Sunday 17 July 2022

Fifty years ago

 It is currently the 50th anniversary of the Fischer v Spassky World Championship Match. While I was only 5 years old when it happened, in a way it was still my first exposure to serious competitive chess. This was because my father had a copy of the Gligoric book on the match, and it was probably the first chess book that I read, albeit 4 years after the match was played.

I still flick through the book (and a number of others about the match), revisiting the analysis. One game that was particularly interesting was the 5th game of the match. It was notable for a provocative knight move on 11, which allowed Spassky to double Black's pawns. However a few moves later, Spassky was forced to undouble the pawns, and Fischer was able to take advantage of some very poor decisions by Spassky later in the game. The win by Fischer tied the match 2.5-2.5, and a win in the following game gave Fischer a lead, which he never relinquished.


Spassky,Boris Vasilievich (2660) - Fischer,Robert James (2785) [A77]
World-ch27 Fischer-Spassky +7-3=11 Reykjavik (3), 16.07.1972


2 comments:

whatteaux said...

It's the THIRD game, not the fifth.

Shaun Press said...

You are completely correct. Late night brain fade from me