- published: 19 Jul 2010
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Baguio
The City of Baguio (Ilokano: Ciudad ti Baguio; Filipino: Lungsod ng Baguio) is a highly urbanized city located in northern Luzon island in the Philippines. The city has become the center of business and commerce as well as the center of education in the entire Northern Luzon thereby becoming the seat of government of the Cordillera Administrative Region(C.A.R.). According to the 2007 census, Baguio City has a population of 301,926.
Baguio City was established by Americans in 1900 at the site of an Ibaloi village known as Kafagway. The name of the city is derived from the word bagiw in Ibaloi, the indigenous language of the Benguet Region, meaning 'moss'. The city is at an altitude of approximately 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) in the Luzon tropical pine forests ecoregion conducive to the growth of mossy plants and orchids.
Because of its altitude, Baguio City was designated by the Philippine Commission as the Summer Capital of the Philippines on June 1, 1903. It was incorporated as a chartered city by the Philippine Assembly on September 1, 1909, as authored by former Philippines Supreme Court Justice George A. Malcolm. The City of Baguio celebrated its Centennial last September 1, 2009.
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Belgrade
Belgrade (
/ˈbɛlɡreɪd/; Serbian: Београд; [beǒɡrad] (
listen); names in other languages) is the capital and largest city of Serbia. The city is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. Its name in English translates to White city. The city proper has a population of over 1.1 million, while its metropolitan area has over 1.6 million people, making it one of the largest cities in Southeast Europe.
One of the largest prehistoric cultures of Europe, the Vinča culture, evolved around the area Belgrade in the 6th millennium BC. In antiquity, Thraco-Dacians inhabited the region, and after 279 BC Celts conquered the city, naming it Singidūn. It was conquered by the Romans during the reign of Augustus, and awarded city rights in the mid 2nd century. It was settled by the Slavs in the 520s, and changed hands several times before it became the capital of King Stephen Dragutin (1282–1316). In 1521 Belgrade was conquered by the Ottoman Empire and became the seat of a the Sanjak of Smederevo. It frequently passed from Ottoman to Habsburg rule, which saw the destruction of most of the city during the Austro-Ottoman wars. Belgrade was again named the capital of Serbia in 1841. The north of Belgrade remained a Habsburg outpost until 1918, when it was merged into the capital city. As a strategic location, the city was battled over in 115 wars and razed to the ground 44 times. Belgrade was the capital of Yugoslavia (in various forms of governments) from its creation in 1918, to its final dissolution in 2006.
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Bled
Bled (German: Veldes) is a town and a municipality in northwestern Slovenia in the region of Upper Carniola. The area, within the Julian Alps, is a popular tourist destination.
A settlement area since Mesolithic times, Bled was first mentioned as Ueldes (Veldes) within the March of Carniola on April 10, 1004, when it was awarded by Emperor Henry II to Bishop Albuin I of Brixen. Bled Castle was first mentioned in a 22 May 1011 deed in which Henry II donated it to Albuin's successor, Bishop Adalberon of Brixen. With Carniola, Bled was ceded to Rudolph of Habsburg after he defeated King Ottokar II of Bohemia at the Battle on the Marchfeld in 1278. From 1364 until 1919, Bled (Veldes) was part of the Duchy of Carniola, except for a stint between 1809 and 1816 as one of the Napoleonic Illyrian Provinces
After the dissolution of Austria-Hungary in 1918, Bled came under the rule of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia and became a summer domicile of the ruling House of Karađorđević, a tradition that President Josip Broz Tito continued, when he built his residence here in 1947. Bled became an independent municipality in 1996. In 2000, Bled became the home of IEDC-Bled School of Management.
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Budapest
Budapest ( /ˈbuːdəpɛst/, /ˈbuːdəpɛʃt/ or /ˈbʊdəpɛst/; Hungarian pronunciation: [ˈbudɒpɛʃt] ( listen); names in other languages) is the capital and the largest city of Hungary, the largest in East-Central Europe and the seventh largest in the European Union. It is the country's principal political, cultural, commercial, industrial, and transportation centre, sometimes described as the primate city of Hungary. According to 2011 Census, Budapest had 1.74 million inhabitants, down from its 1989 peak of 2.1 million due to suburbanization. The Budapest Commuter Area is home to 3.3 million people. The city covers an area of 525 square kilometres (202.7 sq mi) within the city limits. Budapest became a single city occupying both banks of the river Danube with a unification on 17 November 1873 of west-bank Buda and Óbuda with east-bank Pest.
The history of Budapest began with Aquincum, originally a Celtic settlement that became the Roman capital of Lower Pannonia.Hungarians arrived in the territory in the 9th century. Their first settlement was pillaged by the Mongols in 1241-42. The re-established town became one of the centres of Renaissance humanist culture in the 15th century. Following the Battle of Mohács and nearly 150 years of Ottoman rule, development of the region entered a new age of prosperity in the 18th and 19th centuries, and Budapest became a global city after the 1873 unification. It also became the second capital of Austria-Hungary, a great power that dissolved in 1918. After the Treaty of Trianon in 1920, when Hungary lost 72% of its former territory, culturally and economically the country became wholly Budapest-dominated. The capital dominates the country both by the size of its population—which dwarfs those of Hungary's other cities Budapest was the focal point of the Hungarian Revolution of 1848, the Hungarian Soviet Republic of 1919, Operation Panzerfaust in 1944, the Battle of Budapest of 1945, and the Revolution of 1956.
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Chicago
Chicago (
i/ʃɪˈkɑːɡoʊ/ or /ʃɪˈkɔːɡoʊ/) is the largest city in the US state of Illinois and the third most populous city in the United States after New York City and Los Angeles. The city has around 2.7 million residents. Its metropolitan area, sometimes called "Chicagoland", is the third largest in the United States, with an estimated 9.8 million people. Chicago is the county seat of Cook County, though a small portion also extends into DuPage County.
Chicago was incorporated as a city in 1837, near a portage between the Great Lakes and the Mississippi River watershed. Today, Chicago is listed as an alpha+ global city by the Globalization and World Cities Research Network, and ranks seventh in the world on the 2012 Global Cities Index. The city retains its status as an international hub for finance, industry, telecommunications and infrastructure, with O'Hare International Airport being the second busiest airport in the world in terms of traffic movements. In 2008[update], the city hosted 45.6 million domestic and overseas visitors. Among metropolitan areas, Chicago has the 4th largest Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world, ranking just behind Tokyo, New York City, and Los Angeles. Chicago is one of the most important Worldwide Centers of Commerce and trade.
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Cleveland
Cleveland ( /ˈkliːvlənd/) is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and is the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The city is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles (97 km) west of the Pennsylvania border. It was founded in 1796 near the mouth of the Cuyahoga River, and became a manufacturing center owing to its location on the lake shore, as well as being connected to numerous canals and railroad lines. Cleveland's economy has diversified sectors that include manufacturing, financial services, healthcare, and biomedical. Cleveland is home to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
As of the 2010 Census, the city proper had a total population of 396,815 and was the 45th largest city in the United States, and the second largest city in Ohio. It is the center of Greater Cleveland, the largest metropolitan area in Ohio. The Cleveland-Elyria-Mentor Metropolitan Statistical Area in 2011 ranked as the 28th largest in the United States with 2,068,283 people. Cleveland is part of the larger Cleveland-Akron-Elyria Combined Statistical Area, which in 2011 had a population of 2,871,084, and ranked as the country's 15th largest.
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Copenhagen
Copenhagen ( /ˈkoʊpənheɪɡən/ or /ˈkoʊpənhɑːɡən/; Danish: København pronounced [kʰøb̥m̩ˈhɑʊ̯ˀn] ( listen), Latin: Hafnia) is the capital of Denmark and its most populous city, with an urban population of 1,213,822 (as of 1 January 2012 (2012 -01-01)[update]) and a metropolitan population of 1,935,746 (as of 1 April 2012 (2012 -04-01)[update]). With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region. Within this region, Copenhagen and the Swedish city of Malmö are growing into a combined metropolitan area. Copenhagen is situated on the islands of Zealand and Amager.
First documented in the 11th century, Copenhagen became the capital of Denmark in the beginning of the 15th century. During the 17th century, under the reign of Christian IV, it became a significant regional centre.
Copenhagen is a major regional centre of culture, business, media, and science, as indicated by several international surveys and rankings (see International rankings below). Life science, information technology and shipping are important sectors, and research & development plays a major role in the city's economy. Its strategic location and excellent infrastructure, with the largest airport in Scandinavia,Kastrup, located 14 minutes by train from the city centre, have made it a regional hub and a popular location for regional headquarters and conventions.
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Cuba
Cuba, officially the Republic of Cuba, (
i/ˈkjuːbə/; Spanish: República de Cuba, pronounced: [reˈpuβlika ðe ˈkuβa] ( listen)) is an island country in the Caribbean. The nation of Cuba consists of the main island of Cuba, the Isla de la Juventud, and several archipelagos. Havana is the largest city in Cuba and the country's capital. Santiago de Cuba is the second largest city. To the north of Cuba lies the United States (140 km or 90 mi away) and the Bahamas, Mexico is to the west, the Cayman Islands and Jamaica are to the south, and Haiti and the Dominican Republic are to the southeast.
In 1492, Christopher Columbus landed on and claimed the island now occupied by Cuba, for the Kingdom of Spain. Cuba remained a territory of Spain until the Spanish–American War ended in 1898, and gained formal independence from the U.S. in 1902. A fragile democracy, increasingly dominated by radical politics eventually evolved, solidified by the Cuban Constitution of 1940, but was definitely quashed in 1952 by former president Fulgencio Batista, and an authoritarian regime was set up, intensifying and catalyzing already rampant corruption, political repression and crippling economic regulations.Batista was ousted in January 1959 by the July 26 movement, and a new administration under Fidel Castro established, which had by 1965 evolved into a single-party state under the revived Communist Party of Cuba, which holds power to date.
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Curaçao
Curaçao (Dutch: Curaçao;Papiamentu: Kòrsou) is an island in the southern Caribbean Sea, off the Venezuelan coast. The Country of Curaçao (Dutch: Land Curaçao, Papiamentu: Pais Kòrsou), which includes the main island plus the small, uninhabited island of Klein Curaçao ("Little Curaçao"), is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. Its capital is Willemstad.
Curaçao is the largest and most populous of the three ABC islands (for Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao) of the Lesser Antilles, specifically the Leeward Antilles. It has a land area of 444 square kilometres (171 square miles). As of 1 January 2009, it had a population of 141,766.
Prior to 10 October 2010, when the Netherlands Antilles was dissolved, Curaçao was administered as the Island Territory of Curaçao (Dutch: Eilandgebied Curaçao, Papiamentu: Teritorio Insular di Kòrsou), one of five island territories of the former Netherlands Antilles. The ISO 3166-1 alpha-3 country code CUW and the ISO 3166-1 alpha-2 country code CW has been assigned to Curaçao.
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Denver
Denver ( /ˈdɛnvər/) (Arapaho: Niinéniiniicíihéhe' ) is the largest city and the capital of the U.S. state of Colorado. As Denver County, it is the second most populous county in Colorado after El Paso County, which surpassed Denver County as of the 2010 Census. Denver is a consolidated city-county, located in the South Platte River Valley on the western edge of the High Plains just east of the Front Range of the Rocky Mountains. The Denver downtown district is located immediately east of the confluence of Cherry Creek with the South Platte River, approximately 12 miles (19 km) east of the foothills of the Rocky Mountains. Denver is nicknamed the Mile-High City because its official elevation is exactly one mile (1.6 km) or 5,280 feet (1,609.344 m) above sea level, which is defined by the elevation of the spot of a benchmark on the steps of the State Capital building. The elevation of the entire city ranges from 5,130 to 5,680 feet. The 105th meridian west of Greenwich passes through Union Station and is the temporal reference for the Mountain Time Zone.
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Herceg Novi
Herceg Novi (Montenegrin and Serbian Cyrillic: Херцег Нови; pronounced [xěrtseɡ nôʋiː]) is a coastal town in Montenegro located at the entrance to the Bay of Kotor and at the foot of Mount Orjen. It is the administrative center of the Herceg Novi Municipality with around 33,000 inhabitants. Herceg Novi was known as Castelnuovo ("New castle" in Italian) between 1420 and 1797 when it was part of the Albania Veneta of the Republic of Venice. Herceg Novi has had a turbulent past, despite being one of the youngest settlements on the Adriatic. A history of varied occupations has created a blend of diverse and picturesque architectural style in the city. The City Administration is formed by a coalition of the SNP, SNS, NS and DSS political parties.
In Montenegrin and Serbian the town is known as Herceg Novi or Херцег Нови; in Italian as Castelnuovo; and in Greek as Νεοκαστρον (Neòkastron).
Herceg Novi was founded (on a former small fishing village existing since Roman Empire times) as a fortress in 1382 by Bosnian King Stjepan Tvrtko I and was called Sveti Stefan or Castelnuovo. After the death of Tvrtko, Duke Sandalj Hranić of the Herzegovinian Kosačas acquired Castelnuovo. During his reign, Herceg Novi picked up trading salt. When Hranić died, his nephew, Herzog Stjepan Vukčić Kosača, inherited Castelnuovo. Under Stjepan, Castelnuovo expanded and thus became a city, renaming it to Herceg Novi. The Turks conquered Herceg Novi in 1482, and ruled for 200 years, until 1687. However, there was a short pause between 1538 and 1539 when it was overtaken by the Spaniards after the Siege of Castelnuovo.
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Hungary
Hungaryi/ˈhʌŋɡəri/ (Hungarian: Magyarország [ˈmɒɟɒrorsaːɡ] ( listen)) is a country, which is located in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The country's capital, and largest city, is Budapest. Hungary is a member of the European Union, NATO, the OECD, the Visegrád Group, and is a Schengen state. The official language is Hungarian, also known as Magyar, which is part of the Finno-Ugric group and is the most widely spoken non-Indo-European language in Europe.
Following a Celt (after c. 450 BC) and a Roman (AD 9 - c. 430) period, the foundation of Hungary was laid in the late 9th century by the Hungarian prince Árpád, whose great-grandson Saint Stephen I was crowned with a crown sent by the pope from Rome in 1000 AD. The Kingdom of Hungary lasted for 946 years, and at various points was regarded as one of the cultural centres of the Western world. After about 150 years of partial Ottoman occupation (1541–1699), Hungary was integrated into the Habsburg Monarchy, and later constituted half of the Austro-Hungarian dual monarchy (1867–1918).
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Iceland
Icelandi/ˈaɪslənd/ (Icelandic: Ísland, IPA: [ˈislant]) is a Nordic European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. The country has a population of about 320,000 and a total area of 103,000 km2 (40,000 sq mi). The capital and largest city is Reykjavík, with the surrounding areas in the southwestern region of the country being home to two-thirds of the country's population. Iceland is volcanically and geologically active. The interior mainly consists of a plateau characterised by sand fields, mountains and glaciers, while many glacial rivers flow to the sea through the lowlands. Iceland is warmed by the Gulf Stream and has a temperate climate despite a high latitude just outside the Arctic Circle.
According to Landnámabók, the settlement of Iceland began in AD 874 when the chieftain Ingólfur Arnarson became the first permanent Norse settler on the island. Others had visited the island earlier and stayed over winter. Over the following centuries, Norsemen settled Iceland, bringing with them thralls (slaves) of Gaelic origin. From 1262 to 1918 Iceland was part of the Norwegian and later the Danish monarchies. Until the 20th century, the Icelandic population relied largely on fisheries and agriculture, and the country was one of the poorest and least developed in the world. Industrialisation of the fisheries and aid from the Marshall Plan brought prosperity in the years after World War II, and by the 1990s it was one of the world's wealthiest countries. In 1994, Iceland became party to the European Economic Area, which made it possible for the economy to diversify into economic and financial services.
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Illinois
Illinois (i/ˌɪlɨˈnɔɪ/ IL-i-NOY) is the 25th most extensive and the 5th most populous of the 50 United States, and is often noted as a microcosm of the entire country. With Chicago in the northeast, small industrial cities and great agricultural productivity in central and northern Illinois, and natural resources like coal, timber, and petroleum in the south, Illinois has a broad economic base. Illinois is a major transportation hub. The Port of Chicago connects the state to other global ports from the Great Lakes, via the Saint Lawrence Seaway, to the Atlantic Ocean; as well as the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River, via the Illinois River. For decades, O'Hare International Airport has ranked as one of the world's busiest airports. Illinois has long had a reputation as a bellwether both in social and cultural terms and politics.
Although the state's largest population centers today are in northern Illinois, originally the state's population grew from south to north, with settlers arriving from Kentucky in the 1810s. In 1818, Illinois achieved statehood. Chicago was founded in the 1830s on the banks of the Chicago River, one of the few natural harbors on southern Lake Michigan. Railroads and John Deere's invention of the self-scouring steel plow turned Illinois' rich prairie into some of the world's most productive and valuable farmlands, attracting immigrant farmers from Germany and Sweden. By 1900, the growth of industrial jobs in the northern cities and coal mining in the central and southern areas attracted immigrants from Eastern and Southern Europe. Illinois was an important manufacturing center during both world wars. The Great Migration established a large community of African Americans in Chicago that created the city's famous jazz and blues cultures.
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Manila
Manila (English: /məˈnɪlə/; Tagalog: Maynila, [majˈnilaʔ]) is the capital of the Philippines. It is one of the sixteen cities (along with the smaller municipality of Pateros) that comprise Metro Manila.
Manila is located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay and is bordered by Navotas and Caloocan to the north; Quezon City to the northeast; San Juan and Mandaluyong to the east; Makati to the southeast, and Pasay to the south.
Manila has a total population of more than 1,652,171 according to the 2010 census. Manila is the second most populous city in the Philippines, behind its neighbor, Quezon City. The populace inhabit an area of only 38.55 square kilometers, making Manila the most densely populated city in the world.Metro Manila is the most populous metropolitan area in the Philippines and the 11th in the world with an estimated population of 16,300,000. The greater urban area is the fifth-most populous in the world and has an estimated metropolitan population of 20,654,307 people.
The city is divided into six legislative districts and consists of sixteen geographical districts: Binondo, Ermita, Intramuros, Malate, Paco, Pandacan, Port Area, Quiapo, Sampaloc, San Andres, San Miguel, San Nicolas, Santa Ana, Santa Cruz, Santa Mesa and Tondo. Bustling commerce and some of the most historically and culturally significant iconic landmarks in the country, as well as the seat of the executive and judicial branches of the government are to be found in the city; and it is also home to many scientific and educational institutions, numerous sport facilities, a variety of other culturally and historically significant venues. As a primary transportation hub and with the larger capital region bearing its name, there is very little of a general nature to be found in cities anywhere that Manila is lacking.
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Monte Carlo
Monte Carlo (French: Monte-Carlo, Occitan: Montcarles, Monégasque: Monte-Carlu) is an administrative area of the Principality of Monaco.
Monte Carlo is widely known for its casino and its prominence. The permanent population is about 15,000 in Quarter. Monte Carlo quarter includes not only Monte Carlo proper where the Le Grand Casino is located, it also includes the neighbourhoods of Saint-Michel, Saint-Roman/Tenao, and the beach community of Larvotto. It is also one of Monaco's 10 wards, with a population of 3,500. It borders the French town of Beausoleil (sometimes referred to as Monte-Carlo-Supérieur).
The "Monte Carlo" name is of Italian origin, meaning "Mount Charles" named after the Prince Charles III of Monaco during the time of his reign.
Founded in 1866, Monte Carlo has a name of Italian origin meaning "Mount Charles", in honor of the then-reigning prince, Charles III of Monaco. The specific mountain is the escarpment at the foot of the Maritime Alps on which the town stands.
The history of the area and the ruling Grimaldi family, however, dates back centuries. The port of Monaco is first mentioned in historical records as early as 43 BC, when Julius Caesar concentrated his fleet there while waiting in vain for Pompey. In the 12th century, the area fell under the sovereignty of Genoa, which was granted the entire coastline from Porto Venere to Monaco. After much conflict, the Grimaldis regained the rock in 1295, but suffered a significant amount of opposition in the ensuing years. In 1506 the Monegasques, under Lucien, Lord of Monaco, were under siege for some four months by the Genoan army, which had ten times the number of men. Monaco officially received full autonomy in 1524, but experienced difficulty retaining power, and on occasions briefly fell under the domination of Spain, Sardinia, and France.
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Netanya
Netanya (Hebrew: נְתַנְיָה, lit., "gift of God"), sometimes spelled Nathania, is a city in the Northern Centre District of Israel, and is the capital of the surrounding Sharon plain. It is located 30 km (18.64 mi) north of Tel Aviv, and 56 km (34.80 mi) south of Haifa between the 'Poleg' stream and Wingate Institute in the south and the 'Avichail' stream in the north. Netanya was named in honor of Nathan Straus, a prominent Jewish American merchant and philanthropist in the early twentieth century.
Its 14 kilometres (8.7 mi) of beaches have made the city a very popular tourist resort. Today the city houses a notably large population of English-speaking immigrants from the United Kingdom, USA, and Canada.
According to the Israel Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), at the end of 2009 the city had a total population of 183,200. An additional 150,000 people live in the local and regional councils within 10 kilometers from Netanya which serves as a regional center for them. The city mayor is Miriam Feirberg. The city is expected to reach a population of 350,000 by 2020.
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Philippines
The Philippinesi/ˈfɪlɨpiːnz/ FI-lə-peenz (Filipino: Pilipinas [ˌpɪlɪˈpinɐs]), officially known as the Republic of the Philippines (Filipino: Republika ng Pilipinas) is a sovereign country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam. The Sulu Sea to the southwest lies between the country and the island of Borneo, and to the south the Celebes Sea separates it from other islands of Indonesia. It is bounded on the east by the Philippine Sea. Its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire and its tropical climate make the Philippines prone to earthquakes and typhoons but have also endowed the country with natural resources and made it one of the richest areas of biodiversity in the world. An archipelago comprising 7,107 islands, the Philippines is categorized broadly into three main geographical divisions: Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Its capital city is Manila.
With an estimated population of about 98 million people, the Philippines is the 7th most populated Asian country and the 12th most populated country in the world. An additional 12.5 million Filipinos live overseas. Multiple ethnicities and cultures are found throughout the islands. In prehistoric times, Negritos were some of the archipelago's earliest inhabitants. They were followed by successive waves of Austronesian peoples who brought with them influences from Malay, Hindu, and Islamic societies. Trade introduced Chinese cultural influences which remain to this day.
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Portorož
Portorož (Italian Portorose), literally "Port of Roses", is a coastal town in Slovenia and one of the country's largest tourist areas.
The town and surrounding areas are served by Portorož International Airport which is located in nearby village of Sečovlje.
Portorož belongs to the coastal municipality of Piran, located in the southwest of the Gulf of Trieste (at the northern-most point of the Adriatic Sea) between the boundaries of Italy to the north and Croatia to the south. The municipality is not so well protected against bora wind, as is near city of Trieste. Thanks to that, Portorose is about 2 degrees cooler on average, with especially colder nights.
Development of Portorož as a summer resort started with completion of Parenzana narrow gauge railway, (operating 1902).
It soon became a meeting point of Austrian bourgeoisie and subsequently a tourist resort within Austrian Riviera. First luxury hotel, Hotel Palace, was completed in 1910.
After the decline of Austria-Hungary in 1918, Portorož was incorporated into Italy, and after WWII into Yugoslavia and it's republic Slovenia. It is now an important tourist destination on Slovenian coast.
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Reykjavík
Reykjavík (Icelandic pronunciation: [ˈreiːcaˌviːk] (
listen)) is the capital and largest city in Iceland.
Its latitude, at 64°08' N, makes it the world's northernmost capital of a sovereign state. It is located in southwestern Iceland, on the southern shore of Faxaflói Bay. With a population of around 120,000 (and over 200,000 in the Greater Reykjavík Area), it is the heart of Iceland's economic and governmental activity.
Reykjavík is believed to be the location of the first permanent settlement in Iceland, which Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have established around 870 C.E. Until the 18th century, there was no urban development in the city location. The city was founded in 1786 as an official trading town and grew steadily over the next decades, as it transformed into a regional and later national centre of commerce, population, and governmental activities.
The first permanent settlement in Iceland by Norsemen is believed to have been established in Reykjavík by Ingólfur Arnarson around AD 870; this is described in Landnámabók, or the Book of Settlement. Ingólfur Arnarson is said to have decided the location of his settlement using a traditional Viking method; by casting his high seat pillars (Öndvegissúlur) into the ocean when he saw the coastline, then settled where the pillars came to shore. Steam from hot springs in the region is said to have inspired Reykjavík's name, which loosely translates to Smoke Cove (the city is often referred to as the Bay of Smokes or Bay of Smoke) The original name was Reykjarvík with an additional "r" that vanished around 1300.[citation needed]
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Rovinj
Rovinj (Istriot: Ruvèigno or Ruveîgno; Italian: Rovigno) is a city in Croatia situated on the north Adriatic Sea with a population of 13,562 (2007). It is located on the western coast of the Istrian peninsula and is a popular tourist resort and an active fishing port. Istriot, a Romance language once widely spoken in this part of Istria, is still spoken by some of the residents. There is a centre of History Research which is an institution of the Council of Europe.
Rovinj is one of nine towns in Istrian County. The climate is Mediterranean. The average temperature is 4.8 °C (40.6 °F) in January and 22.3 °C (72.1 °F) in July. The average annual temperature is 16 °C (60.8 °F). Sea temperature is more than 20 °C (68 °F) from the middle of June to the middle of September. The average annual sea temperature is 16.6 °C (61.9 °F).
From the middle of May to the middle of September the sun shines more than 10 hours a day. The rainfall averages 941 mm a year. The average humidity is 72%. Vegetation is subtropical.
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Saltsjöbaden
Saltsjöbaden is a locality situated in Nacka Municipality, Stockholm County, Sweden with 9,491 inhabitants in 2010. It is located on the coast of the Baltic Sea.
Saltsjöbaden (literally "the Salt Sea baths") was developed as a resort by Knut Agathon Wallenberg, a member of the wealthy and influential Wallenberg family, from farmland which he bought in 1891 through a newly created railway company.
Saltsjöbaden was an independent municipality 1909–1970. In 1971 it was re-integrated into Nacka Municipality.
The local railway (Saltsjöbanan), built by Wallenberg and completed in 1893, connected Saltsjöbaden with Stockholm, with its terminus at Slussen. The railway was taken over by Storstockholms Lokaltrafik in the late 1960s and integrated in the Stockholm public transport system.
Two luxurious hotels (1893) and a sanatorium were built, designed by architect Erik Josephson. The parish church, Uppenbarelsekyrkan (the "Church of the Epiphany"), was built 1910–1913 and designed by Ferdinand Boberg with decoration by Olle Hjortzberg and Carl Milles, among others. The remainder of the land bought by the railway company was subdivided into plots; with the railway facilitating communications with the city, Saltsjöbaden soon became a popular suburb for the upper and upper middle classes who purchased the plots and developed it with spacious private houses.
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September 11 attacks
The September 11 attacks (also referred to as September 11, September 11th or 9/11) were a series of four suicide attacks that were committed in the United States on September 11, 2001, coordinated to strike the areas of New York City and Washington, D.C. On that Tuesday morning, 19 terrorists from the Islamist militant group al-Qaeda hijacked four passenger jets. The hijackers intentionally piloted two of those planes, American Airlines Flight 11 and United Airlines Flight 175, into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center complex in New York City; both towers collapsed within two hours. The hijackers also intentionally crashed American Airlines Flight 77 into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and intended to pilot the fourth hijacked jet, United Airlines Flight 93, into a target in Washington, D.C.; however, the plane crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania after its passengers attempted to take control of the jet from the hijackers. Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks including the 227 civilians and 19 hijackers aboard the four planes, none of whom survived.
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Skopje
Skopje (Macedonian: Скопје, [ˈskɔpjɛ] ( listen)) is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre. It was known in the Roman period under the name Scupi.
The territory of Skopje has been inhabited since at least 4000 BC; remains of Neolithic settlements have been found within the old Kale Fortress that overlooks the modern city centre. On the eve of the 1st century AD, the settlement was seized by the Romans and became a military camp. When the Roman Empire was divided into eastern and western halves in 395 AD, Scupi came under Byzantine rule from Constantinople. During much of the early medieval period, the town was contested between the Byzantines and the Bulgarian Empire, whose capital it was between 972 and 992. From 1282 the town was part of the Serbian realm and its capital city since 1346. In 1392 the city was conquered by the Ottoman Turks who called the town Üsküp. The town stayed under Ottoman control over 500 years, serving as the capital of pashasanjak of Üsküb and later the Vilayet of Kosovo. At that time the city was famous for its oriental architecture. In 1912 the city was conquered by the Kingdom of Serbia during the Balkan Wars and after the First World War the city became part of the newly formed Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes (Kingdom of Yugoslavia). In the Second World War the city was conquered by the Bulgarian Army, which was part of Axis powers. In 1944 it became the capital city of Democratic Macedonia (later Socialist Republic of Macedonia), which was a federal state, part of Democratic Federal Yugoslavia (later Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia). The city developed rapidly after World War II, but this trend was interrupted in 1963 when it was hit by a disastrous earthquake. In 1991 it became the capital city of independent Macedonia.
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Sousse
Sousse (Arabic: سوسة Sūsa, Berber: Susa) is a city in Tunisia. Located 140 km south of the capital Tunis, the city has 173,047 inhabitants (2004). Sousse is in the central-east of the country, on the Gulf of Hammamet, which is a part of the Mediterranean Sea. The name may be of Berber origin: similar names are found in Libya and in the south of Morocco (Bilād al-Sūs). The city is the capital of Sousse Governorate with 540,000 inhabitants (2005 estimate). Its economy is based on transport equipment, processed food, olive oil, textiles and tourism. It is home to the Université de Sousse.
The Phoenicians founded Hadrumetum in the 11th century B.C.
The city allied itself with Rome during the Punic Wars, thereby escaping damage or ruin and entered a relatively peaceful 700-year period under the Pax Romana. Livy tells us that Hadrumetum was the landing place of the Roman army under Scipio Africanus in the second Punic War.
As part of Bonifacius's revolt against Constantinople, the Vandals were invited in and they took Hadrumetum in 434 CE and renamed the town Hunerikopolis. During the Vandalic War Justinian retook the town in 534 CE and restored its Roman name.
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Stockholm
Stockholm (Swedish pronunciation: [ˈstɔkːˈhɔlm, ˈstɔkːˈɔlm, ˈstɔkːɔlm]( listen to the second one)) is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 864,324 in the municipality (2010), 1.4 million in the urban area (2010), and around 2.1 million in the 6,519 km2 (2,517.00 sq mi) metropolitan area (2010). As of 2010, the Stockholm metropolitan area is home to approximately 22% of Sweden's population.
Founded no later than c. 1250, possibly as early as 1187, Stockholm has long been one of Sweden's cultural, media, political, and economic centres. Its strategic location on 14 islands on the south-central east coast of Sweden at the mouth of Lake Mälaren, by the Stockholm archipelago, has been historically important. Stockholm has been nominated by GaWC as a global city, with a ranking of Alpha-. In The 2008 Global Cities Index, Stockholm ranked 24th in the world, 10th in Europe, and first in Scandinavia. Stockholm is known for its beauty, its buildings and architecture, its abundant clean and open water, and its many parks. It is sometimes referred to as Venice of the North.
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Sveti Stefan
Sveti Stefan, pronounced [sv̞ê̞ːtiː stê̞faːn], now Aman Sveti Stefan including the Villa Miločer (pronounced [vîla mîlɔ̝tʃe̞r]; formerly Sveti Stefan Hotel) ("Saint Stephen"; Serbian: Sveti Stefan/Свети Стефан, Sušćepan, Italian: Santo Stefano di Pastrovicchio) is a small islet and hotel resort in Montenegro, approximately 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) southeast of Budva. The resort includes the islet of Sveti Stefan and part of the mainland, where the Villa Miločer part of the resort is located. An Adriatic playground for the rich and famous from the 1960s to the 1980s, the hotel is now a 5-star franchise hotel of the international group of Aman Resorts, completed in 2009 and operating under a 30 year lease. Formerly an island, Sveti Stefan is now connected to the mainland by a narrow isthmus. The resort in total contains 50 rooms, cottages and suites on the island and 8 grand suites at the Villa Miločer.
The hotel won the Hotel of the Year award from Gallivanter's Guide in 2010.
The island has a 2 kilometres (1.2 mi) coast line in the central part of Montenegro Adriatic coast line. It is situated to the south of Budva between Przno and Sveti Stefan villages. The pink sandy beaches of Sveti Stefan, Miločer Beach and Queen’s Beach are part of the coast line. The island encompasses an area of 12,400 m2 (133,000 sq ft).
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Vancouver
Vancouver (/vænˈkuːvər/) is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. The 2011 census recorded more than 603,000 people in the city, making it the eighth largest among Canadian cities. The metropolitan area, with more than 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country and the most populous in Western Canada. With 5,249 people per square kilometre (13,590 per sq mile), the City of Vancouver is the most densely populated Canadian municipality among those with 5,000 residents or more. Vancouver is one of the most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities in Canada, with 52% for whom English is not their first language.
The original settlement, named Gastown, grew around the Hastings Mill logging sawmill and a nearby tavern, both established in 1867. Enlarging to become the townsite of Granville, with the announcement that the railhead would reach the site it was renamed "Vancouver" and incorporated as a city in 1886. By 1887, the transcontinental railway was extended to the city to take advantage of its large natural seaport, which soon became a vital link in a trade route between the Orient, Eastern Canada, and London. As of 2009, Port Metro Vancouver is the busiest and largest port in Canada, and the most diversified port in North America. While forestry remains its largest industry, Vancouver is well known as an urban centre surrounded by nature, making tourism its second-largest industry. Major film production studios in Vancouver and Burnaby have turned Metro Vancouver into the third-largest film production centre in North America after Los Angeles and New York City, earning it the film industry nickname, Hollywood North.
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Vinkovci
Vinkovci (pronounced [v̞îːnkɔːv̞t͡si]) is a city in Croatia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County. In the 2011 census, the total population of the city was 35,375, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounded by many large villages, it is a local transport hub, particularly because of its railways.
The site of Vinkovci (German: Winkowitz, Hungarian: Vinkovce, Latin: Colonia Aurelia Cibalae) was inhabited well before the Roman period The area of the town has been inhabited continually from the Neolithic period. Under the Romans the town was known as Colonia Aurelia Cibalae and was the birthplace of Roman emperors Valentinian I and Valens. The Roman thermal bath is still preserved underground as are several other Roman buildings located near the center of today's Vinkovci.
It was part of Ottoman Empire between 1526 and 1687 and was managed in Sirem sanjak (Its center was Dimitrofça) in Budin Eyalet. It was captured by Habsburg Empire in 1687 and was left to her according to Treaty of Karlowitz in 1699. Habsburg rule lasted until 1918.
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White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., the house was designed by Irish-born James Hoban, and built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the Neoclassical style. It has been the residence of every U.S. president since John Adams. When Thomas Jefferson moved into the house in 1801, he (with architect Benjamin Henry Latrobe) expanded the building outward, creating two colonnades that were meant to conceal stables and storage.
In 1814, during the War of 1812, the mansion was set ablaze by the British Army in the Burning of Washington, destroying the interior and charring much of the exterior. Reconstruction began almost immediately, and President James Monroe moved into the partially reconstructed house in October 1817. Construction continued with the addition of the South Portico in 1824 and the North in 1829. Because of crowding within the executive mansion itself, President Theodore Roosevelt had all work offices relocated to the newly constructed West Wing in 1901. Eight years later, President William Howard Taft expanded the West Wing and created the first Oval Office which was eventually moved as the section was expanded. The third-floor attic was converted to living quarters in 1927 by augmenting the existing hip roof with long shed dormers. A newly constructed East Wing was used as a reception area for social events; Jefferson's colonnades connected the new wings. East Wing alterations were completed in 1946, creating additional office space. By 1948, the house's load-bearing exterior walls and internal wood beams were found to be close to failure. Under Harry S. Truman, the interior rooms were completely dismantled and a new internal load-bearing steel frame constructed inside the walls. Once this work was completed, the interior rooms were rebuilt.
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Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia (Croatian, Serbian, Slovene, Macedonian: Jugoslavija; Cyrillic: Југославија) was a country in the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century which was established three times under differing forms of government.
The first country to be known by this name was the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, which before 3 October 1929 was known as the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. It was established on 1 December 1918 by the union of the State of Slovenes, Croats and Serbs and the Kingdom of Serbia (the Kingdom of Montenegro was annexed on 13 November 1918, and the Conference of Ambassadors in Paris gave international recognition to the union on 13 July 1922). The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was invaded by the Axis powers in 1941, and because of the events that followed, was officially abolished in 1943 and 1945.
The second country with this name was the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, proclaimed in 1943 by the Yugoslav Partisans resistance movement during World War II. It was renamed to the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia in 1946, when a communist government was established. In 1963, it was renamed again to the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY). This was the largest Yugoslav state, as Istria, Rijeka and Zadar were added to the new Yugoslavia after the end of World War II.
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Zagreb
Zagreb (Croatian pronunciation: [zǎːɡrɛb]) is the capital and the largest city of the Republic of Croatia. It is in the northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slopes of the Medvednica mountain. Zagreb lies at an elevation of approximately 122 m (400 ft) above sea level. In the last official census of 2011, the population of the settlement of Zagreb was 686,568, while the total population of its administrative area was 792,875. The wider Zagreb metropolitan area includes the City of Zagreb and the separate Zagreb County with a population of 317,642, bringing the total metropolitan area population up to 1,110,517. It is the only metropolitan area in Croatia with a population of over one million.
Its favourable geographic position in the southwestern part of the Pannonian Basin, which extends to the Alpine, Dinaric, Adriatic and Pannonic regions, provides an excellent connection for traffic between Central Europe and the Adriatic Sea. The transport connections, concentration of industry, scientific and research institutions and industrial tradition underlie its leading economic position in Croatia. Zagreb is the seat of the central government, administrative bodies and almost all government ministries.
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Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (German: [ˈadɔlf ˈhɪtlɐ] ( listen); 20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician and the leader of the National Socialist German Workers Party (German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei (NSDAP), commonly referred to as the Nazi Party). He was chancellor of Germany from 1933 to 1945 and dictator of Nazi Germany (as Führer und Reichskanzler) from 1934 to 1945. Hitler is commonly associated with the rise of fascism in Europe, World War II, and the Holocaust.
A decorated veteran of World War I, Hitler joined the German Workers' Party, precursor of the Nazi Party, in 1919, and became leader of the NSDAP in 1921. In 1923, he attempted a coup d'état, known as the Beer Hall Putsch, in Munich. The failed coup resulted in Hitler's imprisonment, during which time he wrote his memoir, Mein Kampf (My Struggle). After his release in 1924, Hitler gained popular support by attacking the Treaty of Versailles and promoting Pan-Germanism, antisemitism, and anticommunism with charismatic oratory and Nazi propaganda. After his appointment as chancellor in 1933, he transformed the Weimar Republic into the Third Reich, a single-party dictatorship based on the totalitarian and autocratic ideology of Nazism. His aim was to establish a New Order of absolute Nazi German hegemony in continental Europe.
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Akiba Rubinstein
Akiba Kiwelowicz Rubinstein (12 December 1882 in Stawiski, Poland – 15 March 1961 in Antwerp, Belgium) was a famous Polish chess Grandmaster at the beginning of the 20th century. He was scheduled to play a match with Emanuel Lasker for the world championship in 1914, but it was cancelled because of the outbreak of World War I. In his youth, he astonished the chess world, defeating many famous players, including Capablanca and Schlechter - however, his later life was plagued by mental illness.
He learned to play chess when he was 16. He trained with and played against the strong master Gersz Salwe in Łódź. Rubinstein was Jewish, and his family planned for him to become a rabbi. However, in 1903, after finishing fifth in a tournament in Kiev, Rubinstein decided to abandon his rabbinical studies and devote himself entirely to chess.
Between 1907 and 1912, Rubinstein established himself as one of the strongest players in the world. In 1907, he won the Karlovy Vary tournament and shared first at St. Petersburg. In 1912 he had a record string of wins, finishing first in five consecutive major tournaments: San Sebastian, Piešťany, Breslau (the German championship), Warsaw and Vilnius (although none of these events included Lasker or Capablanca). Some believe that he was better than world champion Emanuel Lasker at this time. Ratings from Chessmetrics support this conclusion, placing him as world No. 1 between mid 1912 and mid 1914.Reuben Fine, on the other hand, believed he was not quite as strong as Lasker, and was also eclipsed by José Raúl Capablanca after 1911.
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Alex Titomirov
Alex Titomirov (born January 30, 1960) is an Russian-American businessman, and the co-founder and Chairman of GenforMax LLC Alex previously served as CEO and Chairman of InforMax Inc and is also a founder of several other companies.
A successful biotech CEO, Alex Titomirov founded one of the first bioinformatics companies - InforMax [NASDAQ, INMX] and brought it public ($1 billion market cap) with “the best biotech IPO” [Washington Post, 2000] in the State of Maryland.
Titomirov was a founder of several pioneering technologies in the field of cancer treatment at the Russian Academy of Sciences. He discovered a bacterial DHFR genetic effect that prolonged the lifespan in irradiated mice, and he was one of the original authors of stable gene transformation of skin cells in vivo using the pioneering technology of “shot gun” with tungsten micro projectiles.
Titomirov was invited to come to work in the United States by James Watson – a Nobel Prize winner and a pioneer in discovering the structure of DNA. He worked at the National Institutes of Health as well as in a small pharmaceutical company before starting his own company InforMax, Inc. in 1990. Titomirov has pioneered an expert system based on modeling of the drug discovery process. InforMax products are currently sold to over 65,000 pharma and biotech companies worldwide. InforMax was acquired by Invitrogen, a major bioscience company with $1.2 billion in annual revenues, headquartered in Carlsbad, California. In addition, Titomirov was one of the principal developers of the software infrastructure for the Human Genome Project, founded by James Watson.
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Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alexandrovich Alekhine, Ph. D. (October 31 [O.S. October 19] 1892 – March 24, 1946) (Russian: Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Але́хин, pronounced [ɐlʲɪkˈsandr ɐlʲɪkˈsandrəvʲɪtɕ ɐˈlʲexʲɪn]) was the fourth World Chess Champion. He is often considered one of the greatest chess players ever.
By the age of twenty-two, he was already among the strongest chess players in the world. During the 1920s, he won most of the tournaments in which he played. In 1927, he became the fourth World Chess Champion by defeating Capablanca, widely considered invincible, in what would stand as the longest chess championship match held until 1985.
In the early 1930s, Alekhine dominated tournament play and won two top-class tournaments by large margins. He also played first board for France in five Chess Olympiads, winning individual prizes in each (four medals and a brilliancy prize). Alekhine offered Capablanca a rematch on the same demanding terms that Capablanca had set for him, and negotiations dragged on for years without making much progress. Meanwhile, Alekhine defended his title with ease against Bogoljubov in 1929 and 1934. He was defeated by Euwe in 1935, but regained his crown in the 1937 rematch. His tournament record, however, remained uneven, and rising young stars like Keres, Fine, and Botvinnik threatened his title. Negotiations for a title match with Keres or Botvinnik were halted by the outbreak of World War II in Europe in 1939. Negotiations with Botvinnik for a world title match were proceeding in 1946 when Alekhine died in Portugal, in unclear circumstances.
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Alexander Khalifman
Alexander Valeryevich Khalifman (Russian: Александр Валерьевич Халифман; born January 18, 1966, in Leningrad) is a Soviet and Russian chess Grandmaster of Jewish descent; he is also a former FIDE World Chess Champion.
When Khalifman was 6 years old, he was taught chess by his father.
He gained the Grandmaster title in 1990 with one particularly good early result being his first place in the 1990 New York Open ahead of a host of strong players.
His most notable achievement was winning the FIDE World Chess Championship in 1999, a title he held until the following year. He was rated 44th in the world at the time, which some compared unfavorably to "Classical" World Champion Garry Kasparov being rated #1. Khalifman said after the tournament, "Rating systems work perfectly for players who play only in round robin closed events. I think most of them are overrated. Organizers invite same people over and over because they have the same rating and their rating stays high". Perhaps in response, Khalifman was invited to the next Linares chess tournament, and performed credibly (though placing below joint winner Kasparov).
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Alexander Kotov
Alexander Alexandrovich Kotov (Алекса́ндр Алекса́ндрович Ко́тов; 12 August [O.S. 30 July] 1913 – 8 January 1981) was a Soviet chess grandmaster and author. He was a Soviet champion, a two-time world title Candidate, and a prolific chess author. Kotov served in high posts in the Soviet Chess Federation and most of his books were written during the period of Cold War between the US and the USSR. Therefore, his works tended to be rather critical of (and occasionally somewhat dismissive toward) American players. Russian players, on the other hand, were presented and described in a particularly favorable light.
Kotov's books also included frequent praise for the Soviet system in general. For example, the 1958 book The Soviet School of Chess (which he co-wrote with Mikhail Yudovich) stated that "The rise of the Soviet school to the summit of world chess is a logical result of socialist cultural development." At the time, statements such as this were sufficiently controversial that Western publishers felt compelled to include disclaimers in versions of his books that were translated for distribution to English-speaking countries. Dover Publications, Inc.'s 1961 paperback version of The Soviet School of Chess was distributed primarily to Western countries and included an introduction that stated "...literature of this type, though helpful in our ultimate understanding of the game, is very often riddled with distortion. The publishers of this Dover edition are very much concerned that readers be aware of the propaganda techniques employed, even in the history of chess, by the Soviet Union."
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Alexander Onischuk
Alexander Onischuk (born September 3, 1975) is an American chess grandmaster. Originally from Ukraine, he immigrated to the US in 2001 and currently lives in Northern Virginia. He was the 2006 U.S. Chess Champion. He is currently the third-ranked American grandmaster, behind Hikaru Nakamura and Gata Kamsky.
Onischuk participated in International Chess Festival Biel 2007, where he placed second after Magnus Carlsen. He scored 5.5/9 like Carlsen, but lost in the tie-breaker match held after the regular rounds finished.
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Alexander Shabalov
Alexander Shabalov (born September 12, 1967) is an American chess grandmaster, the multiple winner of the U.S. Chess Championships; he was the 2007 US Champion. He was born in Latvia, and like his fellow Latvians Alexei Shirov and Mikhail Tal he is known for courting complications even at the cost of objective soundness. As of the June 2007 rating supplement Shabalov had a United States Chess Federation rating of 2671, ranking him seventh best among American chess players and 81st in the world.
Until recently, Alexander Shabalov regularly lectured chess players of all ages at the House of Chess, a store that he ran at the Ross Park Mall in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, until it closed in mid-2007. He has been known to play against anyone who shows up, and to be similarly obliging to autograph-seekers. Shabalov is a four-time United States champion.
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Anatoly Karpov
Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov (Russian: Анато́лий Евге́ньевич Ка́рпов, Anatolij Evgen'evič Karpov; born May 23, 1951) is a Russian chess grandmaster and former World Champion. He was the official world champion from 1975 to 1985 when he was defeated by Garry Kasparov. He played three matches against Kasparov for the title from 1986 to 1990, before becoming FIDE World Champion once again after Kasparov broke away from FIDE in 1993. He held the title until 1999, when he resigned his title in protest against FIDE's new world championship rules. For his decades-long standing among the world's elite, Karpov is considered one of the greatest players of all time.
His tournament successes include over 160 first-place finishes. He had a peak Elo rating of 2780, and his 90 total months at world number one is second all-time behind only Garry Kasparov since the inception of the FIDE ranking list in 1971.
Since 2005, he has been a member of the Public Chamber of Russia. He has recently involved himself in several humanitarian causes, such as advocating the use of iodised salt.
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Andrew Soltis
Andrew Eden Soltis (born May 28, 1947 in Hazelton, Pennsylvania) is a chess Grandmaster, author and columnist.
He won at Reggio Emilia 1971–72 and was equal first at New York 1977. He was awarded the International Master title in 1974 and became a Grandmaster in 1980. He has been inactive in chess competitions since the 1980s.
His column Chess to Enjoy is one of the longest running in Chess Life, the monthly publication of the United States Chess Federation. He is also a weekly columnist for the New York Post. Soltis is considered one of the most prolific chess writers, having authored or coauthored around thirty books. He was named "Chess journalist of the year" in 1988 by the Chess Journalists of America. Soltis was inducted into the United States Chess Hall of Fame in September 2011.
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Anne Sunnucks
Patricia Anne Sunnucks (born 21 February 1927) is an author and the several time British Women's Chess Champion (1957, 1958, 1964).
Although she learned how to play chess at age 8, she did not play seriously until age 21 when she joined the same chess club as Imre König, who became her tutor. By finishing tied for second place in the 1953 British Women's Championship she became one of three British representatives in the 1954 Western European Zonal.
Sunnucks earned the Woman International Master title by placing second in the 1954 Western European Zonal. Although this result qualified her to play in the next event in the Women's World Championship sequence, she was a major in the Women's Royal Army Corps and the authorities would not allow her to travel to the USSR where the 1955 Women's Candidates tournament was being held. Sunnucks represented England several times in Olympiads and team matches, including Great Britain vs. USSR 1954, the Anglo-Dutch match in 1965, and top board for the British Chess Federation (BCF) team at the 1966 Women's Chess Olympiad at Oberhausen. She participated in the Women's World Championship cycle two more times, representing the BCF in the Western European Zonal tournaments of 1963 and 1966. Sunnucks won both the Army and the Combined Services Championships in 1968, and was the only woman to compete in either. Sunnucks compiled The Encyclopaedia of Chess (1970, second edition: 1976).
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Anthony Saidy
Anthony Saidy (born May 16, 1937) is an International Master of chess. He has played many times in the U.S. Chess Championship. He won the 1960 Canadian Open Chess Championship. He is the author of several chess books, including The Battle of Chess Ideas, and The World of Chess (with Norman Lessing). He is a retired medical doctor.
It was in Saidy's house near New York City that Bobby Fischer secluded himself prior to departing for Reykjavik to play in the World Chess Championship 1972.
Saidy is the son of author Fred Saidy.
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Arnold Denker
Arnold Sheldon Denker (February 20, 1914 – January 2, 2005) was an American chess player, Grandmaster, and chess author. He was U.S. Chess Champion in 1945 and 1946.
In later years he served in various chess organizations, receiving recognition from the United States Chess Federation, including in 2004 the highest honor, "Dean of American Chess".
Denker was born on February 20, 1914 in the Bronx, New York City, and was a promising boxer in his early years. Denker first gained attention in chess by winning the New York City individual interscholastic championship in 1929 at age 15. In the next decade he established himself as a leading rival to Samuel Reshevsky, Reuben Fine, and Isaac Kashdan as the strongest U.S. chess player.
In 1940 Denker won the first of his six Manhattan Chess Club championships. He became U.S. Champion in 1944, winning fourteen games (including one against Fine), drawing three, and losing none. (This 91 percent score was the best winning percentage in U.S. Championship history until Bobby Fischer scored 11–0 in 1963–64.) Denker successfully defended his U.S. title in a 1946 match against Herman Steiner, winning 6–4 at Los Angeles.
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Aron Nimzowitsch
Aron Nimzowitsch (or Aron Isayevich Nimtsovich, or Aaron Nimzovich) (Latvian: Ārons Ņimcovičs, Аро́н Иса́евич Нимцо́вич; born Aron Niemzowitsch) (7 November 1886 – 16 March 1935) was a Russian-born Danish unofficial chess grandmaster and a very influential chess writer. He was the foremost figure amongst the hypermoderns.
Born in Riga in Livonia, then part of the Russian Empire, the Jewish German-speaking Nimzowitsch came from a wealthy family, where he learned chess from his father, who was a merchant. In 1904, he traveled to Berlin to study philosophy, but set aside his studies soon and began a career as a professional chess player that same year. He won his first international tournament at Munich 1906. Then, he tied for first with Alexander Alekhine at St. Petersburg 1913/14 (the eighth All-Russian Masters' Tournament).
During the 1917 Russian Revolution, Nimzowitsch was in the Baltic war zone. He escaped being drafted into one of the armies by feigning madness, insisting that a fly was on his head. He then escaped to Berlin, and gave his first name as Arnold, possibly to avoid anti-Semitic persecution.
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Arthur Bisguier
Arthur Bernard Bisguier (born 8 October 1929) is an American chess Grandmaster, chess promoter, and writer. Bisguier won two U.S. Junior Championships (1948, 1949), three U.S. Open Chess Championship titles (1950, 1956, 1959), and the 1954 United States Chess Championship title. He played for the United States in five chess Olympiads. He also played in two Interzonal tournaments (1955, 1962). On March 18, 2005, the United States Chess Federation (USCF) proclaimed him "Dean of American Chess".
Bisguier was born in New York City. He was taught chess at the age of four by his father, a mathematician. In 1944, aged 15, he was third at the Bronx Empire Chess Club. In 1946, aged 17, he came fifth in the U.S. Open at Pittsburgh, followed by seventh place in 1948. Later that year, he took the U.S. Junior Championship and was invited to the New York 1948–49 International Tournament.
As he gained in strength, Bisguier was coached by Master Alexander Kevitz.
In 1949 he retained the U.S. Junior Championship title, and also won the Manhattan Chess Club Championship. In 1950 he won the first of his three U.S. Open titles, and also won at Southsea in England (http://www.rogerpaige.me.uk/tables21.htm).
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Atanas Kolev
Atanas Kolev (Bulgarian: Атанас Колев; born July 15, 1967) is a Bulgarian Grandmaster of chess. His highest rating is 2602, January 2012. Kolev was the coach of the Bulgarian women's national chess team 2004-2006. Kolev and fellow Bulgarian grandmaster Kiril Georgiev are co-authors of The Sharpest Sicilian, a book about the Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defense, which was published in 2007. Atanas and Macedonian grandmaster Trajko Nedev are co-authors of The Easiest Sicilian, a book about the Sveshnikov Variation of the Sicilian, which was published in 2008.
He won the 33rd Plovdiv Open 2011, shared first place with GM Cheparinov at Albena Open 2011, won the 20th annual Midway Championship in Chicago 2011, and the First Annual International Chess Festival in Detroit 2011. He won five of the six tournaments he played in 2011 and by the end of that year he had accomplished a remarkable career milestone: he had won (or shared first place)60 international chess tournaments (1988–2011, active chess tournaments included).
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Barbra Streisand
Barbra Joan Streisand (/ˈstraɪsænd/; born April 24, 1942) is an American singer, actress, writer, film producer and director. She has won two Academy Awards, eight Grammy Awards, five Emmy Awards including one Daytime Emmy, a Special Tony Award, an American Film Institute award, a Peabody Award, and is one of the few entertainers who have won an Oscar, Emmy, Grammy, and Tony Award.
She is one of the most commercially and critically successful entertainers in modern entertainment history, with more than 71.5 million albums shipped in the United States and 140 million albums sold worldwide. She is the best-selling female artist on the Recording Industry Association of America's (RIAA) Top Selling Artists list, the only female recording artist in the top ten, and the only artist outside of the rock and roll genre. Along with Frank Sinatra, Cher, and Shirley Jones, she shares the distinction of being awarded an acting Oscar and also recording a number-one single on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart.
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Ben Klassen
Bernhardt (or Bernhard) "Ben" Klassen (Ukrainian: Бернар Классен; (1918-02-20)February 20, 1918 (O.S. February 7, 1918) – August 6, 1993(1993-08-06)) was an American religious leader who founded the Church of the Creator with the publication of his book Nature's Eternal Religion in 1973. Klassen was also a Florida state legislator, supporter of George Wallace's presidential campaign, and inventor of a wall-mounted electric can opener.
Klassen was born on February 20, 1918 in Rudnerweide, Ukraine to Bernhard and Susanna Klassen. He had two sisters and two brothers: Sarah, Katie, Korni, and Henry; four, six, ten, and twelve years his senior, respectively. When Klassen was nine months old, he caught typhoid fever and nearly died. His earliest memories were of the famine of 1921–22. He remembered his father rationing to him one slice of dark bread for dinner. Klassen was first introduced to religion at the age of "three or four." Klassen recalls his mother praising him for the "verve and loudness" with which he sang religious hymns.
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Benny Andersson
Göran Bror "Benny" Andersson (born in Stockholm, Sweden on 16 December 1946) is a Swedish musician, composer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA (1972–1983), and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!. As of 2011[update] he is active with his own band Benny Anderssons Orkester (BAO!), and was executive producer for the film version of the musical Mamma Mia!.
Andersson was born to 34-year-old construction engineer Gösta Andersson and his 26-year-old wife Laila. His sister Eva-Lis Andersson followed in 1948.
Andersson's musical background comes from his father and grandfather; they both enjoyed playing the accordion, and at six, Benny got his own. Father Gösta and grandfather Efraim taught him Swedish folk music, traditional music, and the odd schlager. Benny recalls the first records he bought were "Du Bist Musik" by Italian schlager singer Caterina Valente and Elvis Presley's rendition of "Jailhouse Rock"; this smörgåsbord of different kinds of music was to influence and follow him through the years.
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Bent Larsen
Jørgen Bent Larsen (4 March 1935 – 9 September 2010) was a Danish chess Grandmaster and author. Larsen was known for his imaginative and unorthodox style of play and he was the first western player to pose a serious challenge to the Soviet Union's dominance of chess. He is considered to be the strongest chess player born in Denmark and the strongest from Scandinavia until the emergence of Magnus Carlsen.
Larsen was a six time Danish Champion and a candidate for the World Chess Championship on four occasions, reaching the semi final three times. He had multiple wins over all seven World Champions who held the title from 1948 to 1985: Mikhail Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Boris Spassky, Bobby Fischer, and Anatoly Karpov., but lifetime minus scores against them. On a percentage basis, his best score against a World Champion was with Max Euwe. Larsen and Euwe met over the board only once, at the Munich Olympiad in 1958; the game ended in a draw. From the early 1970s, he divided his year between Las Palmas and Buenos Aires, with his Argentinian-born wife. He suffered from diabetes and died in 2010 from a cerebral haemorrhage.
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Bernard Cafferty
Bernard Cafferty (born 27 June 1934 in Blackburn, Lancashire) is an English chess master, columnist, writer, magazine editor and translator.
Cafferty was one of the leading English chess players of the late 1950s and 1960s, ranking amongst the top ten players in 1959 and 1960 (2b on the old grading scale which is equivalent to 217-224 on the present English Chess Federation grading scale). He was British Boys' Champion in 1952 (jointly) and British Junior Champion in 1954. He was British Correspondence Chess Champion in 1959/60 and won the British Lightning Championship (ten-seconds-a-move) in 1964 (jointly), 1966, 1967, 1968 and 1969 and is the only player ever to have won this title on four successive occasions. He played on top board for Warwickshire in the English Counties Final of 1961 when his team beat Yorkshire. He played in every British Chess Championship between 1957 and 1971, beating Peter Clarke, Sir Stuart Milner-Barry and Gerald Abrahams on his debut. His best placing was in 1964 when he finished second equal with three other players behind Michael Haygarth. He reached a peak Elo rating of 2440 (in July 1971) and played internationally for England on several occasions, both at over the board and correspondence chess.
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Björn Ulvaeus
Björn Kristian Ulvaeus (Swedish pronunciation: [bjœːɳ ɵlˈveːɵs], born 25 April 1945) is a Swedish songwriter, composer, musician, writer, producer, a former member of the Swedish musical group ABBA (1972–83), and co-composer of the musicals Chess, Kristina från Duvemåla, and Mamma Mia!. He coproduced the film Mamma Mia! with fellow ex-ABBA member and close friend Benny Andersson.
Ulvaeus was born in Gothenburg, but as a child he moved with his family to Västervik. Ulvaeus studied business and law at Lund University after doing his military service with stand-up comedian Magnus Holmström.
Prior to gaining international recognition with ABBA, Ulvaeus was a member of the Swedish folk-schlager band Hootenanny Singers, who had an enormous following in Scandinavia. While on the road in southern Sweden in 1966, they encountered the Hep Stars, and Ulvaeus quickly became friends with the group’s keyboard player, Benny Andersson. The two musicians shared a passion for songwriting, and each found a composing partner in the other. On meeting again that summer, they composed their first song together: "Isn't It Easy To Say", a song soon to be recorded by Andersson's group. The two continued teaming up for music, helping out each other's bands in the recording studio, and adding guitar or keyboards respectively to the recordings. In 1968, they composed two songs together: "A Flower In My Garden", recorded by Hep Stars, and their first 'real' hit "Ljuva Sextiotal", for which Stig Anderson wrote lyrics. The latter - a cabarét-style ironic song about the 1960s – was submitted for the 1969 Swedish heats for Eurovision Song Contest, but was rejected; it was later recorded by diva Brita Borg. Another hit came in 1969 with "Speleman", also recorded by Hep Stars.
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Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS (born Leslie Townes Hope; May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an English-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel. Throughout his long career, he was honored for his humanitarian work. In 1996, the U.S. Congress honored Bob Hope by declaring him the "first and only honorary veteran of the U.S. armed forces." Bob Hope appeared in or hosted 199 known USO shows.
Hope was born in Eltham, London, England, the fifth of seven sons. His English father, William Henry Hope, was a stonemason from Weston-super-Mare, Somerset, and his Welsh mother, Avis Townes, was a light opera singer from Barry who later worked as a cleaning woman. She married William Hope in April 1891 and the couple set up home at 12 Greenwood Street in the town, then moved to Whitehall and St George in Bristol, before eventually moving to Cleveland, Ohio in 1908. The family emigrated to the United States aboard the SS Philadelphia, and passed inspection at Ellis Island on March 30, 1908. Hope became a U.S. citizen in 1920 at the age of 17. In a 1942 legal document, Hope's legal name is given as Lester Townes Hope. His name on the Social Security Index is also listed as Lester T. Hope. His name as registered at birth was Leslie Towns [sic] Hope.
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Bobby Fischer
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author. After ending his competitive career, he proposed a new variant of chess and a modified chess timing system. His idea of adding a time increment after each move is now standard, and his variant Chess960 is gaining in popularity.
A chess prodigy, at age 13 Fischer won a "brilliancy" that became known as The Game of the Century. Starting at age 14, he played in eight United States Championships, winning each by at least a point. At age 15½, he became both the youngest grandmaster and the youngest candidate for the World Championship up to that time. He won the 1963–64 U.S. Championship 11–0, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. In the early 1970s he became one of the most dominant players in modern history—winning the 1970 Interzonal by a record 3½-point margin and winning 20 consecutive games, including two unprecedented 6–0 sweeps in the Candidates Matches. According to research by Jeff Sonas, in 1971 Fischer had separated himself from the rest of the world by a larger margin of playing skill than any player since the 1870s. He became the first official World Chess Federation (FIDE) number-one rated chess player in July 1971, and his 54 total months at number one is the third longest of all time.
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Bogdan Śliwa
Bogdan Śliwa (4 February 1922, Kraków — 16 May 2003) was a Polish chess master.
Śliwa won the championship of Poland six times. In 1946, he won the first Polish Chess Championship after World War II in Sopot (5th POL-ch). In 1948, he took 3rd in Kraków (6th POL-ch; Kazimierz Makarczyk won). He won the Polish championship four consecutive times in 1951–1954. He won his last title at Wrocław 1960 (17th POL-ch).
In tournaments, Śliwa tied for 9-10th at Sopot 1951 (Ernő Gereben won). In 1952, he took 17th in Budapest (Paul Keres won). In 1954, he tied for 12-14th in Bucharest (Viktor Korchnoi won). His best achievement was 3rd, behind Luděk Pachman and László Szabó, at Mariánské Lázně (Marienbad) 1954 (zt). In 1955, he tied for 19th-21st in the Göteborg (interzonal), which David Bronstein won. In 1957, Śliwa tied for 2nd-4th with Oleg Neikirch and Alexander Matanović, behind Miroslav Filip in Sofia (zt). In 1959, he tied for 5-7th in Riga (Boris Spassky won). In 1962, he tied for 4-7th in Mariánské Lázně (Mark Taimanov won). In 1965, he tied for 12-14th in Belgrade (Milan Matulović won). In 1966, he took 9th in Polanica Zdrój (Vasily Smyslov won). In 1966, he tied for 9-10th in Tel Aviv (Svetozar Gligorić won).
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Boris Spassky
Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij; Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский; born January 30, 1937) is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. He is known as one of the greatest living chess players, and is the oldest living world champion.
Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright (1961, 1973), and twice lost in playoffs (1956, 1963), after tying for first place during the event proper. He was a World Chess Championship candidate on seven occasions (1956, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1985).
Spassky defeated Tigran Petrosian in 1969 to become World Champion, then lost the title in the Fischer–Spassky match in 1972 - one of the most famous chess matches in history.
He was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) to a Russian mother and father, and learned to play chess at the age of five on a train evacuating from Leningrad during World War II. He first drew wide attention in 1947 at age ten, when he defeated Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad. His early coach was Vladimir Zak, a respected master and trainer. During his youth, from the age of ten, Spassky often worked on chess for several hours a day with master-level coaches. He set records as the youngest Soviet player to achieve first category rank (age ten), candidate master rank (age eleven), and Soviet Master rank (age fifteen). In 1952, at fifteen, Spassky scored 50 percent in the Soviet Championship semifinal at Riga, and placed second in the Leningrad Championship that same year, being highly praised by Botvinnik.
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Borislav Ivkov
Borislav Ivkov (born November 12, 1933 in Belgrade) is a Serbian chess Grandmaster. He was the first ever World Junior Champion in 1951. He won the Yugoslav Championship in 1958 (joint), 1963 (joint) and 1972. He was a World championship candidate in 1965, and played in four more Interzonal tournaments, in 1967, 1970, 1973, and 1979. Ivkov represented Yugoslavia 12 times in Olympiad competition, from 1956 to 1980, and six times in European Team Championships. Ivkov won nearly two dozen high-class events during his career; notable tournament triumphs include Mar del Plata 1955, Buenos Aires 1955, Beverwijk 1961, Zagreb 1965, Sarajevo 1967, Amsterdam 1974, and Moscow 1999. For more than 15 years from the mid-1950s, he was the second-ranking Yugoslav player, after Svetozar Gligorić. He remains an active tournament competitor at age 78, having played successfully in the 2007 Canadian Open in Ottawa. He is preparing his chess autobiography.
Ivkov earned his National Master title in 1949 at age 16, by placing shared 4th-7th in the Yugoslav Championship at Zagreb, with 11/19; the winner was Svetozar Gligorić. Ivkov earned his first international event opportunity at Bled 1950, sharing 5th-6th places with 7.5/14; the winner was Miguel Najdorf. In this tournament, which featured some of the world's best players, Ivkov defeated well-known stars such as Herman Pilnik, Milan Vidmar Sr., and Vasja Pirc. After this impressive debut, he was selected to represent Yugoslavia in team matches against the United States and the Netherlands in 1950 and against West Germany in 1951.
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Brad Darrach
Brad Darrach (real name Henry Bradford Darrach Jr.; 1921–1997) was a journalist and film critic. A 1942 graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, he joined Time Inc. in 1945 after working for the Baltimore Sun and the Providence Journal. He wrote for Time Inc. magazines including Time, Life, People and Sports Illustrated. During a career which spanned the 1940s to the 1990s, he profiled such notables as Elizabeth Taylor, Marlon Brando, Frank Sinatra, Fred Astaire, Barbra Streisand, Robin Williams, Bill Cosby, Jack Nicholson and Miss Piggy. His 1955 Time cover story on Marilyn Monroe, based on a chaste 10-hour interview in her hotel bed while she was filming Bus Stop, was the first to report on the star’s traumatic childhood; in 1984, he wrote: "Out it came for the first time, the whole hideous mess: the foster homes, the religious sadists who threatened her with hellfire, the child molester who raped her when she was 6. Simply to remember was agony for Marilyn. Sometimes she was racked with sobs; sometimes she choked on anger and disgust. Sometimes tears filled my eyes too." For a 1995 Life Magazine photoshoot with Michelle Pfeiffer, he held the Hope Diamond in his hand.
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Carmine Nigro
Carmine Nigro ( /ˈnaɪɡroʊ/ NY-groh; January 2, 1910, New York City, New York – August 16, 2001, Peachtree City, Georgia) was Bobby Fischer's first chess coach. Fischer later became an internationally recognized chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion.
Nigro was an American chess expert of near master strength and an instructor (Brady 2011:20). Nigro was President of the Brooklyn Chess Club. This is where he met Bobby Fischer and in 1951 became his first chess coach. Nigro (rated 2028) hosted Fischer's first chess tournament at his home in 1952. After joining the club Fischer rarely missed the Friday meetings.
"Mr. Nigro was possibly not the best player in the world, but he was a very good teacher." – Bobby Fischer, Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess (1959)
Later (1956) Nigro moved to Florida and became a professional golf instructor. He did not give up teaching chess, though, and in 1996 he taught chess at the Meyer Jewish Academy. In 1999 Nigro moved to Peachtree City, Georgia to be close with his son Bill Nigro. And in 2001, this is where he died at the age of 91.
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Carol Off
Carol Off is a Canadian television and radio journalist, associated with CBC Television and CBC Radio. She has been a host of CBC Radio's As It Happens since 2006. Previously a documentary reporter for The National, Off also hosted the political debate series counterSpin on CBC Newsworld.
She is the vice-president of Canadian Journalists for Free Expression. She was awarded ACTRA's John Drainie Award, for distinguished contributions to Canadian broadcasting, in 2008.
Off has also written several books on the Canadian military, including The Lion, the Fox, and the Eagle (2000) and The Ghosts of Medak Pocket: the Story of Canada's Secret War (2005, ISBN 0-679-31294-3). In 2006, she released a book, Bitter Chocolate, about the corruption and human rights abuses associated with the cocoa industry. She claimed that French-Canadian journalist Guy-André Kieffer, who was kidnapped in Abidjan, Côte d'Ivoire in 2004, had been murdered for exposing Ivorian government corruption in connection with cocoa.
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Christopher Andersen
Christopher Peter Andersen (born May 26, 1949) is an American journalist and the author of 30 books, including many bestsellers. A graduate of the University of California at Berkeley, Andersen joined the staff of Time Magazine as a contributing editor in 1969. From 1974 to 1986 Andersen was senior editor of Time Incorporated’s People Magazine. He has also written for a wide range of publications, including The New York Times, The New York Daily News,Life, and Vanity Fair.
While his early nonfiction books veered from psychology ('The Name Game') to true crime ('The Serpent’s Tooth') to art collecting ('The Best of Everything', with former Sotheby’s chairman John Marion), he is best known for his controversial biographies. Between 1991 and 2011, he published 14 New York Times bestselling biographies.
Seven of Andersen’s titles have also been selected for the Readers Digest Today’s Best Nonfiction Books of the Year series. In November 2008, NBC's Brian Williams presented Andersen with a Joan's Legacy Award for excellence in journalism regarding lung cancer, along with Ladies Home Journal, which excerpted the portion of his book Somewhere in Heaven: The Remarkable Love Story of Dana and Christopher Reeve describing Dana Reeve's battle with lung cancer. The Day John Died and Madonna Unauthorized (1991) were made into television films.
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Colin Powell
Colin Luther Powell ( /ˈkoʊlɨn/; born April 5, 1937) is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State, serving under President George W. Bush from 2001 to 2005. He was the first African American to serve in that position. During his military career, Powell also served as National Security Advisor (1987–1989), as Commander of the U.S. Army Forces Command (1989) and as Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff (1989–1993), holding the latter position during the Gulf War. He was the first, and so far the only, African American to serve on the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
Colin Luther Powell was born on April 5, 1937 in Harlem, a neighborhood in the New York City borough of Manhattan, to Jamaican immigrant parents Maud Arial (née McKoy) and Luther Theophilus Powell. He also has Scottish ancestry. Powell was raised in the South Bronx and attended Morris High School, a former public school in the Bronx, from which he graduated in 1954. While at school, he worked at a local baby furniture store where he picked up Yiddish from the shopkeepers and some of the customers. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in geology from the City College of New York in 1958 and was a self-admitted C average student. He was later able to earn a Master of Business Administration degree from the George Washington University in 1971, after his second tour in Vietnam.
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David Bronstein
David Ionovich Bronstein (Дави́д Ио́нович Бронште́йн; February 19, 1924 – December 5, 2006) was a Soviet chess grandmaster, who narrowly missed becoming World Chess Champion in 1951. Bronstein was one of the world's strongest players from the mid-1940s into the mid 1970s, and was described by his peers as a creative genius and master of tactics. He was also a renowned chess writer.
David Bronstein was born in Bila Tserkva, Ukraine, to a Jewish mother and father. Growing up in a poor family, he learned chess at age six from his grandfather. As a youth in Kiev, he was trained by the renowned International Master Alexander Konstantinopolsky. He finished second in the Kiev Championship when he was only 15, and achieved the Soviet Master title at age 16 for his second-place result in the 1940 Ukrainian Chess Championship, behind Isaac Boleslavsky, with whom he became close friends both on and off the chessboard. He would later go on to marry Boleslavsky's daughter, Tatiana, in 1984.
After completing high school in spring 1941, his plans to study mathematics at Kiev University were interrupted by the spread of World War II throughout eastern Europe in the early 1940s. He had begun play in the 1941 semi-final of the Soviet Championship, but this event was cancelled as war began. Shortly after the war's conclusion, he began attending Leningrad Polytechnical Institute where he studied for approximately one year.
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David Vincent Hooper
David Vincent Hooper (31 August 1915 – May 1998), born in Reigate, was a British chess player and writer. As an amateur, he tied for fifth place in the 1949 British Championship at Felixstowe. He was the British correspondence chess champion in 1944 and the London Chess Champion in 1948. He played in the Chess Olympiad at Helsinki in 1952.
Hooper was an expert in the chess endgame and in chess history of the nineteenth century. He is best known for his chess writing, including The Oxford Companion to Chess (1992 with Ken Whyld), Steinitz (Hamburg 1968, in German), and A Pocket Guide to Chess Endgames (London 1970).
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Donald Byrne
Donald Byrne (June 12, 1930 – April 8, 1976) was one of the USA's strongest chess players during the 1950s and 1960s.
Born in New York City, he won the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1953, was awarded the International Master title by FIDE (English: World Chess Federation) in 1962, and played for or captained five U.S. Chess Olympiad teams between 1962 and 1972. His older brother, International Grandmaster Robert Byrne, was also a leading player of that time.
Byrne lost to a 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Game of the Century in 1956.
Byrne was a professor of English. He taught at Penn State University from 1961 until his death, having been invited there to teach and to coach the varsity chess team.
Byrne died in Philadelphia of complications arising from lupus. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2002.
In the following game, Byrne beats perennial world championship contender Efim Geller:
Geller-D. Byrne, Moscow 1955 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 O-O 9.O-O-O Be6 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.g4 Qa5 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Bc4 Nd8 14.Be2 Nd7 15.Bd4 Ne5 16.f4 Ndc6 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.f5 Nd4 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Rhf1 Rf4 21.g5 b5 22.Bd3 Rcf8 23.Qg2 b4 24.Ne2 Qc5 25.Qh3 Rf3 26.Rxf3 Rxf3 27.Qg4 Rxd3 28.Rc1 Rd1 29.c3 Rxc1+ 30.Kxc1 Nxe2+ 31.Qxe2 bxc3 32.Qg2 cxb2 33.Kxb2 Qb4+ 34.Kc2 a5 35.Qg4 Qc5+ 36.Kb3 Qb6+ 37.Kc3 a4 38.h4 Qd4+ 39.Kc2 Qf2+ 40.Kd3 Qxa2 41.h5 Qb3+ 42.Kd2 gxh5 0-1.
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Dragoljub Janošević
Dragoljub Janošević (Janosevic) (8 July 1923 - 20 May 1993) was a Yugoslav chess Grandmaster.
Janošević became an International Master in 1964 and earned the Grandmaster title the following year.
In the 1950s and 1960s he played several times in the final of the Yugoslav Championship. Chessmetrics gives his highest rating as 2589 in March 1954, which places him 58th in the world at that time. He loves to play blindfold chess games and he plays against many opponents together in this kind of matches
Janošević scored individual victories over such strong grandmasters as Mikhail Botvinnik, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian and Fischer.
He drew a game with Efim Geller in Skopje 1968 where neither player made a move.
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Edmar Mednis
Edmar John Mednis (March 22, 1937–February 13, 2002) was an American International Grandmaster of chess (awarded in 1980) born in Riga, Latvia. He was also a popular and respected chess writer.
At the end of World War II, Mednis's family moved to the U.S. He was trained as a chemical engineer, then worked as a stockbroker, but became best known as a chess author. Mednis wrote 26 chess books, including Practical Rook Endings (1982) and Strategic Chess: Mastering the Closed Game (1993), and hundreds of chess articles. He and Robert Byrne annotated many games for Chess Informant.
Mednis finished second in the 1955 World Junior Championship behind Boris Spassky (the two drew their game). He was the first player to beat Bobby Fischer in a U.S. Championship. He played on the 1962 United States Olympiad team and finished equal third in the 1961–62 U.S. Championship. Tournament results included third at Houston 1974, equal fourth at New York 1980, and equal first at Puerto Rico 1984. The Puerto Rico Chess Federation, rather than the United States Chess Federation, formally proposed him for the Grandmaster title. He played in the 1979 Interzonal tournament in Riga, his birthplace.
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Efim Geller
Efim Petrovich Geller (Ефим Петрович Геллер, Ukrainian: Юхим Петрович Геллер; March 8, 1925 – November 17, 1998) was a Soviet chess player and world-class grandmaster at his peak. He won the Soviet Championship twice (in 1955 and 1979) and was a Candidate for the World Championship on six occasions (1953, 1956, 1962, 1965, 1968, and 1971). He won four Ukrainian Championship titles (in 1950, 1957, 1958, and 1959) and shared first in the 1991 World Seniors' Championship, winning the title outright in 1992.
Geller was also a coach to World Champions Boris Spassky and Anatoly Karpov. He was also an author.
Geller grew up in Odessa, USSR, and was Jewish. He was a fine basketball player, and earned his doctorate in physical education before specialising in chess. His development as a top player was delayed by the inception of World War II.
Geller's first notable result was sixth place in the 1947 Ukrainian Chess Championship at Kiev with 9.5/15; the winner was Alexei Sokolsky. He shared 3rd–5th places at Baku 1948 with 9/15, an event won by Jüri Randviir. Geller scored 11/18 in the 1948 Ukrainian Championship at Kiev for a shared 5th–8th place; the winners were Sokolsky and Poliak.
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Emanuel Lasker
Emanuel Lasker (December 24, 1868 – January 11, 1941) was a German chess player, mathematician, and philosopher who was World Chess Champion for 27 years. In his prime Lasker was one of the most dominant champions, and he is still generally regarded as one of the strongest players ever.
His contemporaries used to say that Lasker used a "psychological" approach to the game, and even that he sometimes deliberately played inferior moves to confuse opponents. Recent analysis, however, indicates that he was ahead of his time and used a more flexible approach than his contemporaries, which mystified many of them. Lasker knew the openings well but disagreed with many contemporary analyses. He published chess magazines and five chess books, but later players and commentators found it difficult to draw lessons from his methods.
Lasker made contributions to the development of other games. He was a first-class contract bridge player and wrote about bridge and other games, including Go and his own invention, Lasca. His books about games presented a problem which is still considered notable in the mathematical analysis of card games. Lasker was also a research mathematician who was known for his contributions to commutative algebra, which included proving the primary decomposition of the ideals of polynomial rings. On the other hand, his philosophical works and a drama that he co-authored received little attention.
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Eskimo
Eskimos (or Esquimaux) or Inuit–Yupik (for Alaska: Inupiat–Yupik) peoples are indigenous peoples who have traditionally inhabited the circumpolar region from eastern Siberia (Russia), across Alaska (United States), Canada, and Greenland.
There are two main groups that are referred to as Eskimo: Yupik and Inuit. A third group, the Aleut, is related. The Yupik language dialects and cultures in Alaska and eastern Siberia have evolved in place beginning with the original (pre-Dorset) Eskimo culture that developed in Alaska. Approximately 4,000 years ago the Unangam (also known as Aleut) culture became distinctly separate, and evolved into a non-Eskimo culture. Approximately 1,500–2,000 years ago, apparently in Northwestern Alaska, two other distinct variations appeared. The Inuit language branch became distinct and in only several hundred years spread across northern Alaska, Canada and into Greenland. At about the same time, the technology of the Thule people developed in northwestern Alaska and very quickly spread over the entire area occupied by Eskimo people, though it was not necessarily adopted by all of them.
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Eugenio Torre
Eugenio Torre (born November 4, 1951) is a chess grandmaster (GM). He is considered the strongest chess player the Philippines produced during the 1980s and 1990s.
Torre shot to prominence in 1976 as a possible future title challenger after winning a strong four-man tournament in Manila ahead of world champion Anatoly Karpov – thus becoming the first player to finish ahead of Karpov in a tournament since the latter became world champion. The high point of his career came in the early 1980s when he was ranked world No.17; successfully going on to qualify as a candidate for the world championship after tying for first with Lajos Portisch during the 1982 Toluca Interzonal.
Torre has the distinction of being the first Asian player to earn the title of International Grandmaster. He qualified for the Candidates Matches for the 1984 World Championship. In that preliminary stage, the contenders play matches against each other to determine who will challenge the world champion. Torre was eliminated when he lost his match against Zoltán Ribli by a score of 6-4.
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Florin Gheorghiu
Florin Gheorghiu (born 6 April 1944) is a Romanian chess player and university lecturer in foreign languages.
Born in Bucharest, his prodigious talent for the game was evidenced by his many early achievements; he became an International Master in 1963 and Romania's first Grandmaster just two years later. He was also awarded the title of World Junior Chess Champion (on tie-break) in 1963 at Vrnjacka Banja.
In his home country there were few who could rival his dominance of the 1960s, 70s, and 80s. He won the Romanian Championship nine times (the first at age 16) and represented his country in all of the Chess Olympiads between 1962 and 1990, playing first board on ten occasions.
Gheorghiu was a lecturer in French at Bucharest University and also speaks English, Russian, German, and Spanish.
Gheorghiu has seldom been regarded a serious contender for the world chess championship title, although he regularly participated in the cycle and at other prestigious events. His placings at four Interzonal Tournaments (world championship qualifiers) confirm that he was not as strong as the world's elite players at the time, but could nevertheless perform consistently well at a high level. At Petropolis 1973 he finished 14th, at Manila 1976 10-13th, Riga 1979 5-6th and twelfth at Moscow 1982. At the Riga Interzonal, he only narrowly failed to qualify for the Candidates Matches.
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Frank Lamprecht
Frank Lamprecht (born 21 June 1968) is a German chess International Master and chess trainer. He is a co-author of Fundamental Chess Endings (2001) and Secrets of Pawn Endings (2000), both with Karsten Müller.
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Fred Waitzkin
Fred Waitzkin (born in 1943 in Massachusetts) is an American novelist and writer for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, New York, and Esquire. Educated at Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio, and lives in New York City and Martha's Vineyard.
He is the father of chess prodigy Joshua Waitzkin.
His book Searching for Bobby Fischer was made into a film of the same name (but also called Innocent Moves) starring Max Pomeranc, Joe Mantegna (as Fred Waitzkin), Ben Kingsley, Joan Allen, and Laurence Fishburne.
Major works:
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Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche ( /ˈniːtʃə/;German pronunciation: [ˈfʁiːdʁɪç ˈvɪlhɛlm ˈniːtsʃə]; October 15, 1844 – August 25, 1900) was a German philosopher, poet, cultural critic and classical philologist. He wrote critical texts on religion, morality, contemporary culture, philosophy and science, displaying a fondness for metaphor, irony and aphorism.
Nietzsche's influence remains substantial within and beyond philosophy, notably in existentialism, nihilism and postmodernism. His style and radical questioning of the value and objectivity of truth have resulted in much commentary and interpretation, mostly in the continental tradition. His key ideas include the death of God, the Übermensch, the eternal recurrence, the Apollonian and Dionysian dichotomy, perspectivism and the will to power. Central to his philosophy is the idea of "life-affirmation", which involves an honest questioning of all doctrines that drain life's expansive energies, however socially prevalent and radical those views might be.
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Garner Ted Armstrong
Garner Ted Armstrong (February 9, 1930 – September 15, 2003) was an American evangelist and the son of Herbert W. Armstrong, founder of the Worldwide Church of God, at the time a Sabbatarian organization that taught strict observance of seventh-day Sabbath, holy days typically associated with the Jewish faith, and other observances derived from the Old Testament scriptures.
Armstrong initially became recognized when he succeeded his father as the voice of The World Tomorrow, the church's radio program that aired around the world. A television program of the same name followed, aired mostly in North America, eventually giving way to a Garner Ted Armstrong broadcast, a half-hour program that mixed news and biblical commentary. His polemical message was unlike that of most other religious broadcasters of his day.
Garner Ted's genealogy is described in his father's autobiography. The elder Armstrong reported that the Armstrong ancestors arrived in America in the late 17th century with William Penn. The ancestry was traced to Edward I of England. Garner Ted's grandmother was "something like a third cousin to former President Herbert Hoover" (Autobiography of Herbert W. Armstrong, Vol. I, 1967 edition, pp. 25–26).
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Garry Kasparov
Garry Kimovich Kasparov (Russian: Га́рри Ки́мович Каспа́ров, Russian pronunciation: [ˈɡarʲɪ ˈkʲiməvʲɪtɕ kɐˈsparəf]; born Garik Kimovich Weinstein, 13 April 1963) is a Russian (formerly Soviet) chess grandmaster, a former World Chess Champion, writer, political activist, considered by many to be the greatest chess player of all time.
Kasparov became the youngest ever undisputed World Chess Champion in 1985 at the age of 22 by defeating then-champion Anatoly Karpov. He held the official FIDE world title until 1993, when a dispute with FIDE led him to set up a rival organization, the Professional Chess Association. He continued to hold the "Classical" World Chess Championship until his defeat by Vladimir Kramnik in 2000. He was the first world champion to lose a match to a computer under standard time controls, when he lost to Deep Blue in 1997.
Kasparov's ratings achievements include being rated world No. 1 according to Elo rating almost continuously from 1986 until his retirement in 2005 and holding the all-time highest rating of 2851. He was the world No. 1 ranked player for 255 months, by far the most of all-time and nearly three times as long as his closest rival, Anatoly Karpov. Kasparov also holds records for consecutive tournament victories and Chess Oscars.
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Gata Kamsky
Gata Kamsky (Tatar: Ğata Kamski, Ğataulla Röstäm ulı Sabirov; Гата Камский, Гатаулла Рөстәм улы Сабиров; Гатаулла Рустемович Сабиров, Гата Камский) (born June 2, 1974) is a Soviet-born American chess grandmaster, and the current World Rapid Chess Champion. As of May 2012, he was rated No. 2 in the United States and No. 14 in the world.
Kamsky was a prodigy who reached the final of the FIDE World Chess Championship 1996 at the age of 22, and reached a ranking of fourth in the world rankings in 1996. He played almost no FIDE-rated games between 1997 and late 2004.
Kamsky won the Chess World Cup 2007. This earned him a match against Veselin Topalov for the right to challenge for the World Chess Championship 2010, which he lost. Kamsky played in the Candidates Tournament to determine the challenger for the World Chess Championship 2012, where he advanced to the semifinals before losing to Boris Gelfand.
Kamsky was born in Novokuznetsk in Russia, in a Tatar family. Gata's last name, Kamsky, is derived from the stage nickname of his grandparents who were members of the Tatar traveling theater group.[citation needed] The family's "real" name is Sabirov.[citation needed]
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Hans Kmoch
Johann "Hans" Joseph Kmoch (July 25, 1894, Vienna – February 13, 1973, New York City) was an Austrian-Dutch-American chess International Master (1950), International Arbiter (1951), and a chess journalist and author, for which he is best known.
Kmoch had most of his best competitive results between 1925 and 1931. He won at Debrecen 1925 with 10/13 over a field which had 12 of the world's top 56 players; chessmetrics.com rates this as a 2696 performance. At Budapest 1926, he shared 3rd-5th places with 9/15 behind winners Ernst Gruenfeld and Mario Monticelli. At Vienna 1928, Kmoch placed 6th with 8/13 as Richard Réti won. Then at the Trebitsch Memorial, Vienna 1928, Kmoch shared 3rd-6th places with 6/10, half a point behind Gruenfeld and Sandor Takacs. At Brno 1928, Kmoch placed 3rd with 6/9, with Réti and Friedrich Saemisch winning. Kmoch won at Ebensee 1930 with 6/7, ahead of Erich Eliskases.
Kmoch represented Austria three times in Chess Olympiads. Here are his detailed results, according to olimpbase.org. At London 1927, he played board three and scored 6.5/12 (+4 =5 -3). At Hamburg 1930, he was on board one, and scored 8/14 (+6 =4 -4), as Austria placed fourth. Then at Prague 1931, Kmoch was on board three and scored 9/15 (+4 =10 -1); overall, he scored 23.5/41 (+14 =19 -8), for 57.3 per cent.
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Hans Ree
Hans Ree (born 15 November 1944 in Amsterdam) is a Dutch Grandmaster of chess and is a columnist and chess writer for the NRC Handelsblad. He contributes to the leading chess magazines New In Chess and ChessCafe.com. His earlier publications include Een blinde reus (A Blind Giant, 1989), Rode dagen en zwarte dagen (Red Days, Black Days, 1993) and Schaakstukjes (Chess Pieces, 1993).
His more recent offering The Human Comedy Of Chess (Access Publishers Network, 2000) chronicles developments in the chess world in a humorous and occasionally acerbic manner, drawing on material from his columns and insider observations.
Having previously shared the title of European Junior Champion in 1964/65 and 1965/66, Ree won the Dutch Chess Championship in 1967, 1969, 1971 and 1982. Additionally, in 1971 he was a winner of the Canadian Open Chess Championship. He became an International Master in 1968 and an International Grandmaster in 1980.
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Harry Golombek
Harry Golombek OBE (1 March 1911 – 7 January 1995), was a British chess International Master and honorary grandmaster, chess arbiter, and chess author. He was three times British chess champion, in 1947, 1949, and 1955 and finished second in 1948. He became a grandmaster in 1985.
He was the chess correspondent of The Times newspaper from 1945 to 1989. He was an official of the FIDE, and served as Arbiter for several important events, including the Candidates' Tournament of 1959 in Yugoslavia, and the World Chess Championship match 1963 between Mikhail Botvinnik and Tigran Petrosian. He was also editor of some well-known collections of games such as Capablanca's and Réti's, and was a well-respected author. He was editor of British Chess Magazine from 1938 to 1940, and its overseas editor throughout the 1960s and 1970s. Golombek also translated several chess books from Russian into English.
On the outbreak of World War II in September 1939, Golombek was in Buenos Aires, Argentina, competing in the Chess Olympiad for Britain alongside C. H. O'D. Alexander and Stuart Milner-Barry. They immediately returned to the UK, and were soon recruited into Bletchley Park, the wartime codebreaking centre. Golombek worked in Hut 8, the section responsible for solving German Naval Enigma, moving to another section in October/November 1942. After the war he lived at 35 Albion Crescent Chalfont St Giles.
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Herman Pilnik
Herman Pilnik (8 January 1914, Stuttgart, Germany – 12 November 1981, Caracas, Venezuela) was an Argentine (German origin) chess Grandmaster.
In 1929, he won the championship of Stuttgart. Pilnik emigrated from Germany to Argentina in 1930. He won the Argentine Championships in 1942, 1945 and 1958. Pilnik began his international career in 1942, when he tied for 10-11th in New York, and tied for 2nd-3rd in Mar del Plata. In 1944, he tied for 1st with Miguel Najdorf in Mar del Plata. In July/August 1945, he took 3rd at the Hollywood Pan-American Tournament in Los Angeles. The event was won by Samuel Reshevsky. In 1951, he won in Beverwijk. In 1951/52, he won in Vienna. In 1952, he won in Belgrade. In 1954, he won in Stuttgart.
He played for Argentina in five Chess Olympiads. In 1950, he won individual gold medal playing at first reserve board (+6 −1 =3) and team silver medal at the 9th Chess Olympiad in Dubrovnik. In 1952, he won team silver medal playing at fourth board (+6 −1 =7) at the 10th Chess Olympiad in Helsinki. In 1954, he won team silver medal playing at fourth board (+3 −2 =2) at the 11th Chess Olympiad in Amsterdam. In 1956, he played at fourth board (+7 −3 =3) at the 12th Chess Olympiad in Moscow. In 1958, he won team bronze medal playing at first board (+5 −2 =8) at the 13th Chess Olympiad in Munich.
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Hermann Helms
Helms, Hermann (1870, Brooklyn, New York, USA – 1963, Brooklyn) was an American chess player, writer, and promoter.
Helms was born in Brooklyn, but spent much of his childhood in Hamburg, Germany and in Halifax, Canada, where a schoolmate taught him chess. He returned to live in Brooklyn at age 17, and settled in Brooklyn. His first notable chess achievement was as a member of the Brooklyn Chess Club team which won the New York Metropolitan League of 1894-95, with Harry Nelson Pillsbury as captain. As a player, Helms twice won the New York State Championship, and was of national Master strength, with an emphasis on sharp attacking play. During his chess career, he defeated such powers as Pillsbury and Frank Marshall. Helms won the New York State Championship in 1925. Helms also represented the United States in five cable matches against England, in the early part of the 20th century. He retired from most serious chess competition while in his forties, but remained active in blitz tournaments at the Frank Marshall Chess Club until his late eighties.
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Hikaru Nakamura
Hikaru Nakamura (中村光, Nakamura Hikaru?) (born December 9, 1987 in Hirakata, Osaka, Japan) is an American chess Grandmaster (GM). He is ranked among the top seven players in the world by FIDE as of May 2012, and is the current United States Chess Champion.
Nakamura's first supertournament victory came at Wijk aan Zee 2011, finishing clear first ahead of the four top-rated players in the world in a performance described by former World Champion Garry Kasparov as better than any tournament by Bobby Fischer, and the best by an American in more than 100 years.
Nakamura is the top USCF rated player at 2858, as published on 1 February 2012.
Nakamura was born in Hirakata, Osaka Prefecture, Japan, to a Japanese father and an American mother. At the age of two, he moved with his parents to the United States. He began playing chess prior to the age of five and was coached by his Sri Lankan stepfather, FIDE Master and chess author Sunil Weeramantry.
At age 10 years and 79 days, Nakamura achieved the title of chess master from the United States Chess Federation (USCF), becoming the youngest American ever to earn the title and breaking the record previously set by Vinay Bhat; Nakamura's record stood until 2008 when Nicholas Nip achieved master at the age of 9 years and 11 months. In 1999, Nakamura won the Laura Aspis Prize, given annually to the top USCF rated player under the age of 13. In 2003, at age 15 years and 79 days, Nakamura solidified his reputation as a chess prodigy, becoming the youngest American to earn the grandmaster title, breaking by three months the record of Bobby Fischer. This record has since been broken by Ray Robson.
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Howard Staunton
Howard Staunton (1810 – 22 June 1874) was an English chess master who is generally regarded as having been the world's strongest player from 1843 to 1851, largely as a result of his 1843 victory over Saint-Amant. He promoted a chess set of clearly distinguishable pieces of standardised shape—the Staunton pattern—that is still the style required for competitions. He was the principal organiser of the first international chess tournament in 1851, which made England the world's leading chess centre and caused Anderssen to be recognised as the world's strongest player.
From 1840 onwards he became a leading chess commentator, and won matches against top players of the 1840s. In 1847 he entered a parallel career as a Shakespearean scholar. Ill health and his two writing careers led him to give up competitive chess after 1851. In 1858 attempts were made to organise a match between Staunton and Morphy, but they failed. It is often alleged that Staunton deliberately misled Morphy while trying to avoid the match, but it is also possible Staunton over-estimated his chances of getting physically fit and of making time available for a match.
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Irving Chernev
Irving Chernev (January 29, 1900 – September 29, 1981) was a prolific Russian-American chess author. He was born in Pryluky in the Russian Empire (now in Ukraine) and emigrated to the United States in 1920. Chernev was a national master strength player, and was obsessed with chess. He wrote that he "probably read more about chess, and played more games than any man in history." Chernev's deep love for the game is obvious to any reader of his books. He wrote 20 chess books, among them: Chessboard Magic!; The Bright Side of Chess; The Fireside Book of Chess (with Fred Reinfeld); The Most Instructive Games of Chess Ever Played; 1000 Best Short Games of Chess; Practical Chess Endings; Combinations: The Heart of Chess; and Capablanca's Best Chess Endings. In 1945, he and Kenneth Harkness wrote An Invitation to Chess, which became one of the most successful chess books ever written, with sales reaching six figures. Perhaps his most famous book is Logical Chess: Move by Move, first released in 1957. This takes 33 classic games from 1889 to 1952, played by masters such as Capablanca; Alekhine; and Tarrasch, and explains them in an instructive manner. An algebraic notation version was published by Batsford in 1998, with minor alterations to the original text. Chernev died in San Francisco in 1981.
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Isaac Kashdan
Isaac Kashdan (19 November 1905, New York – 20 February 1985, Los Angeles) was an American chess grandmaster and chess writer. Kashdan was one of the world's best players in the late 1920s and early 1930s. He was twice U.S. Open champion (1938, 1947). He played five times for the United States in chess Olympiads, winning a total of nine medals, and his Olympiad record is the all-time best among American players.
Kashdan, who was Jewish, was often called 'der Kleine Capablanca' (The little Capablanca) in Europe because of his ability to extract victories from seemingly even positions. Alexander Alekhine named him one of the most likely players to succeed him as World Champion. Kashdan could not, however, engage seriously in a chess career, for financial reasons; his peak chess years coincided with the Great Depression. He resorted to earning a living as an insurance agent and administrator in order to support his family. One of Kashdan's children had serious health problems, and the family moved to California in the 1940s, because of its better climate.
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Jan Hein Donner
Johannes Hendrikus (Hein) Donner (July 6, 1927 – November 27, 1988) was a Dutch chess grandmaster (GM) and writer. Donner was born in The Hague and won the Dutch Championship in 1954, 1957, and 1958. FIDE, the World Chess Federation, awarded him the GM title in 1959. He played 11 times for the Netherlands in the Chess Olympiads (1950–1954, 1958–1962, 1968, 1972–1978). He was the uncle of the former Dutch Minister of Social Affairs and Employment, Piet Hein Donner.
On August 24, 1983 Donner suffered a stroke, which he wrote happened "just in time, because when you are 56 you do not play chess as well as you did when you were 26". After surviving the stroke, he went to live in Vreugdehof, which he described as "a kind of nursing-home". He was unable to walk, but had learned to type with one finger, and wrote for NRC Handelsblad and Schaaknieuws.
Donner was also a chess columnist and writer. He was famous for his outspoken and often outrageous columns about subjects such as women, politics, and fellow Dutch Grandmaster Lodewijk Prins, whom Donner claimed "cannot tell a knight from a bishop".
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Jan Timman
Jan Timman (born 14 December 1951) is a Dutch chess Grandmaster who was one of the world's leading players from the late 1970s to the early 1990s. At the peak of his career he was considered to be the best non-Soviet player and was known as "The Best of the West". He has won the Dutch Chess Championship nine times and has been a Candidate for the World Championship several times.
Timman was an outstanding prospect in his early teens, and at Jerusalem 1967 played in the World Junior Championship, aged fifteen, finishing third.
He received the International Master title in 1971, and in 1974 attained Grandmaster status, making him the Netherlands' third after Max Euwe and Jan Hein Donner. In the same year he won the Dutch Championship for the first time, having finished second in 1972. He was to win it again on many more occasions through 1996. His first notable international success was at Hastings 1973/74, where he shared victory with Tal, Kuzmin, and Szabó. A string of victories quickly followed at Sombor 1974 (with Boris Gulko), Netanya 1975, Reykjavik 1976 (with Fridrik Olafsson), Amsterdam IBM 1978, Nikšić 1978, and Bled/Portorož 1979.
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Jeff Sonas
Jeff Sonas is a statistical chess analyst who invented the Chessmetrics system for rating chess players, which is intended as an improvement on the Elo rating system. He is the founder and proprietor of the Chessmetrics.com website, which gives Sonas' calculations of the ratings of current players and historical ratings going back as far as January 1843. Sonas writes that, "Since the summer of 1999, I have spent countless hours analyzing chess statistics, inventing formulas and other analysis techniques, and calculating historical ratings." He has written dozens of articles since 1999 for ChessBase.com and other chess websites. He was a participant in the FIDE ratings committee meeting in Athens in June 2010.
Jeff Sonas graduated with honors with a B.S. in Mathematical and Computational Sciences from Stanford University in 1991.
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Jeremy Silman
Jeremy Silman (born August 28, 1954) is an American International Master of chess. He has won the US Open, the American Open, and the National Open, and was the coach of the US junior national chess team. Silman has authored over 35 books, mostly on chess but also on casino gambling, and served as a chess consultant on the 2001 Harry Potter film Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone. He has given lessons to many top players of the game and has contributed to chess magazines such as New in Chess. Silman is known for his empathy for the class player, and has written whole books targeted towards lower-rated chess players. He has also authored many chess mentoring puzzles on the chess.com website.
In his books, Silman evaluates positions according to the "imbalances," or differences, which exist in every position, and advocates that players plan their play according to these. A good plan according to Silman is one which highlights the positive imbalances in the position. The imbalances are, in rough descending order of importance according to Dana Mackenzie:
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Jeroen Piket
Jeroen Piket (born 27 January 1969 in Leiden, The Netherlands) is a retired Dutch chess player who earned the Grandmaster title in 1989. He won the Dutch Chess Championship in 1990, 1991, 1992, and 1994. Other notable results include a second place at the Hoogovens tournament 1997. He drew a match against Anatoly Karpov held 21 February to 2 March 1999 in Monaco, by the score 4–4 (all eight games were drawn). The following year he won an internet tournament organised by kasparovchess.com, beating Garry Kasparov in the final.
Piket won the Vlissingen Open in 2001, but retired from chess in the same year to become the personal secretary of businessman Joop van Oosterom. A few years later, in 2005, Van Oosterom won the Correspondence chess World Championship, causing Tim Krabbé to write: "The Turk was operated by William Schlumberger, Mephisto was operated by Isidore Gunsberg, Ajeeb was operated by Harry Pillsbury and Joop van Oosterom is operated by Jeroen Piket."
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Joan Rodker
Joan Rodker (1 May 1915 – 27 December 2010) was a British political activist and television producer.
The daughter of the modernist poet John Rodker and dancer Sonia Cohen, who placed her into care at eighteen months, where she remained until she was aged eleven. Rodker later lived with her mother and attended Haberdashers' Aske's School for Girls in Elstree, Hertfordshire but did not shine academically. After failing the matriculation exam needed for university admission, Rodker left school at seventeen. Improving her German in Prague at the insistence of her father, Rodker became attracted to Marxism, and migrated to Moscow in 1934, joining an acting troupe which toured the Ukraine. After falling in love with the actor Gerhard Hinze (later known as Gerard Heinz), the couple had a son Ernest (born 1937) while in Odessa. During her time in the Soviet Union, Rodker met Regina Fischer, later the mother of chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer, with whom she later corresponded. The relationship with Heinz though did not survive the war.
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Joan Targ
Joan Fischer Targ (1938 — June 2, 1998) was a pioneer in computer education. She was the older sister of chess champion Bobby Fischer.
Targ was born in Moscow to Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, a German biophysicist, and his wife Regina Wender, who was a Swiss born naturalized American citizen of Russian-Polish Jewish ancestry. Regina Fisher left Moscow because of the persecution of Jews in the 1930s, bringing her child with her to the United States. She spoke seven languages fluently and was a teacher, registered nurse and eventually physician In 1948, the family moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Regina worked as an elementary school teacher and nurse. In 1949, young Joan bought a chess set in the candy store, and her younger brother Bobby Fischer, age 6, became so obsessed with it that their mother took him to a psychiatrist.
Joan Targ lived in Palo Alto, California, receiving a Masters degree in education from the College of Notre Dame in Belmont.
She founded a number of innovative programs to study the teaching of computer literacy, including programs in the Palo Alto Unified School District, as well as the Institute of Microcomputing in Education at Stanford University. Her educational techniques included the creation of systems whereby a student, trained by peers in a basic course in computer programming, would then tutor the next students.
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John Bosnitch
John Bosnitch (born on February 15, 1961 in Fredericton, New Brunswick, Canada) is a Canadian journalist, consultant and political activist of Serbian descent. He's also Bureau Chief of The InterMedia Center News Agency located in Tokyo, Japan.
John Bosnitch volunteered to help 11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) after Fischer was detained in Japan in 2004. The U.S. Bush Administration had told Japanese authorities that it had "revoked" Fischer's passport to try to bring him to trial in the United States for playing in a World Chess Championship rematch in Yugoslavia in 1992 in alleged violation of U.S. presidential sanctions against economic activity with Yugoslavia. Japanese immigration authorities then held Fischer in Tokyo's Narita Airport detention center for 16 days after refusing to let him leave the country due to an alleged passport violation, before transferring him to a long-term detention center pending deportation to the United States. Bosnitch set up the "Committee to Free Bobby Fischer" after visiting Fischer in the Narita Airport detention center. John Bosnitch argued for and won the right to participate as a friend of the court before the Immigration Bureau tribunal charged with handling Fischer's deportation. Bosnitch filibustered for more than 24 hours through two deportation hearings and then worked to legally block the Japanese Immigration Bureau's efforts to deport Fischer to the United States, coordinating a 9-month legal and public relations 'Free Bobby Fischer' campaign until Fischer's eventual release. Fischer renounced his United States citizenship and was, after receiving full Icelandic citizenship, allowed to leave for Iceland, instead of being deported to the US.
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Joshua Waitzkin
Joshua Waitzkin (born December 4, 1976) is an American chess player, martial arts competitor, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. He is the only person to have won the National Primary, Elementary, Junior High School, High School, U.S. Cadet, and U.S. Junior Closed chess championships in his career. The movie Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on his early life.
Waitzkin was born in New York City. He began playing the game at the age of six, having discovered it while wandering through Washington Square Park in New York City. It was there, while playing blitz chess with the hustlers, that he was "discovered" by Bruce Pandolfini, a chess author and teacher, who later took Waitzkin under his wing for a number of years. During his years as a student at The Dalton School in New York City he led the school to win seven national team championships between the third and ninth grades in addition to his eight individual titles.
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José Raúl Capablanca
José Raúl Capablanca y Graupera (19 November 1888 – 8 March 1942) was a Cuban chess player who was world chess champion from 1921 to 1927. One of the greatest players of all time, he was renowned for his exceptional endgame skill and speed of play. Due to his achievements in the chess world, mastery over the board and his relatively simple style of play he was nicknamed the "Human Chess Machine".
José Raúl Capablanca, the second surviving son of a Spanish army officer, was born in Havana on November 19, 1888. According to Capablanca, he learned the rules of the game at the age of four by watching his father play, pointed out an illegal move by his father, and then beat his father twice. At the age of eight he was taken to Havana Chess Club, which had hosted many important contests, but on the advice of a doctor he was not allowed to play frequently. Between November and December 1901, he narrowly beat the Cuban Chess Champion, Juan Corzo, in a match. However in April 1902 he only came fourth out of six in the National Championship, losing both his games against Corzo. In 1905 Capablanca passed with ease the entrance examinations for Columbia University in New York City, where he wished to play for Columbia's strong baseball team, and soon was selected as shortstop on the freshman team. In the same year he joined the Manhattan Chess Club, and was soon recognized as the club's strongest player. He was particularly dominant in rapid chess, winning a tournament ahead of the reigning World Chess Champion, Emanuel Lasker, in 1906. In 1908 he left the university to concentrate on chess.
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Judit Polgár
Judit Polgár (born July 23, 1976) is a Hungarian chess grandmaster. She is by far the strongest female chess player in history. In 1991, Polgár achieved the title of Grandmaster at the age of 15 years and 4 months, the youngest person ever to do so at that time.
Polgár was ranked No. 29 in the world on the March 2012 FIDE rating list with an Elo rating of 2709, the only[update] woman on FIDE's Top 100 Players list, and has been ranked as high as eighth (in 2005). She has won or shared first in the chess tournaments of Hastings 1993, Madrid 1994, León 1996, U.S. Open 1998, Hoogeveen 1999, Siegman 1999, Japfa 2000, and the Najdorf Memorial 2000.
Polgár is the only woman to have won a game from a current world number one player, and has defeated nine current or former world champions in either rapid or classical chess: Anatoli Karpov, Garry Kasparov, Boris Spassky, Vasily Smyslov, Veselin Topalov, Viswanathan Anand, Ruslan Ponomariov, Alexander Khalifman, and Rustam Kasimdzhanov.
Polgár was born in July 23, 1976, in Budapest, to a Hungarian Jewish family. Polgár and her two older sisters, Grandmaster Susan and International Master Sofia, were part of an educational experiment carried out by their father László Polgár, in an attempt to prove that children could make exceptional achievements if trained in a specialist subject from a very early age. "Geniuses are made, not born", was László's thesis. He and his wife Klára educated their three daughters at home, with chess as the specialist subject. László also taught his three daughters the international language Esperanto. They received resistance from Hungarian authorities as home-schooling was not a "socialist" approach. They also received criticism at the time from some western commentators for depriving the sisters of a normal childhood. However, by most reports the girls appeared happy and well-adjusted.
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Karsten Müller
Dr. Karsten Müller (born November 23, 1970 in Hamburg, West Germany) is a German chess Grandmaster. He earned the Grandmaster title in 1998 and a PhD in mathematics in 2002 at the University of Hamburg. He placed third in the 1996 German championship and second in the 1997 German championship.
He is an authority on endgames. He is the author of Fundamental Chess Endings (Gambit Publications, 2001) and Secrets of Pawn Endings (Everyman Chess, 2000), both with Frank Lamprecht. He also wrote How to Play Chess Endgames, with Wolfgang Pajeken (Gambit, 2008) and Magic of Chess Tactics (Russell Enterprises 2003) with FIDE Master Claus Dieter Meyer. His column "Endgame Corner" has appeared at ChessCafe.com since January 2001 and he has been a regular contributor to ChessBase Magazine since 1997.
The seventh chapter of Tibor Karolyi's 2009 book Genius in the Background is devoted to him. His main interest apart from chess are football and mathematical games.
Karsten has authored a large number of ChessBase products. These can be found online here
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Kenneth Harkness
Kenneth Harkness (byname of Stanley Edgar; November 12, 1896 – October 4, 1972) was a chess organizer. He is the creator of the Harkness rating system.
He was born in Glasgow, Scotland. He was Business Manager of the United States Chess Federation from 1952 to 1959. He was also the editor of Chess Review, which merged into Chess Life.
He had lived in Boca Raton, Florida. He became an International Arbiter in 1972. He was a member of the FIDE Permanent Rules Commission.
Harkness was responsible for bringing Swiss system tournaments to the United States, and also introduced the Harkness rating system, which was a precursor to the Elo rating system. One method of tiebreaks in Swiss systems, where players tied on points are ranked by the sum of the opponents scores minus the top score and the bottom score, is named after him. For his services, Harkness is in the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame.
Harkness co-authored a book, An Invitation to Chess with Irving Chernev, as well as being responsible for a number of the first American chess rulebooks.
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Kiril Georgiev
Kiril Dimitrov Georgiev (Bulgarian: Кирил Димитров Георгиев) (born November 28, 1965 in Petrich) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster and three-time national champion. He should not be confused with fellow Bulgarian chess player (no relation) Krum Georgiev.
Kiril Georgiev first caught the eye of the chess world in 1983, when he became the World Junior Champion, thereby gaining the title of International Master. Two years later, he was awarded the International Grandmaster title.
In the process of becoming the Bulgarian Champion of 1984 (shared), 1986 and 1989, he rapidly became recognised as Bulgaria's number one player, taking over from Radulov and eventually giving way to Topalov. He has represented his country at the Chess Olympiad many times, playing on either board 1 or 2. Exceptionally, in 2002 he played for Macedonia, while he was temporarily resident there.
His record in international competition has been remarkable, considering that he has never quite reached supergrandmaster status (Elo 2700 or above). He was a winner at Sarajevo 1986 (and would meet board boy Ivan Sokolov there again, some 15 years later), San Bernardino 1988, Elenite (Burgas) 1992 (ahead of Sokolov, Topalov, Dorfman, Razuvaev and Kotronias) and the 1993 Budapest Zonal (ahead of J. Polgár and Ftáčnik). He repeated his Elenite success in 1995 (with Topalov, ahead of Short, Gulko and Dolmatov) and won at Belgrade 2000 (ahead of Beliavsky and Andersson).
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Klaus Darga
Klaus Viktor Darga (born 24 February 1934 in Berlin, Germany) is a German Grandmaster chess player.
In 1951 Darga became German Junior Champion after winning the national under-20 championship. He also proved his strength as a young chessplayer by sharing first place in the World Junior Championship of 1953, with Oscar Panno of Argentina. His best performance is held to be the 1967 Winnipeg tournament, where he also tied for first place with Bent Larsen of Denmark.
He was awarded the title of International Master in 1957, and Grandmaster in 1964. He played for Germany in ten Chess Olympiads between 1954 and 1978, and also served as coach of the German national chess team. He was second reserve for the World team in the 1970 Match of the Century between the Soviet Union and the rest of the world, but did not play any actual games in the match.
His favourite openings as White were the English Opening and the Ruy Lopez. As Black he often played the Sicilian Defence.
Klaus retired as a chess professional and became a computer programmer for IBM.
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Larry Evans
For the football player of the same name, see Larry Evans (American football).
Larry Melvyn Evans (March 22, 1932 – November 15, 2010) was an American chess grandmaster, author, and journalist. He won or shared the U.S. Chess Championship five times and the U.S. Open Chess Championship four times. He wrote a long-running syndicated chess column and wrote or co-wrote more than 20 books on chess.
Evans was born in Manhattan on March 22, 1932, and learned much about the game by playing for ten cents an hour on 42nd Street in New York City[citation needed], quickly becoming a rising star. At age 14, he tied for fourth-fifth place in the Marshall Chess Club championship. The next year he won it outright, becoming the youngest Marshall champion at that time. He also finished equal second in the U.S. Junior Championship, which led to an article in the September 1947 issue of Chess Review. At 16, he played in the 1948 U.S. Chess Championship, his first, tying for eighth place at 11½–7½. Evans tied with Arthur Bisguier for first place in the U.S. Junior Chess Championship of 1949. By age 18, he had won a New York State championship as well as a gold medal in the Dubrovnik 1950 Chess Olympiad. In the latter, his 90% score (eight wins and two draws) on sixth board tied with Rabar of Yugoslavia for the best result of the entire Olympiad.
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Larry Kaufman
Lawrence C. "Larry" Kaufman (born 1947) is a Grandmaster of chess. He currently lives in Potomac, Maryland. In 2008, as an International Master, Kaufman won the World Senior Championship (which he later retroactively shared with Mihai Suba) which automatically earned him the Grandmaster title.
A long time researcher in computer chess, he helped write the opening book for the pioneering program Mac Hack, co-developed Socrates II, edited the journal Computer Chess Reports, and worked on many other research and commercial chess engines. He is also known for his work on computer chess engine Rybka 3, and several books and articles, including The Evaluation of Material Imbalances. He currently helps develop the chess program Komodo with Don Dailey, with whom he had worked on the Socrates series of programs.
He is also one of the strongest shogi players in the west. He learned the game by the traditional method of studying handicap theory and is one of the leading experts in this field.
His son Raymond is an International Master of chess.
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Leonard Barden
Leonard William Barden (born 20 August 1929, Croydon, London) is an English chess master, columnist, author, and promoter. The son of a dustman, he was educated at Whitgift School, South Croydon, and Balliol College, Oxford, where he read Modern History. He learned to play chess at age 13 while in a school shelter during a German air raid. Within a few years he became one of the country's leading juniors.
In 1946, Barden won the British Junior Correspondence Chess Championship, and tied for first place in the London Boys' Championship. The following year he tied for first with Jonathan Penrose in the British Boys' Championship, but lost the playoff.
Barden finished fourth at Hastings in 1951-52. In 1952, he won the Paignton tournament ahead of the Canadian grandmaster Daniel Yanofsky. He captained the Oxfordshire team which won the counties championship in 1951 and 1952, and in the latter year captained the Oxford University team which won the National Club Championship. In 1953, he won the individual British Lightning Championship (ten seconds a move). The following year, he tied for first with the Belgian grandmaster Albéric O'Kelly de Galway at Bognor Regis, was joint British champion, with Alan Phillips, and won the Southern Counties Championship. He finished fourth at Hastings 1957-58. In the 1958 British Chess Championship, Barden again tied for first, but lost the playoff match to Penrose 1½-3½. He represented England in the Chess Olympiads of 1952 (playing fourth board, scoring 2 wins, 5 draws, and 4 losses), 1954 (playing first reserve, scoring 1 win, 2 draws, and 4 losses), 1960 (first reserve; 4 wins, 4 draws, 2 losses) and 1962 (first reserve; 7 wins, 2 draws, 3 losses).
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Lev Alburt
Lev Osipovich Alburt (born August 21, 1945 in Orenburg, Russia) is a chess Grandmaster and a well-respected chess writer. He was three-time Ukrainian Champion, and after defecting to the United States in 1979, became three-time U.S. Champion.
Lev Alburt won the Ukrainian Chess Championship three times, from 1972 to 1974. He earned the International Master title in 1976, and became a Grandmaster in 1977.
Alburt defected to the United States in 1979, staying for several months with his former coach and fellow Ukrainian chess player and chess journalist Michael Faynberg. In 1980, Alburt led the U.S. Chess Olympiad team at Malta.
Alburt won the U.S. Chess Championship in 1984, 1985, and 1990. In 1986 he drew an eight-game match with British Chess Champion Jonathan Speelman.
Alburt is the author of a series of highly praised and best-selling chess books. In 2004, he was awarded the title of FIDE Senior Trainer.
A variation of Alekhine's Defence is named after him: the Alburt Variation (1.e4 Nf6 2.e5 Nd5 3.d4 d6 4.Nf3 g6).
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Lev Polugaevsky
Lev Abramovich Polugaevsky (Russian: Лев Абрамович Полугаевский) (20 November 1934 – 30 August 1995) was an International Grandmaster of chess and frequent contender for the world chess championship, although he never achieved that title. He was one of the strongest players in the world from the late 1960s until the early 1980s, as well as a distinguished author and opening theorist whose contributions in this field remain important to the present day.
Lev Polugaevsky was born in Mogilev in the Soviet Union (now Mahilyow, Belarus). Unlike many of his grandmaster colleagues, his development in chess came slowly, and he did not receive even the Soviet master title until he was an adult. His progress then accelerated rapidly, however, and by the late 1960s he was one of the world's strongest players, as was recognized by his participation in the famous "USSR vs. Rest of the World" match of 1970. In this match he occupied fourth board, losing one game to Vlastimil Hort and drawing his other three. Polugaevsky won at Mar del Plata in 1962 and 1971. He won or tied in the USSR Chess Championship three times. He played regularly in qualifying events to select a challenger for the world championship, qualifying for Candidates matches on four occasions. His greatest advancement toward the title came during the 1977 and 1980 cycles, when he defeated Henrique Mecking and former world champion Mikhail Tal, respectively, in quarterfinal Candidates matches, before succumbing both times in the semifinals to the eventual challenger, Viktor Korchnoi.
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Ljubomir Ljubojević
Ljubomir Ljubojević (Serbian Cyrillic: Љубомир Љубојевић) is a Grandmaster of chess. He was born on November 2, 1950, in Titovo Užice, Yugoslavia (now Užice, Serbia). Ljubojević was awarded the International Master (IM) title in 1970 and the GM title in 1971. He was Yugoslav champion in 1977 (jointly) and 1982. He won the 1974 Canadian Open Chess Championship. In 1983 he was ranked third in the Elo rating list, but he never succeeded in reaching the Candidates Tournament stage of the World Championship.
He played for Yugoslavia in twelve Chess Olympiads, nine times on top board, with an overall result of 63.5% (+66 =75 −22). He won an individual gold medal on third board at Skopje 1972 and three bronze medals (one individual and two team).
Ljubojević tied for first place with Robert Hübner at Linares 1985. He has defeated almost every top Grandmaster active during his career, including world champions Garry Kasparov and Anatoly Karpov. He plays for Serbia, but is currently living in Spain.
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Luděk Pachman
Luděk Pachman (German: Ludek Pachman, May 11, 1924, Bělá pod Bezdězem, today Czech Republic – March 6, 2003, Passau, Germany) was a Czechoslovak-German chess grandmaster, chess writer, and political activist. In 1972, after being imprisoned and tortured almost to death by the Communist regime in Czechoslovakia, he was allowed to emigrate to West Germany. He lived the remainder of his life there, and resumed his chess career with considerable success, including playing in the Interzonal in 1976 and winning the West German Championship in 1978.
Pachman's first chess championship came in 1940, when he became champion of the nearby village of Cista (population 900). The first break in his chess career came in 1943, when he was invited to an international tournament in Prague. World Champion Alekhine dominated the event, with Keres taking second place. Pachman finished ninth in the nineteen-player tournament. Alekhine paid him a compliment in an article in the "Frankfurter Zeitung" and from the fifth round on, invited him every evening to analyze games and opening variations. "I don't have to tell you how a beginner from a village chess club felt at that time", Pachman wrote.
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Mark Spitz
Mark Andrew Spitz (born February 10, 1950) is a retired American swimmer. He won seven gold medals at the 1972 Munich Olympic Games, an achievement only surpassed by Michael Phelps who won eight golds at the 2008 Olympics.
Between 1968 and 1972, Spitz won nine Olympic golds plus a silver and a bronze, five Pan American golds, 31 US Amateur Athletic Union titles and eight US National Collegiate Athletic Association titles. During those years, he set 33 world records. He was the most successful athlete at the 1972 Summer Olympics. He was named World Swimmer of the Year in 1969, 1971 and 1972.
Spitz was born to a Jewish family in Modesto, California, the first of three children of Arnold and Lenore Smith Spitz. When he was two years old, Spitz's family moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, where he swam at Waikiki Beach every day. "You should have seen that little boy dash into the ocean. He'd run like he was trying to commit suicide." Lenore Spitz told a reporter for Time (April 12, 1968). At age six his family returned to Sacramento, California, and he began to compete at his local swim club. At age nine, he was training at Arden Hills Swim Club in Sacramento with Sherm Chavoor, the swimming coach who mentored him and six other Olympic medal winners. Before he was 10, Spitz held 17 national age-group records, and one world record. At 14 his family moved to Santa Clara so Spitz could train with George F. Haines of the Santa Clara Swim Club. From 1964 to 1968 Mark trained with Haines at SCSC and Santa Clara High School. During his four years there, Mark held national high school records in every stroke and in every distance[citation needed]. It was a remarkable and unprecedented achievement. In 1966 at age 16 he won the 100 meter butterfly at the National AAU Championships, the first of his 24 AAU titles. The following year Mark set his first world record at a small California meet in the 400 meter freestyle with a time of 4:10.60, and emerged on the world swimming stage.
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Mark Taimanov
Mark Evgenievich Taimanov (Russian: Марк Евгеньевич Тайманов; born 7 February 1926, Kharkiv) is a leading Soviet and Russian chess player and concert pianist.
He was awarded the International Grandmaster title in 1952 and played in the Candidates Tournament in Zurich in 1953, where he tied for eighth place. From 1946 to 1956, he was among the world's top ten players. He played in 23 USSR Chess Championships (a record equalled by Efim Geller), tying for first place twice. In 1952 he lost the playoff match to Mikhail Botvinnik, while in 1956, he beat Yuri Averbakh and Boris Spassky for the title. He is probably best known for his 6–0 loss to Bobby Fischer in the 1971 World Championship Candidates match. However, few players have beaten six world champions (Botvinnik, Vasily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal, Tigran Petrosian, Spassky, and Anatoly Karpov) as Taimanov has.
After his loss to Fischer, the Soviet government was embarrassed, and, as Taimanov later put it in a 2002 interview, found it "unthinkable" that he could have lost the match so badly to an American without a "political explanation". Soviet officials took away Taimanov's salary and no longer allowed him to travel overseas. The official reason given for punishing Taimanov was that he had brought a book by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn into the country, but that explanation was secondary in nature. The officials later "forgave" Taimanov, and lifted the sanctions against him. Fischer's 6-0 win against Bent Larsen later in 1971 may have helped change their minds.
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Martin Gardner
Martin Gardner (October 21, 1914 – May 22, 2010) was an American popular mathematics and science writer specializing in recreational mathematics, but with interests encompassing micromagic, stage magic, literature (especially the writings of Lewis Carroll and G.K. Chesterton), philosophy, scientific skepticism, and religion. He wrote the Mathematical Games column in Scientific American from 1956 to 1981 and the Notes of a Fringe-Watcher column in Skeptical Inquirer from 1983 to 2002 and published almost 100 books.
I just play all the time and am fortunate enough to get paid for it.
Gardner, son of a petroleum geologist, grew up in and around Tulsa, Oklahoma. He showed an early interest in puzzles and games and his closest childhood friend, John Bennett Shaw, later became "the greatest of all collectors of Sherlockian memorabilia". He attended the University of Chicago (UC) where he earned his bachelor's degree in philosophy in 1936. Early jobs included reporter on the Tulsa Tribune, writer at the UC Office of Press Relations and case worker in Chicago's Black Belt for the city's Relief Administration. During World War II, he served for several years in the U.S. Navy as a yeoman on board the destroyer escort USS Pope (DE-134) in the Atlantic. His ship was still in the Atlantic when the war came to an end with the surrender of Japan in August 1945.
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Max Euwe
Machgielis (Max) Euwe (last name is pronounced [ˈøːwə]) (May 20, 1901 – November 26, 1981) was a Dutch chess Grandmaster, mathematician, and author. He was the fifth player to become World Chess Champion (1935–37). Euwe also served as President of FIDE, the World Chess Federation, from 1970 to 1978.
Euwe was born in Watergraafsmeer, near Amsterdam. He studied mathematics at the University of Amsterdam, earning his doctorate in 1926, and taught mathematics, first in Rotterdam, and later at a girls' Lyceum in Amsterdam. He published a mathematical analysis of the game of chess from an intuitionistic point of view, in which he showed, using the Thue-Morse sequence, that the then-official rules did not exclude the possibility of infinite games.
Euwe won every Dutch chess championship that he participated in from 1921 until 1952, and additionally won the title in 1955 – his 12 titles are still a record. The only other winners during this period were Salo Landau in 1936, when Euwe, then world champion, did not compete, and Jan Hein Donner in 1954. He became the world amateur chess champion in 1928, at The Hague, with a score of 12/15.
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Max Pavey
Max Pavey (5 March 1918, Boston, USA – 4 September 1957, New York) was an American chess master and medical doctor. Pavey was of at least International Master strength.
He was studying medicine in Glasgow, and while a student in Scotland he won the Scottish Championship at Aberdeen 1939, with 7.5/9. Pavey would leave Scotland soon after this tournament, in June 1939, just before World War II. He was U.S. Lightning Champion in 1947. In 1948, he placed tied 5-8th place in the U.S. Open Chess Championship at Baltimore with 8.5/12. He was New York State Champion in 1949.
In 1951, he took 3rd in New York (United States Chess Championship with 7/11; Larry Evans won). Also in that year, Pavey gave a simultaneous exhibition in Brooklyn, and faced a seven-year-old Bobby Fischer in the lad's first attempt at serious chess; Pavey won in about a quarter of an hour.
In 1954, he took 3rd in the New York Manhattan Chess Club Championship (Arnold Denker won). In 1953, he took 2nd, behind Donald Byrne, in Milwaukee (U.S. Open Chess Championship). In 1954, he played at third board, and lost to Paul Keres (+1 –2 =0) in a match USA vs USSR in New York. In 1955, he played at sixth board, and lost to Tigran Petrosian (+0 –2 =0) in a match USA vs USSR in Moscow.
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Miguel Najdorf
Miguel Najdorf (born Mendel (Mieczysław) Najdorf in Grodzisk Mazowiecki near Warsaw, Poland, April 15, 1910 – died in Málaga, Spain, July 4, 1997) was a Polish-born Argentine chess grandmaster of Jewish origin, famous for his Najdorf Variation.
Mieczysław Najdorf was tutored first by Dawid Przepiórka, then by Savielly Tartakower, the latter of whom he always referred to as "my teacher".
At the beginning of his chess career, in 1929, Najdorf defeated Glücksberg in a famous game known as "The Polish Immortal." In 1930, he tied for 6th–7th at the Warsaw Championship, an event won by Paulino Frydman. In 1931, he took second in Warsaw, behind Frydman. In 1932, he tied for 9th–10th in Warsaw. In 1933, he won in Warsaw (Quadrangular). In January 1934, he finished second to Rudolf Spielmann, in Warsaw. In summer 1934, he lost a match against Ored Karlin (+1 –2 =1). In 1934, he won the Warsaw championship. In 1935, he tied for 2nd–4th with Frydman and Henryk Friedman, behind Tartakower, in the 3rd Polish Chess Championship, held in Warsaw. Afterward, Najdorf won a match against Tartakower in Toruń (+2 –1 =2). In 1936, he tied for first with Lajos Steiner in the Hungarian Championship. In 1937, he took third at the 4th Championship of Poland in Jurata. In 1937, he won in Rogaška Slatina (Rohitsch-Sauerbrunn). In 1938, he tied for 10th–12th in Łódź. In 1939, he took sixth in Margate, and won in Warsaw.
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Mikhail Botvinnik
Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, Ph.D. (Russian: Михаи́л Моисе́евич Ботви́нник, pronounced [mʲixaˈiɫ̺ mʌiˈs̺ʲɛjɛvʲitʃʲ bʌt̺ˈvʲin̺n̻ʲik]) (August 17 [O.S. August 4] 1911 – May 5, 1995) was a Soviet and Russian International Grandmaster and three-time World Chess Champion. Working as an electrical engineer and computer scientist at the same time, he was one of the very few famous chess players who achieved distinction in another career while playing top-class competitive chess. He was also a pioneer of computer chess.
Botvinnik was the first world-class player to develop within the Soviet Union (Alekhine was a top player before the Russian Revolution), putting him under political pressure but also giving him considerable influence within Soviet chess. From time to time he was accused of using that influence to his own advantage, but the evidence is unclear and some suggest he resisted attempts by Soviet officials to intimidate some of his rivals.
Botvinnik also played a major role in the organization of chess, making a significant contribution to the design of the World Chess Championship system after World War II and becoming a leading member of the coaching system that enabled the Soviet Union to dominate top-class chess during that time. His famous pupils include World Champions Anatoly Karpov, Garry Kasparov and Vladimir Kramnik.
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Mikhail Chigorin
Mikhail Ivanovich Chigorin also (Tchigorin; Russian: Михаил Чигорин) (12 November 1850 (31 October old style), Gatchina – 25 January 1908, Lublin) was a leading Russian chess player. The last great player of the Romantic chess style, he also served as a major source of inspiration for the "Soviet school of chess", which dominated the chess world in the middle and latter parts of the 20th century.
Chigorin was born near St. Petersburg and moved to the city some time later. His father worked in the Okhtensk gunpowder works. Chigorin's parents died young and Chigorin entered the Gatchinsk Orphans' Institute at the age of 10. He became serious about chess uncommonly late in life; his schoolteacher taught him the moves at the age of 16, but he did not take to the game until around 1874, having first finished his studies before commencing a career as a government officer.
Once smitten with the game, he terminated his employment and started life as a chess professional. In 1876, he started a chess magazine, Chess Sheet, which he edited until 1881 (only 250 subscribers in all of Russia). He played a series of matches with established masters Emanuel Schiffers (1878–1880) and Semyon Alapin (1880) and notched up a large plus score against each. It was not long after that he was regarded as the best player in the city and possibly the whole of Russia.
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Mikhail Tal
Mikhail Tal (Latvian: Mihails Tāls; Russian: Михаил Нехемьевич Таль, Michail Nechem'evič Tal, [mʲixʌˈiɫ nʲɪˈxɛmʲɪvʲit͡ɕ ˈtal]; sometimes transliterated Mihails Tals or Mihail Tal; November 9, 1936 – June 28, 1992) was a Soviet-Latvian chess Grandmaster and the eighth World Chess Champion.
Widely regarded as a creative genius, and the best attacking player of all time, he played in a daring, combinational style. His play was known above all for improvisation and unpredictability. Every game, he once said, was as inimitable and invaluable as a poem. He was often called "Misha", a diminutive for Mikhail, and "The magician from Riga". Both The Mammoth Book of the World's Greatest Chess Games (Burgess, Nunn & Emms 2004) and Modern Chess Brilliancies (Evans 1970) include more games by Tal than any other player. Tal was also a highly-regarded chess writer.
He holds the records for both the first and second longest unbeaten streaks in competitive chess history. Many authorities consider him to have been the greatest attacking Grandmaster in the history of chess. On May 28, 1992, dying from kidney failure, he left hospital to play at the Moscow blitz tournament, where he defeated Garry Kasparov. He died one month later. The Mikhail Tal Memorial is held in Moscow each year since 2006 to honour his memory.
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Milan Kundera
Milan Kundera (Czech pronunciation: [ˈmɪlan ˈkundɛra]); born 1 April 1929) is the Czech Republic's most recognised living writer. Of Czech origin, he has lived in exile in France since 1975, having become a naturalised citizen in 1981. Having written in both Czech and French, he revises the French translations of all his books; these therefore are not considered translations but original works.
Kundera is best known as the author of works such as The Joke, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting and The Unbearable Lightness of Being. His books were banned by the Communist regimes of Czechoslovakia until the downfall of the regime in the Velvet Revolution of 1989. He lives virtually incognito and rarely speaks to the media. A perennial contender for the Nobel Prize in Literature, he has been nominated on several occasions.
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Milan Matulović
Milan Matulović (born 10 June 1935) is a chess Grandmaster who was the second or third strongest Yugoslav player for much of the 1960s and 1970s behind Svetozar Gligorić and possibly Borislav Ivkov. He was primarily active before 1977, but has remained an occasional tournament competitor as recently as 2006.
Matulović was born in Belgrade. In 1958 he played a four-game training match with Bobby Fischer, of which only one game (a Matulović win) has survived. He achieved the International Master title in 1961 and became a Grandmaster in 1965.
He won the Yugoslav Chess Championships of 1965 and 1967 and was a prolific competitor on the international tournament scene, particularly during the 1960s and 1970s. Probably his best result was equal first with Gligorić, Ivkov and Lev Polugaevsky at Skopje 1969 ahead of former World Chess Champion Mikhail Botvinnik and multiple Candidate Efim Geller. Other first place finishes during this period, either shared or outright, included Netanya 1961, Vršac 1964, Novi Sad 1965, Belgrade 1965, Reggio Emilia 1967/68, Athens Zonal 1969, Belgrade 1969, Sarajevo 1971, Birmingham 1975, Bajmok 1975 (and in 1978), Majdanpek 1976, Vrbas 1976, Belgrade 1977 and Odzaci 1978. By the 1980s and beyond, his tournament victories had become less frequent, but included Osijek 1980, Borovo 1980, Helsinki 1981 and Vrnjacka Banja 1985. He repeated his Vrnjacka Banja success in 1990.
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Miyoko Watai
Miyoko Watai (渡井 美代子, Watai Miyoko?, born January 8, 1945) is a Japanese women's chess champion, and the general secretary of the Japan Chess Association. She is a Woman International Master. She lives in the old Kamata ward, which is now part of Ōta, Tokyo.
In 1973 she met then world chess champion Bobby Fischer, and visited him several times for the next three decades. Starting in 2000 they reportedly lived together in a de facto marriage at her home. After Bobby Fischer's detention on July 13, 2004 for trying to travel with a revoked U.S. passport, she campaigned for his release.
They were reportedly married in August 2004. However, according to an attorney representing a competing claim to Fischer's estate, 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 of their alleged marriage certificate. On March 3, 2011, a district court in Iceland ruled that Miyoko Watai, as Fischer's widow and heir, was therefore entitled to inherit his estate.
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Nathan Divinsky
Nathan Joseph Divinsky (born October 29, 1925) is a Canadian mathematician, chess master, and chess writer, who is also known for being the former husband of the 19th Prime Minister of Canada, Kim Campbell. Divinsky and Campbell were married from 1972 to 1983.
Born in Winnipeg, Manitoba. He received a Bachelor of Science from the University of Manitoba in 1946. He received a Master of Science in 1947 and Ph.D. in Mathematics in 1950 from the University of Chicago.
Divinsky served as a mathematics professor, and also as an assistant dean of science, at the University of British Columbia. He was also featured in many segments relating to mathematics and chess on the Discovery Channel Canada program @discovery.ca, now called Daily Planet. During the first two seasons of the show, he presented a weekly contest segment emphasizing math puzzles.
Divinsky has served on the Vancouver School Board, and as an alderman on Vancouver's city council.
Divinsky tied for 3rd-4th places in the Closed Canadian Chess Championship, Toronto 1945, with 9.5/12, along with John Belson; the joint winners were Daniel Yanofsky and Frank Yerhoff at 10.5/12. In the 1951 Closed Canadian Chess Championship, held at Vancouver, Divinsky scored 6/12 to tie for 5th-7th places. He represented Canada twice at the Chess Olympiads, in 1954 at Amsterdam (second reserve board, 0.5/1), and in 1966 at Havana (second reserve board, 4.5/8). He served for 15 years, from 1959–1974, as editor of the magazine Canadian Chess Chat. He has played an important role in chess organization in Canada since the 1950s. He first became Canada's representative to FIDE (the World Chess Federation), in 1987, served again in this post in the mid-2000s, and is a member of the Canadian Chess Hall of Fame.
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Neil Diamond
Neil Diamond (born January 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter with a career spanning over five decades from the 1960s until the present.
As of 2001, Diamond had sold over 115 million records worldwide including 48 million in the United States alone. He is considered to be the third most successful adult contemporary artist ever on the Billboard chart behind Barbra Streisand and Elton John. His songs have been covered internationally by many performers from various musical genres.
Diamond was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1984 and into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2011. Additionally, he received the Sammy Cahn Lifetime Achievement Award in 2000 and in 2011 was an honoree at the Kennedy Center Honors. He has eight number one hit singles with "Cracklin Rosie", "Song Sung Blue", "Desiree", "You Don't Bring Me Flowers", "Love on the Rocks", "America", "Yesterday's Songs", and "Heartlight".
Diamond continues to record and release new material and maintains an extensive touring schedule as well.
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Nigel Short
Nigel David Short MBE (born 1 June 1965 in Leigh, Lancashire) is an English chess grandmaster earning the title at the age of 19. Short is often regarded as the strongest English player of the 20th century as he was ranked third in the world, from January 1988 to July 1989. In 1993, he challenged Garry Kasparov for the World Chess Championship in London. He has defeated 12 of the 19 officially recognised World Champions since 1886. Currently the second oldest player in the world top 100, Short is also a chess columnist, coach and commentator.
He grew up in Atherton, going to the St Philip's Primary School on Bolton Old Road. He studied at the independent Bolton School and Leigh College. He was a member both of Atherton Chess Club, which was founded by his father, David, and later of Bolton Chess Club, which had initially rejected him, aged seven, for being too young.
A chess prodigy, Short first attracted significant media attention, as a 10-year-old, by defeating Viktor Korchnoi in a simultaneous exhibition. In 1977 he became the youngest ever participant in the British Chess Championship by qualifying three days before his twelfth birthday. Two years later, at the British Championship in Chester 1979, the 14-year-old tied for first place with John Nunn and Robert Bellin, earning his first IM norm. He became (at the time) the youngest International Master in chess history, by scoring 8/15 in the Hastings Premier in 1979/80 and thus breaking Bobby Fischer's record of 1958. Participating in four World Junior Championships (1980–1983), Short achieved his best result during his first attempt in which he placed second to Garry Kasparov in 1980 at Dortmund. He was awarded the grandmaster title in 1984, aged nineteen—becoming the youngest grandmaster in the world at that time.
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Norman Lessing
Norman Lessing (June 24, 1911, New York City – October 22, 2001, Santa Monica, California) was an American television screenwriter and producer, playwright, chess master, and chess writer.
Lessing grew up in New York City, and played a great deal of chess as a youth, reaching national master strength. He was New York State co-champion at age 19 in 1930 at Utica with 6½/8. He often played at the Stuyvesant Chess Club, on the lower east side of Manhattan. He won the 1967 Santa Monica Chess Club championship, and the 1967 United States Senior Open, at which time he had a rating of 2207. He was the Senior champion at the American and National Opens several times in the 1960s.
Lessing wrote actively for television from its pioneering days in 1950 in New York, and moved to California to continue his career until 1979. Shows he wrote screenplays for include Hawaii Five-O, The Fugitive, Lost in Space, Bonanza, The Nurses, The FBI, Baretta, Cannon, Dragnet, Eight is Enough, Shirley Temple's Storybook, The Adventures of Ellery Queen, and The Man from U.N.C.L.E..
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Osama bin Laden
Osama bin Mohammed bin Awad bin Laden ( /oʊˈsɑːmə bɪn moʊˈhɑːmɨd bɪn əˈwɑːd bɪn ˈlɑːdən/; Arabic: أسامة بن محمد بن عوض بن لادن, ʾUsāmah bin Muḥammad bin ʿAwaḍ bin Lādin; March 10, 1957 – May 2, 2011), was the founder of Al-Qaeda, the jihadist organization responsible for the September 11 attacks on the United States and numerous other mass-casualty attacks against civilian and military targets. He was a member of the wealthy Saudi bin Laden family, and an ethnic Yemeni Kindite.
Bin Laden was on the American Federal Bureau of Investigation's (FBI) lists of Ten Most Wanted Fugitives and Most Wanted Terrorists for his involvement in the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings. From 2001 to 2011, bin Laden was a major target of the War on Terror, with a US$25 million bounty by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. On May 2, 2011, bin Laden was shot and killed inside a private residential compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, by U.S. Navy SEALs and CIA operatives in a covert operation ordered by United States President Barack Obama.
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Oscar Panno
Oscar R. Panno (born 1935 in Buenos Aires) is an Argentine chess Grandmaster.
Panno won the World Junior Chess Championship in 1953, and also won the championship of Argentina the same year. He became a grandmaster at the age of twenty. He had an Elo rating of around 2580 Elo in his prime, and of 2515 in 1986 and 2429 in 2008. Panno has several successes at the tournaments at Mar del Plata. He won the international tournaments in 1954 and 1969 (shared with Miguel Najdorf), and the open tournaments in 1986, 1988, and 1994. Panno tied for first at Lone Pine 1977. He played various famous grandmasters, occasionally losing to them brilliantly. Panno was the first top world chess player born in South America. He played eleven times for Argentina in Chess Olympiads (1954–1958, 1962, 1966–1970, 1976, 1986–1988, 1992). He was still active as of 2008, finishing third in the Bobby Fischer Memorial tournament held in Villa Martelli.
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Pal Benko
Pal Benko (Hungarian: Benkő Pál, born July 14, 1928 in Amiens) is a chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Benko was born in France but was raised in Hungary. He was Hungarian champion by age 20. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, after defecting following the World Student Team Championship in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1957. FIDE awarded him the title of Grandmaster in 1958.
Benko's highest achievements were playing in the Candidates Tournament—the tournament to decide the challenger for the World Championship—in 1959 and 1962. Both tournaments had eight of the world's top players.
He qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament, the leaders of which advance to the Candidates. However, he gave up his spot in the Interzonal to Bobby Fischer, who went on to win the World Championship in 1972.
Benko finished in first place (or tied for first place) in eight U.S. Open Chess Championships, a record. His titles were: 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1975. He won the 1964 Canadian Open Chess Championship.
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Paul Keres
Paul Keres (January 7, 1916 – June 5, 1975), was an Estonian and Soviet chess grandmaster, and a renowned chess writer. He was among the world's top players from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s.
Keres narrowly missed a chance at a World Chess Championship match on five occasions. He won the 1938 AVRO tournament, which led to negotiations for a World Championship match against champion Alexander Alekhine, but the match never took place due to World War II. Then after the war he was runner-up in the Candidates' Tournament on four consecutive occasions.
Due to these and other strong results, many chess historians consider Keres the strongest player never to become World Chess Champion. He was nicknamed "Paul the Second" and "The Crown Prince of Chess". Keres was the only player in chess history to defeat nine undisputed world champions.
Paul Keres was born in Narva (then Russian Empire, now Estonia).
Keres first learned about chess from his father and older brother Harald (later a prominent physicist). With the scarcity of chess literature in his small town, he learned about chess notation from the chess puzzles in the daily newspaper, and compiled a handwritten collection of almost 1000 games. In his early days, he was known for a brilliant and sharp attacking style.
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Paul Morphy
Paul Charles Morphy (June 22, 1837 – July 10, 1884) was an American chess player. He is considered to have been the greatest chess master of his era and an unofficial World Chess Champion. He was a chess prodigy. He was called "The Pride and Sorrow of Chess" because he had a brief and brilliant chess career, but then retired from the game while still young.
Morphy was born in New Orleans, Louisiana to a wealthy and distinguished family. He learned to play chess by simply watching a game between his father and uncle. His family soon realized the boy’s talent and encouraged him to play at family gatherings and by age nine he was considered one of the best players in New Orleans. At just twelve years old, Morphy defeated visiting Hungarian master Johann Löwenthal in a match of three games.
After receiving his degree in 1857, Morphy was not yet of legal age to practice law and found himself with free time. He received an invitation to play at the First American Chess Congress in New York City and, at his uncle's urging, accepted. Morphy won the tournament which included strong players of the day, such as Alexander Meek and Louis Paulsen. Morphy was hailed as the chess champion of the United States and stayed in New York playing chess through 1857, winning the vast majority of his games. In 1858, Morphy travelled to Europe to play European Champion Howard Staunton. While negotiations for a match proved problematic, Morphy played every strong player in Europe, usually winning easily. While the match with Staunton never came about, Morphy was hailed by most in Europe as the world's best player.
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Paul Nemenyi
Paul Felix Nemenyi (June 5, 1895, Rijeka, Austria-Hungary – March 1, 1952, Washington DC, USA) was a Jewish Hungarian mathematician and physicist specializing in continuum mechanics. Nemenyi's mathematical research encompassed: continuum mechanics, fluid dynamics, hydrostatics, statistical mechanics, non-equilibrium thermodynamics and stress mechanics. Nemenyi was known for using what he called the inverse or semi-inverse approach, which applied vector field analysis, to obtain numerous exact solutions of the nonlinear equations of gas dynamics, many of them representing rotational flows of nonuniform total energy. In continuum mechanics, "Nemenyi's theorem" proves that, given any net of isothermal curves, there exists a five parameter family of plane stress systems for which these curves are stress trajectories. He was the father of the statistician Peter Nemenyi and possibly the father of former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer.
Nemenyi was born to a Hungarian Jewish family. His family's art collection included works by Klimt, Kandinsky and Matisse. At the age of 17, Nemenyi won the Hungarian national mathematics competition. Nemenyi obtained his doctorate in mathematics in Berlin in 1922 and lectured on fluid dynamics at the Technical University of Berlin. In the early 1930s, he published a textbook on mathematical mechanics that became required reading in German universities. Stripped of his position when the Nazis came to power, he also had to leave Hungary where anti-Semitic laws had been enacted, and found work for a time in Copenhagen.
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Peter Biyiasas
Peter Biyiasas (born November 19, 1950) is a Canadian chess grandmaster. He was Canadian champion in 1972 and 1975, represented Canada with fine success on four Olympiad teams, and played in two Interzonals. He moved to the United States in 1979, settling in California. He has been retired from competitive play since the mid-1980s, and works as a computer programmer. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, he was a frequent training partner of Bobby Fischer, who stayed at his home in San Francisco for extended periods.
Biyiasas was born in Athens, Greece, moved to Canada as a young boy, and grew up in Vancouver. He won the first of his four British Columbia chess championships in 1968; he would repeat in 1969, 1971, and 1972. He played in the 1969 Closed Canadian Chess Championship in Pointe Claire, and finished in the middle of the field, as Duncan Suttles won. Biyiasas was of National Master strength by this time. He represented Canada as second reserve on its bronze medal-winning team at the 1971 World Students' Olympiad in Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, where he scored 5/7 (+4 −1 =2). He graduated from the University of British Columbia in 1972 with a bachelor's degree in mathematics. He won the first of his three British Columbia Open titles in 1972, and repeated in 1976 and 1978.
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Peter Nemenyi
Peter Björn Nemenyi (April 14, 1927, Berlin, Germany - May 20, 2002, Durham, North Carolina, USA) was an American mathematician, who worked in statistics. He was professor of mathematics at the University of Wisconsin. Several statistical tests, for example the Nemenyi test, bear his name. He was also a prominent civil-rights activist. He was the son of Paul Nemenyi one of the most eminent hydrologists of the twentieth century. His mother was Aranka Heller, poet and scholar, daughter of Bernat Heller, a renowned 'Aggadist, Islamic scholar and folklorist.
Peter Nemenyi was born in Berlin, to which his parents had fled after the rise of fascism in Hungary. His parents separated, and he was brought up in a socialist boarding school operated by the ISK, a German socialist party founded by Leonard Nelson. After the rise of Nazism, the party was banned in Germany and its property was seized. The school frequently relocated to different European countries, as Nazi strength grew. During the Second World War the adults in the party were interned on the Isle of Man and Nemenyi lived in a number of foster homes and youth homes.
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Ralph Ginzburg
Ralph Ginzburg (October 28, 1929 – July 6, 2006) was an American author, editor, publisher and photo-journalist. He was best known for publishing books and magazines on erotica and art and for his conviction in 1963 for violating federal obscenity laws.
Ginzburg studied journalism at the City College of New York, was editor-in-chief of its downtown campus newspaper, and on graduation in 1949 became a copyboy and cub reporter at the New York Daily Compass. Two years later he was drafted into the Army during the Korean War and assigned to Fort Myer, where he edited the post newspaper. While still in the Army, he worked at night as a copy editor for the Washington D.C. Times-Herald.
Upon discharge from the Army he shifted into broadcasting and magazines, working for Esquire magazine, NBC, Reader's Digest, Collier's, LOOK and, as he put it, "other pillars of communications industry respectability". He finally saved enough money to rent his own office — a fifth floor walkup in an old Manhattan office building.
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Raymond Keene
Raymond Dennis Keene OBE (born 29 January 1948) is an English chess Grandmaster, a FIDE International Arbiter, a chess organiser, and a journalist and author.p196 He won the British Chess Championship in 1971, and was the first player from England to earn a Grandmaster norm, in 1974. In 1976 he became the second Englishman, following Tony Miles, to be awarded the Grandmaster title. He represented his country in eight Chess Olympiads.
Keene retired from competitive play in 1986 at the age of thirty eight, and is now better known as a chess organiser, columnist and author. He was involved in organising the 1986, 1993 and 2000 World Chess Championships; and the 1997, 1998 and 1999 Mind Sports Olympiads; all held in London. He has been chess correspondent of The Times since 1985, and is a prolific author, having written over 100 books on chess. He was appointed an Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to chess in 1985.
Keene is a controversial figure in the chess world, and has had disputes with figures such as Tony Miles, Viktor Korchnoi, John Donaldson and David Levy. His business dealings, and the quality of some of his chess books, have also been criticised.
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Reuben Fine
Reuben Fine (October 11, 1914 – March 26, 1993) was one of the strongest chess players in the world from the early 1930s through the 1940s, an International Grandmaster, psychologist, university professor, and author of many books on both chess and psychology.
Fine won five medals (four gold) in three chess Olympiads. Fine won the U.S. Open Chess Championship all seven times he entered (1932, 1933, 1934, 1935, 1939, 1940, 1941); this is a record for that event. He was the author of several chess books that are still popular today, including important books on the endgame, opening, and middlegame.
He earned a bachelor's degree from the City College of New York in 1932. After World War II, he earned his doctorate in psychology from the University of Southern California. He served as a university professor, and wrote many successful books on psychology as well.
Although Fine was regarded as a serious contender for the World Chess Championship, he declined his invitation to participate in the six-player 1948 tournament, which was organized to determine the World Champion after the 1946 death of reigning champion Alexander Alekhine, and he virtually retired from serious competition around that time.
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Robert Hübner
Robert Hübner (born November 6, 1948 in Cologne, West Germany) is a respected German chess Grandmaster, chess writer, and papyrologist (an expert in Egyptian hieroglyphics). At eighteen, he was joint winner of the West German Chess Championship. In 1975, he became one of the world's leading players, rising to third place in the FIDE world ranking list in 1980.
Over the chess board, Hübner's technique has been described as efficient and ruthless. According to Bill Hartston—"His perfectionist and rather pessimistic approach, however, prevented him from reaching the very top". Certainly, his progress was hampered by disputes and withdrawals at inopportune moments; he withdrew from his 1971 Candidates Match against Tigran Petrosian over a dispute about intolerable conditions, and again from a 1980 Candidates Match against Viktor Korchnoi. His fortune was dealt a particularly cruel blow at his 1983 Candidates Quarter Final match against Vasily Smyslov, when Smyslov refused to play tie-break rapid games (these were optional at the time and a noted strength of Hübner). Consequently, the match was awarded to Smyslov on the spin of a roulette wheel.
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Rodolfo Tan Cardoso
Rodolfo Tan Cardoso (born 25 December 1937, Anda, Pangasinan) is a (Filipino) chess International Master.
In 1956, he won Philippine Junior Championship. In 1957, he took fifth in Toronto, the (4th World Junior Championship), which was won by William Lombardy with a clean score of 11-0. In 1957 the Pepsi-Cola company sponsored an eight-game match in New York between Cardoso, the 19-year-old Philippine Junior Champion, and Bobby Fischer, the 14-year-old U.S. Junior Champion. Fischer claimed the $325 victor's prize with a 6−2 score (+5 –1 =2).
In 1957/58, Cardoso won the Baguio City (zonal), thus qualifying him for the 1958Portorož (Interzonal, in which he finished 19th; Mikhail Tal won). He was Philippine Champion in 1958 and 1963. He took 2nd at Christchurch 1967 (New Zealand-ch; Yuri Averbakh won). In 1974, he tied for 1st-4th in Casablanca. In 1974, he took 14th in Manila (Evgeni Vasiukov won). In 1975, he tied for 13-14th in Orense. In 1975, he took 10th in Las Palmas (Ruy Lopez Memorial; Ljubomir Ljubojević won).
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Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert ( /ˈiːbərt/; born June 18, 1942) is an American journalist, film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.
Ebert is known for his film review column (appearing in the Chicago Sun-Times since 1967, and later online) and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The Movies, all of which he co-hosted for a combined 23 years with Gene Siskel. After Siskel's death in 1999, Ebert teamed with Richard Roeper for the television series Ebert & Roeper & the Movies, which began airing in 2000. Although his name remained in the title, Ebert did not appear on the show after mid-2006 after he suffered post-surgical complications related to thyroid cancer, leaving him unable to speak. Ebert ended his association with the show in July 2008, but in February 2009 he stated that he and Roeper would continue their work on a new show. Ebert's current show, Ebert Presents: At the Movies, premiered on January 21, 2011, with Ebert contributing a review voiced by someone else in a brief segment called "Roger's Office".
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Ruslan Ponomariov
Ruslan Olegovich Ponomariov (Ukrainian: Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарьо́в, Ruslan Olehovych Ponomar'ov; Russian: Русла́н Оле́гович Пономарёв; born October 11, 1983) is a Ukrainian chess player and former FIDE World Champion.
Ponomariov was born in Horlivka in Ukraine. In 1994 he placed third in the World Under-12 Championship at the age of ten. In 1996 he won the European Under-18 Championship at the age of just twelve, and the following year won the World Under-18 Championship. In 1998, at the age of fourteen, he was awarded the Grandmaster title, making him the youngest ever player at that time to hold the title. In 1999, he was a member of the Ukrainian national youth team, which won the U-16 Chess Olympiad in Artek, Ukraine.
Among Ponomariov's notable later results are first at the Donetsk Zonal in 1998, 5/7 in the European Club Cup 2000 (including a victory over then-FIDE World Champion Alexander Khalifman), joint first with 7½/9 at Torshavn 2000, 8½/11 for Ukraine in the 2001 Chess Olympiad in Istanbul, winning gold medal on board 2, and first place with 7/10 in the 2001 Governor's Cup in Kramatorsk.
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Russell Targ
Russell Targ (born April 11, 1934) is an American physicist and author, an ESP researcher, and pioneer in the earliest development of the laser.
Targ was born in Chicago. He is a son of William Targ, former editor-in-chief of G.P. Putnam's, where his father was editor and publisher of "The Godfather". Russell is a brother-in-law of former World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer. He was married to Joan Targ, Bobby's sister, who died in 1998. Russell and Joan had a daughter, Elisabeth Targ, who was a psychiatrist, and two sons Alexander and Nicholas.
Targ received a Bachelor of Science in physics from Queens College in 1954, and did graduate work in physics at Columbia University. He received two National Aeronautics and Space Administration awards for inventions and contributions in lasers and laser communications.
Targ is also an editor, publisher, songwriter, producer, and teacher. In 1997 he retired from Lockheed Martin as a project manager and senior staff scientist, where he developed laser technology for airborne detection of wind shear and air turbulence. He has published more than a hundred papers on lasers, plasma physics, laser applications and electro-optics.
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Rustam Kasimdzhanov
Rustam Kasimdzhanov (Uzbek: Rustam Qosimjonov; Russian: Рустам Касымджанов) (born December 5, 1979) is an Uzbekistani chess Grandmaster, best known for winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2004. He was born in Tashkent, in the former Uzbek Soviet Socialist Republic. He is an ethnic Uzbek.
His best results include first in the 1998 Asian Championship, second in the World Junior Chess Championship in 1999, first at Essen 2001, first at Pamplona 2002 (winning a blitz playoff against Victor Bologan after both had finished the main tournament on 3.5/6), first with 8/9 at the Vlissingen Open 2003, joint first with Liviu Dieter Nisipeanu with 6/9 at Pune 2005, a bronze-medal winning 9.5/12 performance on board one for his country at the 2000 Chess Olympiad and runner-up in the FIDE Chess World Cup in 2002 (losing to Viswanathan Anand in the final). He has played in the prestigious Wijk aan Zee tournament twice, but did not perform well either time: in 1999 he finished 11th of 14 with 5/13, in 2002 he finished 13th of 14 with 4.5/13.
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Salo Flohr
Salomon Mikhailovich Flohr (November 21, 1908 – July 18, 1983) was a leading Czech and later Soviet chess grandmaster of the mid-20th century, who became a national hero in Czechoslovakia during the 1930s. His name was used to sell many of the luxury products of the time, including Salo Flohr cigarettes, slippers and eau-de-cologne. Flohr dominated many tournaments of the pre-World War II years, and by the late 1930s was considered a contender for the world championship. However, his patient, positional style was overtaken by the sharper, more tactical methods of the younger Soviet echelon after World War II. Flohr was also a well-respected chess author, and an International Arbiter.
Flohr had a troubled childhood beset by personal crises. He was born in a Jewish family in Horodenka in what was then Galicia, Austria-Hungary (now in Ukraine). He and his brother were orphaned during World War I after their parents were killed in a massacre, and they fled to the newly-formed nation of Czechoslovakia.
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Samuel Reshevsky
Samuel "Sammy" Herman Reshevsky (born Szmul Rzeszewski, November 26, 1911, Ozorków near Łódź, (then Russian Empire, today Poland) – died April 4, 1992, New York City) was a famous chess prodigy and later a leading American chess Grandmaster. He was a strong contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s; coming equal third in the World Chess Championship 1948 tournament, and equal second in the 1953 Candidates Tournament. He was also a seven-time winner of the U.S. Chess Championship. He was an accountant by profession, and a well-regarded chess writer.
Reshevsky learned to play chess at age four, and was soon acclaimed as a child prodigy. At age eight he was beating accomplished players with ease, and giving simultaneous exhibitions. In November 1920, his parents moved to the U.S. to make a living exhibiting their child. Reshevsky played thousands of games in exhibitions all over the U.S. He played in the 1922 New York Masters tournament; at that stage he was likely the youngest player to have competed in a strong tournament.
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Siegbert Tarrasch
Siegbert Tarrasch (5 March 1862 – 17 February 1934) was one of the strongest chess players and most influential chess teachers of the late 19th century and early 20th century.
Tarrasch was born in Breslau (Wrocław), Prussian Silesia. Having finished school in 1880, he left Breslau to study medicine in Halle. Later he lived most of his life with his family in Nuremberg, Bavaria, and later in Munich. He had five children. Tarrasch was Jewish, converted to Christianity in 1909, and a patriotic German who lost a son in World War I. Yet he faced antisemitism in the early stages of Nazism.
Tarrasch was a highly esteemed chess writer. It was Tarrasch who wrote in his Preface to The Game of Chess (1931) the often repeated line:
A medical doctor by profession, Tarrasch may have been the best player in the world in the early 1890s. He scored heavily against the aging Steinitz in tournaments, (+3-0=1), but refused an opportunity to challenge for the world title in 1892 because of the demands of his medical practice. Soon afterwards, in St. Petersburg in 1893, Tarrasch drew a hard-fought match against Steinitz' challenger Mikhail Chigorin (+9-9=4) after leading most of the way. He also won four major tournaments in succession: Breslau 1889, Manchester 1890, Dresden 1892, and Leipzig 1894.
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Steve Giddins
Stephen Giddins (born 1961) is an English chess player and writer. He graduated from Keble College, Oxford in Philosophy, Politics and Economics in 1982. He went on to become a FIDE Master and wrote a number of chess books, some of which have also been translated into German and Spanish.
He was the editor of British Chess Magazine from September 2010 to April 2011.
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Susan Polgar
Susan Polgar (born April 19, 1969, as Polgár Zsuzsanna and often known as Zsuzsa Polgár) is a Hungarian-American chess Grandmaster. She is an Olympic chess champion, a chess teacher, coach, writer and promoter and the head of the Susan Polgar Institute for Chess Excellence (SPICE) at Texas Tech University as well as the coach for the 2011 National Championship college chess team. She is the oldest of the famous "Polgár sisters": Zsuzsa, Zsófia, and Judit. Susan is perhaps most famous for being a child prodigy at chess, for being the first female to earn the Grandmaster title through tournament play, and for breaking a number of gender barriers in chess.
On the July 1984 FIDE Rating List, at the age of 15, she became the top ranked woman player in the world, and remained ranked in the top three for the next 23 years. She was also the first woman in history to break the gender barrier by qualifying for the 1986 "Men's" World Championship. She was the Women's World Chess Champion from 1996 to 1999. In October 2005 Polgar had an Elo rating of 2577, making her the second-ranked woman in the world at the time, after her sister Judit Polgár. Polgar went on to win ten Olympic medals (5 Gold, 4 Silver and 1 Bronze) and four Women's World Championships. She has not played in official competition since 2006.
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Svetozar Gligorić
Svetozar Gligorić (Serbian Cyrillic: Светозар Глигорић) (born February 2, 1923) is a Serbian chess grandmaster. He won the championship of Yugoslavia a record twelve times, and is considered the best player ever from Serbia. In 1958 he was declared for the best athlete of Yugoslavia.
During the 1950s and 1960s, he was one of the top ten players in the world, also among the world's most popular, owing to his globe-trotting tournament schedule and a particularly engaging personality that is reflected in the title of his autobiography, I Play Against Pieces (i.e., with no hostility to the opponent, or playing differently for "psychological" reasons against different players; playing the board not the man).
Svetozar Gligorić was born in Belgrade to a poor family. According to his recollections, his first exposure to chess was as a small child watching patrons play in a neighborhood bar. He began to play at the age of eleven, when taught by a boarder taken in by his mother (his father had died by this time). Lacking a chess set, he made one for himself by carving pieces from corks from wine bottles — a story paralleling the formative years of his great contemporary, the Estonian grandmaster Paul Keres.
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Tigran Petrosian
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian (Armenian: Տիգրան Պետրոսյան, Тигран Вартанович Петросян) (17 June 1929 – 13 August 1984) was a Soviet-Armenian grandmaster, and World Chess Champion from 1963 to 1969. He was nicknamed "Iron Tigran" due to his playing style because of his almost impenetrable defence, which emphasised safety above all else. He was a Candidate for the World Championship on eight occasions (1953, 1956, 1959, 1962, 1971, 1974, 1977 and 1980). He won the world championship in 1963 (against Botvinnik), successfully defended it in 1966 (against Spassky), and lost it in 1969 (to Spassky). Thus he was the defending World Champion or a World Championship candidate in ten consecutive three-year cycles. He won the Soviet Championship four times (1959, 1961, 1969, and 1975). He was recognised as the hardest player to beat in the history of chess by the authors of a 2004 book.
Tigran Petrosian was born to Armenian parents on 17 June 1929 in Tiflis, Georgia, which was then a member of the former Soviet Union. As a young boy, Petrosian was an excellent student and enjoyed studying, as did his brother Hmayak and sister Vartoosh. He learned to play chess at the age of 8, though his illiterate father Vartan encouraged him to continue studying, as he thought chess was unlikely to bring his son any success as a career. Petrosian was orphaned during World War II and was forced to sweep streets to earn a living. It was about this time that his hearing began to deteriorate, a problem that afflicted him throughout his life. In a 1969 interview with Time magazine, he recalled:
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Tim Rice
Sir Timothy Miles Bindon "Tim" Rice (born 10 November 1944) is a British lyricist and author. An Academy Award, Golden Globe Award, Tony Award and Grammy Award-winning lyricist, Rice is best known for his collaborations with Andrew Lloyd Webber, with whom he wrote Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Jesus Christ Superstar, Evita, and additional songs for the 2011 West End revival of The Wizard of Oz, and for his work for Walt Disney Studios with Alan Menken (Aladdin, Beauty and the Beast, King David), Elton John (The Lion King, Aida) and Ennio Morricone.
Rice was born at Shardeloes, an historic English country house near Amersham, Buckinghamshire, United Kingdom that was requisitioned as a maternity hospital during World War II. His father, Hugh Gordon Rice, served with the Eighth Army and reached the rank of major during World War II, whilst his mother, Joan Odette (née Bawden), served in the Women's Auxiliary Air Force (WAAF) as a photographic interpreter. After the war, they worked for the de Havilland aircraft company.
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Ulf Andersson
Ulf Andersson (born 27 June 1951 in Västerås, Sweden) is a leading Swedish chess player. FIDE awarded him the International Master title in 1970 and the Grandmaster title in 1972 (Kaufeld & Kern 2011:217).
At his peak, Andersson reached number four on the FIDE Elo rating list. Tournaments he has won or shared first include the 1969 Swedish Chess Championship, Göteborg 1971, Dortmund 1973, Camagüez 1974, Cienfuegos 1975, Belgrade 1977, Buenos Aires 1978, Hastings 1978–79, Phillips & Drew 1980, Phillips & Drew 1982, Turin 1982, Wijk aan Zee 1983, Reggio Emilia 1985, Rome 1985, and Rome 1986. He drew a six-game match against former world champion Mikhail Tal in 1983, and played top board in the second USSR versus The Rest of The World Match in 1984. He led the Swedish Chess Olympiad Team during the 1970s and 1980s, and reached his best personal result in the 23rd Chess Olympiad in Buenos Aires 1978, where he finished in third place after Viktor Korchnoi and Orestes Rodríguez Vargas.
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Vasily Smyslov
Vasily Vasilyevich Smyslov (Russian: Васи́лий Васи́льевич Смысло́в; 24 March 1921 – 27 March 2010) was a Soviet and Russian chess grandmaster, and was World Chess Champion from 1957 to 1958. He was a Candidate for the World Chess Championship on eight occasions (1948, 1950, 1953, 1956, 1959, 1965, 1983, and 1985). Smyslov was twice equal first at the Soviet Championship (1949, 1955), and his total of 17 Chess Olympiad medals won is an all-time record. In five European Team Championships, Smyslov won ten gold medals.
Smyslov remained active and successful in competitive chess well into the 1960s and 1970s, qualifying for the finals of the World Championship Candidates' Matches as late as 1983. Despite failing eyesight, he remained active in the occasional composition of chess problems and studies until shortly before his death in 2010.
Smyslov (pronounced "smis-LOFF") first became interested in chess at the age of six. His father, Vasily Osipovich Smyslov, worked as an engineering technician and had represented the St. Petersburg Technical Institute in intercollegiate chess competitions. Smyslov's father had also studied chess for a time under the tutelage of Mikhail Chigorin and the senior Smyslov became the boy's first teacher. The elder Smyslov gave his son a copy of Alexander Alekhine's book My Best Games of Chess 1908–1923 and the future world champion would later write that this book became his constant reference. He would also write that "...I was later to read everything that my father had in his library: Dufresne's handbook, separate numbers of the Soviet chess magazines Chess and Chess Sheet, the text-books of Lasker and Capablanca, and the collections of games of Soviet and international tournaments. The games of the great Russian chess master M. I. Tchigorin made an indelible impression on me; it was with interest that I read the various declarations on questions of strategy by A. I. Nimzovitch; I studied attentively the genius of prominent Soviet masters."
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Veselin Topalov
Veselin Aleksandrov Topalov (pronounced [vɛsɛˈlin toˈpɑlof]; Bulgarian: Веселин Александров Топалов; born 15 March 1975) is a Bulgarian chess grandmaster.
Topalov became the FIDE World Chess Champion by winning the FIDE World Chess Championship 2005. He lost his title in the World Chess Championship 2006 match against Vladimir Kramnik. He won the 2005 Chess Oscar.
He has been ranked number one a total of 27 months in his career, fourth all-time since the inception of the FIDE ranking lists in 1971 behind only Garry Kasparov, Anatoly Karpov, and Bobby Fischer. He was ranked No. 1 in the world from April 2006 to January 2007, during which his Elo rating was 2813, which had been surpassed only by Garry Kasparov, and subsequently by Magnus Carlsen, Anand and Levon Aronian. He regained the world No. 1 ranking again in October 2008, and officially remained No. 1 until January 2010, when he fell to No. 2 behind Carlsen. He currently has the 12th highest rating in the world.
In the World Chess Championship 2010, he was the challenger facing world champion Viswanathan Anand, losing the match 6½–5½.
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Viktor Korchnoi
Viktor Lvovich Korchnoi (Russian: Ви́ктор Льво́вич Корчно́й; IPA: [kɐrt͡ɕˈnoj]; born March 23, 1931 is a professional chess player, author and currently the oldest active grandmaster on the tournament circuit. He was born in Leningrad, USSR, defected to the Netherlands in 1976, and has been residing in Switzerland for many years.
Korchnoi played three matches against Anatoly Karpov, the latter two for the World Chess Championship. In 1974, he lost the Candidates final to Karpov, who was declared world champion in 1975 when Bobby Fischer failed to defend his title. Then he won consecutive Candidates cycles to qualify for World Championship matches with Karpov in 1978 and 1981, losing both.
In all, Korchnoi was a candidate for the World Championship on ten occasions (1962, 1968, 1971, 1974, 1977, 1980, 1983, 1985, 1988 and 1991). Korchnoi was also a four-time USSR chess champion, a five-time member of Soviet teams that won the European championship, and a six-time member of Soviet teams that won the Chess Olympiad. In September 2006, he won the World Senior Chess Championship.
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Viswanathan Anand
Viswanathan Anand (Tamil: விசுவநாதன் ஆனந்த், IPA: [ʋiʃʋəˈn̪aːt̪ən ˈaːnən̪d̪]; born 11 December 1969) is an Indian chess Grandmaster and the current World Chess Champion. Anand has won the World Chess Championship five times (2000, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012), and has been the undisputed World Champion since 2007. Anand became India's first grandmaster in 1988. He was also the first recipient of the Rajiv Gandhi Khel Ratna Award in 1991–92, India's highest sporting honor. In 2007, he was awarded India's second highest civilian award, the Padma Vibhushan, making him the first sportsperson to receive the award in Indian history.
He held the FIDE World Chess Championship from 2000 to 2002, at a time when the world title was split. He became the undisputed World Champion in 2007 and defended his title against Vladimir Kramnik in 2008. He then successfully defended his title in the World Chess Championship 2010 against Veselin Topalov and in the World Chess Championship 2012 against Boris Gelfand. As the reigning champion, he will face the winner of the upcoming Candidates Tournament for the World Chess Championship 2013.
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Vladimir Kramnik
Vladimir Borisovich Kramnik (Russian: Влади́мир Бори́сович Кра́мник; born 25 June 1975) is a Russian chess grandmaster. He was the Classical World Chess Champion from 2000 to 2006, and the undisputed World Chess Champion from 2006 to 2007. He has also won the two strongest tournaments (by rating strength) in chess history: the 2009 Mikhail Tal Memorial and the 2010 Grand Slam Masters Final. He has won three team gold medals and three individual medals at Chess Olympiads.
In October 2000, he defeated Garry Kasparov in a match played in London, and became the Classical World Chess Champion. In late 2004, Kramnik successfully defended his title against challenger Péter Lékó in a drawn match played in Brissago, Switzerland. In October 2006, Kramnik, the Classical World Champion, defeated reigning FIDE World Champion Veselin Topalov in a unification match, the World Chess Championship 2006. As a result Kramnik became the first undisputed World Champion, holding both the FIDE and Classical titles, since Kasparov split from FIDE in 1993. In 2007, Kramnik lost the title to Viswanathan Anand, who won the World Chess Championship tournament ahead of Kramnik. He challenged Anand at the World Chess Championship 2008 to regain his title, but lost.
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Vladimir Vysotsky
Vladimir Semyonovich Vysotsky (Russian: Влади́мир Семёнович Высо́цкий [vɫɐˈdʲimʲɪr sʲɪˈmʲonəvɪt͡ɕ vɨˈsot͡skʲɪj]) (25 January 1938 – 25 July 1980) was a Soviet singer, songwriter, poet, and actor whose career had an immense and enduring effect on Russian culture. He became widely known for his unique singing style and for his lyrics, which featured social and political commentary in often humorous street jargon. He was also a prominent stage and screen actor. Though his work was largely ignored by the official Soviet cultural establishment, he achieved remarkable fame during his lifetime, and to this day exerts significant influence on many of Russia's popular musicians and actors who wish to emulate his iconic status.
Vladimir Vysotsky was born in Moscow at the 3rd Meshchanskaya St. (61/2) maternity hospital. His father, Semyon Volfovich (Vladimirovich) (1915–1997), was a Jewish colonel in the army originally from Kiev. His mother, Nina Maksimovna, (née Seryogina, 1912–2003) was Russian, and worked as a German language translator. Vysotsky's family lived in a Moscow communal flat in harsh conditions, and had serious financial difficulties. When Vladimir was 10 months old, Nina had to return to her office in the Transcript bureau of the Ministry of Geodesy and Cartography of the USSR (engaged in making German maps available for the Soviet military) so as to help her husband earn their family's living.
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Vlastimil Hort
Vlastimil Hort (born 12 January 1944) is a chess Grandmaster of Czech nationality. During the 1960s and 1970s he was one of the world's strongest players and reached the Candidates stage of competition for the world chess championship, but was never able to compete for the actual title.
Hort was born in Kladno, Czechoslovakia and was a citizen of Czechoslovakia for the first part of his chess career, winning national championships in 1970, 1971, 1972, 1975, and 1977. He achieved the Grandmaster title in 1965 as a Czechoslovak citizen. While playing for Czechoslovakia he won a number of major tournaments (Hastings 1967-8, Skopje 1969, etc.), gaining recognition as one of the strongest non-Soviet players in the world. This led to him representing the "World" team in the great "USSR vs. Rest of the World" match of 1970, where he occupied fourth board and had a commendable +1 score against the formidable Soviet Grandmaster Lev Polugaevsky—in some regards his greatest result. He defected to the West after the 1985 Tunis Interzonal, moving to West Germany and winning the national championship of his new homeland in 1987, 1989, and 1991.
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Wikipedia Persondata
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Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm (later William) Steinitz (Prague, May 17, 1836 – August 12, 1900) was an Austrian and then American chess player and the first undisputed world chess champion from 1886 to 1894. From the 1870s onwards, commentators have debated whether Steinitz was effectively the champion earlier. Steinitz lost his title to Emanuel Lasker in 1894 and also lost a rematch in 1897.
Statistical rating systems give Steinitz a rather low ranking among world champions, mainly because he took several long breaks from competitive play. However, an analysis based on one of these rating systems shows that he was one of the most dominant players in the history of the game. As author Will Hartson wrote in his chess historical, Steinitz was unbeaten in over 25 years of match play. He was perhaps the first of the modern champions, and established a greater depth in playing.
Although Steinitz became "world number one" by winning in the all-out attacking style that was common in the 1860s, he unveiled in 1873 a new positional style of play and demonstrated that it was superior to the previous style. His new style was controversial and some even branded it as "cowardly", but many of Steinitz's games showed that it could also set up attacks as ferocious as those of the old school. Steinitz was also a prolific writer on chess, and defended his new ideas vigorously. The debate was so bitter and sometimes abusive that it became known as the "Ink War". By the early 1890s, Steinitz's approach was widely accepted and the next generation of top players acknowledged their debt to him, most notably his successor as world champion, Emanuel Lasker.
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William Hartston
William Roland Hartston (born London, 12 August 1947) is an English chess player who played competitively from 1962 to 1987 with a highest Elo rating of 2515. He was awarded the title International Master in 1972, but is now best known as a chess author and presenter of the game on television.
At the 19th Chess Olympiad, held at Siegen 1970, he won the gold medal for best score on board 3 (78.1%). He won the British Chess Championship in 1973 and 1975. In international competition, he had many fine performances, but failed by the closest possible margin to achieve the results required for the formal award of the title of International Grandmaster.
Since the early 1970s, he has made many TV appearances for the BBC, usually in the role of expert commentator and analyst on world title matches, including Fischer-Spassky '72, Karpov-Korchnoi '78, Kasparov-Short '93 and Kasparov-Anand '95. He twice won the BBC Master Game competition before taking over from Leonard Barden as its resident expert. During the 1980s he presented the BBC series Play Chess. In recent years he has diversified into a number of creative areas, running competitions in creative thinking for The Independent newspaper and the Mind Sports Olympiad. He writes the off-beat Beachcomber column for the Daily Express and has authored books on chess, mathematics, humour and trivia. He has also been a regular guest on the BBC Radio 4 and occasional TV programme, Puzzle Panel.
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William Lombardy
William James Lombardy (born December 4, 1937 in New York City) is an American Grandmaster of chess, writer, teacher, and one-time Catholic priest.
He won the 1956 Canadian Open Chess Championship. In 1956, at the age of 18, he lost a closely contested match versus Samuel Reshevsky by the score of 3.5-2.5. In 1957, Lombardy became the first American to win the World Junior Chess Championship. He won the tournament in Toronto with a perfect score of 11-0, the only time such a result has been achieved.
Lombardy played first board for the US Team that won the 1960 World Student Team Championship in Leningrad, USSR, the first time the US Team won that event (they would win again at Haifa 1970). Lombardy defeated future World Chess Champion Boris Spassky in their individual game. Lombardy won a gold medal for best result on his board in that event.
Lombardy represented his country in several Chess Olympiads, and played many times in the US Chess Championship. Lombardy finished second in the 1960-61 US Chess Championship behind Bobby Fischer and ahead of Raymond Weinstein and a star-studded field. With this result, Lombardy qualified to compete in the World Interzonal tournament in Stockholm for the World Chess Championship. However, Lombardy decided instead to retire from chess to become a Catholic priest. Before retiring, he lost a tightly contested match to Larry Evans by the score of 5.5-4.5. He was ordained in 1967.
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Yakov Estrin
Yakov Borisovich Estrin (April 21, 1923 – February 2, 1987) was a Russian chess International Master, theoretician, and writer.
After a brief foray into "over-the-board" play, he turned to correspondence chess in the early 1960s with immediate success (joint first place in the U.S.S.R. Correspondence Championship in 1962.) He became an ICCGM (International Correspondence Chess Grandmaster) in 1966, and would go on to compete in the final of the World Correspondence Championship five times. He is best known for being the seventh International Correspondence Chess Federation world champion between 1972 and 1976.
For over-the-board play, he was awarded the International Master title in 1975.
Estrin wrote several chess books and was an authority on the Two Knights Defense. His game with Hans Berliner in which Berliner played the Two Knights Defense and defeated Estrin is one of the most famous and important games in correspondence chess.
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Yasser Seirawan
Yasser Seirawan (Arabic: ياسر سيروان; born March 24, 1960) is a chess grandmaster and four-time United States champion. He was winner of the World Junior Chess Championship in 1979. Seirawan is also a respected chess author and commentator.
Seirawan was born in Damascus, Syria. His father was Arab and his mother an English nurse from Nottingham, where he spent some time in his early childhood. When he was seven, his family emigrated to Seattle (United States), where he attended McClure Middle School and Garfield High School, and honed his game at a (now-defunct) coffeehouse, the Last Exit on Brooklyn, playing against the likes of Latvian-born master Viktors Pupols and six-time Washington State Champion James Harley McCormick.
He is married to FIDE Master Yvette Nagel, daughter of former Leefbaar Nederland political party president and politician Jan Nagel.
Seirawan began playing chess at 12; at 13 he became Washington junior champion. At 19 he won the World Junior Chess Championship. He also won a game against Viktor Korchnoi, who then invited Seirawan to Switzerland, where Korchnoi was training for his world title match against Anatoly Karpov.
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Yuri Averbakh
Yuri Lvovich Averbakh (Ю́рий Льво́вич Аверба́х; born February 8, 1922) is a Soviet and Russian chess player and author. As of 2012, he is the oldest living chess grandmaster. He was born in Kaluga, Russia.
His father was German Jewish, and his ancestors came from Germany and were named Auerbach, meaning "meadow brook." His mother was Russian. Both sets of grandparents disapproved of their marriage because his father was a likely atheist and his mother was Eastern Orthodox, as well as the fact that his maternal grandmother died very young so his mother was expected to look after the family. Yuri himself calls himself a fatalist. Ruti Averbakh is a holocaust survivor, having spent a year in Auschwitz in 1945.
His first major success was first place in the Moscow Championship of 1949, ahead of players such as Andor Lilienthal, Yakov Estrin and Vladimir Simagin. He became an International Grandmaster in 1952. In 1954 he won the USSR Chess Championship ahead of players including Mark Taimanov, Viktor Korchnoi, Tigran Petrosian, Efim Geller and Salo Flohr. In the 1956 Championship he came equal first with Taimanov and Boris Spassky in the main event, finishing second after the playoff. Later Averbakh's daughter, Jane, would marry Taimanov. Averbakh's other major tournament victories included Vienna 1961 and Moscow 1962. He qualified for the 1953 Candidates' Tournament (the last stage to determine the challenger to the World Chess Champion), finishing joint tenth of the fifteen participants. He also qualified for the 1958 Interzonal at Portorož, by finishing in fourth place at the 1958 USSR Championship at Riga. At Portorož, he wound up in a tie for seventh through eleventh places, half a point short of advancing to the Candidates' Tournament.
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Game of the Century - Bobby Fischer vs Donald Byrne
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 24:53
- Updated: 18 Jan 2013
In the Chess Game of the Century, a 13 yr old Bobby Fischer showed the world that he was going to be a force in the chess world. Enjoy the commentary and the game. Be sure to check out more analysis at www.thechesswebsite.com The software in the video can be found at http and www.chessok.com
http://wn.com/Game_of_the_Century_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Donald_Byrne
In the Chess Game of the Century, a 13 yr old Bobby Fischer showed the world that he was going to be a force in the chess world. Enjoy the commentary and the game. Be sure to check out more analysis at www.thechesswebsite.com The software in the video can be found at http and www.chessok.com
Bobby Fischer Biography 1 of 5
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:04
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
Documental Anything To Win
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Biography_1_of_5
1963 US Chess Championship Bobby Fischer vs Larry Evans
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:48
- Updated: 17 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com In 1963 Bobby Fischer put on one of the most incredible performances seen at the championship level winning all 11 of his games. In today's game against Larry Evans, Fischer brings out the Kings Gambit Accepted line and shows why he is the best. This video is the 1st of many in a series of Fischer's USA Championship games to cover the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer - The Knight who Killed the Kings"
http://wn.com/1963_US_Chess_Championship_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Larry_Evans
gatherfield.com In 1963 Bobby Fischer put on one of the most incredible performances seen at the championship level winning all 11 of his games. In today's game against Larry Evans, Fischer brings out the Kings Gambit Accepted line and shows why he is the best. This video is the 1st of many in a series of Fischer's USA Championship games to cover the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer - The Knight who Killed the Kings"
- published: 10 May 2011
- views: 98895
- author: thechesswebsite
A Very Different Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:05
- Updated: 17 Jan 2013
Appearing on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Mr Fischer shares his various views about chess.
http://wn.com/A_Very_Different_Bobby_Fischer
Appearing on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Mr Fischer shares his various views about chess.
- published: 12 Feb 2008
- views: 440898
- author: Ed Scarce
Bobby Fischer - Anything to Win (Biography) FULL
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 59:25
- Updated: 17 Jan 2013
BBC Documentary with various interviews from well-known chess enthusiasts regarding the 1972 World Chess Champion match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Interviews include: WC Bobby Fischer, WC Boris Spassky, Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Alexander Cockburn Alexander Roshal, Nikolai Krogius, Frank Brady, Viktor Babkin and others.
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Anything_to_Win_Biography_FULL
BBC Documentary with various interviews from well-known chess enthusiasts regarding the 1972 World Chess Champion match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Interviews include: WC Bobby Fischer, WC Boris Spassky, Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Alexander Cockburn Alexander Roshal, Nikolai Krogius, Frank Brady, Viktor Babkin and others.
- published: 04 Sep 2012
- views: 7398
- author: ChessLibrary
Chess Traps: Bobby Fischer Trap
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:31
- Updated: 18 Jan 2013
Bobby Fischer was one of the greatest chess minds of all time and always executed great ideas on the chess board. While there are many things we can learn from Bobby Fischer, in this video we look at one of his famous traps that he used. Make sure to check out more great chess content at: www.thechesswebsite.com Software in video brought to you by http
http://wn.com/Chess_Traps_Bobby_Fischer_Trap
Bobby Fischer was one of the greatest chess minds of all time and always executed great ideas on the chess board. While there are many things we can learn from Bobby Fischer, in this video we look at one of his famous traps that he used. Make sure to check out more great chess content at: www.thechesswebsite.com Software in video brought to you by http
- published: 24 Nov 2010
- views: 333988
- author: thechesswebsite
How Bobby Fischer crushed the Berlin Defence Part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:20
- Updated: 15 Jan 2013
GM Daniel King presents a game of Bobby Fischer's against the Berlin Defence. Click here for Daniel King's latest Power Play DVDs: chessbase-shop.com
http://wn.com/How_Bobby_Fischer_crushed_the_Berlin_Defence_Part_1
GM Daniel King presents a game of Bobby Fischer's against the Berlin Defence. Click here for Daniel King's latest Power Play DVDs: chessbase-shop.com
- published: 24 Dec 2012
- views: 2872
- author: PowerPlayChess
Chess World.net: How Bobby Fischer slayed the Sicilian Dragon! - Memorable Game
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 19:46
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Svetozar Gligoric "I Don't Believe in Dragons" (Chessgames.com game of the day Jun-18-10) Bled ct 1959 · Sicilian...
http://wn.com/Chess_Worldnet_How_Bobby_Fischer_slayed_the_Sicilian_Dragon!_Memorable_Game
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Svetozar Gligoric "I Don't Believe in Dragons" (Chessgames.com game of the day Jun-18-10) Bled ct 1959 · Sicilian...
- published: 11 Nov 2012
- views: 4107
- author: kingscrusher
1966 US Championship: Pal Benko vs Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 30:11
- Updated: 18 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com Read online the Graphic Novel "Bobby Fischer: The Knight Who Killed the Kings". In the 1966 US Championship, Bobby Fischer got off to a great start in round 1 against Pal Benko playing his famous Benko opening. gatherfield.com FAQ about the Graphic Novel.
http://wn.com/1966_US_Championship_Pal_Benko_vs_Bobby_Fischer
gatherfield.com Read online the Graphic Novel "Bobby Fischer: The Knight Who Killed the Kings". In the 1966 US Championship, Bobby Fischer got off to a great start in round 1 against Pal Benko playing his famous Benko opening. gatherfield.com FAQ about the Graphic Novel.
- published: 12 Sep 2011
- views: 55817
- author: thechesswebsite
Bobby Fischer's 1st US Championship
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 39:00
- Updated: 18 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com In 1957-58 at the age of 14 Bobby Fischer played in his first US Championship. He would win the tournament and become an International master soon after. His opponent in this featured game is Edmar Mednis, one of the 3 people ever to beat Fischer at a US Championship. This is the 2nd video for the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer, the Knight who killed the Kings." For more information on the graphic novel click here gatherfield.blogspot.com
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer's_1st_US_Championship
gatherfield.com In 1957-58 at the age of 14 Bobby Fischer played in his first US Championship. He would win the tournament and become an International master soon after. His opponent in this featured game is Edmar Mednis, one of the 3 people ever to beat Fischer at a US Championship. This is the 2nd video for the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer, the Knight who killed the Kings." For more information on the graphic novel click here gatherfield.blogspot.com
- published: 29 Jun 2011
- views: 76827
- author: thechesswebsite
Killegar Chess presents: Bobby Fischer Vs. William G. Addison, 1970
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:57
- Updated: 12 Jan 2013
Join us for all things chess at killegarchess.com You can buy the book here tinyurl.com Another great game from chess genius Bobby Fischer and an instuctive example of how to gambit in order to generate a crushing attack
http://wn.com/Killegar_Chess_presents_Bobby_Fischer_Vs_William_G_Addison,_1970
Join us for all things chess at killegarchess.com You can buy the book here tinyurl.com Another great game from chess genius Bobby Fischer and an instuctive example of how to gambit in order to generate a crushing attack
- published: 08 Jun 2009
- views: 64815
- author: SeanG Godley
Through the Life of Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:12
- Updated: 08 Jan 2013
A tribute to the legendary Chess player, Robert "Bobby" James Fischer. Put together by MarkGSelf. Music: Hans Zimmer - Chevaliers de Sangreal
http://wn.com/Through_the_Life_of_Bobby_Fischer
A tribute to the legendary Chess player, Robert "Bobby" James Fischer. Put together by MarkGSelf. Music: Hans Zimmer - Chevaliers de Sangreal
- published: 06 Jun 2011
- views: 6630
- author: MarkGSelf
Bobby Fischer Live
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 104:49
- Updated: 15 Nov 2012
A bio picture about the controversial life of the most famous and best chess player who has ever lived.
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Live
A bio picture about the controversial life of the most famous and best chess player who has ever lived.
- published: 09 Oct 2012
- author: godigital
Chess World.net: Boris Spassky vs Bobby Fischer - World Ch. 1972 - Game 1 - Huge blunder!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 20:21
- Updated: 07 Jan 2013
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer Fischer-Spassky World Championship Match 1972 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: [Event "Reykjavik WCh"]...
http://wn.com/Chess_Worldnet_Boris_Spassky_vs_Bobby_Fischer_World_Ch_1972_Game_1_Huge_blunder!
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer Fischer-Spassky World Championship Match 1972 · Nimzo-Indian Defense: [Event "Reykjavik WCh"]...
- published: 13 Oct 2012
- views: 3537
- author: kingscrusher
Chess World.net: Bobby Fischer vs Wolfgang Unzicker - Zurich 1959 - Spanish Game (C97)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 33:07
- Updated: 04 Jan 2013
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Wolfgang Unzicker Zurich 1959 · Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Chigorin Defense (C97) [Event "Zurich"]...
http://wn.com/Chess_Worldnet_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Wolfgang_Unzicker_Zurich_1959_Spanish_Game_C97
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Wolfgang Unzicker Zurich 1959 · Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Chigorin Defense (C97) [Event "Zurich"]...
- published: 24 Oct 2012
- views: 2265
- author: kingscrusher
Pawn storm by Bobby Fischer: Fischer vs Cardoso
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:19
- Updated: 17 Jan 2013
Pawn storm by Bobby Fischer: Fischer vs Cardoso Robert James Fischer - Rodolfo Tan Cardoso[B90] New York m Rd: 2 New York m Rd: 2, 1957 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0--0 Be7 8.Be3 0--0 9.Bb3 Nc6 10.f4 Na5 11.Qf3 Qc7 12.g4 Nxb3 13.axb3 Rb8 14.g5 Nd7 15.f5 Ne5 16.Qg3 Kh8 17.Nf3 Nxf3+ 18.Rxf3 b5 19.Qh4 exf5 20.exf5 Qc6 21.Raf1 Bb7 22.Bd4 b4 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qh6+ Kh8 25.g6 [25.Rh3 Qg2#] 25...Qc5+ 26.R1f2 fxg6 27.fxg6 Qg5+ 28.Qxg5 Bxg5 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Rxf8+ Kg7 31.gxh7 Black resigned. [31.Rf7+ Kxg6 32.Rxb7 bxc3 33.bxc3] 31...Kxf8 [31...Kxh7 32.Rf7+ Kg6 33.Rxb7 bxc3 34.bxc3 Kf5 35.c4 (35.Rb6 Be3+ 36.Kg2 Bxb6) ] 32.h8Q+ 1--0
http://wn.com/Pawn_storm_by_Bobby_Fischer_Fischer_vs_Cardoso
Pawn storm by Bobby Fischer: Fischer vs Cardoso Robert James Fischer - Rodolfo Tan Cardoso[B90] New York m Rd: 2 New York m Rd: 2, 1957 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0--0 Be7 8.Be3 0--0 9.Bb3 Nc6 10.f4 Na5 11.Qf3 Qc7 12.g4 Nxb3 13.axb3 Rb8 14.g5 Nd7 15.f5 Ne5 16.Qg3 Kh8 17.Nf3 Nxf3+ 18.Rxf3 b5 19.Qh4 exf5 20.exf5 Qc6 21.Raf1 Bb7 22.Bd4 b4 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qh6+ Kh8 25.g6 [25.Rh3 Qg2#] 25...Qc5+ 26.R1f2 fxg6 27.fxg6 Qg5+ 28.Qxg5 Bxg5 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Rxf8+ Kg7 31.gxh7 Black resigned. [31.Rf7+ Kxg6 32.Rxb7 bxc3 33.bxc3] 31...Kxf8 [31...Kxh7 32.Rf7+ Kg6 33.Rxb7 bxc3 34.bxc3 Kf5 35.c4 (35.Rb6 Be3+ 36.Kg2 Bxb6) ] 32.h8Q+ 1--0
- published: 14 Jun 2012
- views: 10905
- author: MatoJelic
1959 US Chess Championship: Bobby Fischer vs Robin Ault
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 27:43
- Updated: 18 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com In the 1959 US Championship we have the 2 time defending champion, Fischer, taking on the 1959 Junior US Champion, Ault. Dubbed as one of the matches for the up and coming chess stars for the US, Fischer put on great display of end game chess and took advantage of the mistakes by Ault.
http://wn.com/1959_US_Chess_Championship_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Robin_Ault
gatherfield.com In the 1959 US Championship we have the 2 time defending champion, Fischer, taking on the 1959 Junior US Champion, Ault. Dubbed as one of the matches for the up and coming chess stars for the US, Fischer put on great display of end game chess and took advantage of the mistakes by Ault.
- published: 03 Nov 2011
- views: 38190
- author: thechesswebsite
Chess World.net: Bobby Fischer vs Milan Matulovic - Herceg Novi Blitz 1970 - Schliemann Defence
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:40
- Updated: 10 Jan 2013
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Milan Matulovic Herceg Novi blitz 1970 · Spanish Game: Schliemann Defense. Dyckhoff Variation (C63) [Event "Herceg Novi blitz"] [Site "Herceg Novi blitz"] [Date "1970.??.??"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Robert James Fischer"] [Black "Milan Matulovic"] [ECO "C63"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "65"] 1. e4 {Notes by Bobby Fischer} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 {This is Matulovic's specialty the same as his gambit in the Sicilian defence. In blitz games there is no problems for White because of the Black King's weaknesses. I know this variation very well and because of that I was surprised at Matulovic's choice.} 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qg5 {7 Qd5 gives probably more problems for White.} 8. Qe2 Nf6 9. f4 Qxf4 10. d4 Qh4+ 11. g3 Qh3 {The same was played in the game Gheorghiu-Maric, Skopge 1968. Georghiu played 12Na7+ but he did not get any advantage in this position. I analyzed this position all night with Robatch and Gheorghiu in Vinkovci. Gheorghiu showed me that game against Maric and it was very interesting for me. Our idea was 12 Bg5} 12. Bg5 a6 13. Ba4 Bd7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qxe4+ Kf7 16. Ne5+ fxe5 17. Rf1+ Ke7 {Black has many problems. If 17...Kg8 18 Rf6! Re8 (if 18...Bxa4 19 Qd5+ with Qf7 mate) 19 Bb3+ Kg7 20 Rf7+ Kh6 21 dxe5 with a winning attack. If ...
http://wn.com/Chess_Worldnet_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Milan_Matulovic_Herceg_Novi_Blitz_1970_Schliemann_Defence
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Milan Matulovic Herceg Novi blitz 1970 · Spanish Game: Schliemann Defense. Dyckhoff Variation (C63) [Event "Herceg Novi blitz"] [Site "Herceg Novi blitz"] [Date "1970.??.??"] [EventDate "?"] [Round "?"] [Result "1-0"] [White "Robert James Fischer"] [Black "Milan Matulovic"] [ECO "C63"] [WhiteElo "?"] [BlackElo "?"] [PlyCount "65"] 1. e4 {Notes by Bobby Fischer} e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 f5 {This is Matulovic's specialty the same as his gambit in the Sicilian defence. In blitz games there is no problems for White because of the Black King's weaknesses. I know this variation very well and because of that I was surprised at Matulovic's choice.} 4. Nc3 fxe4 5. Nxe4 d5 6. Nxe5 dxe4 7. Nxc6 Qg5 {7 Qd5 gives probably more problems for White.} 8. Qe2 Nf6 9. f4 Qxf4 10. d4 Qh4+ 11. g3 Qh3 {The same was played in the game Gheorghiu-Maric, Skopge 1968. Georghiu played 12Na7+ but he did not get any advantage in this position. I analyzed this position all night with Robatch and Gheorghiu in Vinkovci. Gheorghiu showed me that game against Maric and it was very interesting for me. Our idea was 12 Bg5} 12. Bg5 a6 13. Ba4 Bd7 14. Bxf6 gxf6 15. Qxe4+ Kf7 16. Ne5+ fxe5 17. Rf1+ Ke7 {Black has many problems. If 17...Kg8 18 Rf6! Re8 (if 18...Bxa4 19 Qd5+ with Qf7 mate) 19 Bb3+ Kg7 20 Rf7+ Kh6 21 dxe5 with a winning attack. If ...
- published: 28 Aug 2012
- views: 2730
- author: kingscrusher
Bobby Fischer - Documental (Biografía en Español).
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 43:32
- Updated: 15 Jan 2013
A los quince años, Bobby Fischer se convirtió en el gran maestro más joven de la historia del ajedrez. Nacido en Chicago, Bobby Fischer acabó con el dominio soviético en el Campeonato del Mundo de Ajedrez al derrotar de forma espectacular al ruso Boris Spassky en 1972. Más tarde perdería su título debido a una disputa con la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez, por lo que se retiraría durante veinte años. En 1992, Bobby Fischer viajó a Yugoslavia para volver a jugar contra Boris Spassky, con lo que violó las sanciones económicas estadounidenses contra ese país, y se exilió en Europa Central. En 1996, resurgió una vez más en Estados Unidos a través de su videojuego "Fischerandom Chess". A pesar de que parece haberse desvanecido en la oscuridad, Bobby Fischer sigue siendo venerado como uno de los más grandes ajedrecistas de todos los tiempos. No hay duda de que este genio excéntrico cumplió el deseo que expresó con tan sólo seis años: "Todo lo que quiero hacer es jugar al ajedrez". ajedrezcehegin.blogspot.com
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Documental_Biografía_en_Español
A los quince años, Bobby Fischer se convirtió en el gran maestro más joven de la historia del ajedrez. Nacido en Chicago, Bobby Fischer acabó con el dominio soviético en el Campeonato del Mundo de Ajedrez al derrotar de forma espectacular al ruso Boris Spassky en 1972. Más tarde perdería su título debido a una disputa con la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez, por lo que se retiraría durante veinte años. En 1992, Bobby Fischer viajó a Yugoslavia para volver a jugar contra Boris Spassky, con lo que violó las sanciones económicas estadounidenses contra ese país, y se exilió en Europa Central. En 1996, resurgió una vez más en Estados Unidos a través de su videojuego "Fischerandom Chess". A pesar de que parece haberse desvanecido en la oscuridad, Bobby Fischer sigue siendo venerado como uno de los más grandes ajedrecistas de todos los tiempos. No hay duda de que este genio excéntrico cumplió el deseo que expresó con tan sólo seis años: "Todo lo que quiero hacer es jugar al ajedrez". ajedrezcehegin.blogspot.com
- published: 31 Jan 2012
- views: 29951
- author: tollo67
The Strange Life of Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Updated: 17 Jan 2013
(ABC News) A showdown between a journalist [Jeremy Schaap, son of sportswriter Dick Schaap] and the chess grandmaster in 2005.
http://wn.com/The_Strange_Life_of_Bobby_Fischer
(ABC News) A showdown between a journalist [Jeremy Schaap, son of sportswriter Dick Schaap] and the chess grandmaster in 2005.
- published: 19 Jan 2008
- views: 228173
- author: Ed Scarce
Karpov on Fischer - Volume 1 - Bobby Fischer's Quest For the Crown
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 13:59
- Updated: 16 Jan 2013
♕ FULL VIDEO: www.onlinechesslessons.net ♕ ARTICLE ►: www.onlinechesslessons.net ♕ facebook.com ♕ twitter.com Fischer meets the Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5) with the sharp 6. Qf3 and then sacrifices his c-pawn to complete his development and gain the half open c-file. Once his own king is secure, Fischer gives Black the bishop pair with 11. Bxf6 and tries to blast open the center with 12. d5! Although black keeps the center closed with 12. ...e5, Bobby gives a textbook demonstration of play on the light squares (e4 and f5). Black manages to collect the white pawn on d5, but after 19. Rfd1! and 20. Nc3! the black defenses begin to crumble. The crushing exchange sacrifice 21. Rxd5! was followed by 23. Rb1 and penetration with 24. Rxb7. In the final position, Karpov explains why Black's king in the center is surrounded and doomed. Anatoly Karpov the Twelfth Wolrd Champion discusses games he personally selected of the American Chess Legend Bobby Fischer (1943-2008). Thes games were played during Fischer's "Quest for the Crown" and prior to the 1972 "Match of the Century". Join Fischer's successor as he analyses some of the classic Fischer Brilliancies that highlighted Fischer's path to becoming the first American World Champion in 100 years! The first of a three part "Karpov on Fischer" video series is hosted and produced by FIDE International Grandmaster Ron W Henley of www.OnLineChessLessons.net who served as chief Trainer for Karpov in nine World Championship ...
http://wn.com/Karpov_on_Fischer_Volume_1_Bobby_Fischer's_Quest_For_the_Crown
♕ FULL VIDEO: www.onlinechesslessons.net ♕ ARTICLE ►: www.onlinechesslessons.net ♕ facebook.com ♕ twitter.com Fischer meets the Scandinavian Defense (1.e4 d5) with the sharp 6. Qf3 and then sacrifices his c-pawn to complete his development and gain the half open c-file. Once his own king is secure, Fischer gives Black the bishop pair with 11. Bxf6 and tries to blast open the center with 12. d5! Although black keeps the center closed with 12. ...e5, Bobby gives a textbook demonstration of play on the light squares (e4 and f5). Black manages to collect the white pawn on d5, but after 19. Rfd1! and 20. Nc3! the black defenses begin to crumble. The crushing exchange sacrifice 21. Rxd5! was followed by 23. Rb1 and penetration with 24. Rxb7. In the final position, Karpov explains why Black's king in the center is surrounded and doomed. Anatoly Karpov the Twelfth Wolrd Champion discusses games he personally selected of the American Chess Legend Bobby Fischer (1943-2008). Thes games were played during Fischer's "Quest for the Crown" and prior to the 1972 "Match of the Century". Join Fischer's successor as he analyses some of the classic Fischer Brilliancies that highlighted Fischer's path to becoming the first American World Champion in 100 years! The first of a three part "Karpov on Fischer" video series is hosted and produced by FIDE International Grandmaster Ron W Henley of www.OnLineChessLessons.net who served as chief Trainer for Karpov in nine World Championship ...
- published: 23 May 2012
- views: 32426
- author: OnlineChessLessons
The Sicilian Najdorf - 6. Be2 - Bobby Fischer vs. Kasparov - Opocensky Variation (pt 3/5)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 17:17
- Updated: 15 Jan 2013
♕ FULL 4 HOUR DVD: bit.ly ♕ MORE INFO ►: www.onlinechesslessons.net ♕ facebook.com ♕ twitter.com The Opocensky Variation of the Sicilian Najdorf with 6. Be2 remains one of the most commonly played lines for white against the Najdorf. In Fischer's time in the 1950s and 1960s, more aggressive variations such as the Fischer-Sozin Attack, the 6. Bg5 Main Line, and the 6. f4 Amsterdam Variation were favored over the quieter Opocensky Variation with 6. Be2. However sufficient sources of counterplay were identified for black against the sharper continuations, and in the early 1970s Anatoly Karpov began to make his mark with some fantastic long-term positional ideas in the Opocensky Variation revolving around strategic dominance of the critical d5 square. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kasparov demonstrated that black could maintain excellent chances against the Opocensky Variation by achieving rapid activity on the queenside and center. As in many lines of the Sicilian Najdorf, black aims to take the initiative with the thematic ...b5 and ...d5 breaks. The Opocensky Variation is favored by players who enjoy a quieter positional struggle in place of the double-edged fireworks in more complicated lines in the Sicilian Najdorf (6. Bc4, 6. Bg5, etc..). A few of the most popular grandmasters to have employed the Opocensky Variation are Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov, Wolfgang Unzicker, Paul Keres, Viswanathan Anand, and the current #1 rated player in the world Magnus Carlsen. Interface ...
http://wn.com/The_Sicilian_Najdorf_6_Be2_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Kasparov_Opocensky_Variation_pt_3_5
♕ FULL 4 HOUR DVD: bit.ly ♕ MORE INFO ►: www.onlinechesslessons.net ♕ facebook.com ♕ twitter.com The Opocensky Variation of the Sicilian Najdorf with 6. Be2 remains one of the most commonly played lines for white against the Najdorf. In Fischer's time in the 1950s and 1960s, more aggressive variations such as the Fischer-Sozin Attack, the 6. Bg5 Main Line, and the 6. f4 Amsterdam Variation were favored over the quieter Opocensky Variation with 6. Be2. However sufficient sources of counterplay were identified for black against the sharper continuations, and in the early 1970s Anatoly Karpov began to make his mark with some fantastic long-term positional ideas in the Opocensky Variation revolving around strategic dominance of the critical d5 square. In the 1980s and 1990s, Kasparov demonstrated that black could maintain excellent chances against the Opocensky Variation by achieving rapid activity on the queenside and center. As in many lines of the Sicilian Najdorf, black aims to take the initiative with the thematic ...b5 and ...d5 breaks. The Opocensky Variation is favored by players who enjoy a quieter positional struggle in place of the double-edged fireworks in more complicated lines in the Sicilian Najdorf (6. Bc4, 6. Bg5, etc..). A few of the most popular grandmasters to have employed the Opocensky Variation are Anatoly Karpov, Vasily Smyslov, Wolfgang Unzicker, Paul Keres, Viswanathan Anand, and the current #1 rated player in the world Magnus Carlsen. Interface ...
- published: 16 May 2012
- views: 3430
- author: OnlineChessLessons
Bobby Fischer: Infamous Chess Genius!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:13
- Updated: 18 Jan 2013
Signup for FREE online play at www.Chess.com! The most infamous chess player in history is on display in IM Daniel Rensch's most recent YouTube concoction! Learn from the great moves of Fischer and enjoy!
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Infamous_Chess_Genius!
Signup for FREE online play at www.Chess.com! The most infamous chess player in history is on display in IM Daniel Rensch's most recent YouTube concoction! Learn from the great moves of Fischer and enjoy!
- published: 29 Sep 2011
- views: 51729
- author: wwwChesscom
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Game of the Century - Bobby Fischer vs Donald Byrne
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 24:53
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
In the Chess Game of the Century, a 13 yr old Bobby Fischer showed the world that he was going to be a force in the chess world. Enjoy the commentary and the game. Be sure to check out more analysis at www.thechesswebsite.com The software in the video can be found at http and www.chessok.com
http://wn.com/Game_of_the_Century_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Donald_Byrne
In the Chess Game of the Century, a 13 yr old Bobby Fischer showed the world that he was going to be a force in the chess world. Enjoy the commentary and the game. Be sure to check out more analysis at www.thechesswebsite.com The software in the video can be found at http and www.chessok.com
- published: 19 Jul 2010
- views: 448567
- author: thechesswebsite
Bobby Fischer Biography 1 of 5
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:04
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
Documental Anything To Win
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Biography_1_of_5
Bobby Fischer On Spassky Rematch
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 1:47
- Updated: 26 Dec 2012
Bobby Fischer interview after becoming the 11th World Chess Champion. LM Brian Wall On Bobby Fischer: Bobby said and did things no one else ever said or did. At 12 he told his correspondence opponents he was going to be World Champion. How does a 12 year old sense his destiny already? At 28 he said, The Russians have had MY title for 10 years. I am on a mission from God to take the title away from the Russians. Every game is a challenge I must meet. As Bobby was preparing for his next opponent, his friend GM Helgi Olafsson said, "Why bother? " Bobby replied , " You can afford to think that way, I can't." Bobby knew his great strength and made funny jokes. On giving up Board 1 to Larsen at the USSR vs World match at Euwe's request because he hadn't played in a year and a half, I must have been crazy. On beating Taimanov and Larsen 6-0, I am going to send a telegram to Spassky congratulating him on the right to play me. Bobby seemed inhumanly powerful and supremely confident. The game made a strong impression on me- 1. Bobby didn't get embroiled in Nimzovich-Larsen Chess with a reversed Dutch, he set up his own system where Larsen did not control e5 as a springboard to attack. 2. Bobby never left the board, he used every ounce of energy to win. He would complain to the organizers about disturbing crowd noise. 3. Bobby beating Larsen 6-0 was probably the greatest Chess spectacle ever witnessed. No other World Championship Chess Candidates matches in history, past or future ...
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_On_Spassky_Rematch
Bobby Fischer interview after becoming the 11th World Chess Champion. LM Brian Wall On Bobby Fischer: Bobby said and did things no one else ever said or did. At 12 he told his correspondence opponents he was going to be World Champion. How does a 12 year old sense his destiny already? At 28 he said, The Russians have had MY title for 10 years. I am on a mission from God to take the title away from the Russians. Every game is a challenge I must meet. As Bobby was preparing for his next opponent, his friend GM Helgi Olafsson said, "Why bother? " Bobby replied , " You can afford to think that way, I can't." Bobby knew his great strength and made funny jokes. On giving up Board 1 to Larsen at the USSR vs World match at Euwe's request because he hadn't played in a year and a half, I must have been crazy. On beating Taimanov and Larsen 6-0, I am going to send a telegram to Spassky congratulating him on the right to play me. Bobby seemed inhumanly powerful and supremely confident. The game made a strong impression on me- 1. Bobby didn't get embroiled in Nimzovich-Larsen Chess with a reversed Dutch, he set up his own system where Larsen did not control e5 as a springboard to attack. 2. Bobby never left the board, he used every ounce of energy to win. He would complain to the organizers about disturbing crowd noise. 3. Bobby beating Larsen 6-0 was probably the greatest Chess spectacle ever witnessed. No other World Championship Chess Candidates matches in history, past or future ...
- published: 06 Sep 2010
- views: 43839
- author: cschessnews
1963 US Chess Championship Bobby Fischer vs Larry Evans
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 25:48
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com In 1963 Bobby Fischer put on one of the most incredible performances seen at the championship level winning all 11 of his games. In today's game against Larry Evans, Fischer brings out the Kings Gambit Accepted line and shows why he is the best. This video is the 1st of many in a series of Fischer's USA Championship games to cover the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer - The Knight who Killed the Kings"
http://wn.com/1963_US_Chess_Championship_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Larry_Evans
gatherfield.com In 1963 Bobby Fischer put on one of the most incredible performances seen at the championship level winning all 11 of his games. In today's game against Larry Evans, Fischer brings out the Kings Gambit Accepted line and shows why he is the best. This video is the 1st of many in a series of Fischer's USA Championship games to cover the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer - The Knight who Killed the Kings"
- published: 10 May 2011
- views: 98168
- author: thechesswebsite
Bobby Fischer - Anything to Win (Biography) FULL
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 59:25
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
BBC Documentary with various interviews from well-known chess enthusiasts regarding the 1972 World Chess Champion match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Interviews include: WC Bobby Fischer, WC Boris Spassky, Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Alexander Cockburn Alexander Roshal, Nikolai Krogius, Frank Brady, Viktor Babkin and others.
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Anything_to_Win_Biography_FULL
BBC Documentary with various interviews from well-known chess enthusiasts regarding the 1972 World Chess Champion match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Interviews include: WC Bobby Fischer, WC Boris Spassky, Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Alexander Cockburn Alexander Roshal, Nikolai Krogius, Frank Brady, Viktor Babkin and others.
- published: 04 Sep 2012
- views: 7102
- author: ChessLibrary
A Very Different Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:05
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
Appearing on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Mr Fischer shares his various views about chess.
http://wn.com/A_Very_Different_Bobby_Fischer
Appearing on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Mr Fischer shares his various views about chess.
- published: 12 Feb 2008
- views: 439982
- author: Ed Scarce
Chess Traps: Bobby Fischer Trap
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:31
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
Bobby Fischer was one of the greatest chess minds of all time and always executed great ideas on the chess board. While there are many things we can learn from Bobby Fischer, in this video we look at one of his famous traps that he used. Make sure to check out more great chess content at: www.thechesswebsite.com Software in video brought to you by http
http://wn.com/Chess_Traps_Bobby_Fischer_Trap
Bobby Fischer was one of the greatest chess minds of all time and always executed great ideas on the chess board. While there are many things we can learn from Bobby Fischer, in this video we look at one of his famous traps that he used. Make sure to check out more great chess content at: www.thechesswebsite.com Software in video brought to you by http
- published: 24 Nov 2010
- views: 331290
- author: thechesswebsite
Killegar Chess presents: Bobby Fischer Vs. William G. Addison, 1970
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 9:57
- Updated: 12 Jan 2013
Join us for all things chess at killegarchess.com You can buy the book here tinyurl.com Another great game from chess genius Bobby Fischer and an instuctive example of how to gambit in order to generate a crushing attack
http://wn.com/Killegar_Chess_presents_Bobby_Fischer_Vs_William_G_Addison,_1970
Join us for all things chess at killegarchess.com You can buy the book here tinyurl.com Another great game from chess genius Bobby Fischer and an instuctive example of how to gambit in order to generate a crushing attack
- published: 08 Jun 2009
- views: 64691
- author: SeanG Godley
How Bobby Fischer crushed the Berlin Defence Part 1
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 11:20
- Updated: 15 Jan 2013
GM Daniel King presents a game of Bobby Fischer's against the Berlin Defence. Click here for Daniel King's latest Power Play DVDs: chessbase-shop.com
http://wn.com/How_Bobby_Fischer_crushed_the_Berlin_Defence_Part_1
GM Daniel King presents a game of Bobby Fischer's against the Berlin Defence. Click here for Daniel King's latest Power Play DVDs: chessbase-shop.com
- published: 24 Dec 2012
- views: 2609
- author: PowerPlayChess
1966 US Championship: Pal Benko vs Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 30:11
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com Read online the Graphic Novel "Bobby Fischer: The Knight Who Killed the Kings". In the 1966 US Championship, Bobby Fischer got off to a great start in round 1 against Pal Benko playing his famous Benko opening. gatherfield.com FAQ about the Graphic Novel.
http://wn.com/1966_US_Championship_Pal_Benko_vs_Bobby_Fischer
gatherfield.com Read online the Graphic Novel "Bobby Fischer: The Knight Who Killed the Kings". In the 1966 US Championship, Bobby Fischer got off to a great start in round 1 against Pal Benko playing his famous Benko opening. gatherfield.com FAQ about the Graphic Novel.
- published: 12 Sep 2011
- views: 55454
- author: thechesswebsite
Bobby Fischer's 1st US Championship
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 39:00
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com In 1957-58 at the age of 14 Bobby Fischer played in his first US Championship. He would win the tournament and become an International master soon after. His opponent in this featured game is Edmar Mednis, one of the 3 people ever to beat Fischer at a US Championship. This is the 2nd video for the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer, the Knight who killed the Kings." For more information on the graphic novel click here gatherfield.blogspot.com
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer's_1st_US_Championship
gatherfield.com In 1957-58 at the age of 14 Bobby Fischer played in his first US Championship. He would win the tournament and become an International master soon after. His opponent in this featured game is Edmar Mednis, one of the 3 people ever to beat Fischer at a US Championship. This is the 2nd video for the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer, the Knight who killed the Kings." For more information on the graphic novel click here gatherfield.blogspot.com
- published: 29 Jun 2011
- views: 76007
- author: thechesswebsite
Through the Life of Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 4:12
- Updated: 08 Jan 2013
A tribute to the legendary Chess player, Robert "Bobby" James Fischer. Put together by MarkGSelf. Music: Hans Zimmer - Chevaliers de Sangreal
http://wn.com/Through_the_Life_of_Bobby_Fischer
A tribute to the legendary Chess player, Robert "Bobby" James Fischer. Put together by MarkGSelf. Music: Hans Zimmer - Chevaliers de Sangreal
- published: 06 Jun 2011
- views: 6606
- author: MarkGSelf
The Strange Life of Bobby Fischer
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 3:53
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
(ABC News) A showdown between a journalist [Jeremy Schaap, son of sportswriter Dick Schaap] and the chess grandmaster in 2005.
http://wn.com/The_Strange_Life_of_Bobby_Fischer
(ABC News) A showdown between a journalist [Jeremy Schaap, son of sportswriter Dick Schaap] and the chess grandmaster in 2005.
- published: 19 Jan 2008
- views: 227794
- author: Ed Scarce
1959 US Chess Championship: Bobby Fischer vs Robin Ault
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 27:43
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
gatherfield.com In the 1959 US Championship we have the 2 time defending champion, Fischer, taking on the 1959 Junior US Champion, Ault. Dubbed as one of the matches for the up and coming chess stars for the US, Fischer put on great display of end game chess and took advantage of the mistakes by Ault.
http://wn.com/1959_US_Chess_Championship_Bobby_Fischer_vs_Robin_Ault
gatherfield.com In the 1959 US Championship we have the 2 time defending champion, Fischer, taking on the 1959 Junior US Champion, Ault. Dubbed as one of the matches for the up and coming chess stars for the US, Fischer put on great display of end game chess and took advantage of the mistakes by Ault.
- published: 03 Nov 2011
- views: 37739
- author: thechesswebsite
Bobby Fischer tells the truth and nothing but the truth
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 2:40
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
Mr.Fischer comments on his release as a prisoner . The American terrorist - goverment and their foreign politics at their worst. I think it is time to do something about this.
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_tells_the_truth_and_nothing_but_the_truth
Mr.Fischer comments on his release as a prisoner . The American terrorist - goverment and their foreign politics at their worst. I think it is time to do something about this.
- published: 19 Sep 2007
- views: 417000
- author: Peter Wolf
Bobby Fischer - Documental (Biografía en Español).
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 43:32
- Updated: 14 Jan 2013
A los quince años, Bobby Fischer se convirtió en el gran maestro más joven de la historia del ajedrez. Nacido en Chicago, Bobby Fischer acabó con el dominio soviético en el Campeonato del Mundo de Ajedrez al derrotar de forma espectacular al ruso Boris Spassky en 1972. Más tarde perdería su título debido a una disputa con la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez, por lo que se retiraría durante veinte años. En 1992, Bobby Fischer viajó a Yugoslavia para volver a jugar contra Boris Spassky, con lo que violó las sanciones económicas estadounidenses contra ese país, y se exilió en Europa Central. En 1996, resurgió una vez más en Estados Unidos a través de su videojuego "Fischerandom Chess". A pesar de que parece haberse desvanecido en la oscuridad, Bobby Fischer sigue siendo venerado como uno de los más grandes ajedrecistas de todos los tiempos. No hay duda de que este genio excéntrico cumplió el deseo que expresó con tan sólo seis años: "Todo lo que quiero hacer es jugar al ajedrez". ajedrezcehegin.blogspot.com
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Documental_Biografía_en_Español
A los quince años, Bobby Fischer se convirtió en el gran maestro más joven de la historia del ajedrez. Nacido en Chicago, Bobby Fischer acabó con el dominio soviético en el Campeonato del Mundo de Ajedrez al derrotar de forma espectacular al ruso Boris Spassky en 1972. Más tarde perdería su título debido a una disputa con la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez, por lo que se retiraría durante veinte años. En 1992, Bobby Fischer viajó a Yugoslavia para volver a jugar contra Boris Spassky, con lo que violó las sanciones económicas estadounidenses contra ese país, y se exilió en Europa Central. En 1996, resurgió una vez más en Estados Unidos a través de su videojuego "Fischerandom Chess". A pesar de que parece haberse desvanecido en la oscuridad, Bobby Fischer sigue siendo venerado como uno de los más grandes ajedrecistas de todos los tiempos. No hay duda de que este genio excéntrico cumplió el deseo que expresó con tan sólo seis años: "Todo lo que quiero hacer es jugar al ajedrez". ajedrezcehegin.blogspot.com
- published: 31 Jan 2012
- views: 29531
- author: tollo67
Bobby Fischer - ANYTHING to WIN (Part 1)
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 10:35
- Updated: 11 Jan 2013
Bobby Fischer - ANYTHING to WIN The Mad Genius Of Bobby Fischer Part 1
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_ANYTHING_to_WIN_Part_1
Bobby Fischer - ANYTHING to WIN The Mad Genius Of Bobby Fischer Part 1
- published: 17 Mar 2008
- views: 112511
- author: chessmanomar
Interviews with Bobby Fischer (inserts) 2
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:15
- Updated: 29 Oct 2012
This is just a sample of the interviews. For the entire interviews, contact me via www.bjelicachess.rs Copyright (c) Dimitrije Bjelica, 2009
http://wn.com/Interviews_with_Bobby_Fischer_inserts_2
This is just a sample of the interviews. For the entire interviews, contact me via www.bjelicachess.rs Copyright (c) Dimitrije Bjelica, 2009
- published: 30 Nov 2009
- views: 5442
- author: DimitrijeBjelica
Bobby Fischer: Infamous Chess Genius!
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 7:13
- Updated: 09 Jan 2013
Signup for FREE online play at www.Chess.com! The most infamous chess player in history is on display in IM Daniel Rensch's most recent YouTube concoction! Learn from the great moves of Fischer and enjoy!
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_Infamous_Chess_Genius!
Signup for FREE online play at www.Chess.com! The most infamous chess player in history is on display in IM Daniel Rensch's most recent YouTube concoction! Learn from the great moves of Fischer and enjoy!
- published: 29 Sep 2011
- views: 51552
- author: wwwChesscom
Chess World.net: How Bobby Fischer slayed the Sicilian Dragon! - Memorable Game
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 19:46
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Svetozar Gligoric "I Don't Believe in Dragons" (Chessgames.com game of the day Jun-18-10) Bled ct 1959 · Sicilian...
http://wn.com/Chess_Worldnet_How_Bobby_Fischer_slayed_the_Sicilian_Dragon!_Memorable_Game
►Playlists: www.chessworld.net ►Kingscrusher's Greatest Hit Videos! : tinyurl.com ►Play FREE online chess at www.chessworld.net or realtime at http Robert James Fischer vs Svetozar Gligoric "I Don't Believe in Dragons" (Chessgames.com game of the day Jun-18-10) Bled ct 1959 · Sicilian...
- published: 11 Nov 2012
- views: 4074
- author: kingscrusher
Is Bobby Fischer the best chess player of all times?
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:24
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
World's Best Chess Miniatures Bobby Fischer vs Reuben Fine Game was played in 1963. Some people argue that Bobby Fischer was the best chess player of all times. His contribution to popularity of chess is enormous. It happened straight after Fischer defeated World Champion Boris Spaski in 1972. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0--0 dxc3 8.Qb3 Qe7 9.Nxc3 Nf6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Bb2 Qg5 14.h4 Qxh4 15.Bxg7 Rg8 16.Rfe1+ Kd8 17.Qg3 Qxg3 18.Bf6# What kind of food you should eat to win more games? Read more here: www.chessschool.com.au
http://wn.com/Is_Bobby_Fischer_the_best_chess_player_of_all_times?
World's Best Chess Miniatures Bobby Fischer vs Reuben Fine Game was played in 1963. Some people argue that Bobby Fischer was the best chess player of all times. His contribution to popularity of chess is enormous. It happened straight after Fischer defeated World Champion Boris Spaski in 1972. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4 Bxb4 5.c3 Ba5 6.d4 exd4 7.0--0 dxc3 8.Qb3 Qe7 9.Nxc3 Nf6 10.Nd5 Nxd5 11.exd5 Ne5 12.Nxe5 Qxe5 13.Bb2 Qg5 14.h4 Qxh4 15.Bxg7 Rg8 16.Rfe1+ Kd8 17.Qg3 Qxg3 18.Bf6# What kind of food you should eat to win more games? Read more here: www.chessschool.com.au
- published: 03 Apr 2011
- views: 40445
- author: MatoJelic
Pawn storm by Bobby Fischer: Fischer vs Cardoso
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 6:19
- Updated: 13 Jan 2013
Pawn storm by Bobby Fischer: Fischer vs Cardoso Robert James Fischer - Rodolfo Tan Cardoso[B90] New York m Rd: 2 New York m Rd: 2, 1957 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0--0 Be7 8.Be3 0--0 9.Bb3 Nc6 10.f4 Na5 11.Qf3 Qc7 12.g4 Nxb3 13.axb3 Rb8 14.g5 Nd7 15.f5 Ne5 16.Qg3 Kh8 17.Nf3 Nxf3+ 18.Rxf3 b5 19.Qh4 exf5 20.exf5 Qc6 21.Raf1 Bb7 22.Bd4 b4 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qh6+ Kh8 25.g6 [25.Rh3 Qg2#] 25...Qc5+ 26.R1f2 fxg6 27.fxg6 Qg5+ 28.Qxg5 Bxg5 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Rxf8+ Kg7 31.gxh7 Black resigned. [31.Rf7+ Kxg6 32.Rxb7 bxc3 33.bxc3] 31...Kxf8 [31...Kxh7 32.Rf7+ Kg6 33.Rxb7 bxc3 34.bxc3 Kf5 35.c4 (35.Rb6 Be3+ 36.Kg2 Bxb6) ] 32.h8Q+ 1--0
http://wn.com/Pawn_storm_by_Bobby_Fischer_Fischer_vs_Cardoso
Pawn storm by Bobby Fischer: Fischer vs Cardoso Robert James Fischer - Rodolfo Tan Cardoso[B90] New York m Rd: 2 New York m Rd: 2, 1957 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4 e6 7.0--0 Be7 8.Be3 0--0 9.Bb3 Nc6 10.f4 Na5 11.Qf3 Qc7 12.g4 Nxb3 13.axb3 Rb8 14.g5 Nd7 15.f5 Ne5 16.Qg3 Kh8 17.Nf3 Nxf3+ 18.Rxf3 b5 19.Qh4 exf5 20.exf5 Qc6 21.Raf1 Bb7 22.Bd4 b4 23.Bxg7+ Kxg7 24.Qh6+ Kh8 25.g6 [25.Rh3 Qg2#] 25...Qc5+ 26.R1f2 fxg6 27.fxg6 Qg5+ 28.Qxg5 Bxg5 29.Rxf8+ Rxf8 30.Rxf8+ Kg7 31.gxh7 Black resigned. [31.Rf7+ Kxg6 32.Rxb7 bxc3 33.bxc3] 31...Kxf8 [31...Kxh7 32.Rf7+ Kg6 33.Rxb7 bxc3 34.bxc3 Kf5 35.c4 (35.Rb6 Be3+ 36.Kg2 Bxb6) ] 32.h8Q+ 1--0
- published: 14 Jun 2012
- views: 10656
- author: MatoJelic
Bobby Fischer - The match with Spassky
- Order: Reorder
- Duration: 5:11
- Updated: 06 Jan 2013
TV Record 'Anything to Win' (Biography of Bobby Fischer)
http://wn.com/Bobby_Fischer_The_match_with_Spassky
TV Record 'Anything to Win' (Biography of Bobby Fischer)
- published: 22 Sep 2007
- views: 234878
- author: qwasertt
24:53
Game of the Century - Bobby Fischer vs Donald Byrne
In the Chess Game of the Century, a 13 yr old Bobby Fischer showed the world that he was g...
published: 19 Jul 2010
author: thechesswebsite
Game of the Century - Bobby Fischer vs Donald Byrne
In the Chess Game of the Century, a 13 yr old Bobby Fischer showed the world that he was going to be a force in the chess world. Enjoy the commentary and the game. Be sure to check out more analysis at www.thechesswebsite.com The software in the video can be found at http and www.chessok.com
- published: 19 Jul 2010
- views: 448567
- author: thechesswebsite
9:04
Bobby Fischer Biography 1 of 5
Documental Anything To Win...
published: 21 Jan 2008
author: felixeltecnico
Bobby Fischer Biography 1 of 5
Documental Anything To Win
- published: 21 Jan 2008
- views: 171813
- author: felixeltecnico
1:47
Bobby Fischer On Spassky Rematch
Bobby Fischer interview after becoming the 11th World Chess Champion. LM Brian Wall On Bob...
published: 06 Sep 2010
author: cschessnews
Bobby Fischer On Spassky Rematch
Bobby Fischer interview after becoming the 11th World Chess Champion. LM Brian Wall On Bobby Fischer: Bobby said and did things no one else ever said or did. At 12 he told his correspondence opponents he was going to be World Champion. How does a 12 year old sense his destiny already? At 28 he said, The Russians have had MY title for 10 years. I am on a mission from God to take the title away from the Russians. Every game is a challenge I must meet. As Bobby was preparing for his next opponent, his friend GM Helgi Olafsson said, "Why bother? " Bobby replied , " You can afford to think that way, I can't." Bobby knew his great strength and made funny jokes. On giving up Board 1 to Larsen at the USSR vs World match at Euwe's request because he hadn't played in a year and a half, I must have been crazy. On beating Taimanov and Larsen 6-0, I am going to send a telegram to Spassky congratulating him on the right to play me. Bobby seemed inhumanly powerful and supremely confident. The game made a strong impression on me- 1. Bobby didn't get embroiled in Nimzovich-Larsen Chess with a reversed Dutch, he set up his own system where Larsen did not control e5 as a springboard to attack. 2. Bobby never left the board, he used every ounce of energy to win. He would complain to the organizers about disturbing crowd noise. 3. Bobby beating Larsen 6-0 was probably the greatest Chess spectacle ever witnessed. No other World Championship Chess Candidates matches in history, past or future ...
- published: 06 Sep 2010
- views: 43839
- author: cschessnews
25:48
1963 US Chess Championship Bobby Fischer vs Larry Evans
gatherfield.com In 1963 Bobby Fischer put on one of the most incredible performances seen ...
published: 10 May 2011
author: thechesswebsite
1963 US Chess Championship Bobby Fischer vs Larry Evans
gatherfield.com In 1963 Bobby Fischer put on one of the most incredible performances seen at the championship level winning all 11 of his games. In today's game against Larry Evans, Fischer brings out the Kings Gambit Accepted line and shows why he is the best. This video is the 1st of many in a series of Fischer's USA Championship games to cover the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer - The Knight who Killed the Kings"
- published: 10 May 2011
- views: 98168
- author: thechesswebsite
59:25
Bobby Fischer - Anything to Win (Biography) FULL
BBC Documentary with various interviews from well-known chess enthusiasts regarding the 19...
published: 04 Sep 2012
author: ChessLibrary
Bobby Fischer - Anything to Win (Biography) FULL
BBC Documentary with various interviews from well-known chess enthusiasts regarding the 1972 World Chess Champion match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky. Interviews include: WC Bobby Fischer, WC Boris Spassky, Larry Evans, Robert Byrne, Alexander Cockburn Alexander Roshal, Nikolai Krogius, Frank Brady, Viktor Babkin and others.
- published: 04 Sep 2012
- views: 7102
- author: ChessLibrary
7:05
A Very Different Bobby Fischer
Appearing on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Mr Fischer shares his various vie...
published: 12 Feb 2008
author: Ed Scarce
A Very Different Bobby Fischer
Appearing on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Mr Fischer shares his various views about chess.
- published: 12 Feb 2008
- views: 439982
- author: Ed Scarce
9:31
Chess Traps: Bobby Fischer Trap
Bobby Fischer was one of the greatest chess minds of all time and always executed great id...
published: 24 Nov 2010
author: thechesswebsite
Chess Traps: Bobby Fischer Trap
Bobby Fischer was one of the greatest chess minds of all time and always executed great ideas on the chess board. While there are many things we can learn from Bobby Fischer, in this video we look at one of his famous traps that he used. Make sure to check out more great chess content at: www.thechesswebsite.com Software in video brought to you by http
- published: 24 Nov 2010
- views: 331290
- author: thechesswebsite
9:57
Killegar Chess presents: Bobby Fischer Vs. William G. Addison, 1970
Join us for all things chess at killegarchess.com You can buy the book here tinyurl.com An...
published: 08 Jun 2009
author: SeanG Godley
Killegar Chess presents: Bobby Fischer Vs. William G. Addison, 1970
Join us for all things chess at killegarchess.com You can buy the book here tinyurl.com Another great game from chess genius Bobby Fischer and an instuctive example of how to gambit in order to generate a crushing attack
- published: 08 Jun 2009
- views: 64691
- author: SeanG Godley
11:20
How Bobby Fischer crushed the Berlin Defence Part 1
GM Daniel King presents a game of Bobby Fischer's against the Berlin Defence. Click here f...
published: 24 Dec 2012
author: PowerPlayChess
How Bobby Fischer crushed the Berlin Defence Part 1
GM Daniel King presents a game of Bobby Fischer's against the Berlin Defence. Click here for Daniel King's latest Power Play DVDs: chessbase-shop.com
- published: 24 Dec 2012
- views: 2609
- author: PowerPlayChess
30:11
1966 US Championship: Pal Benko vs Bobby Fischer
gatherfield.com Read online the Graphic Novel "Bobby Fischer: The Knight Who Killed the Ki...
published: 12 Sep 2011
author: thechesswebsite
1966 US Championship: Pal Benko vs Bobby Fischer
gatherfield.com Read online the Graphic Novel "Bobby Fischer: The Knight Who Killed the Kings". In the 1966 US Championship, Bobby Fischer got off to a great start in round 1 against Pal Benko playing his famous Benko opening. gatherfield.com FAQ about the Graphic Novel.
- published: 12 Sep 2011
- views: 55454
- author: thechesswebsite
39:00
Bobby Fischer's 1st US Championship
gatherfield.com In 1957-58 at the age of 14 Bobby Fischer played in his first US Champions...
published: 29 Jun 2011
author: thechesswebsite
Bobby Fischer's 1st US Championship
gatherfield.com In 1957-58 at the age of 14 Bobby Fischer played in his first US Championship. He would win the tournament and become an International master soon after. His opponent in this featured game is Edmar Mednis, one of the 3 people ever to beat Fischer at a US Championship. This is the 2nd video for the upcoming graphic novel "Bobby Fischer, the Knight who killed the Kings." For more information on the graphic novel click here gatherfield.blogspot.com
- published: 29 Jun 2011
- views: 76007
- author: thechesswebsite
4:12
Through the Life of Bobby Fischer
A tribute to the legendary Chess player, Robert "Bobby" James Fischer. Put together by Mar...
published: 06 Jun 2011
author: MarkGSelf
Through the Life of Bobby Fischer
A tribute to the legendary Chess player, Robert "Bobby" James Fischer. Put together by MarkGSelf. Music: Hans Zimmer - Chevaliers de Sangreal
- published: 06 Jun 2011
- views: 6606
- author: MarkGSelf
3:53
The Strange Life of Bobby Fischer
(ABC News) A showdown between a journalist [Jeremy Schaap, son of sportswriter Dick Schaap...
published: 19 Jan 2008
author: Ed Scarce
The Strange Life of Bobby Fischer
(ABC News) A showdown between a journalist [Jeremy Schaap, son of sportswriter Dick Schaap] and the chess grandmaster in 2005.
- published: 19 Jan 2008
- views: 227794
- author: Ed Scarce
27:43
1959 US Chess Championship: Bobby Fischer vs Robin Ault
gatherfield.com In the 1959 US Championship we have the 2 time defending champion, Fischer...
published: 03 Nov 2011
author: thechesswebsite
1959 US Chess Championship: Bobby Fischer vs Robin Ault
gatherfield.com In the 1959 US Championship we have the 2 time defending champion, Fischer, taking on the 1959 Junior US Champion, Ault. Dubbed as one of the matches for the up and coming chess stars for the US, Fischer put on great display of end game chess and took advantage of the mistakes by Ault.
- published: 03 Nov 2011
- views: 37739
- author: thechesswebsite
Vimeo results:
1:23
Props Megatour 9 Trailer
http://propsvisual.com
Megatour 9 hits the Midwest US with 7 days of sessions from Chicag...
published: 14 Dec 2009
author: PropsBMX
Props Megatour 9 Trailer
http://propsvisual.com
Megatour 9 hits the Midwest US with 7 days of sessions from Chicago, IL to Minneapolis, MN. With over 20 riders from around the globe, teams Eastern, Mongoose, Profile, and Tree stumble down the road serving up clips galore.
Teams:
Mongoose: Justin Cobal, Paul Ryan, James Ivett, Greg Illingworth, Miles Rogoish, Chuck Fallon (TM)
Profile: Jeff Klugiewicz, Conall Keenan, Larry Alvarado, Grant Castelluzzo, Jared Eberwein, Matt Coplon (TM)
Tree: Zak Earley, Bobbie Altiser, Eben Fischer, Justin Sexhaur, Nathan Parker, Sam Schulte (TM)
Eastern: Eric Holley, Phil Jones, Adam Banton, Karl Poynter, Leigh Ramsdell (TM)
1:07
Bobby Fischer Book Flip
A flip trough of Harry Benson's Bobby Fischer, the upcoming title from powerHouse Books....
published: 31 May 2011
author: powerHouse Books
Bobby Fischer Book Flip
A flip trough of Harry Benson's Bobby Fischer, the upcoming title from powerHouse Books.
0:23
bobby fischer ledge
music by blockhead
torey kish, adam22, scott marceau and zach sky...
published: 10 Jun 2010
author: scott marceau
bobby fischer ledge
music by blockhead
torey kish, adam22, scott marceau and zach sky
4:39
Bobby Fischer - Fresh
Bobby's first music video done for the song "FRESH" off The Best Kept Secret mixtape. Shot...
published: 29 Oct 2010
author: Drew Lombardi
Bobby Fischer - Fresh
Bobby's first music video done for the song "FRESH" off The Best Kept Secret mixtape. Shot by Joe Hood (film student at NYU) in Bobby's hometown of Bristol, Rhode Island.
Youtube results:
2:40
Bobby Fischer tells the truth and nothing but the truth
Mr.Fischer comments on his release as a prisoner . The American terrorist - goverment and ...
published: 19 Sep 2007
author: Peter Wolf
Bobby Fischer tells the truth and nothing but the truth
Mr.Fischer comments on his release as a prisoner . The American terrorist - goverment and their foreign politics at their worst. I think it is time to do something about this.
- published: 19 Sep 2007
- views: 417000
- author: Peter Wolf
43:32
Bobby Fischer - Documental (Biografía en Español).
A los quince años, Bobby Fischer se convirtió en el gran maestro más joven de la historia ...
published: 31 Jan 2012
author: tollo67
Bobby Fischer - Documental (Biografía en Español).
A los quince años, Bobby Fischer se convirtió en el gran maestro más joven de la historia del ajedrez. Nacido en Chicago, Bobby Fischer acabó con el dominio soviético en el Campeonato del Mundo de Ajedrez al derrotar de forma espectacular al ruso Boris Spassky en 1972. Más tarde perdería su título debido a una disputa con la Federación Internacional de Ajedrez, por lo que se retiraría durante veinte años. En 1992, Bobby Fischer viajó a Yugoslavia para volver a jugar contra Boris Spassky, con lo que violó las sanciones económicas estadounidenses contra ese país, y se exilió en Europa Central. En 1996, resurgió una vez más en Estados Unidos a través de su videojuego "Fischerandom Chess". A pesar de que parece haberse desvanecido en la oscuridad, Bobby Fischer sigue siendo venerado como uno de los más grandes ajedrecistas de todos los tiempos. No hay duda de que este genio excéntrico cumplió el deseo que expresó con tan sólo seis años: "Todo lo que quiero hacer es jugar al ajedrez". ajedrezcehegin.blogspot.com
- published: 31 Jan 2012
- views: 29531
- author: tollo67
10:35
Bobby Fischer - ANYTHING to WIN (Part 1)
Bobby Fischer - ANYTHING to WIN The Mad Genius Of Bobby Fischer Part 1...
published: 17 Mar 2008
author: chessmanomar
Bobby Fischer - ANYTHING to WIN (Part 1)
Bobby Fischer - ANYTHING to WIN The Mad Genius Of Bobby Fischer Part 1
- published: 17 Mar 2008
- views: 112511
- author: chessmanomar
5:15
Interviews with Bobby Fischer (inserts) 2
This is just a sample of the interviews. For the entire interviews, contact me via www.bje...
published: 30 Nov 2009
author: DimitrijeBjelica
Interviews with Bobby Fischer (inserts) 2
This is just a sample of the interviews. For the entire interviews, contact me via www.bjelicachess.rs Copyright (c) Dimitrije Bjelica, 2009
- published: 30 Nov 2009
- views: 5442
- author: DimitrijeBjelica
photo: White House / Pete Souza
17 Jan 2013
AMY TEIBEL. Associated Press= JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel's premier on Wednesday dismissed President Barack Obama's reported displeasure with his hard-line policies toward the Palestinians, a sisgn that the two could be headed for a showdown. Polls suggest Benjamin Netanyahu is poised to win Israel's elections next week and continue in office ... could suffer in unprecedented ways if the Israeli government doesn't change its policies....(size: 10.2Kb)
photo: Creative Commons / INABA Tomoaki
16 Jan 2013
YURI KAGEYAMA. AP Business Writers= TOKYO (AP) — Boeing Co.'s 787 planes were grounded for safety checks Wednesday by two major Japanese airlines after one was forced to make an emergency landing in the latest blow for the new jet ... The 787, known as the Dreamliner, is Boeing's newest and most technologically advanced jet, and the company is counting heavily on its success ... The grounding was done voluntarily by the airlines ... The U.S ... U.S....(size: 11.1Kb)
photo: GFDL
17 Jan 2013
TOKYO. Aviation regulators on Thursday grounded most of the world's 787 Dreamliner fleet until a fire risk linked to the plane's batteries can been fixed, deepening a crisis for its US manufacturer Boeing. Regulators in Japan, India and Chile followed the lead of the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in ordering an indefinite halt to all operations, after a Japanese Dreamliner on Wednesday was forced into an emergency landing ... ....(size: 4.5Kb)
photo: French MoD photo
16 Jan 2013
BAMAKO, Mali -- After a punishing bombing campaign failed to halt the advance of al-Qaida-linked fighters, France pledged Tuesday to triple the size of its force in Mali, sending in hundreds more troops as it prepared for a land assault to dislodge the militants occupying the country's northern half ... On Tuesday, France announced that it was increasing the number of troops from 800 to 2,500 ... "We have one objective ... On Tuesday, U.S ... ....(size: 3.6Kb)
photo: AP / Ouahab Hebbat
18 Jan 2013
(CNN) — Nearly two days after Islamist militants abducted an undetermined number of hostages — including Westerners — at a gas plant in a remote section of Algeria, “ongoing activity at various locations” was continuing, a British official said Friday ... The official said a “significant” number of British nationals were among the victims in the incident, and others were unaccounted for ... But U.S ... ....(size: 8.7Kb)
Irish Times
18 Jan 2013
GAVIN BARRETT. OPINION. A striking moment in Steven Zaillian’s wonderful 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer occurs when child chess prodigy Joshua Waitzkin extends his hand to offer his astonished opponent a draw in the middle of a tournament chess final, explaining. “You’ve lost. You just don’t know it yet.” ... Economist Wolfgang Münchau has downplayed the significance of the Brexit debate ... ....(size: 5.1Kb)
The Examiner
17 Jan 2013
Rating for Batman #16. 5. Just when you thought Snyder and Capullo had reached their apex, they go and make the perfect comic book. Yes, perfect. Pitch, pace, and tone are all right on ... For every trap, The Dark Knight has a trick of his own ... It isn't until he makes it to the makeshift throne room of this macabre kingdom that we see that Batman's Boris Spassky is over-matched by the murderous carnival version of Bobby Fischer ... Batman #16 ... ....(size: 2.5Kb)
Colorado Springs Gazette
17 Jan 2013
A 74-year-old man was hit in the head with a gun in the parking lot of Bingo World Wednesday during an attempted robbery. Colorado Springs police said the man was walking from his car toward Bingo World at 272 S. Academy Blvd. about 7 p.m ... WEATHER ... Germain ... Bobby Fischer, the chess grandmaster who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, died at age 64 in Reykjavik, Iceland....(size: 10.1Kb)
The Guardian
15 Jan 2013
Listen to 34 new tracks from around the world, as chosen by the Guardian and other bloggers in the Music Alliance Pact. Music Alliance Pact ... bringing you global sounds without ruining your carbon footprint ... ARGENTINA. Zonaindie ... AUSTRALIA ... AUSTRIA. Walzerkönig ... After the praise he got for Bobby Fischer, his debut EP, Motivado delivered his second EP, Stasi, just as the past year ended and it exceeds what he accomplished on his first work....(size: 18.1Kb)
Sun Star
10 Jan 2013
The Bobby Darin Chess Classic was held in 1973 and attracted some of the best players in the world with a prize fund of $25,000 ... Fats Domino invited Bobby Charles, also a composer, to a show in New Orleans ... Singers and chess players Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond were classmates of Bobby Fischer in grade school. Barbra taught Bobby how to play the ......(size: 3.8Kb)
The New York Times
06 Jan 2013
The Pan American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championship has a long and distinguished history. Many elite players have competed in it since it was first held in 1946 ... Louis — tied for first place ... While that was up from 28 in 2009, 2010 and 2011, it was well below the 123 in 1975, when interest in the game was at its peak because of Bobby Fischer, the American who won the world championship in 1972 ... 1 and No ... Jimenez’s 19 ... ....(size: 7.9Kb)
The Columbus Dispatch
05 Jan 2013
Current home-delivery subscribers may add Digital D, 24/7 E-Edition and unlimited premium Dispatch.com access, for a . Or, you can choose a digital-only subscription for unlimited access to the E-Edition via computer and iPad ... Bobby Fischer and other past chess greats would probably be aghast at the thought. Fischer’s worn, ever-present traveling pocket chessboard and pieces would probably remain his first choice if he were still alive....(size: 3.6Kb)
The Guardian
04 Jan 2013
3287. Tania Sachdev v Wolfgang Uhlmann, Prague 2012. How did White win the game immediately? Illustration. Graphic ... The men were mostly legends from the golden Soviet generation and honours were about even ... Her opponent in his heyday was a rival of Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky but Wolfgang Uhlmann's sense of danger deserted him as his rooks were stranded on the queen's flank while the white army cornered his king ... ....(size: 4.1Kb)
The Inquisitr
31 Dec 2012
Posted. December 30, 2012. An intelligence quotient, or IQ, is a measure of relative intelligence determined by standardized tests. A score is derived from one of several tests ... He claims to have an IQ of about 180, like chess-master Bobby Fischer ... Dr ... Tags . Accurate Indicator Of Intelligence, Alfred Binet, bobby fischer, Brain and Mind Institute, Canada Excellence Research Chair in Cognitive Neuroscience and Imaging, Dolph Lundgren, Dr ... 2....(size: 10.0Kb)
The Examiner
30 Dec 2012
Tweet. 0 Email. Report. Photo 1 of 10. Father of the Bride (1991) Steve Martin and Diane Keaton plan their daughter's wedding. Wedding planners Martin Short and B.D. Wong steal his wallet and the movie. Next. Dakota scores ... Wedding planners Martin Short and B.D. Wong steal his wallet and the movie. Next ... The title character is never found.Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993) The real life story of chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin (Max Pomeranc) ... ....(size: 6.4Kb)
Sun Star
27 Dec 2012
TWO venerable records were broken this month. People thought they would last a hundred years, or maybe, even forever. Lionel Messi is an Argentine footballer who plays as a forward for La Liga club FC Barcelona and the Argentina national team. I just have to cite Lionel’s accomplishment as it is absolutely incredible even to chess fans ... under 9 seconds ... This includes Bobby Fischer and Garry Kasparov and he is only 22. RH bill ... 22-23, 2012....(size: 3.7Kb)
The Hindu
27 Dec 2012
My Cousin Vinny. Jonathan Lynn. A comedy about an absolutely inexperienced lawyer, defending his cousin in a murder case the film stars Joe Pesci as the marvellous Vinny, a leather-jacketed attorney, as street-smart as he is law-book-dumb. The film’s secret ingredient is Marisa Tomei ... Tomei won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress for her performance in this film ... 12 Angry Men. Sydney Lumet ... Cob ... M.S ... Anand ... Searching for Bobby Fischer....(size: 4.3Kb)
Business Insider
26 Dec 2012
Here's a headline that was in USA Today a few days ago. Obama, Boehner continue stalemate on 'fiscal cliff'. Anyone who knows chess terminology knows that it makes no sense. A "stalemate" happens at the very end of the game, when neither side has a legal move, and so the game is tied. There is no way to "continue" a stalemate ... In fairness, lots of people misuse stalemate ... Bobby Fischer famously called this opening move the "best by test." ... ....(size: 6.3Kb)
For those of a similar name, see Bob Fisher (disambiguation).
| Bobby Fischer | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Full name | Robert James Fischer |
| Country | United States Iceland |
| Born | (1943-03-09)March 9, 1943 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 17, 2008(2008-01-17) (aged 64) Reykjavík, Iceland |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| World Champion | 1972–75 |
| Peak rating | 2785 (July 1972) |
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess Grandmaster and the 11th World Chess Champion. He is widely considered one of the greatest chess players of all time. Fischer was also a best-selling chess author. After ending his competitive career, he proposed a new variant of chess and a modified chess timing system. His idea of adding a time increment after each move is now standard, and his variant Chess960 is gaining in popularity.
A chess prodigy, at age 13 Fischer won a "brilliancy" that became known as The Game of the Century. Starting at age 14, he played in eight United States Championships, winning each by at least a point. At age 15½, he became both the youngest grandmaster and the youngest candidate for the World Championship up to that time. He won the 1963–64 U.S. Championship 11–0, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. In the early 1970s he became one of the most dominant players in modern history—winning the 1970 Interzonal by a record 3½-point margin and winning 20 consecutive games, including two unprecedented 6–0 sweeps in the Candidates Matches. According to research by Jeff Sonas, in 1971 Fischer had separated himself from the rest of the world by a larger margin of playing skill than any player since the 1870s.[1] He became the first official World Chess Federation (FIDE) number-one rated chess player in July 1971, and his 54 total months at number one is the third longest of all time.
In 1972, he captured the World Championship from Boris Spassky of the USSR in a match widely publicized as a Cold War confrontation. The match, held in Reykjavík, Iceland, attracted more worldwide interest than any chess match before or since. In 1975, Fischer declined to defend his title when he could not reach agreement with FIDE over the conditions for the match. He became more reclusive and did not play competitive chess again until 1992, when he won an unofficial rematch against Spassky. The competition was held in Yugoslavia, which was then under a United Nations embargo.[2][3][4] This led to a conflict with the U.S. government, which was also seeking income tax from Fischer on his match winnings. Fischer never returned to his native country.
In his later years, Fischer lived in Hungary, Germany, the Philippines, Japan, and Iceland. During this time he made increasingly anti-American and anti-Israel statements. After his U.S. passport was revoked over the Yugoslavia sanctions issue, he was detained by Japanese authorities for nine months in 2004 and 2005 under threat of deportation. In February 2005, Iceland granted him right of residence as a "stateless" alien and issued him a passport.[5] When Japan refused to release him on that basis, Iceland's parliament voted in March 2005 to give him full citizenship.[6] The Japanese authorities then released Fischer to Iceland, where he lived until his death in 2008.[7]
Early years[link]
Bobby Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois on March 9, 1943.[8] His birth certificate listed his father as Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, a German biophysicist (who had been Regina Fischer's husband in Moscow, prior to her arrival in America). His mother, Regina Wender Fischer, was an American citizen of Polish-Russian Jewish descent,[9][10] born in Switzerland and raised in St. Louis, Missouri.[8] She later became a teacher, a registered nurse, and then a physician.[11] Regina had married Hans-Gerhardt in 1933 in Moscow, USSR, where Regina was studying medicine at the First Moscow Medical Institute, and the couple had lived together for a few years in Moscow. However, Hans-Gerhardt would never enter America himself, and Regina was a single parent, raising Bobby along with his elder sister, Joan. Regina lived an itinerant life, shuttling between different jobs and schools all over the country, and engaging in political activism.[12] In 1948, the family moved to Mobile, Arizona, where Regina taught in an elementary school. The following year they moved to Brooklyn, New York, where she worked as an elementary school teacher and nurse.
Sources implying that Paul Nemenyi, a Hungarian Jewish physicist, 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.[12][13][14] During the 1950s, the FBI investigated Regina and her circle for her alleged communist sympathies and her previous life in Moscow. The files from that FBI investigation into the family identify Nemenyi as Bobby's biological father. Government documents show that Hans-Gerhardt Fischer never entered the United States, having been refused admission by U.S. immigration officials because of alleged Communist sympathies.[13][15][16] Regina and Nemenyi were reported to have had an affair in 1942. Additionally, Paul Nemenyi made monthly child support payments to her, and paid for Fischer's schooling until his own death in 1952.[17] Nemenyi also lodged complaints with social workers saying he was concerned about the way that Regina was raising the child, on one occasion breaking down in tears when making the complaints.[13] Separately, Bobby later 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.[12] 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: "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."[13] Regina also told a social worker that the last time she had ever seen Hans-Gerhardt Fischer was 1939, four years before Bobby was born. On another occasion, she told the social worker she had traveled to Mexico to see Hans-Gerhardt in June 1942, and that Bobby was conceived during that meeting.[12] 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.[12]
In May 1949, the six-year-old Fischer and his sister learned how to play chess using the instructions from a chess set bought at a candy store below their Brooklyn apartment.[18][19] When the family vacationed at Patchogue, Long Island that summer, Bobby found a book of old chess games, and studied it intensely.[20] On November 14, 1950, his mother 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.[21][22] Fischer played in the exhibition, losing in 15 minutes. One of the spectators was Carmine Nigro, president of the Brooklyn Chess Club, who introduced him to the club and began teaching him.[23][24] Fischer attended the club regularly, intensified his interest, and gained playing strength rapidly. In the summer of 1955, the then 12-year-old Fischer joined the Manhattan Chess Club, the strongest in the country.[25][26]
In June 1956, Fischer began attending the "Hawthorne Chess Club", which was actually master John W. Collins' home. Collins had earlier coached some of the country's leading players, including Robert Byrne, Donald Byrne, and William Lombardy. Fischer played thousands of blitz and offhand games with Collins and other strong players, began studying the books in Collins' large chess library, and ate almost as many dinners at Collins' home as his own.[27][28][29] 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. Denker wrote that Bobby enjoyed those treats and never forgot them; the two became lifelong friends.[30]
Fischer was also involved with the Log Cabin Chess Club of Orange, New Jersey, which in March 1956 took him on a tour to Cuba, where he gave a 12-board simultaneous exhibition at Havana's Capablanca Chess Club, winning 10 and drawing 2.[31][32] On this tour the club played a series of matches against other clubs. Fischer played on second board, behind strong master Norman Whitaker. Whitaker and Fischer were the leading scorers for the club, each scoring 5.5 points out of 7 games.[33]
Fischer attended Erasmus Hall High School at the same time as Barbra Streisand and Neil Diamond.[34][35] In 1959, its student council awarded him a gold medal for his chess achievements.[36][37] The same year, Fischer dropped out of high school when he turned age 16, the earliest he could legally do so.[38][39] He later explained to Ralph Ginzburg, "You don't learn anything in school. It's just a waste of time."[40]
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."[41] 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.[42] Despite the alienation from her son, Regina in 1960 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.[43]
Young champion[link]
Fischer experienced a "meteoric rise" in his playing strength during 1956.[44] On the tenth national rating list of the United States Chess Federation (USCF), published on May 20, 1956, his rating was a modest 1726,[45] over 900 points below top-rated Samuel Reshevsky (2663).[46] Fischer's first real success was winning the U.S. Junior Chess Championship in July 1956. He scored 8½/10 at Philadelphia to become the youngest-ever Junior Champion at age 13,[47] a record that still stands. In the 1956 U.S. Open Chess Championship at Oklahoma City, Fischer scored 8½/12 to tie for 4th–8th places, with Arthur Bisguier winning.[48] In the first Canadian Open Chess Championship at Montreal 1956, he scored 7/10 to tie for 8–12th places, with Larry Evans winning.[49]
Fischer accepted an invitation to play in the Third Lessing J. Rosenwald Trophy Tournament at New York City 1956, a premier tournament limited to the 12 players considered the best in the country.[50] Fischer received entry by special consideration, since his rating was certainly not among the top 12 in the country at that stage. In that elite company, the 13-year-old Fischer could only score 4½/11, tying for 8th–9th place.[51] This was his first truly strong round-robin event, and he achieved a creditable result, certainly above what his rating predicted. He won the first brilliancy prize for his game against Donald Byrne.[50] Hans Kmoch christened it "The Game of the Century", writing, "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."[52] This game remains famous worldwide today.[53]
In 1957, Fischer played a two-game match against former World Champion Max Euwe at New York, losing ½–1½.[54][55] On the USCF's eleventh national rating list, published on May 5, 1957, Fischer was rated 2231, a master – over 500 points higher than his rating a year before.[56] This made him at that time the country's youngest master ever.[57] In July, Fischer successfully defended his U.S. Junior title, scoring 8½/9 at San Francisco.[58] In August, he played in the U.S. Open Chess Championship at Cleveland, scoring 10/12 and winning on tie-breaking points over Arthur Bisguier,[59][60] making Fischer the youngest U.S. Open Champion ever.[61] He next won the New Jersey Open Championship, scoring 6½/7.[62] Fischer then defeated the young Filipino master Rodolfo Tan Cardoso 6–2 in a match in New York sponsored by Pepsi-Cola.[63][64]
Wins first U.S. title[link]
Based on Fischer's rating and strong results, the USCF invited him to play in the 1957–58 U.S. Championship.[65] The tournament included such luminaries as six-time champion Samuel Reshevsky, defending champion Bisguier, and William Lombardy, who in August had won the World Junior Championship with the only perfect score (11–0) in its history.[66][67] Fischer was expected to score around 50%. Bisguier predicted that Fischer would "finish slightly over the center mark".[66][68] He scored eight wins and five draws to win the tournament with 10½/13, a point ahead of Reshevsky.[69] Still two months shy of his 15th birthday, he became the youngest U.S. Champion in history[70]—a record which still stands.[71] Since the championship that year was also the U.S. Zonal Championship, Fischer's victory earned him the International Master title.[72][73]
U.S. Championships[link]
Fischer played in eight U.S. Chess Championships, each held in New York City, winning every one.[74][75] His margin of victory was always at least one point.[76]
- 1957–58: 10½/13
- 1958–59: 8½/11
- 1959–60: 9/11
- 1960–61: 9/11
- 1962–63: 8/11
- 1963–64: 11/11
- 1965–66: 8½/11
- 1966–67: 9½/11
Fischer missed the 1961–62 Championship (he was preparing for the upcoming Interzonal), and there was no 1964–65 event.[78] His total score was 74/90 (61 wins, 26 draws, 3 losses), with the only losses being to Edmar Mednis, Samuel Reshevsky, and Robert Byrne.[79] For his career, he achieved 82.2 percent in the U.S. Championship.
His 11–0 win in the 1963–64 Championship is the only perfect score in the history of the tournament,[80][81] and one of about ten perfect scores in high-level chess tournaments ever.[82][83][84] David Hooper and Kenneth Whyld called it "the most remarkable achievement of this kind."[82]
Olympiads[link]
_gegen_Fischer_(USA).jpg)
Fischer refused to play in the 1958 Munich Olympiad when his demand was turned down that he, as the reigning U.S. Champion, play first board ahead of Samuel Reshevsky.[85] According to some sources, Fischer, then 15, was unable to arrange leave from attending high school in order to play in Munich.[86] However, he represented the United States on top board with great distinction at four Olympiads:
-
Olympiad Individual result U.S. team result Leipzig 1960 13/18 (Bronze) Silver Varna 1962 11/17 (Eighth) Fourth Havana 1966 15/17 (Silver) Silver Siegen 1970 10/13 (Silver) Fourth
Fischer's overall total was +40 −7 =18, for 49/65 or 75.4%.[87][88] In 1966, he narrowly missed the individual gold medal, scoring 88.23% to World Champion Tigran Petrosian's 88.46%. Fischer played four more games than Petrosian, faced stiffer opposition, and would have won the gold if he had accepted Florin Gheorghiu's draw offer in the penultimate round rather than declining it and suffering his only loss.[89]
Fischer had planned to play for the U.S. at the 1968 Lugano Olympiad, but backed out when he saw the poor playing conditions.[90][91]
In the 1962 Varna Olympiad, on the eve of the match between the U.S. and Argentine teams, Fischer boasted to his teammates that he would finish his game in 25 moves. His opponent the next day, Miguel Najdorf, opened with the Sicilian Najdorf, and resigned on move 24.
Grandmaster, candidate, author[link]
Fischer's victory in the U.S. Championship qualified him to participate in the 1958 Portorož Interzonal, the next step toward challenging the World Champion.[64] The top six finishers in the Interzonal would qualify for the Candidates Tournament.[92] Prior to the Interzonal, he played two short training matches in Yugoslavia. He drew both games against Dragoljub Janošević. Then he defeated Milan Matulović in Belgrade by 2½–1½.[93]
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."[94] 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 (+6 −2 =12) to tie for 5th–6th.[95] The Soviet grandmaster Yuri Averbakh 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."[96] Fischer became the youngest person ever to qualify for the Candidates. He also became the youngest grandmaster in history at 15 years and 6 months. This record stood until 1991 when it was broken by Judit Polgár.[97]
Before the Candidates' tournament, Fischer competed in the 1958–59 U.S. Championship (winning with 8½/11) and then in international tournaments at Mar del Plata, Santiago, and Zürich. He played unevenly in the two South American tournaments. At the strong Mar del Plata event, he finished tied for third with Borislav Ivkov, half a point behind tournament winners Ludek Pachman and Miguel Najdorf; this confirmed his grandmastership. At Santiago, he tied for fourth through sixth places, behind Ivkov, Pachman, and Herman Pilnik. He did better at the very strong Zurich event, finishing a point behind future World Champion Mikhail Tal and half a point behind Svetozar Gligorić.[98][99]
Although Fischer had ended his formal education at age 16, he subsequently taught himself several foreign languages, to gain access to foreign chess periodicals.[100]
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".[101] A director of the Manhattan Chess Club had once banned Fischer for not being "properly accoutered", forcing Denker to intercede to get him reinstated.[102] Likely, lack of money to buy better clothes was at least partially to blame.[citation needed] Now, encouraged by Pal Benko to dress more smartly, Fischer "began buying suits from all over the world, hand-tailored and made to order".[103][104] He boasted to journalist Ralph Ginzburg in 1961 that he had 17 suits, all hand-tailored, and that his shirts and shoes were also handmade.[105]
At the age of 16, Fischer finished a creditable equal fifth out of eight, the top non-Soviet player, at the Candidates Tournament held in Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1959. He scored 12½/28 but was outclassed by tournament winner Tal, who won all four of their individual games.[106]
Fischer published his first book of collected games at age 16, in 1959, entitled Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess, and published by Simon & Schuster.
1960–61[link]
In 1960, Fischer tied for first place with the young Soviet star Boris Spassky at the strong Mar del Plata tournament in Argentina, with the two well ahead of the rest of the field, scoring 13½/15.[107] Fischer lost only to Spassky, and this was the start of their relationship, which began on a friendly basis and stayed that way, in spite of Fischer's troubles against him over-the-board.[108]
Fischer struggled in the later Buenos Aires tournament, finishing with 8½/19 (won by Viktor Korchnoi and Samuel Reshevsky on 13/19).[109] This was the only real failure of Fischer's competitive career.[110] According to Larry Evans, Fischer's first sexual experience was with a girl to whom Evans introduced him during the tournament.[111][112] 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."[113] Fischer concluded 1960 by winning a small tournament in Reykjavik with 4½/5,[114] and defeating Klaus Darga in an exhibition game in West Berlin.[115]
In 1961, Fischer started a 16-game match with Reshevsky, split between New York and Los Angeles. Despite Fischer's meteoric rise, the veteran Reshevsky, 32 years Fischer's senior, was considered the favorite, since he had far more match experience and had never lost a set match.[116] 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.[117] Reshevsky was declared the winner of the match, and received the winner's share of the prize fund.[118]
Fischer was second behind former World Champion Tal at Bled 1961, which had a super-class field. He defeated Tal head-to-head for the first time, scored 3½/4 against the Soviet contingent, and finished as the only unbeaten player, with 13½/19.[119]
1962: success, setback, accusations of collusion[link]
Dominates Interzonal[link]
In the next World Championship cycle, Fischer won the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal by 2½ points, scoring an undefeated 17½/22.[120] He was the first non-Soviet player to win an Interzonal since FIDE instituted the tournament in 1948.[121]
Problems at Candidates' Tournament[link]
Fischer's decisive Interzonal victory made him one of the favorites for the Candidates Tournament in Curaçao, which began soon afterwards.[122][123] He finished fourth out of eight with 14/27, the best result by a non-Soviet player, but well behind Tigran Petrosian (17½/27), Efim Geller, and Paul Keres (both 17/27).[124] 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.[125]
Accuses Soviets of collusion[link]
See also: World Chess Championship 1963
Following his failure in the 1962 Candidates (at which five of the eight players were from the Soviet Union), Fischer asserted in an August 1962 article in Sports Illustrated magazine, entitled The Russians Have Fixed World Chess, that three of the Soviet players (Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres, and Efim Geller) had a pre-arranged agreement to quickly draw their games against each other in order to save energy and to concentrate on 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.[126][127] Anatoly Karpov, later World Champion, wrote in his 1991 autobiography that Korchnoi had complained in the Soviet Union, shortly after the 1962 Candidates' event, about not being included in the colluding group of Soviets.[128] Fischer also 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; this was the format that Fischer would dominate in 1971.[129][130]
Fischer defeated Bent Larsen in a summer 1962 exhibition game in Copenhagen for Danish TV. He also defeated Bogdan Śliwa in a team match against Poland at Warsaw later that year.[131]
In the 1962–63 U.S. Championship, Fischer had a close call. In the first round he lost to Edmar Mednis, his first loss ever in a U.S. Championship. Bisguier was in excellent form, and Fischer caught up to him only at the end. Tied at 7–3, the two met in the last round for the championship. Bisguier stood well in the middlegame, but blundered, handing Fischer his fifth consecutive U.S. championship.[132]
Religious affiliation[link]
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."[133][134]
Fischer's mother was Jewish. Fischer, however, disavowed having Jewish roots and joined the Worldwide Church of God in the mid-1960s. This church prescribed Saturday Sabbath, and forbade work (and competitive chess) on Sabbath. Fischer's religious obligations were respected by chess organizers, concerning scheduling of his games. Fischer contributed significant money over several years to the Worldwide Church of God.
The year 1972 was a disastrous one for the Worldwide Church of God, as prophecies by Herbert W. Armstrong were unfulfilled, and the church was rocked by revelations of a series of sex scandals involving Garner Ted Armstrong.[135] Fischer, who felt betrayed and swindled by the Worldwide Church of God, left the church and publicly denounced it.[136]
Semi-retirement in the mid-1960s[link]
Fischer declined an invitation to play in the 1963 Piatigorsky Cup tournament in Los Angeles, which had a world-class field. His decision was probably influenced by ill will over the aborted 1961 match against Reshevsky, which had been arranged by the same organizer.[137] Instead, he played in the Western Open in Bay City, Michigan, which he won with 7½/8.[138] In August–September 1963, he won another minor event, the New York State Championship at Poughkeepsie, with 7/7, his first perfect score.[139][140]
The 1963–64 U.S. Championship was expected to be exciting, particularly since Fischer had only narrowly won it the previous year. It was, but not as expected. "One by one Fischer mowed down the opposition as he cut an 11–0 swathe through the field, to demonstrate convincingly to the opposition that he was now in a class by himself."[137] This stunning result brought Fischer heightened fame, including a profile in Life magazine.[141] Sports Illustrated diagrammed each of the 11 games in its article, "The Amazing Victory Streak of Bobby Fischer".[142] Such extensive chess coverage was groundbreaking for the top American sports magazine.
Fischer, eligible as U.S. Champion, decided not to participate in the Amsterdam Interzonal in 1964, thus taking himself out of the 1966 World Championship cycle.[143] He held to this decision even when FIDE changed the format of the eight-player Candidates Tournament from a round-robin to a series of knockout matches, which eliminated the possibility of collusion.[141] He instead 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.[144] His 94% winning percentage over more than 2,000 games is one of the best ever achieved.[145] Fischer also declined an invitation to play for the U.S. in the 1964 Olympiad in Tel Aviv.[146]
Successful return[link]
Fischer wanted to play in the Capablanca Memorial Tournament, Havana 1965, but the State Department refused to endorse his passport as valid for visiting Cuba.[147] Fischer instead 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.[148][149][150] Luděk 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".[151] The tournament was an "ordeal" for Fischer, who had to endure eight-hour and sometimes even twelve-hour playing sessions.[152] Despite this handicap, he tied for second through fourth places, with 15/21, behind former World Champion Vasily Smyslov, whom he defeated in their individual game.[151] The tournament received extensive media coverage.[153][154]
Fischer began 1966 by winning the U.S. Championship for the seventh time despite losing to Robert Byrne and Reshevsky in the eighth and ninth rounds.[155][156] He also reconciled with Mrs. Piatigorsky, accepting an invitation to the very strong second Piatigorsky Cup 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. At the end, World Championship finalist Boris Spassky edged him out by a half point, scoring 11½/18 to Fischer's 11.[157] Now aged 23, Fischer would win every match or tournament he completed for the rest of his life.[158]
In 1967, Fischer won the U.S. Championship for the eighth and final time, ceding only three draws.[159][160] In March–April and August–September, he won strong tournaments at Monte Carlo (7/9) and Skopje (13½/17).[161][162] In the Philippines he played a series of nine exhibition games against master opponents, winning eight and drawing one.[163]
Withdraws while leading Interzonal[link]
In the next World Championship cycle, at the 1967 Sousse Interzonal, Fischer scored a phenomenal 8½ 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. Fischer forfeited two games in protest and later withdrew, eliminating himself from the 1969 World Championship cycle. Because he had completed less than half his scheduled games, all of his results were annulled, meaning players who had played him had those games cancelled.[129]
In 1968, Fischer won tournaments at Netanya (11½/13) and Vinkovci (11/13) by large margins.[164] He stopped playing for the next 18 months, except for a win against Anthony Saidy in a 1969 New York Metropolitan League team match.[165][166]
In 1969, Fischer published his second games collection, entitled My 60 Memorable Games, which was also published by Simon & Schuster. He was assisted by his friend, GM Larry Evans. The book of deeply annotated games immediately became a best-seller, and has remained continuously popular worldwide to the present day.
World Champion[link]
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. Chess statistician Jeff Sonas observes that "for about a year, Bobby Fischer dominated his contemporaries to an extent never seen before or since".[167] He won the title in 1972, but forfeited it three years later.
Road to the World Championship[link]
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.[168][169][170]
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.[165][171] The USSR team eked out a 20½–19½ victory, but on second board Fischer beat Tigran Petrosian, whom Boris Spassky had dethroned as World Champion the previous year, 3–1, winning the first two games and drawing the last two.[172]
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. Petrosian and Tal were considered the favorites,[173] but Fischer overwhelmed the super-class field with 19/22 (+17 −1 =4), far ahead of Tal (14½), Korchnoi (14), Petrosian (13½), Bronstein (13), etc.[173][174] 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.[175][176] Fischer "crushed such blitz kings as Tal, Petrosian and Smyslov by a clean score".[177] 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".[177][178]
In April–May 1970, Fischer won easily at Rovinj/Zagreb with 13/17 (+10 −1 =6), finishing two points ahead of a field that included such leading players as Gligorić, Hort, Korchnoi, Smyslov, and Petrosian.[179][180] In July–August, he crushed the mostly grandmaster field at Buenos Aires, scoring 15/17 (+13 −0 =4) and winning by 3½ points.[181] In Siegen right after the Olympiad, he defeated Ulf Andersson in an exhibition game for the Swedish newspaper Expressen.[182] Fischer had taken his game to a new level.[183]
The Interzonal was held in Palma de Mallorca in November and December 1970. Fischer won it with a remarkable 18½–4½ score (+15 −1 =7), far ahead of Larsen, Efim Geller, and Robert Hübner, who tied for second at 15–8.[184] Fischer's 3½-point margin set a new record for an Interzonal, beating Alexander Kotov's 3-point margin at Saltsjöbaden 1952.[185] Fischer finished the tournament with seven consecutive wins (including a final-round walkover against Oscar Panno).[186] Setting aside the Sousse Interzonal (which Fischer withdrew from while leading), Fischer's victory gave him a string of eight consecutive first prizes in tournaments.[168]
Fischer continued his domination in the 1971 Candidates matches. First, he beat Mark Taimanov of the USSR at Vancouver by 6–0.[187] "The record books showed that the only comparable achievement to the 6–0 score against Taimanov was Wilhelm Steinitz's 7–0 win against Joseph Henry Blackburne in 1876 in an era of more primitive defensive technique."[188]
Less than two months later, he astounded the chess world by beating Larsen in their Denver match by the same score.[189][190][191] Just a year before, Larsen had played first board for the Rest of the World team ahead of Fischer, and had handed Fischer his only loss at the Interzonal. Garry Kasparov later wrote that no World Champion had ever shown a superiority over his rivals comparable to Fischer's "incredible" 12–0 score in the two matches.[192] Chess statistician Sonas concludes that the victory over Larsen gave Fischer the "highest single-match performance rating ever".[193]
In August 1971, Fischer won a strong lightning event at the Manhattan Chess Club with a score of 21½/22.[174]
Only former World Champion Petrosian, Fischer's final opponent in the Candidates matches, was able to offer resistance in their match, played at Buenos Aires. Petrosian played a strong theoretical novelty in the first game, gaining the advantage, but Fischer played resourcefully and eventually won the game after Petrosian faltered.[194][195][196] This gave Fischer an extraordinary 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 1873–82.[197] Petrosian won decisively in the second game, finally snapping Fischer's streak.[198] After three consecutive draws, Fischer swept the next four games to win the match 6½–2½ (+5 −1 =3).[199] The final match victory allowed Fischer to challenge World Champion Boris Spassky, whom he had never beaten (+0 −3 =2).[200] Soon after the Petrosian match Fischer appeared on the cover of Life.[201]
Fischer's amazing results gave him a far higher rating than any player in history up to that time.[202] On the July 1972 FIDE rating list, his Elo rating of 2785 was 125 points ahead of Spassky, the second-highest rated player (2660).[203][204]
World Championship match[link]
Main article: World Chess Championship 1972
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 Reykjavik, Iceland.[205] For a time it appeared that the dispute would be resolved by splitting the match between the two locations, but that arrangement fell through.[206] 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 to the prize fund, bringing it to an unprecedented $250,000 ($1,267,825.63 in 2009[207]), and Fischer finally agreed to play.[208]
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 Reykjavik. 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.[209]
The match took place in Reykjavík from July through September 1972.[210] 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.[211] 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.[212][213] 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 12½–8½ and become the 11th World Chess Champion.[210]
The Cold War trappings made the match a media sensation.[214] It was called "The Match of the Century",[215][216][217] and received front-page media coverage in the United States and around the world.[218][219] Fischer's win was an American victory in a field that Soviet players had dominated for the past quarter-century—players closely identified with, and subsidized by, the Soviet state.[220][221] Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman calls Fischer's victory "the story of a lonely hero who overcomes an entire empire".[222][223]
Fischer became an instant celebrity. Upon his return to New York, a Bobby Fischer Day was held, and he was cheered by thousands of fans, a unique display in American chess.[224] He was offered numerous product endorsement offers worth "at least $5 million" (all of which he declined)[225] and appeared on the cover of Sports Illustrated.[226] With American Olympic swimming champion Mark Spitz, he also appeared on a Bob Hope TV special.[227] Membership in the U.S. Chess Federation doubled in 1972[228] and peaked in 1974; in American chess, these years are commonly referred to as the "Fischer Boom". Fischer also won the 'Chess Oscar' award for 1970, 1971, and 1972. This award, started in 1967, is determined through votes from chess media and leading players.
Forfeiture of title[link]
Fischer was scheduled to defend his title in 1975. Anatoly Karpov eventually emerged as his challenger, having defeated Spassky in an earlier Candidates match.[229] 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 a FIDE official, Fred Cramer. He made three principal demands:
- The match should continue until one player wins 10 games, without counting the draws.
- There is no limit to the total number of games played.
- In case of a 9–9 score, champion (Fischer) retains his title and the prize fund is split equally.[230]
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.[231] In response to FIDE's ruling, Fischer sent a cable to Euwe on June 27, 1974:
- As I made clear in my telegram to the FIDE delegates, the match conditions I proposed were non-negotiable. 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 participating in the 1975 world chess championship. I therefore resign my FIDE world chess champion title. Sincerely, Bobby Fischer.[232][233]
The delegates responded by reaffirming their prior decisions, but did not accept Fischer's resignation and requested that he reconsider.[234] Many observers considered Fischer's requested 9–9 clause unfair because it would require the challenger to win by at least two games (10–8).[235][236]
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 12½ points winning, or the champion retaining his title in the event of a 12–12 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."[237] 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.[238]
Due to the continued efforts of U.S. Chess Association officials,[239] 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 9–9 clause was once again rejected, by a narrow margin of 35 votes to 32.[240] 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 and Karpov officially became World Champion by default.[241] In his 1991 autobiography, Karpov expressed profound regret that the match did not take 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.[242]
Sudden obscurity[link]
After the World Championship in 1972, Fischer virtually retired from chess: he did not play a competitive game in public for nearly 20 years.[243] In 1977, he played three games in Cambridge, Massachusetts against the MIT Greenblatt computer program, winning all of them.[244]
On May 26, 1981, a police patrolman arrested Fischer while he was walking in Pasadena, saying that he matched the description of a man who had just committed a bank robbery in that area.[245] Fischer stated that he was slightly injured during the arrest.[246] He was then held for two days and—according to Fischer—was subjected to assault and various other types of serious mistreatment during that time.[247] He was then released on $1000 bail.[248] After being released, Fischer published a 14-page pamphlet detailing his alleged experiences and saying that his arrest had been "a frame up and set up".[249][250][251][252]
In the early 1980s, Fischer stayed for extended periods in the San Francisco-area home of a friend, the Canadian grandmaster Peter Biyiasas. In 1981, the two played 17 five-minute games. Despite his layoff from competitive play, Fischer won all of them, according to Biyiasas, who lamented that he was never even able to reach an endgame.[251][252]
1992 Spassky rematch[link]
After twenty years, Fischer emerged from isolation to play Spassky (then tied for 96th–102nd on the FIDE rating list) to 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 sporting events. 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 pre-arranged.[253] The purse for Fischer's re-match with Spassky was US$5,000,000, with $3.35 million of that to go to the winner.[254]
Fischer won the match, 10 wins to 5 losses, with 15 draws.[255] Kasparov reportedly said, "Bobby is playing OK, nothing more. Maybe his strength is 2600 or 2650. It wouldn't be close between us."[256] Fischer never played any competitive games afterwards.[257]
Fischer and Spassky gave a total of ten press conferences during the match.[258] Yasser Seirawan 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."[259][260] Seirawan wrote that Fischer is not camera shy, "smiles and laughs easily", and "is a wholly enjoyable conversationalist. A fine wit, he is a very funny man."[261]
The U.S. Department of the Treasury had warned Fischer beforehand that his participation was illegal, as it violated President George H. W. Bush's Executive Order 12810 that implemented United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia.[262] In response, Fischer called a conference and, in front of the international press, literally spat on the U.S. order forbidding him to play, announcing "This is my reply." Following the match, the Department obtained an arrest warrant against him. Fischer remained wanted by the United States government for the rest of his life and never returned to the U.S.
Life as an émigré[link]
After the match with Spassky in 1992, Fischer again slid into relative obscurity. Now a fugitive from the American legal system, he intensified his vitriolic rhetoric against the U.S. For some of these years Fischer lived in Budapest, Hungary, allegedly having a relationship with young Hungarian chess master Zita Rajcsányi.[263][264] He claimed to find standard chess stale and he played chess variants such as Chess960 blitz games. He visited with the Polgár family in Budapest and analyzed many games with Judit, Zsuzsa, and Zsófia Polgár.[265][266]
From 2000 to 2002, Fischer lived in Baguio City in the Philippines.[267] He resided in the same compound as the Filipino grandmaster Eugenio Torre, a close friend who acted as his second during his matches with Spassky.[267] Torre introduced Fischer to a 22-year-old woman named Marilyn Young.[268] On May 21, 2001 Marilyn Young gave birth to a daughter named Jinky Young.[269][270] 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.[269][271][272] On the other hand, Magnús Skúlason, a friend of Fischer's, said that he was certain that Fischer was not the girl's father.[273]
On August 17, 2010 it was reported that a DNA test revealed that Jinky Young is not the daughter of Bobby Fischer.[274][275]
Antisemitic statements[link]
Fischer, whose mother was Jewish,[12][13][14][134] and whose possible biological father was also Jewish,[12] made numerous anti-Jewish statements and professed a general hatred for Jews since at least the early 1960s.[134][276] In 1961, he "made his first public statements despising Jews," according to FM Mike Klein.[277] 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 antisemitism that could only be thought up by a mind completely cut off from reality."[110] Donner writes that he took Fischer to a war museum, which "left a great impression, since he is not an evil person, and afterwards he was more restrained in his remarks—to me, at least."[110]
From the 1980s and thereafter, however, Fischer's comments about Jews were a major theme in his public and private remarks.[278] He openly denied the Holocaust, and argued that the United States is "a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew bastards."[279]
In 1984, Fischer denied being a Jew in a letter to the Encyclopedia Judaica, insisting that they remove his name and accusing them of "fraudulently misrepresenting me to be a Jew [...] to promote your religion."[280] Although in an article he wrote as a teenager Fischer described his mother as Jewish,[134] Fischer was later reported to have denied his Jewish ancestry.[12]
In the last years of his life, Fischer's primary means of communicating with the public was via sometimes-outrageous radio interviews. He participated in at least 34 such broadcasts between 1999 and 2006, 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 Cherep-Spiridovich, that Jewish agencies were targeting him.[281] 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.[282] In 2005, some of Fischer's belongings were auctioned on eBay. In 2006, Fischer claimed that his belongings in the storage unit were worth millions.[283][284]
Fischer's library contained anti-Semitic and white supremacist 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.[285][286] A notebook written by Fischer is filled with 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."[287]
Anti-American and anti-Israel statements[link]
Shortly after midnight on September 12, 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...no one...that the U.S. and Israel have been slaughtering the Palestinians for years".[288][289][290] He also said "All the crimes the U.S. is committing all over the world ... This just shows, what goes around, that comes around even to the United States."[288][289] Fischer also referenced the movie Seven Days in May and said he hoped for a military coup d'état 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 and secure hundreds of thousands of Jewish ringleaders."[291]
In response, on October 28, 2001, Fischer's right to membership in the U.S. Chess Federation was permanently revoked by a unanimous 7–0 vote of the USCF's Policy Board.[292]
Fischer drafted a letter to Osama bin Laden, which began:[293][294]
Dear Mr. Osama bin Laden allow me to introduce myself. I am Bobby Fischer, the World Chess Champion. First of all you should know that I share your hatred of the murderous bandit state of "Israel" and its chief backer the Jew-controlled U.S.A. also know [sic] as the "Jewnited States" or "Israel West." We also have something else in common: We are both fugitives from the U.S. "justice" system.
After Fischer's death, chess columnist Shelby Lyman, who in 1972 had hosted the PBS broadcast of that year's championship, said that "the anti-American stuff is explained by the fact that ... he spent the rest of his life [after the match in Yugoslavia] fleeing the U.S., because he was afraid of being extradited."[295] In Bobby Fischer: The Wandering King, authors IM Hans Böhm and Kees Jongkind write that Fischer's radio broadcasts show that he was "out of his mind ... a victim of his own mental illness".[296]
Detention in Japan[link]
Fischer lived for a time in Japan.[297] 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.[298] Fischer resisted arrest, claiming to have sustained bruises, cuts and a broken tooth in the process.[299] 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 Yugoslavia sanctions violation).[298] Despite the outstanding arrest warrant in the U.S., Fischer said that he believed the passport was still valid.[300] 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.[299]
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.[301] 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.[298] (However, he was also reported to have been living in the Philippines with Marilyn Young during the same period.[267]) Fischer also applied for German citizenship on the grounds that his father was German.[302] 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.[303][304] Japan's Justice Minister rejected Fischer's request for asylum and ordered him deported.[305]
Asylum in Iceland[link]
Seeking ways to evade deportation to the United States, Fischer wrote a letter to the government of Iceland in early January 2005 and asked for Icelandic citizenship. 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, the Althing 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,[306] and also in recognition of his 1972 match, which had "put Iceland on the map".[307]
Shortly before his departure to Iceland, on March 23, 2005, