Fischer scored +407=18, for 49/65:
75.4%.[212][213] In 1966, Fischer narrowly missed the individual gold medal, scoring 88.23% to World Champion
Tigran Petrosian's 88.46%, even though he played four games more than Petrosian, faced stiffer opposition,[214] and
would have won the gold if he had accepted Florin Gheorghiu's draw offer, rather than declining it and suffering his only
loss.[215]
At the 1962 Varna Olympiad, "Fischer met Argentina's famed Miguel Najdorf, and like Babe Ruth's famed three home
run prediction, Bobby made one relative to the Argentinian. He said he would beat him in twenty-five moves; he did it
in twenty-four, accounting for Najdorf's only loss of the tournament".[216] Ironically, Najdorf lost the game whilst
employing the very opening variation named after him: the Sicilian Najdorf.[217]
Fischer had planned to play for the U.S. at the 1968 Lugano Olympiad, but backed out when he saw the poor playing
conditions.[218] Both former World Champion Tigran Petrosian and Belgian-American International Master George
Koltanowski, the "leader of the American team" that year, felt that Fischer was "justified" in not participating in the
Olympiad.[219] According to Lombardy, Fischer's non-participation was due to Reshevsky's refusal to "yield first
board".[220]
196061
In 1960, Fischer tied for first place with Soviet star Boris Spassky at the strong Mar del Plata Tournament in
Argentina, winning by a two-point margin, scoring 13/15 (+131=1),[221][222] ahead of David Bronstein.[223] Fischer
lost only to Spassky; this was the start of their lifelong friendship.[224]
Fischer experienced the only failure in his competitive career[225] at the Buenos Aires Tournament (1960), finishing with
8/19 (+35=11), far behind winners Viktor Korchnoi and Samuel Reshevsky with 13/19.[226] According to Larry
Evans, Fischer's first sexual experience was with a girl to whom Evans introduced him during the tournament.[227][228]
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Pal Benko says that Fischer did horribly in the tournament "because he got caught up in women and sex. Afterwards,
Fischer said he'd never mix women and chess together, and kept the promise".[229] Fischer concluded 1960 by winning
a small tournament in Reykjavk with 4/5,[230] and defeating Klaus Darga in an exhibition game in West Berlin.[231]
In 1961, Fischer started a 16-game match with Reshevsky, split between New York and Los Angeles.[232]
Reshevsky, 32 years Fischer's senior, was considered the favorite, since he had far more match experience and had
never lost a set match.[233] After 11 games and a tie score (two wins apiece with seven draws), the match ended
prematurely due to a scheduling dispute between Fischer and match organizer and sponsor Jacqueline
Piatigorsky.[234][235] Reshevsky was declared the winner, by default, and received the winner's share of the prize
fund.[236]
Fischer was second in a super-class field, behind only former World Champion Tal at Bled, 1961.[237] Yet, Fischer
defeated Tal head-to-head for the first time in their individual game, scored 3/4 against the Soviet contingent, and
finished as the only unbeaten player, with 13/19 (+80=11).[238][239]
1962: success, setback, accusations of collusion

Fischer won the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal by a 2-point margin,[240] going undefeated, with 17/22
(+130=9).[241][242] He was the first non-Soviet player to win an Interzonal since FIDE instituted the tournament in
1948.[243] Russian grandmaster Alexander Kotov said of Fischer:[244]
I have discussed Fischer's play with Max Euwe and Gideon Stahlberg. All of us, experienced 'tournament
old-timers', were surprised by Fischer's endgame expertise. When a young player is good at attacking or
at combinations, this is understandable, but a faultless endgame technique at the age of 19 is something
rare. I can recall only one other player who at that age was equally skillful at endgames Vasily
Smyslov.
Fischer's victory made him a favorite for the Candidates Tournament in Curaao.[245][246] Yet, he finished fourth out of
eight with 14/27 (+87=12),[247] far behind Tigran Petrosian (17/27), Efim Geller, and Paul Keres (both 17/27).[248]
Tal fell very ill during the tournament, and had to withdraw before completion. Fischer, a friend of Tal, was the only
contestant who visited him in the hospital.[249]
Accuses Soviets of collusion

Following his failure[250] in the 1962 Candidates, Fischer asserted, in an August 1962 Sports Illustrated article,
entitled The Russians Have Fixed World Chess, that three of the five Soviet players (Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres,
and Efim Geller) had a prearranged agreement to quickly draw their games against each other in order to conserve their
energy for playing against Fischer, and that a fourth, Viktor Korchnoi, had been forced to deliberately lose games to
ensure that a Soviet player won the tournament. It is generally thought that the former accusation is correct, but not the
latter.[251][252] Fischer stated that he would never again participate in a Candidates' tournament, since the format,
combined with the alleged collusion, made it impossible for a non-Soviet player to win. Following Fischer's article,
FIDE, in late 1962, voted a radical reform of the playoff system, replacing the Candidates' tournament with a format of
one-on-one knockout matches; the format that Fischer would dominate in 1971.[253][254]
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Fischer defeated Bent Larsen in a summer 1962 exhibition game in Copenhagen for Danish TV. Later that year,
Fischer beat Bogdan liwa in a team match against Poland in Warsaw.[255]
In the 196263 U.S. Championship, Fischer experienced his first single-game loss (to Edmar Mednis) in round one.
Bisguier was in excellent form, and Fischer caught up to him only at the end. Tied at 73, the two met in the final round.
Bisguier stood well in the middlegame, but blundered, handing Fischer his fifth consecutive U.S. championship.[256]
Religious affiliation
Although Fischer's mother was Jewish, Fischer disavowed having Jewish roots.[257] In an interview in the January 1962
issue of Harper's, Fischer was quoted as saying, "I read a book lately by Nietzsche and he says religion is just to dull
the senses of the people. I agree".[258][259]
Fischer joined the Worldwide Church of God in the mid-1960s. The church prescribed Saturday Sabbath, and
forbade work (and competitive chess) on Sabbath.[260] During the mid 1970s Fischer contributed significant money to
the Worldwide Church of God.[261] In 1972 one journalist stated that "Fischer is almost as serious about religion as he
is about chess", and the champion credited his faith with greatly improving his chess.[262] Yet, prophecies by Herbert
W. Armstrong went unfulfilled,[263] and the church was rocked by revelations of a series of sex scandals involving
Garner Ted Armstrong.[264] Fischer eventually left the church in 1977, "accusing it of being 'Satanic,' and vigorously
attacking its methods and leadership".[265]
Semi-retirement in the mid-1960s

Influenced by ill will over the aborted 1961 match against Reshevsky, Fischer declined an invitation to play in the 1963
Piatigorsky Cup tournament in Los Angeles, which had a world-class field.[266] He instead played in the Western Open
in Bay City, Michigan, which he won with 7/8.[267][268] In AugustSeptember 1963, Fischer won the New York
State Championship at Poughkeepsie, with 7/7, his first perfect score,[269] "ahead of Bisguier and Sherwin".[270]
In the 196364 U.S. Championship, Fischer achieved his second perfect score, this time against the top-ranked chess
players in the country: "This tournament became, as they say, the stuff of legend. The fact that Fischer won his sixth
U.S. title was no surprise. The way he did it was spectacular".[199] "One by one Fischer mowed down the opposition
as he cut an 110 swathe through the field, to demonstrate convincingly to the opposition that he was now in a class by
himself".[266] This result brought Fischer heightened fame, including a profile in Life magazine.[271] Sports Illustrated
diagrammed each of the 11 games in its article, "The Amazing Victory Streak of Bobby Fischer".[272] Such extensive
chess coverage was groundbreaking for the top American sports' magazine. His 110 win in the 196364
Championship is the only perfect score in the history of the tournament,[273][274] and one of about ten perfect scores in
high-level chess tournaments ever.[275][276][277] David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld called it "the most remarkable
achievement of this kind".[275] Fischer recalls:[278]
Motivated by my lopsided result (110!), Dr. [Hans] Kmoch congratulated [Larry] Evans (the runner up)
on "winning" the tournament... and then he congratulated me on "winning the exhibition."
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International Master Anthony Saidy recalled his last round encounter with the undefeated Fischer:[279]
Going into the final game I certainly did not expect to upset Fischer. I hardly knew the opening but played
simply, and he went along with the scenario, opting for a N-v-B [i.e., Knight vs. Bishop] endgame with a
minimal edge. In the corridor, Evans said to me, 'Good. Show him we're not all children.'
At adjournment, Saidy saw a way to force a draw, yet "sealed a different, wrong move", and lost. "The rest is
history".[279] "Chess publications around the world wrote of the unparalleled achievement. Only Bent Larsen, always a
Fischer detractor, was unimpressed: 'Fischer was playing against children' ".[280]
Fischer, eligible as U.S. Champion, decided against his participation in the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal, taking himself
out of the 1966 World Championship cycle,[281] even after FIDE changed the format of the eight-player Candidates
Tournament from a round-robin to a series of knockout matches, which eliminated the possibility of collusion.[271]
Instead, Fischer embarked on a tour of the United States and Canada from February through May, playing a
simultaneous exhibition, and giving a lecture in each of more than 40 cities.[282] His 94% winning percentage over more
than 2,000 games is one of the best ever achieved.[283] Fischer declined an invitation to play for the U.S. in the 1964
Olympiad in Tel Aviv.[284]
Successful return
Fischer wanted to play in the Capablanca Memorial Tournament, Havana in August and September 1965.[285] Since
the State Department refused to endorse Fischer's passport as valid for visiting Cuba,[286] he proposed, and the
tournament officials and players accepted, a unique arrangement: Fischer played his moves from a room at the Marshall
Chess Club, which were then transmitted by teleprinter to Cuba.[287][288][289][290] Ludk Pachman observed that
Fischer "was handicapped by the longer playing session resulting from the time wasted in transmitting the moves, and
that is one reason why he lost to three of his chief rivals".[291] The tournament was an "ordeal" for Fischer, who had to
endure eight-hour and sometimes even twelve-hour playing sessions.[292] Despite the handicap, Fischer tied for second
through fourth places, with 15/21 (+123=6),[293] behind former World Champion Vasily Smyslov, whom Fischer
defeated in their individual game.[291] The tournament received extensive media coverage.[294][295]
In December, Fischer won his seventh U.S. Championship (1965), with the score of 8/11 (+82=1),[296] despite
losing to Robert Byrne and Reshevsky in the eighth and ninth rounds.[297][298] Fischer also reconciled with Mrs.
Piatigorsky, accepting an invitation to the very strong second Piatigorsky Cup (1966) tournament in Santa Monica.
Fischer began disastrously and after eight rounds was tied for last with 3/8. He then staged "the most sensational
comeback in the history of grandmaster chess", scoring 7/8 in the next eight rounds. In the end, World Chess
Championship finalist Boris Spassky edged him out by a half point, scoring 11/18 to Fischer's 11/18
(+73=8).[299][300] Now aged 23, Fischer would win every match or tournament he completed for the rest of his
life.[301]
Fischer won the U.S. Championship (196667) for the eighth and final time, ceding only three draws
(+80=3),[302][303] In MarchApril and AugustSeptember, Fischer won strong tournaments at Monte Carlo, with 7/9
(+61=2),[304] and Skopje, with 13/17 (+122=3).[305][306] In the Philippines, Fischer played nine exhibition games
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against master opponents, scoring 8/9.[307]
Withdraws while leading Interzonal

Fischer's win in the 196667 U.S. Championship qualified him for the next World Championship cycle.[296] At the
1967 Sousse Interzonal, Fischer scored 8 points in the first 10 games, to lead the field. His observance of the
Worldwide Church of God's seventh-day Sabbath was honored by the organizers, but deprived Fischer of several rest
days, which led to a scheduling dispute,[308] causing Fischer to forfeit two games in protest and later withdraw,
eliminating himself from the 1969 World Championship cycle.[309] Since Fischer had completed less than half of his
scheduled games, all of his results were annulled, meaning players who had played Fischer had those games cancelled,
and the scores nullified from the official tournament record.[253]
Second semi-retirement
In 1968, Fischer won tournaments at Netanya, with 11/13 (+100=3),[310] and Vinkovci, with 11/13
(+90=4),[311] by large margins.[312] Fischer then stopped playing for the next 18 months, except for a win against
Anthony Saidy in a 1969 New York Metropolitan League team match.[313][314] That year, Fischer (assisted by
grandmaster Larry Evans) released his second book of collected games: My 60 Memorable Games, published by
Simon & Schuster. The book "was an immediate success".[315]
World Champion
In 1970, Fischer began a new effort to become World Champion. His dramatic march toward the title made him a
household name and made chess front-page news for a time. He won the title in 1972, but forfeited it three years later.
Road to the World Championship

The 1969 U.S. Championship was also a zonal qualifier, with the top three finishers advancing to the Interzonal.
Fischer, however, had sat out the U.S. Championship because of disagreements about the tournament's format and
prize fund. Benko, one of the three qualifiers, agreed to give up his spot in the Interzonal in order to give Fischer
another shot at the World Championship.[316][317][318][319] "When it was suggested to Fischer that Benko was
considering the gesture based on a large sum of money to be paid to him, Bobby replied that Benko would not give up
his berth for money alone. It was a matter of honor".[320][321] "Lombardy, who was next in line with the right to
participate, was queried as to whether he would also step aside. 'I would like to play,' he answered, 'but Fischer should
have the chance.' "[320]
Before the Interzonal, in March and April 1970, the world's best players competed in the USSR vs. Rest of the World
match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, often referred to as "the Match of the Century." Fischer allowed Bent Larsen of
Denmark to play first board for the Rest of the World team in light of Larsen's recent outstanding tournament results,
even though Fischer had the higher Elo rating.[322][323] The USSR team eked out a 2019 victory, but on second
board "Fischer was the high scorer for his team, with a 31 score against Petrosian (two wins and two draws)".[324]
After the USSR versus the Rest of the World Match, the unofficial World Championship of Lightning Chess (5-minute
games) was held at Herceg Novi. "[The Russians] figured on teaching Fischer a lesson and on bringing him down a peg
or two".[325] Petrosian and Tal were considered the favorites,[326] but Fischer overwhelmed the super-class field with
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19/22 (+171=4), far ahead of Tal

(14), Korchnoi (14), Petrosian
(13), and Bronstein (13).[326][327]
Fischer lost only one game (to
Korchnoi, who was also the only
player to achieve an even score
against him in the double round robin
tournament).[328][329] Fischer "crushed
such blitz kings as Tal, Petrosian and
Vasily Smyslov by a clean score".[330]
Tal marveled that, "During the entire
tournament he didn't leave a single
pawn en prise!", while the other
players "blundered knights and
bishops galore".[330][331] For
Lombardy, whom Bobby had played
many blitz games with,[332] Fischer's
4-point margin of victory "came as a
pleasant surprise".[333]
Bobby Fischer's scoresheet from his round 3 game against Miguel Najdorf in
the 1970 Chess Olympiad in Siegen, Germany
In AprilMay 1970, Fischer won at Rovinj/Zagreb with 13/17

(+101=6), by a two-point margin, ahead of Gligori, Hort, Korchnoi,
Smyslov, and Petrosian.[334][335] In JulyAugust, Fischer crushed the
mostly grandmaster field at Buenos Aires, winning by a 3-point
margin, scoring 15/17 (+130=4).[336] Fischer then played first board
for the U.S. Team in the 19th Chess Olympiad in Siegen, where he won
an individual Silver medal, scoring 10/13 (+81=4),[211] with his only
loss being to World Champion Boris Spassky.[337] Right after the
Olympiad, Fischer defeated Ulf Andersson in an exhibition game for the
Swedish newspaper Expressen.[338] Fischer had taken his game to a
new level.[339]
Fischer won the Interzonal (held in Palma de Mallorca in November
and December 1970) with 18/23 (+151=7),[340] far ahead of
Larsen, Efim Geller, and Robert Hbner, with 15/23.[341][342] Fischer
finished the tournament with seven consecutive wins.[343][344] Setting
aside the Sousse Interzonal (which Fischer withdrew from while
leading), Fischer's victory gave him a string of eight consecutive first
Fischer in Belgrade for the USSR vs Rest
of the World match in 1970.
prizes in tournaments.[318] Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik

was not, however, impressed by Fischer's results, stating: "Fischer has
been declared a genius. I do not agree with this... In order to rightly be
declared a genius in chess, you have to defeat equal opponents by a big
margin. As yet he has not done this".[345] Despite Botvinnik's remarks,
"Fischer began a miraculous year in the history of chess".[346]

