The match of the century
Two men, a planet watching, and the Cold War on a chessboard.
The context: the Cold War
In 1972 the world is split in two. The United States and the Soviet Union confront each other without fighting directly: space race, arms race, ideological rivalry. For the USSR, chess is a symbol of intellectual superiority: since 1948 every world champion has been Soviet, and the state backs its players like top athletes.
Facing this machine, Fischer arrives alone, with no state coach, armed with his genius and his uncompromising character. In 1971 he swept aside his opponents in the Candidates matches: 6–0 against Taimanov, 6–0 against Larsen, then 6.5–2.5 against Petrosian. He earned the right to face the reigning world champion, Boris Spassky, crowned in 1969.
The match is set in Reykjavik, Iceland’s capital, a symbolic halfway point between East and West. The negotiations are wild: Fischer demands a bigger prize fund, disputes the playing conditions and delays his arrival. The British financier Jim Slater doubles the prize fund to persuade him, and it is reported that the American adviser Henry Kissinger phoned him to encourage him to play.
How the match unfolded
The start is catastrophic. In the first game, Fischer loses by grabbing a poisoned pawn on h2. For the second, he refuses to show up in protest at the cameras: Spassky wins by forfeit and leads 2–0.
Many think Fischer will quit. But after tough negotiations, the third game is played behind closed doors in a small room: Fischer wins, for the first time in his career, against Spassky. From then on he dominates and wins the match on 1 September 1972, after Spassky resigns game 21 (resumed by telephone). Fischer becomes the 11th world champion, and the first American to hold the title officially.
Key game no. 1: game 6, the masterpiece
Game six, played on 23 July 1972, is regarded as one of the most beautiful of the match. Fischer, with White, opens with 1.c4, a move he had almost never played: Spassky, who had prepared for 1.e4, is caught off guard. The game heads into a Queen’s Gambit Declined.
Fischer then plays with clockwork precision: he trades pieces to obtain a small positional edge, destabilises Black’s centre with 19.Nxe6, then advances his pawns in the centre and on the kingside. In the end his pieces attack the black king with irresistible force. Spassky, a gracious player, resigns… and applauds his opponent, as does the audience.
Game notation
Game card
- White Bobby Fischer
- Black Boris Spassky
- Venue Reykjavik, Laugardalshöll
- Date 23 July 1972
- Opening Queen’s Gambit Declined (Tartakower)
- Result 1–0 (41 moves)
Key takeaways
- Surprise: changing opening can disorient the opponent.
- Pawn structure decides: Fischer targets the weaknesses of the e6 and d5 pawns.
- Patience: waiting moves before the decisive blow.
- The exchange sacrifice to open the enemy king.
The decisive moments (click to see them on the board)
The surprise
1.c4: an opening new to Fischer.
Simplifying
Bishop trade for a better structure.
Hanging pawns
The c5 and d5 pawns: strong but vulnerable.
The knight on d4
An ideal outpost in the heart of the position.
Breaking the structure
19.Nxe6 then 20.e4: Black’s centre wobbles.
The f5 break
The f-file opens: the attack begins.
The final sacrifice
38.Rxf6: the exchange to destroy the castled king.
Resignation and applause
Spassky salutes Fischer’s masterpiece.
Key game no. 2: Byrne–Fischer, 1956
If the 1972 match is the peak of his career, the 1956 “Game of the Century” already announces his genius. At 13, with Black against Donald Byrne, Fischer plays 17...Be6!!, a stunning queen sacrifice: White wins the queen, but Black ends up with two extra bishops and two extra pawns, and finishes with a mate using a rook, a bishop and knights.
Game notation
Game card
- White Donald Byrne
- Black Bobby Fischer (aged 13)
- Venue Rosenwald Memorial, New York
- Date 17 October 1956
- Opening Grünfeld Defence
- Result 0–1 (41 moves)
Key takeaways
- Development comes first: Byrne moved his queen five times while his pieces stayed idle.
- The initiative is sometimes worth more than material.
- Coordinated minor pieces can mate a king even without a queen.
The decisive moments (click to see them on the board)
A classic Grünfeld
Fischer leaves the centre to his opponent so he can attack it later.
Lagging development
White’s queen wastes time; Fischer attacks.
The stroke of genius
17...Be6!!: a queen offered for an irresistible attack.
The storm of checks
Black chains checks and wins the queen back.
The final mate
The white king is hunted down to mate on c2.