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In the 1971 Candidates matches, Fischer was set to play against Soviet grandmaster and concert pianist[347] Mark
Taimanov in the quarter-finals. "Their match was to begin in May 1971 in Vancouver, Canada, on the beautiful campus
of the University of British Columbia".[348] "Analysts and players alike predicted that Fischer would win the
Candidates, but not without a struggle. Tal predicted that Fischer would win 54 against Taimanov".[348] "[Fischer]
saw himself as the firm favorite in the Taimanov match. He was not alone; the noncommunist press was of the same
mind. Only Taimanov insisted that he could win, dismissing Fischer as a mere computer".[349] Taimanov had reason to
be confident. He was backed by the firm guidance of Botvinnik, who "had thoroughly analysed Fischer's record and
put together a 'dossier' on him", from when he was in talks to play Fischer in a match "a couple of years earlier".[350]
After Fischer defeated Taimanov in the second game of the match, Taimanov asked Fischer how he managed to come
up with the move 12. N1c3, to which Fischer replied "that the idea was not hishe had come across it in the
monograph by the Soviet master Alexander Nikitin in a footnote".[351] Taimanov said of this: "It is staggering that I, an
expert on the Sicilian, should have missed this theoretically significant idea by my compatriot, while Fischer had
uncovered it in a book in a foreign language!"[352] With the score at 40, in Fischer's favor, the fifth game adjournment
was a sight to behold.[353] Schonberg explains the scene:[325]
Taimanov came to Vancouver with two seconds, both grandmasters. Fischer was alone. He thought that
the sight of Taimanov and his seconds was the funniest thing he had ever seen. There Taimanov and his
seconds would sit, six hands flying, pocket sets waving in the air, while variations were being spouted all
over the place. And there sat Taimanov with a confused look on his face. Just before resuming play [in the
fifth game] the seconds were giving Taimanov some last-minute advice. When poor Taimanov entered the
playing room and sat down to confront Fischer, his head was so full of conflicting continuations that he
became rattled, left a Rook en prise and immediately resigned.
Fischer beat Taimanov by the score of 60.[354] "The record books showed that the only comparable achievement to
the 60 score against Taimanov was Wilhelm Steinitz's 70 win against Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1876 in an era of
more primitive defensive technique".[355] "It is difficult to portray to non-chess players the magnitude of such a shutout.
A typical result between well-matched players might be, say, six wins to four, with nine draws".[356] Upon losing the
final game of the match, Taimanov shrugged his shoulders, saying sadly to Fischer: "Well, I still have my music".[357] As
a result of his performance, Taimanov "was thrown out of the USSR team and forbidden to travel for two years. He
was banned from writing articles, was deprived of his monthly stipend... [and] the authorities prohibited him from
performing on the concert platform".[358] "The crushing loss virtually ended Taimanov's chess career".[359] Fischer was
next scheduled to play against Danish grandmaster Bent Larsen. "Spassky predicted a tight struggle: 'Larsen is a little
stronger in spirit.' "[360] Before the match, Botvinnik had told a Soviet television audience:[361]
It is hard to say how their match will end, but it is clear that such an easy victory as in Vancouver [against
Taimanov] will not be given to Fischer. I think Larsen has unpleasant surprises in store for [Fischer], all
the more since having dealt with Taimanov thus, Fischer will want to do just the same to Larsen and this is
impossible.
Fischer beat Larsen by the score of 60.[362] Robert Byrne writes: "It is out of the question for me to explain how
Bobby, how anyone, could win six games in a row from such a genius of the game as Bent Larsen".[363] Just a year
before, Larsen had played first board for the Rest of the World team ahead of Fischer, and had handed Fischer his
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only loss at the Interzonal. Garry Kasparov later wrote that no player had ever shown a superiority over his rivals
comparable to Fischer's "incredible" 120 score in the two matches.[364] Chess statistician Jeff Sonas concludes that
the victory over Larsen gave Fischer the "highest single-match performance rating ever".[365]
In August 1971, while preparing for his last Candidates match with former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, Fischer
played a strong lightning event at the Manhattan Chess Club, winning with 21/22.[327]
Despite Fischer's results against Taimanov and Larsen, his upcoming match against Petrosian seemed a daunting
task.[366] Nevertheless, the Soviet government was concerned about Fischer.[367][368] "Reporters asked Petrosian
whether the match would last the full twelve games... 'It might be possible that I win it earlier,' Petrosian replied",[369]
and then stated: "Fischer's [nineteen consecutive] wins do not impress me. He is a great chess player but no
genius".[370] Petrosian played a strong theoretical novelty in the first game, gaining the advantage, but Fischer eventually
won the game after Petrosian faltered.[371][372][373] This gave Fischer a run of 20 consecutive wins against the world's
top players (in the Interzonal and Candidates matches), a winning streak topped only by Steinitz's 25 straight wins in
187382.[374] Petrosian won the second game, finally snapping Fischer's streak.[375] After three consecutive draws,
Fischer swept the next four games to win the match 62 (+51=3).[376] Sports Illustrated ran an article on the
match, highlighting Fischer's domination of Petrosian as being due to Petrosian's outdated system of preparation:[377]
Fischer's recent record raises the distinct possibility that he has made a breakthrough in modern chess
theory. His response to Petrosian's elaborately plotted 11th move in the first game is an example: Russian
experts had worked on the variation for weeks, yet when it was thrown at Fischer suddenly, he faced its
consequences alone and won by applying simple, classic principles.
Upon completion of the match, Petrosian remarked: "After the sixth game Fischer really did become a genius. I on the
other hand, either had a breakdown or was tired, or something else happened, but the last three games were no longer
chess".[378][379] "Some experts kept insisting that Petrosian was off form, and that he should have had a plus score at
the end of the sixth game..." to which Fischer replied "'People have been playing against me below strength for fifteen
years' "[380] Fischer's match results befuddled Botvinnik: "It is hard to talk about Fischer's matches. Since the time that
he has been playing them, miracles have begun".[381] "When Petrosian played like Petrosian, Fischer played like a very
strong grandmaster, but when Petrosian began making mistakes, Fischer was transformed into a genius".[381]
Fischer gained a far higher rating than any player in history up to that time.[382] On the July 1972 FIDE rating list, his
Elo rating of 2785 was 125 points above (World No. 2) Spassky's rating of 2660.[383][384][385] His results put him on
the cover of Life magazine,[386] and allowed him to challenge World Champion Boris Spassky, whom he had never
beaten (+03=2).[387][388]
World Championship match

Fischer's career-long stubbornness about match and tournament conditions was again seen in the run-up to his match
with Spassky. Of the possible sites, Fischer's first choice was Belgrade, Yugoslavia, while Spassky's was Reykjavk,
Iceland.[389] For a time it appeared that the dispute would be resolved by splitting the match between the two
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locations, but that arrangement failed.[390] After that issue was resolved, Fischer refused to appear in Iceland until the
prize fund was increased. London financier Jim Slater donated an additional US$125,000, bringing the prize fund up to
an unprecedented $250,000 ($1,393,283.49 in 2013),[391] and Fischer finally agreed to play.[392]
Before and during the match, Fischer paid special attention to his physical training and fitness, which was a relatively
novel approach for top chess players at that time. He had developed his
tennis skills to a good level, and played frequently during off-days in
Reykjavk. He also had arranged for exclusive use of his hotel's swimming
pool during specified hours, and swam for extended periods, usually late at
night.[393] According to Soviet grandmaster Nikolai Krogius, Fischer "was
paying great attention to sport, and that he was swimming and even
boxing..."[394]
The match took place in Reykjavk from July through September 1972.[395]
Fischer lost the first two games in strange fashion: the first when he played a
risky pawn-grab in a drawn endgame, the second by forfeit when he refused
to play the game in a dispute over playing conditions.[396] Fischer would
likely have forfeited the entire match, but Spassky, not wanting to win by
default, yielded to Fischer's demands to move the next game to a back
room, away from the cameras whose presence had upset Fischer.[397][398]
After that game, the match was moved back to the stage and proceeded
without further serious incident. Fischer won seven of the next 19 games,
losing only one and drawing eleven, to win the match 128 and become
the 11th World Chess Champion.[395]
Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972, on a

visit to discuss the World Chess
Championship details with the then
FIDE president Max Euwe
The Cold War trappings made the match a media sensation.[399] It was
called "The Match of the Century",[400][401][402] and received front-page
media coverage in the United States and around the world.[403][404] Fischer's
win was an American victory in a field that Soviet players had dominated for
the previous quarter-century; players closely identified with, and subsidized
by, the Soviet state. Kasparov remarked, "Fischer fits ideologically into the
context of the Cold War era: a lone American genius challenges the Soviet
chess machine and defeats it".[405][406] Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman calls
Fischer's victory "the story of a lonely hero who overcomes an entire
empire".[407] Fischer's sister observed, "Bobby did all this in a country
almost totally without a chess culture. It was as if an Eskimo had cleared a
tennis court in the snow and gone on to win the world championship".[408]
Upon Fischer's return to New York,[409] a Bobby Fischer Day was
held.[410] He was offered numerous product endorsement offers worth "at
least $5 million" (all of which he declined).[411] He appeared on the cover of
Sports Illustrated[412] with American Olympic swimming champion Mark
Spitz. Fischer also made an appearance on a Bob Hope TV special.[413]
Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972
Membership in the U.S. Chess Federation doubled in 1972,[414] and peaked

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in 1974; in American chess, these years are commonly referred to as the "Fischer Boom". Fischer won the 'Chess
Oscar'[415] (an award, started in 1967, given to the best chess player, determined through votes from chess media and
leading players) for 1970, 1971, and 1972.[416]
Forfeiture of title
Fischer was scheduled to defend his title in 1975 against Anatoly Karpov, who emerged as his challenger.[417] Fischer,
who had played no competitive games since his World Championship match with Spassky, laid out a proposal for the
match in September 1973, in consultation with FIDE official Fred Cramer. He made three principal (non-negotiable)
demands:
1. The match continues until one player wins 10 games, draws not counting.
2. No limit to the total number of games played.
3. In case of a 99 score, the champion (Fischer) retains the title, and the prize fund is split equally.[418]
A FIDE Congress was held in 1974 during the Nice Olympiad. The delegates voted in favor of Fischer's 10-win
proposal, but rejected his other two proposals, and limited the number of games in the match to 36.[419] In response to
FIDE's ruling, Fischer sent a cable to Euwe on June 27, 1974.[420][421][422]
As I made clear in my telegram to the FIDE delegates, the match conditions I proposed were nonnegotiable. Mr. Cramer informs me that the rules of the winner being the first player to win ten games,
draws not counting, unlimited number of games and if nine wins to nine match is drawn with champion
regaining title and prize fund split equally were rejected by the FIDE delegates. By so doing FIDE has
decided against my participation in the 1975 World Chess Championship. Therefore, I resign my FIDE
World Chess Championship title. Sincerely, Bobby Fischer.
The delegates responded by reaffirming their prior decisions, but did not accept Fischer's resignation and requested
that he reconsider.[423] Many observers considered Fischer's requested 99 clause unfair because it would require the
challenger to win by at least two games (108).[424] Botvinnik (who had benefited from both draw odds, the right to an
automatic rematch while champion, and possibly also political intimidation of Paul Keres during the 1948 World
Championship tournament) called the 99 clause "unsporting".[425] Korchnoi, David Bronstein, and Lev Alburt
considered the 99 clause reasonable.[426][427][428]
Due to the continued efforts of U.S. Chess Association officials,[429] a special FIDE Congress was held in March 1975
in Oosterbeek, the Netherlands in which it was accepted that the match should be of unlimited duration, but the 99
clause was once again rejected, by a narrow margin of 35 votes to 32.[430] FIDE set a deadline of April 1, 1975, for
Fischer and Karpov to confirm their participation in the match. No reply was received from Fischer by April 3. Thus,
by default, Karpov officially became World Champion.[431] In his 1991 autobiography, Karpov professed regret that
the match had not taken place, and claimed that the lost opportunity to challenge Fischer held back his own chess
development. Karpov met with Fischer several times after 1975, in friendly but ultimately unsuccessful attempts to
arrange a match since Karpov would never agree to play to 10.[432]
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Brian Carney opined in The Wall Street Journal that Fischer's victory over Spassky in 1972 left him nothing to prove,
except that perhaps someone could someday beat him, and he was not interested in the risk of losing. And that
Fischer's refusal to recognize peers also allowed his paranoia to flower: "The world championship he won ... validated
his view of himself as a chess player, but it also insulated him from the humanizing influences of the world around him.
He descended into what can only be considered a kind of madness".[254]
Bronstein felt that Fischer "had the right to play the match with Karpov on his own conditions".[433] Korchnoi
stated:[434]
Was Fischer right in demanding that the world title be protected by a two point handicap that the
challenger would be considered the winner with a 108 score and that the champion would retain his title
in the event of a 99 draw? Yes, this was quite natural: the champion deserves this, not to mention the
fact that further play to the first win in the event of an even score would be nothing short of a lottery the
winner in that case could not claim to have won a convincing victory.
Soviet grandmaster Lev Alburt felt that the decision to not concede to Fischer's demands rested on Karpov's "sober
view of what he was capable of".[435]
Years later, in his 1992 match against Spassky, Fischer indicated to New York Times reporter Roger Cohen that he,
Fischer, was not the one who refused to play Karpov, rather that it was Karpov "who refused to play against me
[Fischer]".[436]
Sudden obscurity
After the 1972 World Chess Championship, Fischer did not play a competitive game in public for nearly 20 years.[437]
In 1977, he played three games in Cambridge, Massachusetts against the MIT Greenblatt computer program, winning
all of them.[438]
On May 26, 1981, while walking in Pasadena, Fischer was arrested by a police patrolman, allegedly because Fischer
matched the description of a man who had just committed a bank robbery in the area.[439] Fischer, who was slightly
injured during the arrest,[440] was held for two days, subjected to assault and various types of mistreatment,[441] and
released on $1000 bail.[442] Fischer published a 14-page pamphlet detailing his alleged experiences and saying that his
arrest had been "a frame up and set up".[443][444][445]
In 1981, Fischer stayed at the home of grandmaster Peter Biyiasas, where, over a period of four months, he beat
Biyiasas seventeen times in a series of speed games.[265][446] In an interview with Sports Illustrated reporter William
Nack, Biyiasas assessed Fischer's play:[445][447]
He was too good. There was no use in playing him. It wasn't interesting. I was getting beaten, and it
wasn't clear to me why. It wasn't like I made this mistake or that mistake. It was like I was being
gradually outplayed, from the start. He wasn't taking any time to think. The most depressing thing about it
is that I wasn't even getting out of the middle game to an endgame. I don't ever remember an endgame.
He honestly believes there is no one for him to play, no one worthy of him. I played him, and I can attest
to that.
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1992 Spassky rematch

Fischer emerged after twenty years of isolation to play Spassky (then tied for 96th102nd on the FIDE rating list) in a
"Revenge Match of the 20th century" in 1992. This match took place in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in spite
of a United Nations embargo that included sanctions on commercial activities. Fischer demanded that the organizers bill
the match as "The World Chess Championship", although Garry Kasparov was the recognized FIDE World
Champion. Fischer insisted he was still the true World Champion, and that for all the games in the FIDE-sanctioned
World Championship matches, involving Karpov, Korchnoi, and Kasparov, the outcomes had been prearranged.[448]
The purse for the rematch was US$5 million, with $3.35 million of the purse to go to the winner.[449] According to
grandmaster Andrew Soltis:[450]
[The match games] were of a fairly high quality, particularly when compared with Kasparov's
championship matches of 1993, 1995 and 2000, for example. Yet the games also reminded many fans of
how out of place Fischer was in 1992. He was still playing the openings of a previous generation. He was,
moreover, the only strong player in the world who didn't trust computers and wasn't surrounded by
seconds and supplicants.
Fischer won the match with 10 wins, 5 losses, and 15 draws.[451] Kasparov stated, "Bobby is playing OK, nothing
more. Maybe his strength is 2600 or 2650. It wouldn't be close between us".[452] Yasser Seirawan believed that the
match proved that Fischer's playing strength was "somewhere in the top ten in the world".[453]
Fischer and Spassky gave ten press conferences during the match.[454] Seirawan attended the match and met with
Fischer on several occasions; the two analyzed some match games and had personal discourse. Seirawan later wrote:
"After September 23 [1992], I threw most of what I'd ever read about Bobby out of my head. Sheer garbage. Bobby
is the most misunderstood, misquoted celebrity walking the face of the earth".[455] He further wrote that Fischer was
not camera shy, smiled and laughed easily, was "a fine wit" and "wholly enjoyable conversationalist".[456]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury warned Fischer before the start of the match that his participation was illegal, that
it would violate President George H. W. Bush's Executive Order 12810 imposing United Nations Security Council
Resolution 757 sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia.[457] In response, during the first
scheduled press conference on September 1, in front of the international press, Fischer spat on the U.S. order, saying
"this is my reply".[458] His violation of the order led U.S. Federal officials to initiate a warrant for his arrest upon
completion of the match,[459] citing, in pertinent part, "Title 50 USC 1701, 1702, and 1705 and Executive Order
12810".[460][461][462]
Prior to the rematch against Spassky, Fischer had won a training match against Svetozar Gligori in Sveti Stefan with
six wins, one loss and three draws.[463]
Life as an migr
After the 1992 match with Spassky, Fischer, now a fugitive, slid back into relative obscurity, taking up residence in
Budapest, Hungary, and allegedly having a relationship with young Hungarian chess master Zita Rajcsnyi.[464][465]
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Fischer claimed that standard chess was stale and that he now played blitz games of chess variants, such as Chess960.
He visited with the Polgr family in Budapest and analyzed many games with Judit, Zsuzsa, and Zsfia
Polgr.[466][467][468]
From 2000 to 2002, Fischer lived in Baguio City in the Philippines,[469] residing in the same compound as the Filipino
grandmaster Eugenio Torre, a close friend who acted as his second during his 1992 match with Spassky.[469] Torre
introduced Fischer to a 22-year-old woman named Marilyn Young.[470] On May 21, 2001 Marilyn Young gave birth
to a daughter named Jinky Young.[471][472] Her mother claimed that Jinky was Fischer's daughter, citing as evidence
Jinky's birth and baptismal certificates, photographs, a transaction record dated December 4, 2007 of a bank
remittance by Fischer to Jinky, and Jinky's DNA through her blood samples.[471][473][474] On the other hand, Magns
Sklason, a friend of Fischer's, said that he was certain that Fischer was not the girl's father.[475] On August 17, 2010,
it was reported that a DNA test revealed that Jinky Young was not the daughter of Bobby Fischer.[476][477]
Anti-semitic statements
Fischer made numerous anti-Jewish statements and professed a general hatred for Jews since at least the early
1960s.[259][478] Jan Hein Donner wrote that at the time of Bled 1961, "He idolized Hitler and read everything about
him that he could lay his hands on. He also championed a brand of anti-semitism that could only be thought up by a
mind completely cut off from reality".[225] Donner took Fischer to a war museum, which "left a great impression, since
[Fischer] is not an evil person, and afterwards he was more restrained in his remarksto me, at least".[225]
Although Fischer described his mother as Jewish in an article he wrote as a teenager,[259] he later denied his Jewish
ancestry.[30] In 1984, Fischer denied being a Jew in a letter to the Encyclopaedia Judaica, insisting that they remove
his name and accusing them of "fraudulently misrepresenting me to be a Jew [...] to promote your religion".[479]
From the 1980s on, Fischer's comments about Jews were a major theme in his public and private remarks.[480] He
openly denied the Holocaust, and called the United States "a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew
bastards".[481] Between 1999 and 2006, Fischer's primary means of communicating with the public was radio
interviews. He participated in at least 34 such broadcasts, mostly with radio stations in the Philippines, but also in
Hungary, Iceland, Colombia, and Russia. In 1999, he gave a radio call-in interview to a station in Budapest, Hungary,
during which he described himself as the "victim of an international Jewish conspiracy". In another radio interview,
Fischer said that it became clear to him in 1977, after reading The Secret World Government by Count CherepSpiridovich, that Jewish agencies were targeting him.[482] Fischer's sudden reemergence was apparently triggered when
some of his belongings, which had been stored in a Pasadena, California storage unit, were sold by the landlord who
claimed it was in response to nonpayment of rent.[483]
Fischer's library contained anti-semitic and racist literature such as Mein Kampf, The Protocols of the Elders of
Zion, and The White Man's Bible and Nature's Eternal Religion by Ben Klassen, founder of the Church of the
Creator.[484][485] A notebook written by Fischer contains sentiments such as "8/24/99 Death to the Jews. Just kill the
Motherfuckers!" and "12/13/99 It's time to start randomly killing Jews".[486] Despite his views, Fischer remained on
good terms with Jewish chess players.[487]
Anti-American and anti-Israel statements

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Shortly after midnight on September 12, 2001, Philippines local time (approximately four hours after the September
11, 2001 attacks in the U.S.), Fischer was interviewed live by Pablo Mercado on the Baguio City station of the
Bombo Radyo network. Fischer stated that he was happy that the airliner attacks had happened, while expressing his
view on U.S. and Israeli foreign policy, saying "I applaud the act. Look, nobody gets ... that the U.S. and Israel have
been slaughtering the Palestinians ... for years".[488][489][490][491] He also said "The horrible behavior that the U.S. is
committing all over the world ... This just shows you, that what goes around, comes around even for the United
States."[488][489] Fischer also referenced the movie Seven Days in May and said he hoped for a military coup d'tat in
the U.S., "[I hope] the country will be taken over by the military, they'll close down all the synagogues, arrest all the
Jews, execute hundreds of thousands of Jewish ringleaders".[492][493] In response to Fischer's statements about 9/11,
the U.S. Chess Federation passed a motion to evict him from its organization.[494]
Detention in Japan
Fischer lived for a time in Japan.[495] On July 13, 2004, acting in response to a letter from U.S. officials, he was
arrested by Japanese immigration authorities at Narita International Airport near Tokyo for allegedly using a revoked
U.S. passport while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight to Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila,
Philippines.[496] Fischer resisted arrest, claiming to have sustained bruises, cuts and a broken tooth in the process.[497]
At the time, Fischer had a passport (originally issued in 1997 and updated in 2003 to add more pages) that, according
to U.S. officials, had been revoked in November 2003 (due to his outstanding arrest warrant for the Yugoslavia
sanctions violation).[496] Despite the outstanding arrest warrant in the U.S., Fischer said that he believed the passport
was still valid.[498] The authorities held Fischer at a custody center for 16 days before transferring him to another
facility. Fischer claimed that his cell was windowless and he had not seen the light of day during that period, and that
the staff had ignored his complaints about constant tobacco smoke in his cell.[497]
Tokyo-based Canadian journalist and consultant John Bosnitch set up the "Committee to Free Bobby Fischer" after
meeting Fischer at Narita Airport and offering to assist him.[499] It was reported that Fischer and Miyoko Watai, the
President of the Japanese Chess Association (with whom he had reportedly been living since 2000) wanted to become
legally married.[496] (It was also reported that Fischer had been living in the Philippines with Marilyn Young during the
same period.[469]) Fischer applied for German citizenship on the grounds that his father was German.[500] Fischer
stated that he wanted to renounce his U.S. citizenship, and appealed to U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell to help
him do so, though to no effect.[501][502][503] Japan's Justice Minister rejected Fischer's request for asylum and ordered
him deported.[504]
Asylum in Iceland
Seeking ways to evade deportation to the United States, Fischer wrote a letter to the government of Iceland in early
January 2005, requesting Icelandic citizenship.[505] Sympathetic to Fischer's plight, but reluctant to grant him the full
benefits of citizenship, Icelandic authorities granted him an alien's passport. When this proved insufficient for the
Japanese authorities, Althing (the Icelandic Parliament) agreed unanimously to grant Fischer full citizenship in late
March for humanitarian reasons, as they felt he was being unjustly treated by the U.S. and Japanese governments,[506]
and also in recognition of his 1972 match, which had "put Iceland on the map".[507][508]
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After arriving in Reykjavk, Fischer gave a press conference.[509] Fischer lived a reclusive life in Iceland, avoiding
entrepreneurs and others who approached him with various proposals.[510] Fischer moved into an apartment in the
same building as his close friend and spokesman, Garar Sverrisson.[511] Sverrisson's wife, Kristn rarinsdttir, was
a nurse and later looked after Fischer as a terminally ill patient. Garar's two children, especially his son, were very
close to Fischer.[512] Fischer also developed a friendship with Magns Sklason, a psychiatrist and chess player who
later recalled long discussions with Fischer on a wide variety of subjects.[513]
On December 10, 2006, Fischer telephoned an Icelandic television station and pointed out a winning combination,
missed by the players and commentators.[514] In 2005, some of Fischer's belongings were auctioned on eBay. Fischer
claimed, in 2006, that those belongings were worth millions of U.S. dollars.[515][516]
Death, estate dispute, and exhumation

On January 17, 2008, Fischer died from degenerative renal failure at
the Landsptali Hospital (National University Hospital of Iceland) in
Reykjavk.[517][518][519][520] He originally had a urinary tract
blockage but refused surgery or medications.[521][522][523] Magns
Sklason reported Fischer's last words as "Nothing is as healing as
the human touch."[513][524]
On January 21, Fischer was buried in the small Christian cemetery of
Laugardlir church, outside the town of Selfoss, 60 km southeast of
Reykjavk, after a Catholic funeral presided over by Fr. Jakob
Rolland of the diocese of Reykjavk. In accordance with Fischer's
wishes, only Miyoko Watai, Garar Sverrisson, and Garar's family
were present.[525][526]
Fischer's grave
Church of
Laugardlir, Fischer's
resting place
Fischer's estate was estimated at 140 million ISK (about 1 million GBP, or $2 million USD). It quickly became the
object of a legal battle involving claims from four parties, with Miyoko Watai ultimately inheriting what remained of
Fischer's estate after government claims. The four parties were Fischer's apparent Japanese wife Miyoko Watai, his
alleged Philippine daughter Jinky Young and her mother Marilyn Young, his two American nephews Alexander and
Nicholas Targ and their father Russell Targ, and the U.S. government (claiming unpaid taxes).[475][513][527][528]
According to a press release issued by Samuel Estimo, an attorney representing Jinky Young, the Supreme Court of
Iceland ruled, in December 2009, that Watai's claim of marriage to Fischer was invalidated because of her failure to
present the original copy of their alleged marriage certificate.[529] On June 16, 2010, the Court ruled in favor of a
petition on behalf of Jinky Young to have Bobby Fischer's remains exhumed.[530][531] The exhumation was performed
on July 5, 2010, in the presence of a doctor, a priest, and other officials. A DNA sample was taken and Fischer's body
was then reburied.[532] On August 17, 2010, the Court announced that based on the DNA sample it was determined
that Fischer was not the father of Jinky Young.[476][477] On March 3, 2011, an Icelandic district court ruled that
Miyoko Watai and Fischer had married on September 6, 2004,[533] and that, as Fischer's widow and heir, Watai was
therefore entitled to inherit Fischer's estate.[534] Fischer's nephews were ordered to pay Watai's legal costs, amounting
to ISK 6.6 million (approximately $57,000).[533]
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Contributions to chess
Opening theory
For most of his career, Fischer was predictable in his use of openings and variations of those openings. Despite this
seeming disadvantage, it was very difficult for opponents to exploit this limitation, because Fischer's knowledge of the
openings and variations that he used was extensive.[535]
As Black, Fischer would usually play the Najdorf Sicilian against 1. e4, and the King's Indian Defense against 1. d4,
only rarely venturing into the Nimzo-Indian Defense (1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4).[536] As White, Fischer almost
exclusively played 1. e4 throughout his career.[537]
Fischer was a master of playing with,[538] and against,[539] the Sicilian Defense. The next most common defense against
Fischer's 1. e4 was the Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6), to which Fischer had a good record.[540] Fischer's worst
record was against the French Defense (1.e4 e6),[541] especially the Winawer Variation (1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3
Bb4).[542] Fischer maintained that the Winawer was unsound because it exposed Black's kingside, and that, in his
view, "Black was trading off his good bishop with 3...Bb4 and ...Bxc3".[543] Later on Fischer said: "I may yet be
forced to admit that the Winawer is sound. But I doubt it! The defense is anti-positional and weakens the K-side".[544]
Fischer was renowned for his opening preparation and made numerous contributions to chess opening theory.[545] He
was one of the foremost experts on the Ruy Lopez.[546] A line of the Exchange Variation (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5
a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6 5.0-0) is sometimes called the "Fischer Variation" after he successfully resurrected it at the 1966
Havana Olympiad.[547][548] Fischer's lifetime score with the move 5.0-0 in tournament and match games was eight
wins, three draws, and no losses: (86.36%).[549]
Fischer was a recognized expert in the black side of the Najdorf Sicilian and the King's Indian Defense.[550] He used
the Grnfeld Defence and Neo-Grnfeld Defence to win his celebrated games against Donald and Robert Byrne, and
played a theoretical novelty in the Grnfeld against reigning World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, refuting Botvinnik's
prepared analysis over-the-board.[551][552] In the Nimzo-Indian Defense, the line beginning with 1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6
3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 5.Ne2 Ba6 was named after him.[553][554][555]
Fischer established the viability of the so-called Poisoned Pawn Variation of the Najdorf Sicilian (1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6
3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bg5 e6 7.f4 Qb6). This bold queen sortie, to snatch a pawn at the expense of
development, had been considered dubious,[556][557][558] but Fischer succeeded in proving its soundness.[559] Out of
ten tournament and match games as Black in the Poisoned Pawn, Fischer scored 70%, winning five, drawing four, and
losing only one: the 11th game of his 1972 match against Spassky.[560] Following Fischer's use, the Poisoned Pawn
Variation became a respected line, utilized by many of the world's leading players.[561]
On the white side of the Sicilian, Fischer made advances to the theory of the line beginning 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4
cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 (or e6) 6.Bc4,[559][562] which has sometimes been named after him.[563] In 1961,
prompted by a loss the year before to Spassky,[564] Fischer wrote an article entitled "A Bust to the King's Gambit" for
the first issue of the American Chess Quarterly, in which he stated, "In my opinion, the King's Gambit is busted. It
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loses by force".[565] Fischer recommended 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6,[566] which has since become known as the
Fischer Defense, as a refutation to the King's Gambit.[567][568][569] Fischer later played the King's Gambit as White in
three tournament games, winning them all.[570]
Endgame
Fischer had excellent endgame technique.[571] International Master Jeremy Silman listed him as one of the five best
endgame players (along with Emanuel Lasker, Akiba Rubinstein, Jos Capablanca, and Vasily Smyslov), calling
Fischer a "master of bishop endings".[572] The endgame of a rook, bishop, and pawns against a rook, knight, and
pawns has sometimes been called the "Fischer Endgame" because of several instructive wins by Fischer (with the
bishop), including three against Mark Taimanov in 1970 and 1971.[573][574][575]
Fischer clock
In 1988, Fischer filed for U.S. Patent 4,884,255 (https://www.google.com/patents/US4884255) for a new type of
chess clock, which gave each player a fixed period at the start of the game and then added a small increment after each
completed move.[576] Used in the 1992 rematch between Fischer and Spassky,[577][578] the "Fischer clock" soon
became standard in most major chess tournaments.[579]
Fischerandom Chess
Fischer heavily disparaged chess as it was currently being played (at the highest levels).[580] As a result, on June 19,
1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fischer announced and advocated a variant of chess called Fischerandom Chess
(later known as Chess960). The goal of Fischerandom Chess was to ensure that a game between two players is a
contest between their understandings of chess, rather than their abilities to memorize opening lines or prepare opening
strategies.[581]
In a 2006 Icelandic Radio interview, Fischer explained his reasons for advocating Fischerandom Chess:[582]
In chess so much depends on opening theory, so the champions before the last century did not know as
much as I do and other players do about opening theory. So if you just brought them back from the dead
they wouldnt do well. Theyd get bad openings. You cannot compare the playing strength, you can only
talk about natural ability. Memorisation is enormously powerful. Some kid of fourteen today, or even
younger, could get an opening advantage against Capablanca, and especially against the players of the
previous century, like Morphy and Steinitz. Maybe they would still be able to outplay the young kid of
today. Or maybe not, because nowadays when you get the opening advantage not only do you get the
opening advantage, you know how to play, they have so many examples of what to do from this
position... and that is why I dont like chess any more... It is all just memorization and prearrangement...
Legacy
Kasparov calls Fischer "perhaps the most mythologically shrouded figure in chess".[583] Some leading players and
some of Fischer's biographers have ranked him as the greatest player who ever lived.[584] Other writers have said that
he was arguably the greatest player ever, without reaching a definitive conclusion.[585] Leonard Barden wrote, "Most
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experts place him the second or third best ever, behind Kasparov but probably ahead of Karpov".[246]
Some grandmasters compared Fischer's play to that of a computer;[586][587] a player without noticeable
weaknesses.[588]
Although international ratings were just introduced in 1970, Chessmetrics (a website that uses algorithms to rank
performances retrospectively and uniformly throughout chess history) determined that Fischer's peak rating was 2895
in October 1971the highest in history. His one-year peak (1971) average was 2881, the highest of all time. His
three-year peak average was 2867, from January 1971 to December 1973the second highest ever, just behind
Garry Kasparov. Fischer was ranked as the number one player in the world for a total of 109 different months, running
(not consecutively) from February 1964 until July 1974.[589]
Fischer's great rival Mikhail Tal praised him as "the greatest genius to have descended from the chess heavens".[590]
American grandmaster Arthur Bisguier wrote "Robert James Fischer is one of the few people in any sphere of
endeavour who has been accorded the accolade of being called a legend in his own time".[591] Former World
Champion Tigran Petrosian stated that Fischer put more time into chess than the entire Soviet team.[592]
Biographers David Edmonds and John Eidinow wrote:[593]
Faced with Fischer's extraordinary coolness, his opponents [sic] assurance would begin to disintegrate. A
Fischer move, which at first glances looked weak, would be reassessed. It must have a deep master plan
behind it, undetectable by mere mortals (more often than not they were right, it did). The U.S.
grandmaster Robert Byrne labeled the phenomenon "Fischer-fear." Grandmasters would wilt, their suits
would crumple, sweat would glisten on their brows, panic would overwhelm their nervous systems. Errors
would creep in. Calculations would go awry. There was talk among grandmasters that Fischer hypnotized
his opponents, that he undermined their intellectual powers with a dark, mystic, insidious force.
Kasparov wrote that Fischer "became the detonator of an avalanche of new chess ideas, a revolutionary whose
revolution is still in progress".[594] In January 2009, reigning World Champion Viswanathan Anand described him as
"the greatest chess player who ever lived".[595] Serbian grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojevi called Fischer, "A man
without frontiers. He didn't divide the East and the West, he brought them together in their admiration of him".[510]
German grandmaster Karsten Mller wrote:[2]
Fischer, who had taken the highest crown almost singlehandedly from the mighty, almost invincible Soviet
chess empire, shook the whole world, not only the chess world, to its core. He started a chess boom not
only in the United States and in the Western hemisphere, but worldwide. Teaching chess or playing chess
as a career had truly become a respectable profession. After Bobby, the game was simply not the same.
Fischer was a charter inductee into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C. in 1985. After routing Taimanov,
Larsen, and Petrosian in 1971, Fischer achieved a then-record Elo rating of 2785.[383][384] After beating Spassky by
the score 128 in their 1972 match, his rating dropped to 2780.[384]
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St. Louis philanthropist Rex Sinquefield offered a $64,000 Fischer Memorial Prize for any player who could win all
nine of their games at the 2009 U.S. Chess Championship. By the fifth day of the championship, all 24 participants
became ineligible for the prize, having drawn or lost at least one game.[596]
Internet Bobby Fischer theory

There were rumors that Fischer was playing on the online chess platform Internet Chess Club.[597] In 2001, Nigel
Short wrote in The Sunday Telegraph chess column that he believed he had been secretly playing Fischer on ICC in
speed chess matches.[598][599]
National Masters R.O. Mitchell[600] and Lionel Davis[601] both claimed to have played Fischer on ICC,[602] with
Mitchell providing his alleged conversation with the supposed Fischer.[603] Chessbase.com did a study where they
concluded that the user was more likely a hoax, and not the real Bobby Fischer.[604]
Bobby Fischer on film

In 2011 documentary film-maker Liz Garbus released Bobby Fischer Against the World, which explores the life of
Fischer, with interviews from Garry Kasparov, Anthony Saidy, and many other chess champions.
In late 2015 the American biographical film Pawn Sacrifice is due to be released, starring Tobey Maguire as Fischer,
with Liev Schreiber as Boris Spassky, and Lily Rabe as Joan Fischer.
In popular culture
The musical Chess, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Bjrn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, tells the story of
two chess champions, referred to only as "The American" and "The Russian". The musical is loosely based on
the 1972 World Championship match between Fischer and Spassky.[605]
During the 1972 FischerSpassky match, the Soviet bard Vladimir Vysotsky wrote an ironic two-song cycle
"Honor of the Chess Crown". The first song is about a rank-and-file Soviet worker's preparation for the match
with Fischer; the second is about the game. Many expressions from the songs have become catchphrases in
Russian culture.[606]
The 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer uses Fischer's name in the title, even though the film is about the
life of chess prodigy Joshua Waitzkin.[607] Outside of the United States, it was released as Innocent
Moves.[608] The title refers to the search for Fischer's successor after his disappearance from competitive chess.
The author feels that his son could be that successor. Fischer never saw the film and complained bitterly that it
was an invasion of his privacy by using his name without his permission.[609] Fischer never received any
compensation from the film, calling it "a monumental swindle".[610]
Writings
Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1959). ISBN 0-923891-46-3. An early
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collection of 34 lightly annotated games, including the "Game of the Century" against Donald Byrne.
"A Bust to the King's Gambit" (American Chess Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer 1961), pp. 39).
"The Russians Have Fixed World Chess" (Sports Illustrated magazine, August 1962). This is the controversial
article in which Fischer asserted that several of the Soviet players in the 1962 Curaao Candidates' tournament
had colluded with one another to prevent him [Fischer] from winning the tournament.
"The Ten Greatest Masters in History" (Chessworld, Vol. 1, No. 1 (JanuaryFebruary 1964), pp. 5661). An
article in which Fischer named Paul Morphy, Howard Staunton, Wilhelm Steinitz, Siegbert Tarrasch, Mikhail
Chigorin, Alexander Alekhine, Jos Ral Capablanca, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, and Samuel Reshevsky as
the best players of all time.[611]
"Checkmate" column from December 1966 to December 1969 in Boys' Life, later assumed by Larry Evans.
My 60 Memorable Games (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1969, and Faber and Faber, London, 1969;
Batsford 2008 (algebraic notation)). "A classic of painstaking and objective analysis that modestly includes three
of his losses".[612]
I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse! (1982) a self-published "essay in a fourteen-page booklet" on
Fischer's time in a Pasadena jailhe was "booked for vagrancy".[613]
Under Fischer's name

Numerous books list Fischer as an author or endorser.[614] One such book is Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess,[615] coauthored by Donn Mosenfelder and Stuart Margulies.[616]
Tournament and match summaries

Tournaments
Year
Tournament
Tournament record[192][617]
Location
Wins Draws Losses Ranking Percentage
1955 U.S. Junior Championship
Lincoln
1020
50%
1956 U.S. Amateur Championship
New Jersey
21
57%
1956 U.S. Junior Championship
Philadelphia
85%
1956 U.S. Open
Oklahoma City
48
71%
1956 Canadian Open
Montreal
812
70%
1956 Rosenwald Trophy
New York
810
41%
1956 Eastern States Open
Washington, D.C.
24
79%
New York
50%
1957 Log Cabin Open
West Orange
67%
1957 Log Cabin 3030
West Orange
unknown 80%
1956
Manhattan Club
Championship, semifinals
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1957 Log Cabin 5050
West Orange
unknown ?
1957 Metropolitan League
New York
unknown 100%
1957 New Western Open
Milwaukee
612
75%
San Francisco
94%
1957 U.S. Open
Cleveland
82%
1957 New Jersey State Open
East Orange
93%
1957 North Central Open
Milwaukee
511
71%
1957 U.S. Championship
New York
81%
1958 Interzonal
Portoro
12
56
60%
New York
77%
1959 Mar del Plata
34
71%
1959 Santiago
47
63%
1959 Zrich
34
70%
1959 Candidates
Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade 8
11
56
45%
New York
82%
1960 Mar del Plata
13
12
90%
1960 Buenos Aires
11
1316
45%
1960 Reykjavk
88%
82%
11
71%
1957
U.S. Junior Open

Championship
New York
1961 Bled
1962 Interzonal
Stockholm
13
80%
1962 Candidates
Curaao
12
52%
New York
73%
1963 Western Open
Bay City
94%
1963 New York State Open
Poughkeepsie
100%
New York
11
100%
1965 Capablanca Memorial
Havana
12
24
71%
New York
77%
1966 Piatigorsky Cup
Santa Monica
61%
New York
86%
1967 Monaco
78%
1967 Skopje
11
79%
1967 Interzonal
Sousse
withdrew 85%
1968 Metropolitan League
New York
unknown 100%
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1968 Netanya
10
88%
1968 Vinkovci
85%
1970 Rovinj/Zagreb
10
76%
1970 Buenos Aires
13
88%
15[618] 7
80%
1970 Interzonal
Palma de Mallorca
Matches
Year
Opponent
1957 Max Euwe
Location
Match record[619][620][621]
Tournament Wins Draws Losses
result
Percentage
New York
match
lost
25%
1957
Dan Jacobo
Beninson
New York
training match
won
70%[622]
1957
Rodolfo Tan
Cardoso
New York
match
won
75%
1958
Dragoljub
Janoevi
Belgrade
training match
tied
50%
1958
Milan
Matulovi
Belgrade
match
won
63%
1961
Samuel
Reshevsky
New York & Los

match
Angeles
unfinished 50%
1971
Mark
Taimanov
Vancouver
Candidates
won
100%
Denver
Candidates
won
100%
Buenos Aires
Candidates
won
72%
1972 Boris Spassky
Reykjavk
World
Championship
11
3[623]
won
63%
1992 Boris Spassky
Sveti Stefan &

Belgrade
match
10
15
won
58%
1971 Bent Larsen

1971
Tigran
Petrosian
Team events
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Team events [624]

Year
Event
Location Wins Draws Losses Opponent Board
Individual team
Individual
ranking ranking Percentage
1960
14th
Leipzig
Olympiad
10
various
Bronze
Silver
72%
1962
15th
Varna
Olympiad
various
Eighth
Fourth
65%
1966
17th
Havana
Olympiad
14
various
Silver
Silver
88%
won
individual
match
team
lost
75%
Silver
Fourth
77%
USSR vs
1970
Belgrade
World
1970
19th
Siegen
Olympiad
Tigran
Petrosian
various
Notable games
Donald ByrneFischer, New York 1956, Grnfeld, 5.Bf4 (D92), 01
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1008361) "The Game of the Century". Chess magazine
called this "a game of great depth and brilliancy".[625]
Robert ByrneFischer, 196364 U.S. Championship, Neo-Grnfeld 01
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1008419) annotated (http://www.lifemasteraj.com/old_afdl/byrfisrpg0.html) From an almost symmetrical position, Fischer beats a strong grandmaster in just 21 moves
"a game that was immediately recognized as an all-time classic".[626]
FischerTigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires Candidates Final 1971, 7th match game, Sicilian Defense: Kan.
Modern Variation (B42), 10 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044351) This game includes
"22 Nxd7+!!" which is "perhaps Fischer's most famous and instructive move and is still being cited today".[627]
FischerBoris Spassky, World Chess Championship 1972, 6th match game, Queen's Gambit Declined,
Tartakower (D59), 10 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044366) Saidy called this game "
[the] finest artistic achievement of the whole match".[628]
Boris Spassky-Fischer, World Chess Championship 1972, 13th match game, Alekhine Defense: Modern,
Alburt Variation (B04), 01 (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1128889) Botvinnik called this
game "the highest creative achievement of Fischer". He resolved a drawish opposite-colored bishops endgame
by sacrificing his bishop and trapping his own rook. "Then five passed pawns struggled with the white rook.
Nothing similar had been seen before in chess".[629]
See also
List of books and documentaries by or about Bobby Fischer
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References
1. Brady 2011, p. 328.
2. Mller 2009, p. 23.
3. Wolff 2001, p. 273.
4. Di Felice 2010, p. 48.
5. Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 170.
6. Sonas, Jeff (May 25, 2005). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time Part IV" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/thegreatest-che-player-of-all-time-part-iv). chessbase.com. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
7. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 31112.
8. "The 1972 championship will become immortalized in film, on the stage, in song. It will remain incontrovertibly the
most notorious chess duel in history. There will never be another like it... A lone American star was challenging the
long Soviet grip on the world title. His success would dispose of the Soviet's claim that their chess hegemony reflected
the superiority of their political system..." Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 23.
9. "Bobby Fischer arrives in Iceland" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4374811.stm). BBC News. March 25, 2005.
Retrieved January 28, 2014.
10. "Question of Yugoslavia (1992)"
(http://ozone.unep.org/Publications/MP_Handbook/Section_3.8_Annexes_Declarations/Question_of_Yugoslavia.shtml).
Ozone Secretariat. 2004. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
11. "General Assembly" (http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r210.htm). United Nations. December 21, 1993.
12. "[Fischer's] worry was that the U.S. government might finally have caught up with him. He'd violated State
Department economic sanctions against Yugoslavia by playing a $5 million chess match against Boris Spassky in Sveti
Stefan, Montenegro, in 1992, and an arrest warrant had been issued at that time. If he went back to the United States,
he'd have to stand trial, and the penalty, if he was convicted, would be anywhere from ten years in prison to $250,000
in fines, or both, plus possible forfeiture of his $3.5 million winnings." Brady 2011, p. 2.
13. "At the beginning of the 21st century, grandmasters have been slowly but surely expressing interest in Fischerandom
Chess." Gligori 2002, p. 132
14. "Bobby was astute enough to know that by making more and more broadcasts [against the United States and Jews
worldwide], he was increasing his chances of eventual arrest. When nothing happened, however, he felt invulnerable
and continued to travel without hiding..." Brady 2011, p. 280.
15. It's possible that Fischer's broadcasts were the fuel that sparked the U.S. government to activate the dacade-old charge
against him." Brady 2011, pp. 28283.
16. Miyoko, for her part, thought that U.S. authorities could have arrested Bobby anytime post-1992, but they didn't and
only went after him when 'suddenly he started to attack American and it made the government very angry.' " AP wire
story (Tokyo), July 18, 2004. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 283.
17. "Not knowing that his arrest was imminent, and believing that his passport was legal, on July 13, 2004, [Fischer] went
to Narita Airport in Tokyo to board a plane bound for Manila. He was arrested and shackled in chains." Brady 2011, p.
282.
18. "...on July 13, 2004... [Fischer] was arrested..." "...on March 23, 2005, [Fischer] was released from his cell." Brady
2011, pp. 282, 293.
19. "Asia-Pacific | Iceland grants Fischer passport" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4370119.stm). BBC News.
March 21, 2005. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
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20. "[Fischer] was picked up by limousine supplied by the Icelandic embassy, given his new Icelandic passport, and he
and Miyoko, hand in hand, sped to Narita Airport." AP wire story, March 23, 2005. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 293.
21. Batty, David (January 18, 2008). "Chess champion Bobby Fischer dies"
(http://www.theguardian.com/world/2008/jan/18/sport.davidbatty). The Guardian. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
22. Brady 1973, p. 2.
23. Chess Life 59 (United States Chess Federation): 214. 2004. Missing or empty |title=(help)
24. "...she appears to have been religiously unobservant." Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 27.
25. Reitwiesner, William Addams. "Ancestry of Bobby Fischer (Extracts from the U.S. Federal Decennial Census)"
(http://www.wargs.com/other/fischer.html). ancestry.com. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
26. Quinn, Ben; Alan Hamilton (January 28, 2008). "Bobby Fischer, chess genius, heartless son"
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3261419.ece). The Sunday Times. Retrieved
September 14, 2008.(subscription required)
27. Schulz, Von Andr (October 8, 2004). "Mutmaungen ber Fischer" (http://www.chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?
newsid=3433) (in German). chessbase.com. Retrieved October 17, 2008..
28. Brady 2011, pp. 78.
29. Brady 2011, p. 8.
30. Nicholas, Peter (September 21, 2009). "Chasing the king of chess"
(http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bobby-fischer21-2009sep21,0,1824779,full.story). Los
Angeles Times. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
31. "The family lived in [California, Idaho, Oregon, Illinois, and Arizona] before moving to New York. Regina's flexibility
and desperation led her to a surprising gamut of jobs. She was a welder, schoolteacher, riveter, farm worker,
toxicologist's assistant, stenographer, all throughout the early and mid-1940s." Brady 2011, p. 9.
32. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 5.
33. "In early 1949 Regina Fischer took the least expensive housing she could find when she moved the familyBobby,
Joan, and herselfto East 13th Street in Manhattan, facing the kitchen back entrance of the famed Luchow's
restaurant, where many of the best chess players would occasionally dine. The Fischer's could never afford to eat
there. The apartment's entrance was marred by a rusty fire escape running up the front, and there was only one small
bedroombut the rent was $45 a month." FBI report, August 24. 1953 (SAC, New York, 100-102290). Quoted in
Brady 2011, p. 10.
34. Nicholas, Peter; Clea Benson (November 17, 2002). "Files reveal how FBI hounded chess king"
(http://articles.philly.com/2002-11-17/news/25355949_1_hans-gerhardt-fischer-regina-fischer-chess-career/3). The
Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
35. Nicholas, Peter, and Clea Benson. Life is not a Board Game
(https://web.archive.org/web/20090115103912/http://www.philly.com/inquirer/news/13891951.html). The
Philadelphia Inquirer, February 8, 2003.
36. Laurence, Charles (November 24, 2002). "FBI targeted chess genius Bobby Fischer and his mother"
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/3304339/FBI-targeted-chess-genius-Bobby-Fischer-and-his-mother.html#).
London: www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
37. Regina Fischer entry, passenger manifest, SS Manhattan, January 18, 1939, p. 74, line 6, accessed January 20, 2008
via ancestry.com
38. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 22.
39. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 22, 135.
40. "In March of 1949, on a rainy day when Bobby had just turned six, his sister, Joan... bought a plastic chess set for $1
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at the candy store [located just below their apartment]... Neither Joan nor Bobby had ever seen a chess set before but
they followed instructions printed on the inside of the top of the box..." Parade, October 27, 1957, p. 22., Bobby
Fischer Autobiographical Essay, p. 1. Quoted in Brady 2011, pp. 1011.
41. Brady 2011, pp. 1012.
42. Brady 1973, p. 5.
43. Brady 2011, p. 12.
44. Fischer 1959, p. xi.
45. Brady 1973, pp. 56.
46. "A crowd of spectators gathered around the board as the diminutive Bobby faced the self-assured, tweed-jacketed Max
Pavey. The boy was so serious about what he was doing that the game attracted more and more onlookers... Pavey,
who excelled at playing rapidly... seemed to zoom around the room hardly studying the other boards as he made his
moves, returning to Bobby's game in such a short time that the child couldn't calculate as deeply or as carefully as he
wanted... In about fifteen minutes... Pavey captured Bobby's queen, thereby ending the game... Bobby stared at the
board for a moment. 'He crushed me,' he said to no one in particular. Then he burst into tears." Brady 2011, pp. 17
18.
47. Brady 2011, p. 18.
48. Fischer 1959, pp. xixii.
49. Brady 1973, p. 7.
50. Brady 2011, pp. 1921.
51. Fischer 1959, p. xii.
52. Brady 2011, pp. 3839.
53. Brady 2011, p. 52.
54. "Carmine Nigro, 91, Bobby Fischer's First Chess Teacher" (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/09/02/us/carmine-nigro91-bobby-fischer-s-first-chess-teacher.html). The New York Times. September 2, 2001. Retrieved August 24, 2013.
55. Lombardy 2011, p. 18.
56. West, Jim (November 22, 2011). ""Understanding Chess" by GM Lombardy, Chess Blog by National Master Jim
West" (http://jimwestonchess.blogspot.com/2011/11/understanding-chess-by-gm-lombardy.html).
jimwestonchess.blogspot.com. Retrieved July 3, 2013.
57. Lombardy 2011, p. 136.
58. "Bobby Fischer got some of his earliest exposure playing weekend chess at the Brooklyn Central Library and
Washington Square Park with his chess coach, William Lombardy, who had an apartment nearby." Sloan & Aravena
2012, p. 4.
59. Lombardy 2011, p. 23.
60. Lombardy 2011, p. 297.
61. "On the very morning Fischer was to depart [for Reykjavik], he called Lombardy on the phone. 'Well, are you
coming?' he inquired of the priest. Lombardy told him he wasn't sure he could release himself from his television
commitments. 'Without me, there won't be a television show!' he informed Bobby. 'That's O.K.,' countered Bobby,
'without me, there won't be a match!' When Fischer's plane touched down at Keflavik Airport in Iceland... Lombardy,
dressed in his clericals, was by his side." Brady 1973, p. 234.
62. "...I met and spent time with Grandmaster William Lombardy, who of course figured so prominently in Bobby
Fischer's rise to the World Chess title." Ponterotto 2012, p. xx.
63. Brady 2011, pp. 98100.
64. Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 26.
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65. Brady 2011, p. 102.

66. Alexander 1972, p. 79.
67. Brady 2011, p. 184.
68. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 43, and 133.
69. Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 233.
70. Schonberg 1973, p. 283.
71. Steiner 1974, p. 24.
72. "[Lombardy] was a loyal and competent analyst of adjourned positions for Fischer, and served him well as friend and
companion." Brady 1973, p. 225.
73. "Fischer and Lombardy had breakfast at the Loftleider Hotel cafeteria. They sat at their table for over two hours,
analyzing the twelfth game." Brady 1973, p. 253.
74. "Bobby and Lombardy meanwhile were tearing [the first] game to pieces. Bobby brushed aside the alarming matter of
that freakish twenty-ninth move. 'I moved too fast,' he said with a wave of his arm. 'All that noise.' Then Lombardy
showed him the move he should have made just before the game ended. Bobby strode up and down clutching his head
and crying out, 'Oh! Oh! Why didn't I think of that!'... From 10:30 that night until 6:00 the next morning, Bobby and
Lombardy worked like maniacs to find a draw for Black. No luck. White won in every variation." Darrach 1974, pp.
17576.
75. "Fischer lodged a formal protest [over the second-game-forfeit] less than six hours after the forfeiture. It was
overruled by the match committee... Everyone knew that Fischer wouldn't accept it lightly. And he didn't. His instant
reaction was to make a reservation to fly home immediately. He was dissuaded by Lombardy, but it seemed likely that
he'd refuse to continue the match unless the forfeit was removed." Brady 2011, p. 193.
76. Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 156, 160, 171, 175, and 223.
77. "Very few people expected Fischer to come on that Sunday to the tournament hall and continue the match. Probably,
neither did Spassky. Fischer had reserved a seat to New York, yet, two hours before the third game was to begin,
Fischer's lawyer Paul Marshall and his second William Lombardy called the referee and asked, on behalf of Fischer,
the favour that the game be played in a room behind the stage. That call produced a chance of compromise. Schmid
called Spassky and the champion generously agreed." Gligori 1972, pp. 5455.
78. "In the morning and early afternoon of Sunday, July 16, anyone willing to bet that the third game would come off on
schedule might have found long odds awaiting him on any street corner in downtown Reykjavik. But suddenly a light
shone through the darkness: at about 3 P.M. Bill Lombardy telephoned to Lothar Schmid and relayed to him Fischer's
proposal that the game be played in a private room behind the stage. Schmid in turn communicated with Spassky, who
promptly agreed." Horowitz 1973, pp. 26768.
79. "...let me point out that there were 14 adjourned games. Bobby and I worked together on those adjourned positions
without making a single technical error! Beyond that I bested the Soviet team psychology, even though that team had a
so-called professional psychologist. For little remuneration, I dedicated my services in the Icelandic capital to guarantee
that Bobby followed through and finished the match victoriously. First and foremost, that is what I cared about. Since
Bobby, when I first met him at age 11, actually at that time stated that he would be world chess champion, I believed
it was my job as his friend and confidant to do everything legitimately in my power to ensure that that young player's
dream would come true! Working for what worked out to be about $5$6 per hour at Reykjavik, I was even then not
about to see that dream shattered at any earthly price!" Lombardy 2011, pp. 21920.
80. Brady 2011, p. 6.
81. Dylan Loeb McClain (December 4, 2001). "John W. Collins, 89, Dies; Was Fischer's Chess Tutor"
(http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B04EEDB1F3DF937A35751C1A9679C8B63). The New York Times.
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82. Brady 1973, p. 12.
83. Brady, 2011, p. 50.
84. "'He taught Bobby Fischer to play chess' " is the way I am sometimes publicly and privately introduced. Collins 1974,
p. 47.
85. "Collins, for his part, said that he never "taught" Bobby in the strictest sense," and that Fischer "knew before
instructed." Collins 1974, pp. 4849. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 52.
86. Collins was Bobby Fischer's "mentor". Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 6, 30, and 221.
87. Collins was Fischer's "mentor". Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 27.
88. "Collins was my friend and mentor but not my teacher". Lombardy 2011, p. 24.
89. "Fischer was also extremely fortunate in having John W. (Jack) Collins, a chess master, who was a friend, guide, and
mentor to him during his early formative years". Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 44.
90. Brady 1973, pp. 1011.
91. Collins 1974, pp. 3435.
92. Fischer 1959, p. xiii.
93. Denker & Parr 1995, p. 107.
94. Brady 2011, p. 53.
95. Chess Life, May 20, 1956, p. 4. Also available on DVD (p. 76 in "Chess Life 1956" PDF file").
97. Brady 1973, p. 15.
98. Collins 1974, pp. 5556.
99. The New York Times, March 5, 1956, p. 36. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 49.
100. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 100.
101. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 101.
102. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 105.
103. Di Felice 2010, p. 76.
104. Brady 1973, p. 16.
105. Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 108.
106. Brady 2011, p. 65.
108. Brady 2011, p. 61.
109. Chess Review, December 1956, p. 374. Also available on DVD (p. 418 on Chess Review 1956 PDF file).
110. "While, objectively, it is not one of the greatest games ever played, it is certainly the finest game ever produced by one
so young." Wilson 1981, p. 170.
111. Brady 2011, p. 64.
112. AP wire story, February 24, 1957. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 64.
113. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 123.
114. Brady 1973, p. 17.
115. "To wrest a draw from a former World Champion was neither small cheese nor minor chess, but Bobby was unhappy
since he'd lost the match, 1." Brady 2011, p. 67.
117. Wall, Bill (August 2002). "Bobby Fischer Trivia" (http://www.chessville.com/BillWall/FischerTrivia.htm).
chessville.com. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
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118. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 127.

119. Brady 2011, p. 73.
120. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 130.
121. Collins 1974, p. 56.
122. Chess Review, September 1957, p. 260. Also available on DVD (p. 294 in "Chess Review 1957" PDF file).
123. "No one as young as Bobby had won the United States Open before, and no one had ever held the United States Junior
and Open titles concurrently. When Bobby returned to New York, both the Marshall and Manhattan chess clubs
conducted victory celebrations, and he was lauded as America's new chess hero." Brady 2011, p. 75.
124. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 13840.
125. Brady 1973, p. 19.
126. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 13537.
127. Harkness 1967, p. 272.
128. Brady 1973, p. 20.
129. Kai 1974, pp. 27374.
130. Lombardy 2011, back cover.
131. A writer in Chess Life, apparently Editor Fred M. Wren, expected Fischer to score about 50%. "The Monday-Morning
Quarterback Speaks", Chess Life, January 20. 1958, p. 4. Also available on DVD (p. 12 on Chess Life 1958 PDF file).
132. Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 51.
133. Di Felice 2010, p. 196.
134. Brady 1973, pp. 2021.
135. Edward Winter, Chess Note 6428 (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/#6424._Quiz_question) (citing Chess Life,
February 5, 1958).
136. Edward Winter, Chess Note 6436 (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/#6434._St_Petersburg_1895-96) (citing
FIDE Revue, April 1958, p. 106).
137. Chess Life, March 5, 1958. Quoted in Mller 2009, p. 92.
139. Brady 2011, pp. 8990.
140. "The Soviet Union had agreed to invite Bobby to Moscow, and generously pay all expenses for him and his sister..."
Marshall Chess Foundation Archive, Letter from Regina Fischer to Bobby Fischer, c. June 1958. Quoted in Brady
2011, p. 93.
141. Brady 2011, p. 91.
142. Brady 2011, p. 92.
144. Linder V.I. & Linder I.M. 1994. Quoted in Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 12021.
145. Golombek, Golombek's Encyclopedia, pp. 23637. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 93.
146. Brady 2011, p. 94.
147. Johnson 2007, p. 128. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 94.
148. Brady 2011, pp. 9496.
149. Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 16364.
150. Brady 1973, p. 25.
151. Leonard Barden, "From Portoro to Petrosian", in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 332.
152. Just before Larsen played Fischer in their individual game, Larsen predicted that he would be victorious, only to find
out quite the opposite: "Once we were well into the tournament, Larsen, Fridrik Olafsson and I were engaged in a
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friendly debate over Fischer's performance. 'Lucky to have 50%!' quipped Larsen, who went on to say, 'I will spank
that baby!'... With wisdom Fridrik supplied a thought for me, 'Watch out the baby doesn't spank you!' At that
comment, Larsen waved his hand. In the very next round, Fischer crushed Larsen..." Lombardy 2011, p. 87.
153. Wade & O'Connell 1972. pp. 33234, 347.
154. Kasparov 2004, pp. 22526.
155. Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 2021.
156. This record stood until 1991, when it was broken by Judit Polgr. Forbes 1992, p. 171.
157. Interview with Allen Kaufman in the television documentary "Anything to Win: The Mad Genius of Bobby Fischer".
April 9, 2006.
158. Di Felice 2010, p. 301.
159. Di Felice 2010, p. 340.
160. Di Felice 2010, p. 356.
161. Brady 1973, p. 28.
163. Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 165, 171, 176.
165. The Chess Games of Robert J. Fischer, edited by Robert G. Wade and Kevin J. O'Connell, London, Batsford 1973;
special article by Paul Keres, entitled From the Opposite Side of the Board.
167. Brady 1965, p. 34.
168. Denker & Parr, pp. 10304.
169. Brady 1965, p. 35.
170. "At 16 he was able to earn his living from chess, and soon began to dress well, with suits tailored in London and New
York." Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 136.
171. Ginzburg 1962, pp. 5354.
172. Di Felice 2010, p. 310.
173. Wade & 'Connell 1972, p. 356.
174. Brady 2011, pp. 105, 125.
175. "Attempts by Regina and Joan to engage Bobby in schoolwork were usually fruitless. Bobby could concentrate on
puzzles or chess for hours, but he fidgeted and grew restless when confronted with reading, writing, and arithmetic...
he was accepted by Community Woodward with the understanding that he'd teach the other students to play, and also
as a result of his astronomically high IQ test score of 180." Brady 2011, p. 25.
176. Fischer possessed an IQ of 187. "Bobby Fischer IQ 187" (http://www.kidsiqtestcenter.com/bobby-fischer-iq187.html). kidsiqtestcenter.com. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
177. Andersen 2006, pp. 15, 41. Streisand later said that Fischer was "always alone and very peculiar ... But I found him
very sexy." Id. at 41.
178. Boyer, David (March 11, 2001). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: FLATBUSH; Grads Hail Erasmus as It Enters a Fourth
Century" (http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/nyregion/neighborhood-report-flatbush-grads-hail-erasmus-as-itenters-a-fourth-century.html). The New York Times. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
179. Brady 1965, pp. 1, 25.
180. Collins 1974, p. 52.
181. Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 47.
182. Brady 1965, p. 25.
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183. Ginzburg 1962, p. 51.

184. "In his junior year Bobby left school for good because 'the stuff they teach you in school I can't use one way or the
other.' " Schonberg 1973, p. 261.
185. Quinn, Ben; Hamilton, Alan (January 28, 2008). "Bobby Fischer, chess genius, heartless son"
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3261419.ece). Times. Retrieved October 4,
2008.
186. Ginzburg 1962, p. 55.
187. "Probing into the activities of the American Chess Foundation, she demonstrated that some players (such as
Reshevsky) received support while others (such as Bobby) did not... she sent out indignant press releases, [and] letters
to the government demanding a public accounting." Brady 2011, p. 131.
188. Nicholas, Peter; Benson, Clea (February 9, 2003). "Life is not a board game/page 3 of 7"
(http://web.archive.org/web/20080123044921/http://www.philly.com/inquirer/news/13891951.html). The Philadelphia
Inquirer. Archived from the original (http://www.philly.com/inquirer/news/13891951.html) on January 23, 2008.
Retrieved July 10, 2010.
189. Bisguier & Soltis 1974, pp. 28284.
190. Hooper & Whyld 1992, pp. 13637.
191. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 51 (1-point margin in 195758), 57 (1-point margin in 195859), 62 (1-point margin in
195960), 67 (2-point margin in 196061), 71 (1-point margin in 196263), 77 (2-point margin in 196364), 82 (1point margin in 1965), 87 (2-point margin in 196667).
192. Mller 2009, pp. 399400.
193. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 51, 57, 62, 67, 71, 76, 82, 87.
194. Mller 2009, p. 85.
195. Mller 2009, p. 104.
196. Mller 2009, p. 148.
197. Mller 2009, p. 181.
198. Mller 2009, p. 231.
199. Mller 2009, p. 243.
200. Mller 2009, p. 262.
201. Mller 2009, p. 263.
202. Mller 2009, p. 285.
203. Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 283.
204. Mednis 1997, pp. xxi, 17983, 20211.
205. Larry Evans, in Mller 2009, p. 7.
206. "I am certain that in his form at that time, Bobby would have helped carry our squad to a medal. In other words, both
United States Chess Federation officials and American Chess Foundation 'philanthropists' were more concerned with
controlling Fischer (at the risk of thwarting his talent and thus harming the team) than doing all that was legitimately
possible to boost our country in a run for that elusive medal... In short, for the years when I began to participate in
Olympiads, Sammy [Reshevsky] had lost the ambition to grind out games as a team player!... As for Fischer, no
matter how many U.S. Championships Bobby won, or what his results in the world championship cycle, the USCF
officials and those at the ACF... always accommodated Sammy." Lombardy 2011, pp. 9496.
207. The Games of Robert J. Fischer, Batsford, 1973, section on chess Olympiads by Robert Wade.
208. Di Felice 2010, p. 485.
209. Di Felice 2013a, p. 251.
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210. Di Felice 2013b, p. 326.

211. Di Felice 2013c, p. 366.
212. Kai 1974, pp. 75, 81, 94, 108.
213. "Fischer, Robert James" (http://www.olimpbase.org/players/q8aycaol.html). Wojciech Bartelski & Co. August 2003.
Retrieved February 17, 2014.
214. "Fischer... scored a remarkable 15 out of 17 (+14, =2, 1). Unfortunately... his winning percentage of 88.23% was
0.23 of a point lower than Petrosian's 88.46%, although Bobby had played four more games and faced, overall,
stronger opposition than [Petrosian]." Mller 2009, pp. 27677.
215. "Later Gheorghiu stated that when he offered Fischer the draw, he was convinced he actually had a won game but that
he wanted Fischer to be awarded the gold medal. It was obvious that Fischer was trying too hard and had tired and
overextended himself. He lost the game decisively. Nevertheless, all of the players and spectators considered Bobby to
be the real hero of the most magnificent chess event in history." Brady 1973, p. 120.
216. Brady 1973, p. 65.
217. Mller 2009, pp. 22425.
218. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 28687.
219. "'It is important to draw a distinction between the myth of the 'extravagant, capricious, uncontrollable' Fischer and
those actions that he undertook quite consciously. Many of his demands in Lugano were absolutely justified. 'It was
not only Fischer who did not like the conditions,' writes Petrosian. 'This also applied to me and my colleagues. Imagine
a hall, in which three thousand players, trainers and spectators are gathered, a hall without any ventilation and in
addition with poor lighting. I have never complained about my eyesight, but I only needed once or twice in a game to
think intensively over a move, and my eyes began to hurt.' " Kasparov 2004, p. 335.
220. "Fischer was clearly the best and highest rated U.S. player and also the U.S. Champion. But in consideration of his
lifelong prestige, Reshevsky would not yield first board." Lombardy 2011, p. 184.
221. Mller 2009, p. 156.
222. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 183.
224. Bronstein wrote of their first meeting at Mar del Plata, "They became friends instantly and have remained so until this
day." Bronstein & Frstenberg 1995, p. 121.
225. Donner 2006, p. 228.
226. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 189.
227. Benko & Silman 2003, p. 422 (interview with Evans).
228. "One of his rivals in that tournament was American grandmaster Larry Evans, and the story goes that he found a
Bovaryan lady prepared for a small sum to surround Fischer with her charms. This approach proved successful for
Evans, as Fischer finished thirteenth in the tournament..." Donner 2006, p. 228.
229. Benko & Silman, pp. 42627 (interview with Benko).
230. Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 19697.
231. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 198.
232. "The officers of the American Chess Foundation maintained that Reshevsky was the better player, and they arranged to
have him prove it." Brady 2011, p. 135.
233. Brady 1973, p. 42.
234. Brady 1973, pp. 4346.
235. "The match was forfeited by Fischer when he refused to continue play because the time of the twelfth game was
changed to suit the convenience of Mrs. Piatigorsky." Sunnucks 1970, p. 136.
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236. Brady 1973, p. 46.

237. Di Felice 2013a, p. 17.
239. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 199.
240. Di Felice 2013a, p. 223.
242. Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 369.
243. Brady 1973, p. 51.
245. Brady 1973, pp. 5354.
246. Barden, Leonard (January 18, 2008). "Obituary, Bobby Fischer"
(http://www.theguardian.com/obituaries/story/0,,2243089,00.html). The Guardian. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
248. Kai 1974, pp. 18889.
249. Benko & Silman, p. 155.
250. According to Lombardy, Fischer's lack of a sole second "proved a main reason for his failure": "As a second,
Grandmaster Arthur Bisguier had to divide his talents between Bobby and Pal Benko... Bobby was hopping mad over
the miserable arrangement made by the American Chess Foundation, which was responsible for the funding for the
American participants at Curaao." Lombardy 2011, p. 122.
251. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 2930, 37, 40, 83.
252. "Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fischer", Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2008, p. D8.
253. Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 33146.
254. "Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fischer", Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2008, p. D8.
255. Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 20708.
256. Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49.
257. "As his mother was Jewish, under Jewish law he was Jewish himself, although this was a label he always rejected.
When he discovered that he had been included in a list of famous Jews in the Encyclopedia Judaica, he wrote to the
editor to declare how distressed this mistake had made him and to demand that it not be repeated." Edmonds &
Eidinow 2004, pp. 2627.
258. Ginzburg 1962, p. 54.
259. "Portrait of a Genius As a Young Chess Master" (http://bobbyfischer.net/bobby04.html). Ralph Ginzburg's January
1962 interview, Harper's Magazine. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
261. "Where was Fischer? For several years, he lived in the bosom of the Worldwide Church of God in Pasadena, where he
was called 'a co-worker.' The church fed him, they gave him comfortable accommodation in Mocking Bird Lane, they
even flew him around in a private jet. In return, Fischer handed over around a third ($61,200) of his Icelandic prize
money." Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 30102.
262. Darrach, Brad (August 11, 1972). "Bobby is Not a Nasty Kid" (http://books.google.com/books?
id=EVUEAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PP1&rview=1&pg=PA40#v=onepage&q&f=true). Life. p. 40. Retrieved March 25, 2013.
263. This led Fischer to believe that Armstrong was really a "false prophet." Brady 2011, p. 212.
264. Martin, Douglas (September 17, 2003). "Garner Ted Armstrong, Evangelist, 73, Dies"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/17/us/garner-ted-armstrong-evangelist-73-dies.html). The New York Times.
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266. Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49.
267. "At the time he was also writing for Chess Life, a column called "Fischer Talks Chess," and he made some very
favorable comments about the overall quality of the opposition he faced as well as the organization of the
tournaments." Mller 2009, p. 237.
268. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 14951.
269. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 15253.
270. Brady 1973, p. 70.
271. Levy 1975, p. 91.
272. Brady 1973, p. 75.
273. "Body of chess legend Bobby Fischer to be exhumed as his former lovers battle over 1.3m estate"
(http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1287387/Bobby-Fischers-body-exhumed-lovers-battle-1-3mestate.html). London: Daily Mail. June 18, 2010. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
274. Bisguier, in Wade & Connell 1973, pp. 4950.
275. Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 81.
276. Soltis 2002, pp. 8183.
277. Sunnucks 1970, p. 76.
278. Fischer 1969, 2008, p. 305.
279. Mller 2009, p. 248.
280. Chess Life, August 1964, p. 202. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 155.
281. Brady 1973, pp. 8081.
282. Donaldson 2005, pp. 7, 11.
283. Donaldson 2005, p. 11.
284. Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 285.
286. Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 209.
288. Brady 1973, pp. 8689.
290. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 160, 209.
291. Pachman 1975, p. 215.
292. Brady 1973, pp. 8889.
294. Brady 1973, pp. 8688.
295. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 209.
296. Di Felice 2013b, p. 167.
297. Brady 1973, pp. 9294.
298. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 8286.
300. Kashdan 1977, p. v.
301. Kasparov 2004, p. 322.
302. Mller 2009, pp. 28485.
303. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 8791.
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304. Di Felice 2013b, p. 396.

305. Di Felice 2013b, pp. 42324.
306. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 23647.
307. Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 45053.
308. "[At the Sousse Internzonal], Fischer quit at the halfway mark... faced with four games in four consecutive days... for
religious reasons, [Bobby] will not play between sundowns on Friday and Saturday. He objected to the consecutive
playoffs, claiming that the judges were taking advantage of him, subjecting him to cruel and inhuman punishment. He
also pointed out, correctly, that he had entered the tournament with the assurance that such conditions would not
prevail. But the judges would not change their ruling..." Schonberg 1973, pp. 25657.
310. Di Felice 2013c, pp. 5657.
311. Di Felice 2013c, p. 91.
312. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 24859.
313. Mller 2009, pp. 32021.
314. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 15455.
315. "In this new book, his firstand, ultimately, onlyserious work as an adult, Fischer was anything but sparse... what
he produced was one of the most painstakingly precise and delightful chess books ever written, rivaling the works of
Tarrasch, Alekhine, and Reti... If Fischer had never played another game of chess, his reputation, certainly as an
analyst, would have been preserved through its publication." Brady 2011, pp. 16263.
316. Benko & Silman, p. 426.
318. Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 137.
319. Leonard Barden, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 342.
320. Brady 1973, p. 174.
321. "The only condition I asked for stepping down was for Fischer to agree not to withdraw from the Interzonal or the
ensuing matches should he qualify for them and he fulfilled this condition". Chess Life & Review, July 1975, Vol.
XXX, No. 7.
322. Mller 2009, p. 321.
323. "USSR vs Rest of the World: Belgrade 1970" (http://www.olimpbase.org/1970g/1970in.html). Wojciech Bartelski &
Co. August 2003. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
324. Brady 2011, p. 165.
325. Schonberg 1973, p. 267.
326. Chess Digest 1971, p. 83.
327. Denker & Parr 1995, p. 105.
328. Chess Digest 1971, pp. 8392.
330. Kasparov 2004, p. 343.
332. "I was among the best blitz players around [due to the fact that] I trained regularly with Bobby since he was 11-years
old." Lombardy 2011, p. 90.
333. "As for Bobby's ability at speed chess, it came as no shock that Bobby would win the world blitz championship in
1970 in Belgrade. I expected Bobby to win by a wide margin, but his winning by a margin of 4 points ahead of Tal
did come as a pleasant surprise!" Lombardy 2011, pp. 9091.
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334. Kasparov 2004, p. 342.

335. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 26370.
336. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 27178.
338. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 279.
339. Kasparov 2004, pp. 34244.
340. Di Felice 2013c, pp. 32021.
341. Weeks, Mark (19972008). "World Chess Championship 1970 Palma de Mallorca Interzonal Tournament"
(http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/7072$iix.htm). Printer. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
342. Fischer's 3-point margin set a new record for an Interzonal, beating Alexander Kotov's 3-point margin at
Saltsjbaden 1952. Kai 1974, pp. 17172.
343. Panno refused to play in protest of the organizers' rescheduling of the game to accommodate Fischer's desire not to
play on his religion's Sabbath. Panno was not present when the game was to begin. Fischer waited ten minutes before
playing his first move (1.c4) and went to get Panno to convince him to play. Forty-five later, Panno came to the board
and resigned. Brady 1973, p. 179.
344. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 344, 410.
347. Brady 2011, p. 81.
348. Brady 2011, p. 167.
353. "'What happened next during the resumption of the 5th game,' Tal wrote later, 'had to be seen to be believed. It is
simply incredible that three grandmasters could have left a rook en prise a mere three moves after the resumption of
the game.' " Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 232.
354. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 41216.
355. Leonard Barden, From Portoro to Petrosian, in Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 345.
356. "The British chess player P.H. Clarke wrote that 'this performance by Fischer may be the best, in statistical terms
anyway, ever recorded in a single competition.' " Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 89.
357. Brady 1973, p. 188. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 168.
359. Brady 2011, p. 168.
361. Cafferty 1972, p. 102.
362. "...the chess world... was positively sent reeling by Bobby's crushing 60 defeat of Larsen." Mller 2009, p. 360.
363. Byrne & Nei 1974, p. 19.
364. Kasparov 2004, pp. 40506.
365. Sonas, Jeff (April 28, 2005). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time Part II"
(http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2354). chessmetrics.com. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
366. "Petrosian's opponents have declared him to be 'the hardest player in history to defeat.' " Steiner 1974, p. 21.
367. Karpov 1991, p. 114.
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368. "'Karpov: It was already clear that the winner [of the Petrosian-Korchnoi Semi-Final Candidates Match] would have
to play Fischer, who on the other staircase was rapidly ascending to the chess throne. There was practically no doubt
that Spassky would be able to deal with him, but in the Sports Committee they decided that it was better if it didn't
come to this... And so the officials summoned Petrosian and Korchnoi and asked them directly which of them had the
better chances against Fischer. Korchnoi said that the 'generation beaten by Fischer' had practically no chances. But
Petrosian said that he believed in himself. After this it was suggested to Korchnoi that he should allow Petrosian to win,
and in compensation they promised to send him to three major tournaments (which for a Soviet player in those times
was a princely reward).' " Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 273.
369. Brady 2011, p. 169.
370. Brady 1973, p. 195.
371. Kasparov 2004, pp. 40817.
372. Jan Timman, The Art of Chess Analysis, R.H.M. Press, 1980, pp. 3642. ISBN 0-89058-048-0.
373. Soltis 2003, pp. 25962.
374. Soltis 2002, p.?
375. Mednis 1997, pp. 26670.
376. Reuben Fine, The Final Candidates Match Buenos Aires, 1971: Fischer vs Petrosian, Hostel Chess Association, 1971,
pp. 1332.
377. Cantwell, Robert (November 8, 1971). "Bobby Clears The Board For The Title"
(http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1085509/3/index.htm). Sports Illustrated. Retrieved
September 10, 2013.
380. Schonberg 1973, p. 269.
382. Alexander 1972, p. 74.
383. Chess Informant, Volume 14, ahovski Informator, 1973, pp. 30207.
384. All Time Rankings (http://chess.eusa.ed.ac.uk/Chess/Trivia/AlltimeList.html). Retrieved on June 21, 2009.
385. Elo 1978, p. 43.
386. Life, November 12, 1971, "The Deadly Gamesman".
387. Kasparov 2004, p. 429.
388. "[Petrosian:]'...I must warn Spassky that Fischer is armed with all the new ideas in chess. As soon as Fischer gains
even the slightest advantage, he begins playing like a machine. You cannot hope for some mistake. Fischer is a quite
extraordinary player. His match with Spassky will be tough.' " Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 336.
389. Gligori 1972, pp. 1011.
390. Gligori 1972, pp. 1112.
391. "CPI Inflation Calculator" (http://data.bls.gov/cgi-bin/cpicalc.pl?cost1=250%2C000&year1=1972&year2=2013).
data.bls.gov. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
392. Gligori 1972, p. 13.
393. Gligori 1972, p. 47.
394. Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 308
395. Alexander 1972, p. 141.
396. Alexander 1972, pp. 8487.
397. Gligori 1972, p. 37.
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398. Alexander 1972, p. 87.

400. Byrne & Nei 1974, p. vii.
401. Perhaps the best-selling book on the match was subtitled The New York Times Report on the Chess Match of the
Century
402. "Even before a move has been made, this breathtaking, blood-curdling and heartrending encounter is justly being
labelled as 'the Match of the Century'." Donner 2006, p. 136 (originally published in De Tijd, June 28, 1972).
403. Roberts, Schonberg, Horowitz & Reshevsky 1972, pp. 19596.
404. Mller 2009, p. 370. The match made the covers of Time and Newsweek. Id. at 19.
405. Kasparov 2004, p. 206.
406. Mller 2009, p. 15.
407. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 89.
408. Mller 2009, p. 13.
409. Soltis 2003, pp. 1011.
410. "Wearing city's gold medal and accompanied by Mayor John Lindsay, Bobby shakes hands with some 3,000 fans
attending..." Saidy & Lessing 1974, photo on pp. 22425; captions on p. 227.
411. Larry Evans, in Mller 2009, p. 13.
412. Sports Illustrated, August 14, 1972, "BOBBY'S CHESSBOARD MASTERY".
413. Cavett, Dick (February 8, 2008). "Was It Only a Game?" (http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/02/08/was-itonly-a-game/?_r=0). The New York Times. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
414. "About the USCF" (http://www.uschess.org/about/about.php). The United States Chess Federation. August 2007.
Retrieved October 17, 2008.
415. "Breaking news: Anand Wins Chess Oscars for 2007" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/breaking-news-anand-wins-cheoscars-for-2007). chessbase.com. May 8, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
416. "Anand wins Chess Oscar for third time" (http://www.rediff.com/sports/2004/may/06oscar.htm). Rediff. May 6,
2004. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
417. Karpov beat Lev Polugaevsky in a Candidates quarter-final match in JanuaryFebruary 1974 (+30=5). Byrne 1976, p.
19. In the semi-finals, held in AprilMay 1974, he beat Spassky (+41=6). Id., p. 79. In the finals, held in September
November 1974, he beat Viktor Korchnoi (+32=19). Id., p. 113.
418. Kasparov 2004, p. 471.
420. Brady 2011, pp. 21819.
421. Kasparov 2004, p. 472.
424. Grandmaster Hans Ree remarked of Fischer's demand that the champion keep his title in the event of a 99 tie, "They
[FIDE] thought that this demand was too severe. It was rejected, understandably." Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 46.
426. Korchnoi and Alburt observed that Karpov, in later securing the right to a rematch if he lost the World Championship,
was given a greater advantage by FIDE than Fischer had asked for. Over two matches, Korchnoi was required to beat
Karpov by at least 65 and 65: an aggregate score of +2 and a minimum win requirement +2 greater than Karpov
would have needed in 1975. This scenario nearly materialized since the 1978 match was tied 55 after 31 games before
Karpov won the 32nd game. Korchnoi could, in theory, have won 60 in the first match and lost 56 in the second,
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with an aggregate win total of 11 games to Karpov's 6. Recognizing this, FIDE president Euwe proposed that the
champion should only have a rematch in the event he lost 56, but Karpov rejected this proposal. Plisetsky &
Voronkov 2005, pp. 41819.
427. In a letter to Larry Evans, published in Chess Life in November 1974, Fischer claimed the usual system (24 games
with the first player to get 12 points winning, and the champion retaining his title in the event of a 1212 tie)
encouraged the player in the lead to draw games, which he regarded as bad for chess. Not counting draws would be
"an accurate test of who is the world's best player." Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 159.
428. Former U.S. Champion Arnold Denker, who was in contact with Fischer during the negotiations with FIDE, claimed
that Fischer wanted a long match to be able to play himself into shape after a three-year layoff. Denker & Parr 1995,
pp. 11011.
429. Mednis 1997, p. 282.
431. Kasparov 2004, p. 473.
432. Karpov 1991, pp. 159165.
435. "'Karpov... knew he could hardly draw a game with Fischer, never mind score one or two wins. His only chance was
to disrupt the match. So a whole arsenal of tricks was worked out, designed to upset the sensitive American,
unaccustomed to such methods. As Karpov himself said, 'This match cannot end normally. Either I'll be taken to
hospital (Anatoly weighed only 48kg at the time and even at the end of his Moscow match with Korchnoi he required
pep pills to keep him going) or else he'll be taken to a lunatic asylum.' " Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 419.
436. "'Roger Cohen: Why, after turning down so many offers to make a comeback, did you accept this one? Bobby
Fischer: That's not quite true. As I recall, for example, Karpov in 1975 was the one who refused to play me under my
conditions...' " Brady 2011, p. 247.
437. Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 22.
438. Bisguier, Arthur (June 22, 1988). "When Bobby Fischer took on a computer"
(http://www.csmonitor.com/layout/set/r14/1988/0622/lchs22.html). Christian Science Monitor. Retrieved January 27,
2014.
439. Fischer 1982, p. 1.
440. Fischer 1982, p. 2.
441. Fischer 1982, pp. 314.
442. Fischer 1982, pp. 1012.
443. Fischer 1982, p. 14.
444. Fischer, Bobby (1982). "I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!" (http://bobbyfischer.net/bobby13.html). Printer.
445. Chun, Rene (December 2002). "Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame"
(http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/prem/200212/chun). The Atlantic. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
446. Brady 2011, p. 224.
447. Nack, William (July 29, 1985). "Bobby Fischer" (http://si.com/vault/article/magazine/MAG1119708/11/index.htm).
Sports Illustrated. Retrieved September 3, 2013.
448. Weeks, Mark (19972008). "1992 Fischer Spassky Rematch Highlights" (http://www.markweeks.com/chess/92fs$$.htm). Printer. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
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450. Soltis 2003, p. 280.

451. Mller 2009, p. 382.
452. Waitzkin 1993, p. 298.
454. The tenth press conference was not transcribed. Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 272. The content of the other nine
press conferences can be found, in full, in id. at pp. 13, 1521, 5357, 8690, 11418, 14954, 17075, 20814,
22731, 25660.
456. Seirawan & Stefanovic, pp. 85, 96, 303.
457. Sloan, Sam. "Threatening Letter to Bobby Fischer" (http://www.anusha.com/newcomb.htm). anusha.com. Retrieved
January 28, 2014.
458. Cohen, Roger (September 2, 1992). "Bobby Fischer Ends Silence With Rancor"
(http://www.nytimes.com/1992/09/02/arts/bobby-fischer-ends-silence-with-rancor.html). The New York Times.
459. Labaton, Stephen (December 16, 1992). "FISCHER IS INDICTED OVER CHESS MATCH"
(http://www.nytimes.com/1992/12/16/world/fischer-is-indicted-over-chess-match.html). The New York Times.
460. "Will Fischer be extradited?" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/will-fischer-be-extradited-). chessbase.com. July 19, 2004.
461. "Indictment" (http://en.chessbase.com/portals/4/files/images2/2004/fischer10.pdf). U.S. District Court for the District
of Columbia (Federal Circuit). December 15, 1992. Retrieved January 28, 2014.
462. "On December 15, 1992, a single count indictment in federal court in Washington, D.C., was handed down by a grand
jury against Bobby Fischer for violating economic sanctions, through an executive order issued by President George
Bush. A letter to that effect was sent to Bobby in Belgrade, and upon announcement of the indictment, federal officials
issued a warrant for his arrest." Brady 2011, p. 255.
463. Winter, Edward. "Fischer v Gligori Training Match (1992)
(http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/fischergligoric.html)", Chess Notes
464. "Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame" (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200212/chun). The Atlantic. Retrieved
November 12, 2011.
465. Daniszewski, John (September 4, 1992). "Fischer's 19-Year-Old Companion Shares Chess Limelight"
(http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920904&slug=1511077).
Community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
466. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 65, 10609.
467. Brady 2011, pp. 25562.
468. "Sofia Polgar discussing Bobby Fischer" (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpHyqg-gM-s). youtube.com. Retrieved
November 12, 2011.
469. Cabreza, Vincent (January 19, 2008). "Fischer has a Pinoy heir born in Baguio friends"
(http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080119-113499/Fischer-has-a-Pinoy-heir-born-in-Baguio---friends). Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
470. Marilyn Young's name was written behind a photograph dated December 14, 2000, sent to her by Fischer. The
photograph is displayed on the Chessbase website. See also: "Fischer's daughter Jinky files claim to his estate"
(http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5905). chessbase.com. November 11, 2009. Retrieved January 3,
2010.
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471. Ochoa, Francis (February 7, 2008). "Fischer's Filipino heirs going after estate"
(http://sports.inquirer.net/inquirersports/inquirersports/view/20080207-117275/Fischers-Filipino-heirs-going-afterestate). Philippine Daily Inquirer. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
472. "Bobby Fischer's Pinay heir may get settlement" (http://www.gmanews.tv/story/82348/Bobby-Fischers-Pinay-heirmay-get-settlement). GMANews.tv. February 26, 2008. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
473. "Fischer's Pinay love child in Iceland to claim inheritance" (http://susanpolgar.blogspot.com/2009/12/jinky-iniceland.html). Manila Bulletin. December 4, 2009. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
474. "Fischer's daughter Jinky files claim to his estate" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5905).
chessbase.com. November 11, 2009. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
475. "4 gera krfu dnarb Fischers (Four parties make claims)"
(http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20080423000000/www.ruv.is/heim/frettir/frett/store64/item202726/). RV. April
22, 2008. Archived from the original (http://www.ruv.is/heim/frettir/frett/store64/item202726/) on April 23, 2008.
476. "DNA tests on chess champion's corpse exclude paternity" (http://www.reuters.com/article/2010/08/17/us-icelandfischer-idUSTRE67G4TK20100817). Reuters. August 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
477. "DNA results settle Bobby Fischer paternity case"
(http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/18/iceland.bobby.fischer/index.html?hpt=T2). Cnn.com. August 18,
2010. Retrieved November 12, 2011.
478. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 30, 44.
479. Nathaniel Popper, Chess Master Pawned Identity for Hatred (http://www.forward.com/articles/5039/), The Jewish
Daily Forward, July 23, 2004.
480. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 41, 45, 61, 66, 90, 92, 95, 101, 107, 11720.
481. Parr, Larry: "Is Bobby Fischer Anti-Semitic?", Chess News, May 2001.
482. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 123.
483. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 41, 6566, 11819, 121.
484. DeLucia 2009, pp. 16062, 166. Chess historian Edward Winter, in his review of DeLucia's book, calls it "[o]ne of the
most extraordinary of all chess books." Winter 2009.
485. Fischer wrote of Nature's Eternal Religion in a 1979 letter to Benko, "'The book shows that Christianity itself is just a
Jewish hoax and one more Jewish tool for their conquest of the world. ... Unfortunately the author is an extreme racist
and this somewhat spoils the book.' " DeLucia 2007, p. 280.
486. DeLucia 2009, pp. 290, 292.
487. "Fischer was able to separate his hatred for Judaism as a religion and Jews as an ethnic group from Jewish people as
individuals. He was on perfectly amicable terms with Jewish chess masters in the United States and the USSR."
Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 27.
488. Bamber, David; Chris Hastings (December 2, 2001). "Bobby Fischer speaks out to applaud Trade Centre attacks". The
Sunday Telegraph. p. 17.
489. "The Bin Laden defense; Diatribe; Bobby Fischer speaks out in favor of 9/11 attacks; Brief Article; Transcript".
Harper's Magazine 304 (1822): 27. March 1, 2002. 0017-789X.
490. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 122.
491. "In 2001, though, with the Internet rapidly expanding, his rants were heard all over the world, and what he said
brought renewed scrutiny by the United States government." Brady 2011, p. 279.
492. Weber, Bruce (January 19, 2008). "Bobby Fischer, Troubled Genius of Chess, Dies at 64"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/crosswords/chess/19fischer.html). The New York Times. Retrieved January 11,
50/63
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2013.
493. Fischer's radio broadcasts show that he was "out of his mind ... a victim of his own mental illness". Bhm & Jongkind
2003, pp. 6667.
494. Brady 2011, p. 279.
495. "Archive of official site" (https://web.archive.org/web/20080121125138/http://www.fischer.jp/). Web.archive.org.
January 21, 2008. Archived from the original (http://www.fischer.jp/) on January 21, 2008. Retrieved November 12,
2011.
496. Frederick, Jim (August 23, 2004). "King's Gambit"
(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,686101,00.html). TIME. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
497. "Fischer er jkvur og skr hugsun" (http://mbl.is/mm/gagnasafn/grein.html?grein_id=811183). (Icelandic).
498. "There was problems with the revocation of the passport, however. Fischer never received the notice and therefore
couldn't appeal it, which according to law he had the right to do. The Justice Department claimed that the letter had
been sent to the hotel in Bern (the location Bobby had given to the embassy) and was returned to them with no
forwarding address appended. It was dated December 11, 2003, and when a faxed copy of the letter was ultimately
examined, it didn't have an address for Fischer on it, the implication being that the embassy had never sent the letter to
Bern." Brady 2011, pp. 28182.
499. Suzuki, Hiroshi (August 6, 2004). "Bobby Fischer Renounces U.S. Citizenship, Seeks Refugee Status"
(http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=amx21MqZzvxk&refer=us). Bloomberg. Retrieved
August 2, 2010.
500. "Profile: Bobby Fischer: Endgame on the darker side of genius"
(http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/article438161.ece). timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved July 18, 2009.
501. "Fischer's next moves: renounce U.S. citizenship and marry a Japanese | The Japan Times Online"
(http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2004/08/17/national/fischers-next-moves-renounce-u-s-citizenship-and-marry-ajapanese/). japantimes.co.jp. August 17, 2004. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
502. "Fischer renounces US citizenship" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1852). chessbase.com.
August 15, 2004. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
503. Koerner, Brendan (August 9, 2004). "How To Renounce Your Citizenship: Tips from Bobby Fischer"
(http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2004/08/how_to_renounce_your_citizenship.html). Slate.
Retrieved July 3, 2012.
504. "Bobby Fischer's Deportation Appeal Rejected" (http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,127262,00.html). Associated
Press. July 28, 2004. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
505. ' "Honorable Members of Althingi: I... sincerely thank the Icelandic nation for the friendship it has shown to me ever
since I came to your country many years ago and competed for the title of World Champion in chess... For the past
six months I have been forcibly and illegally imprisoned in Japan... During this period my health has steadily
deteriorated... I would therefore like to formally request that Althingi grant me Icelandic citizenship so that I may
actually enjoy the offer of residence in Iceland that your Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. David Oddsson had so
graciously extended to me. Most Respectfully, BOBBY FISCHER' " Brady 2011, pp. 28889.
506. Bobby Fischer: ich bin ein Icelander! (http://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2275). March 21, 2005.
507. Smith-Spark, Laura (March 23, 2005). "Fischer 'put Iceland on the map' "
(http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4102367.stm). British Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved September 13,
2008.
508. "The RJF [Robert James Fischer] members called virtually every member of parliament to lobby for citizenship: full,
permanent citizenship... an Extraordinary Session of Parliament was called for Saturday, Match 21, 2005. Three
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permanent citizenship... an Extraordinary Session
of Parliament was called for Saturday, Match 21, 2005. Three
rounds of discussion took place in the space of twelve minutes, and questions were posed regarding the extent of the
emergency. The answers were succinct and forthcoming: Bobby Fischer's improper incarceration was a violation of
his rights; all he was really guilty of was moving some wooden pieces across a chessboard; he'd been a friend of
Iceland and had a historical connection to it, and now he needed the country's help." Act Respecting the Granting of
Citizenship, no. 16/2005. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 293
509. Yanchulis, Kelly. "ESPN's Jeremy Schaap Opens Up with Students" (http://povichcenter.org/jeremy-schaap-opens-upwith-students/). Shirley Povich Center for Sports Journalism, University of Maryland. Retrieved January 4, 2014.
510. "Bobby Fischer dies in Iceland" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4392). chessbase.com. January
18, 2008. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
511. Brady 2011, p. 305.
512. Brady 2011, p. 319.
513. "Bobby Fischer's final manoeuvre" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3751254.ece). The
Sunday Times. April 20, 2008.
514. "Bobby Fischer and the missed combination" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3546).
chessbase.com. December 17, 2006. Retrieved January 27, 2014.
515. Fischer on Icelandic Radio (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3468) April 11, 2006
516. Bhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 118.
517. Brady 2011, p. 317.
518. "Dnarorsk Fischers var nrnabilun" (http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/frett.html?nid=1315727) (in Icelandic).
mbl.is. January 20, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014..
519. Death:
"Chess genius Bobby Fischer, from American hero to paranoid fugitive"
(http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hpjkKfonmIFJxdSyG535aNfW6rnQ). AFP. January 18, 2008. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
"Obituary: Bobby Fischer" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/3900793.stm). BBC News. January 18,
"Chess legend Fischer dies at 64" (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7195840.stm). BBC News. January 18,
"Bobby Fischer: Obituary" (http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/obituaries/article3211295.ece). The
Sunday Times. January 19, 2008.
520. Weber, Bruce (January 19, 2008). "Bobby Fischer, Chess Master, Dies at 64"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/crosswords/chess/19fischer.html?pagewanted=all). The New York Times.
521. "Bobby started to have urinary problems and thought it might simply be caused by an enlarged prostate gland, at first
denying that anything was seriously wrong with him. His lungs were also bothering him and he was having difficulty
breathing. Since he had a lifelong distrust of doctors, he tolerated the discomfort until late September 2007, when his
pain and inability to urinate became excruciating. He went to a doctor... [who conducted a blood test which showed
that] he had a blocked urinary tract... [and that] his kidneys... were not functioning properly... Bobby refused to take
any medicine, and the idea of being hooked up to a dialysis machine to cleanse his blood every few days for the rest of
his life was out of the question." Brady 2011, pp. 31617.
522. "It's possible that Bobby was just giving up, letting go of his life, beginning a slow form of suicide." Interview of Pal
Benko by author, summer 2008, New York. Quoted in Brady 2011, p. 317.
523. Dirda, Michael (February 10, 2011). "A chess master who defeated himself". The Washington Post.
52/63
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523. Dirda, Michael (February 10, 2011). "A chess
master who defeated himself". The Washington Post.
524. "Sustu or Fischers" (http://www.visir.is/article/20080119/FRETTIR01/80119051). visir.is. January 20, 2008.

525. "Bobby Fischer his final weeks" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/bobby-fischer-his-final-weeks). chessbase.com.
January 25, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
526. Burial:
"Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/bobby-fischer-buried-in-iceland).
chessbase.com. January 22, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
"Find A Grave Robert James Fischer" (http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?
page=gr&GSln=Fischer&GSfn=Bobby&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=2008&GSdyrel=all&GSob=n&GRid=24023886&).
findagrave.com. January 18, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
"tfr Fischers kyrrey"
(http://wayback.vefsafn.is/wayback/20080123153750/http://ruv.is/heim/frettir/frett/store64/item187254/) (in
Icelandic). January 21, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014..
"Unnustan rur hvlusta Bobbys" (http://www.visir.is/article/20080119/FRETTIR01/80119030) (in
Icelandic). visir.is. January 19, 2008. Retrieved January 29, 2014..
Bragadottir, Kristin Arna (January 21, 2008). "Chess champion Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland"
(http://www.reuters.com/article/peopleNews/idUSL2112613820080121). Reuters. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
527. Andrew Soltis,Fi$cher Family Feud
(http://www.nypost.com/p/entertainment/fi_cher_family_feud_dM7SQvHd1SmrWSYdxPq0EO), New York Post,
November 15, 2009. Retrieved on November 16, 2009.
528. McClain, Dylan Loeb (July 5, 2010). "Bobby Fischer Is Exhumed"
(http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/bobby-fischer-is-exhumed/). The New York Times (Online Chess Blog).
529. "Fischer's remains to be exhumed?" (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6227). chessbase.com. April
530. McClain, Dylan Loeb (June 17, 2010). "Iceland: Bobby Fischer's Estate Dispute"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/18/world/europe/18briefs-Iceland.html). The New York Times Europe. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
531. "Court rules Bobby Fischer's body can be exhumed" (http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/06/17/court-rules-bobbyfischers-body-can-be-exhumed/?hpt=T2). CNN.com. June 17, 2010. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
532. Helgason, Gudjon (July 5, 2010). "Chess icon Fischer's body exhumed over paternity"
(http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/jul/5/chess-icon-fischers-body-exhumed-over-paternity/). Associated
Press. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
533. "Miyoko Watai Ruled Bobby Fischer's Legal Heir"
(http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/Miyoko_Watai_Ruled_Bobby_Fischer%E2%80%99s_Legal_
Heir_0_374804.news.aspx). Iceland Review Online. March 3, 2011. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
534. McClain, Dylan Loeb (March 4, 2011). "Iceland Court Hands Bobby Fischer Estate to Japanese Claimant"
(http://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/05/world/europe/05chess.html). The New York Times. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
535. "He employs a limited range of openings. Of course, this is not a sign of Fischer's limited creativity, since he
compensates for this by a very profound and sound knowledge of the variations he favours [sic]." Plisetsky &
Voronkov 2005, p. 270.
537. "Fischer's main and almost exclusive weapon with White is 1 e4. The range of stratagems that he employs after 1 e4 is
53/63
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537. "Fischer's main and almost exclusive weapon
with White is 1 e4. The range of stratagems that he employs after 1 e4 is
extremely wide." Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 251.

538. 90.5/118 (+72-9=37): 76.69% "Robert James Fischer playing the Sicilian as Black (B20-B99)"
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?pid=19233&playercomp=black&opening=B20B99&title=Robert%20James%20Fischer%20playing%20the%20Sicilian%20as%20Black). chessgames.com. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
539. 135/182 (+111-23=48): 74.17% "Robert James Fischer playing the Sicilian as White (B20-B99)"
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?pid=19233&playercomp=white&opening=B20B99&title=Robert%20James%20Fischer%20playing%20the%20Sicilian%20as%20White). chessgames.com. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
540. 38/52 (+31-7=14): 73.07% "Robert James Fischer playing the Caro-Kann as White (B10-B19)"
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?pid=19233&playercomp=white&opening=B10B19&title=Robert%20James%20Fischer%20playing%20the%20Caro-Kann%20as%20White). chessgames.com.
541. 42/68 (+34-18=16): 61.76% "Robert James Fischer playing the French Defense as White (C00-C19)"
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?pid=19233&playercomp=white&opening=C00C19&title=Robert%20James%20Fischer%20playing%20the%20French%20Defense%20as%20White).
chessgames.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
542. 22/40 (+1713=10): 55% "Robert James Fischer playing the French Winawer as White (C15-C19)"
(http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?pid=19233&playercomp=white&opening=C15C19&title=Robert%20James%20Fischer%20playing%20the%20French%20Winawer%20as%20White).
chessgames.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
543. Mller 2009, p. 31.
544. Fischer 1969, p. 151.
546. Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 322 (quoting March 20, 1972 letter from Paul Keres to the USSR Chess Federation).
547. "The Exchange Variation was a feared weapon in the hands of Bobby Fischer." Kasparov & Keene 1989, p. 382.
548. "The modern version of the Spanish Exchange variation, in which White moves 5.0-0 after the exchange on move 4,
should be named after former World Champion Bobby Fischer." Fischer, after finding an improvement on a 1965 game
Barengdt-Teschner, which Black won, "started to play the Exchange with the move 5.0-0, winning game after game
with it, and continued to play it with success even in his 1992 rematch with Boris Spassky, his final formal chess
event." Kaufman 2004, pp. 45.
549. "Robert James Fischer, Ruy Lopez, Exchange (C68-69)" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?
yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=white&pid=19233&player=&pid2=&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves=
&opening=&eco=C68-69&result=). chessgames.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
550. Andrew Soltis, in Mller 2009, pp. 29, 3233.
551. L.S. Blackstock, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 36.
552. Andrew Soltis, in Mller 2009, p. 25.
553. Hansen 2002, p. 132.
554. Pliester 1995, p. 272.
555. Gligori 1985, p. 65.
556. Watson observed that 7...Qb6 "is an astonishing move that those raised with classical chess principles would simply
reject as a typical beginner's mistake. Black goes running after a pawn when he is undeveloped and already under
attack." Watson 2006, p. 199.
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attack." Watson 2006, p. 199.
557. "Referring to the Poisoned Pawn Variation ... the brilliant, classically oriented grandmaster Salo Flohr commented, even
as late as 1972: 'In chess, there is an old rule: in the opening, one must make haste to develop the pieces, and must not
move the same piece several times, particularly the queen. This ancient law holds good even for Bobby Fischer.' "
Watson 1998, p. 18.
558. The Poisoned Pawn Variation "was considered dubious by certain GMs and crazy by Bent Larsen." Polugaevsky, Piket
& Guneau 1995, p. 83.
560. "Robert James Fischer, Sicilian, Najdorf (B97)" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?
yearcomp=exactly&year=&playercomp=black&pid=&player=Fischer&pid2=&player2=&movescomp=exactly&moves
=&opening=&eco=B97&result=). chessgames.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
561. Georgiev & Kolev 2007, p. 6.
562. Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 146.
563. Mednis calls 6.Bc4 against the Najdorf Variation "Fischer's 6 B-QB4." Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 74, 80, 88.
564. "Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer, Mar del Plata (1960), King's Gambit: Accepted. Kieseritsky Gambit
Rubinstein Variation (C39)" (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1080046). chessgames.com. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
565. Fischer 1961, p. 4.
566. Fischer 1961, pp. 49.
567. Estrin & Glaskov 1982, p. 115.
568. Korchnoi & Zak 1975, p. 39.
570. Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 27, 7677, 253, 256.
572. Silman 2007, pp. 51023.
573. Mller & Lamprecht 2001, p. 304.
574. Mayer 1997, p. 201.
575. Steve Giddins, 2012, The Greatest Ever chess endgames, p. 68.
576. "With the advent of electronic clocks new possibilities arose and in 1990 the recluse Fischer emerged to publicize a
chess clock which he had patented. The basis of its novelty is the ability to add available time whenever a player makes
a move. He suggested that each player should begin with one hour on the clock and that two minutes be added each
time the clock is pressed, thus avoiding the worst features of a time scramble." Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 422.
577. "Bobby's invention of a new chess clock that operated differently from those traditionally used in tournaments had to
be specially manufactured for the match, and [Jezdimir] Vasiljevic had it made. Bobby insisted that it be used in the
match. The game would start with each player having ninety minutes, and upon his making a move, two minutes
would be added to each player's time. Bobby's theory was that in this new system, players would never be left to
scramble to make their moves at the end of the time allotment with only seconds to spare, thereby reducing the
number of blunders under time pressure. The pride of the game was the depth of its conceptions, Fischer contended,
not triumph by mechanical means." Brady 2011, p. 246.
578. "In the 1992 match both players start with one hour and fifty-one minutes. Each move played earns a one-minute
bonus. After 40 moves, both players get a 40-minute gift, after 60 moves, 30 minutes and after 80 and each
succeeding 20 moves, 20 minutes. The gifts are in addition to the regular bonus of one minute a move. The time
controls correspond with the older competition limits of 40 moves in two and a half hours." Mller 2009, p. 382.
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580. "Audio clip of Bobby Fischer"

(https://web.archive.org/web/20071129072620/http://chess960.net/files/audio/fischer_20022701_iceland.mp3).
chess960.net. Archived from the original (http://chess960.net/files/audio/fischer_20022701_iceland.mp3) on November
581. Brady 2011, p. 260.
582. "Speaking about Fischer..." (http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3468). November 4, 2006. Retrieved
February 6, 2014.
583. Kasparov 2004, p. 207.
584. Greatest player ever:
Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 47 (Ree interview), 91 (Timman interview), 113 (Short interview).
Hartston 1985, p. 157.
Levy 1975, p. 9.
Lombardy 2011, p. 220.
Mller 2009, p. 23.
Schonberg 1973, pp. 271, 302.
Waitzkin 1993, p. 275 (quoting Kasparov).
Wilson 1981, p. 171.
585. Arguably greatest player ever:
Bhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 13334.
Divinsky 1990. p. 67.
Eade 2011, p. 308.
Euwe 1979, p. ix.
Golombek 1977. p. 117.
Kasparov 2004, p. 490.
Mednis 1997, p. xiii.
Soltis 2003, p. 9.
Wolff 2001, p. 273.
586. "William Lombardy characterized Fischer's game as machinelike, with 'terrifically accurate positional play but never
boring... His opening repertory is encompassing... His end game is practically flawless. Bobby is the most complete
player I've ever seen.' " Schonberg 1972, p. 270.
587. "Referring to the future chess computer, Jim Sherwin [aka: James Sherwin], an American [chess] player who knew
Fischer well, described him as 'a prototype Deep Blue.' The Soviet analysis showed that even when faced with an
unexpected position, Fischer took not longer than fifteen or twenty minutes to make his move; other grandmasters
might take twice as long. Nor did Fischer appear to be governed by any psychologically predetermined system or
technique." Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, p. 22.
588. "[Fischer's] play approached so close to perfection that it seemed to transcend style." Winter 1981, p. 118.
589. "Player Profile: Bobby Fischer" (http://www.chessmetrics.com/cm/CM2/PlayerProfile.asp?
Params=199510SSSSS1S038178000000111000000000000010100). chessmetrics.com. March 26, 2005. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
590. Saidy & Lessing 1974, p. 226.
591. Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 43.
592. "Petrosian: 'Fischer is exceptionally hard-working. Without fear of over-exaggerating, I am prepared to compare the
amount of time spent by him at the board between competitions with the hours devoted to chess by all the members of
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amount of time spent by him at the board between
competitions with the hours devoted to chess by all the members of
the Soviet national team taken together.' " Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 143.
594. Kasparov, Garry (January 26, 2008). "The Chessman"
(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1707222,00.html). TIME. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
595. "The Telegraph Calcutta (Kolkata) | Sports | Fischer is greatest ever, says Anand"
(http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090116/jsp/sports/story_10397969.jsp). Calcutta, India: Telegraphindia.com. January
596. "All participants at U.S. Chess Championship now officially ineligible for $64,000 Fischer memorial prize for a
'sweep' " (http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/ALL-PARTICIPANTS-AT-US-CHESS-CHAMPIONSHIP-NOWOFFICIALLY-INELIGIBLE-FOR-FISCHER-PRIZE.html). saintlouischessclub.org. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
597. "There were rumors that Bobby Fischer had often played online chess at I.C.C. to get in a few games, but it was never
proven who he was, his games being kept anonymous with a fake handle." Sloan & Aravena 2012, p. 6.
598. "Chess legend 'plays the web' " (http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/1533946.stm). BBC News. September 9, 2001.
599. Allerson, Andrew (September 9, 2001). "Bobby Fischer takes on all comers in cyberspace"
(http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1339982/Bobby-Fischer-takes-on-all-comers-in-cyberspace.html). London:
The Telegraph. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
600. "12468945: R O MITCHELL (Deceased)" (http://main.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMain.php?12468945). uscf.com.
601. "12438121: LIONEL L DAVIS" (http://main.uschess.org/msa/MbrDtlMilestones.php?12438121). uscf.com. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
602. Shabazz, Daaim (February 24, 2008). "Did R.O. Mitchell meet Bobby Fischer?"
(http://www.thechessdrum.net/blog/2008/02/24/did-ro-mitchell-meet-bobby-fischer/). thechessdrum.net. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
603. "Conversation with Bobby Fischer?" (http://www.memphischess.com/ROBobbyConversation.html). July 15, 2001.
604. "So what do we conclude? It could be that Bobby Fischer hath decended unto us to play miraculous games of chess.
But Occams Razor forces at least the author of this piece to believe that ICC Fischer is a prankster using a fast
computer and one or more of the top programs available today to create an urban legend that will stay alive in chess
circles for a long time to come." "The third coming of Bobby Fischer?" (http://en.chessbase.com/post/the-thirdcoming-of-bobby-fischer-). chessbase.com. September 18, 2001. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
605. William Hartston, Chess: The Making of the Musical, Pavilion Books, 1986, p. 10. ISBN 1-85145-006-8.
606. Zhaskyran, Musin (January 2001). "Chess Problems (about chess songs of Vladimir Vysotsky)"
(http://www.kulichki.com/vv/ovys/articles/0018.html) (in Russian). Retrieved January 29, 2014..
607. Ebert, Roger (August 11, 1993). "Searching for Bobby Fischer review"
(http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19930811/REVIEWS/308110301/1023). Chicago SunTimes. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
608. "Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993)" (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108065/releaseinfo#akas). imdb.com. Retrieved
January 29, 2014.
609. "Bobby was indignant and then irate when he heard about it, proclaiming the film a misrepresentation of his name and,
therefore, an invasion of his privacy." Brady 2011, p. 267.
610. "Bobby Fischer Moves to a Satisfying Peace," Chicago Sun-Times, September 26, 1993. Quoted in Brady 2011, p.
268.
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268.
611. Brady 1973, p. 78.

612. Hooper & Whyld 1992, pp. 13839.
613. Brady 2011, pp. 22728.
614. Winter, Edward. "Chess Notes 4707, 4721, Chess Notes Archive"
(http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter28.html). chesshistory.com. Retrieved January 29, 2014.
615. Soltis writes that Fischer "contributed some ideas, but chiefly his name, to Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess". Soltis 2003,
p. 10.
616. Bantam Books, May 1972, ISBN 0-553-26315-3.
617. Verwer 2010, pp. 11618.
618. includes one game where opponent refused to play and resigned on the first move
619. Verwer 2010, p. 118.
620. Wade & O'Connell BFCG Doubleday 1972, p. 11.
621. Mller 2009, p. 400.
622. Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, pp. 5152.
623. includes one forfeit
624. Verwer 2010, p. 116.
625. "New York's New Prodigy," Chess, November 9, 1956. Quoted in Soltis 2003, p. 13.
626. Brady 1973, p. 74.
627. "Annotating a Short-Svidler game from the 2002 Russia-World match, the magazine 64 commented that even a
superbly placed Black knight on an open file will interfere with heavy pieces and therefore should be removed in 'the
classic example of the seventh game of the Fischer-Petrosian match.' " Soltis 2003, p. 264.
628. Saidy & Lessing p. 237.
629. Soltis 2003, p. 271.
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Golombek, Harry (1977). Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-53146-1.
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Mifflin Harcourt. ISBN 0-54-713337-5.
Karpov, Anatoly (1991) [1990]. Karpov on Karpov: Memoirs of a Chess World Champion (1st English ed.).
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Monica, California August 1966. Dover. ISBN 0-486-23572-6.
Kasparov, Garry; Keene, Raymond (1989). Batsford Chess Openings 2. Collier Books. ISBN 0-02-033991-7.
Kasparov, Garry (2004). My Great Predecessors, Volume IV. Gloucester Publishers. ISBN 1-85744-395-0.
Kasparov, Garry (2006). My Great Predecessors, Volume V. Gloucester Publishers. ISBN 1-85744-404-3.
Kaufman, Larry (2004). The Chess Advantage in Black and White. David McKay. ISBN 0-8129-3571-3.
Kai, B.M. (1974). International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events. Pitman. ISBN 0-27307078-9.
Korchnoi, Viktor; Zak, Vladimir (1975). The King's Gambit. Chess Digest.
Levy, David (1975). How Fischer Plays Chess. R.H.M. Press. ISBN 0-89058-011-1.
Linder, I.M.; Linder, V.I. (1994). Dve zhizni Grossmeistera Alatortseva (The Two Lives of Grandmaster Alatortsev).
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Mayer, Steve (1997). Bishop versus Knight: The Verdict. Batsford. ISBN 1-879479-73-7.
Mednis, Edmar (1997) [1997]. How to Beat Bobby Fischer (2nd ed.). Dover. ISBN 0-486-29844-2.
Mller, Karsten; Lamprecht, Frank (2001). Fundamental Chess Endings. Gambit Publications. ISBN 1-901983-53-6.
Mller, Karsten (2009). Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion.
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Pachman, Ludk (1975). Pachman's Decisive Games. Pitman. ISBN 0-273-31812-8.
Pliester, Leon (1995). Rubinstein Complex of the Nimzo-Indian Defense. International Chess Enterprises. ISBN 978-1879479-25-8.
Plisetsky, Dmitry; Voronkov, Sergey (2005). Russians versus Fischer (2nd ed.). Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-3802.
Polugevsky, Lev; Piket, Jeroen; Guneau, Christophe (1995). Sicilian Love: Lev Polugaevsky Chess Tournament,
Buenos Aires 1994. New in Chess. ISBN 90-71689-99-9.
Ponterotto, Joseph G. (2012). A Psychobiography of Bobby Fischer. Charles C. Thomas. ISBN 978-0-398-08742-5.
Roberts, Richard; Schonberg,
Harold C.; Horowitz, I. A.; Reshevsky, Samuel (1972). Fischer/Spassky: The New York
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Roberts, Richard; Schonberg, Harold C.; Horowitz, I. A.; Reshevsky, Samuel (1972). Fischer/Spassky: The New York
Times Report on the Chess Match of the Century. Bantam Books. ISBN 978-0-553-07667-7.
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Schonberg, Harold C. (1973). Grandmasters of Chess. J.B. Lippincott. ISBN 0-397-01004-4.
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Silman, Jeremy (2007). Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master. Siles Press. ISBN 1-89008510-3.
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You Will See Around NY Chess (Volume 1). CreateSpace. ISBN 1-460961-41-2.
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Soltis, Andrew (2002). Chess Lists (2nd ed.). McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-1296-8.
Soltis, Andrew (2003). Bobby Fischer Rediscovered. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8846-8.
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Steiner, George (1974) [1973]. Fields of Force. Viking. ISBN 9-7806-7031-178-1.
Verwer, Renzo (2010). Bobby Fischer for Beginners. New In Chess. ISBN 9-7890-5691-315-1.
Wade, Robert G.; O'Connell, Kevin J. (1973) [1972]. Bobby Fischer's Chess Games (2nd ed.). Doubleday. ISBN 0385-08627-X.
Waitzkin, Fred (1993). Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov. G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-39913827-7.
Watson, John (1998). Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances since Nimzowitsch. Gambit Publications. ISBN 1901983-07-2.
Watson, John (2006). Mastering the Chess Openings, Volume 1. Gambit Publications. ISBN 978-1-904600-60-2.
Wilson, Fred (1981). A Picture History of Chess. Dover. ISBN 0-486-23856-3.
Winter, Edward (1981). World Chess Champions. Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-024117-4.
Winter, Edward (1993). "Instant Fischer" (http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/instant.html). chesshistory.com.
Retrieved June 24, 2009.
Winter, Edward (2009). "Chess Note 6189. Bobby Fischer Uncensored"
(http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter59.html). chesshistory.com. Retrieved January 20, 2014.
Wolff, Patrick (2001) [1997]. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Chess (2nd ed.). Macmillan. ASIN B00AR16QPU
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00AR16QPU).
Further reading
Agur, Elie (1992). Bobby Fischer: A Study of His Approach to Chess. Cadogan. ISBN 1-85744-001-3.
Dautov, Petra (1995). Bobby Fischer wie er wirklich ist: Ein Jahr mit dem Schachgenie. P. Dautov California-Verlag.
ISBN 3-9804281-3-3.
Hbner, Robert (2008). Chessbase Monograph: World Champion Fischer. Chessbase. ASIN B007J8Z8E4
(https://www.amazon.com/dp/B007J8Z8E4).
lafsson, Helgi (2014). Bobby Fischer Comes Home: The Final Years in Iceland, a Saga of Friendship and Lost
Illusions. New in Chess. ASIN B00IEOZ2N4 (https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IEOZ2N4).
Verwer, Renzo (2010). World Chess Champions. New in Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-315-1.
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External links
Bobby Fischer (http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessplayer?
pid=19233) player profile and games at Chessgames.com
"The Chessman", Garry Kasparov
Wikiquote has quotations

related to: Bobby Fischer
Wikimedia Commons has
media related to Bobby
Fischer.
(http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1707222,00.html), TIME magazine, January 26, 2008

"Death of a madman driven sane by chess", Stephen Moss
(http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/19/chess.sport) The Guardian, January 19, 2008
"Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame", Rene Chun (http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200212/chun/) The Atlantic,
December 2002
Extensive collection of Fischer photographs, Echecs-photos online (http://www.echecsphotos.be/BobbyFischer-photos/index.html)
Edward Winter, List of books about Fischer and Kasparov
(http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/fischerkasparov.html)
Archive of Fischer's personal homepage (https://web.archive.org/web/20080121125138/http://www.fischer.jp/)
Bobby Fischer Live Radio Interviews (19992006) (http://bobbyfischerpage.tripod.com/)
A compilation of pictures of Fischer in the Philippines 1967 made into a video
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fzGprBGKAso)
The Bobby Fischer Defense (http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2011/mar/10/bobby-fischerdefense/?pagination=false), an essay by Garry Kasparov in the New York Review of Books, February 2011.
Me & Bobby Fischer A documentary about getting Bobby Fischer out of jail in Japan and his last years in
Iceland by Fririk Gumundsson
A ninety-minute HBO documentary about Bobby's Fischer's life entitled "Bobby Fischer Against the World" that
aired in June 2011 (http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/bobby-fischer-against-the-world/index.html#)
Bobby Fischer: Chess's beguiling, eccentric genius (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-14013115) BBC
News, July 4, 2011
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Awards
Preceded by
Boris Spassky
World Chess Champion

19721975
Succeeded by
Anatoly Karpov
Preceded by
Arthur Bisguier
United States Chess Champion

19581960
Succeeded by
Larry Evans
Preceded by
Larry Evans
United States Chess Champion

19621966
Succeeded by
Larry Evans
Achievements
Preceded by
None
FIDE world No. 1

July 1, 1971 December 31, 1975
Succeeded by
Anatoly Karpov
Preceded by
Boris Spassky
Youngest chess grandmaster ever

19581991
Succeeded by
Judit Polgr
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Bobby_Fischer&oldid=653100711"

Categories: 1943 births 2008 deaths Anti-Zionism Anti-Zionism in the United States American chess players
American chess writers American critics of Judaism American emigrants to Iceland
American people of Hungarian descent American people of Polish-Jewish descent
American people of Russian-Jewish descent American refugees Bobby Fischer Chess grandmasters
Chess Olympiad competitors Chess variant inventors Critics of Judaism Deaths from renal failure
Erasmus Hall High School alumni Holocaust deniers Icelandic people of American descent
Icelandic people of Jewish descent Naturalised citizens of Iceland People from Brooklyn
People from Chicago, Illinois World chess champions Jewish chess players
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Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 January 17,

Robert James Fischer

January 17, 2008 (aged 64)

2785 (July 1972 FIDE rating

In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

16.1 Opening theory

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Paul Nemenyi as Fischer's father

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Hawthorne Chess Club

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Wins first U.S. title

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Grandmaster, candidate, author

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Drops out of school

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

10/13 (+80=5)[194] First

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

U.S. team result

13/18[208] (Bronze) Silver

Havana 1966 15/17[210] (Silver)

Fischer at the age of 17 playing

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1962: success, setback, accusations of collusion

Accuses Soviets of collusion

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Semi-retirement in the mid-1960s

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

against master opponents, scoring 8/9.[307]

Withdraws while leading Interzonal

Road to the World Championship

19/22 (+171=4), far ahead of Tal

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In AprilMay 1970, Fischer won at Rovinj/Zagreb with 13/17

prizes in tournaments.[318] Former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik

"Fischer began a miraculous year in the history of chess".[346]

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

World Championship match

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972, on a

Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972

Membership in the U.S. Chess Federation doubled in 1972,[414] and peaked

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1992 Spassky rematch

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Anti-American and anti-Israel statements

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Death, estate dispute, and exhumation

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Bobby Fischer - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Internet Bobby Fischer theory

Bobby Fischer on film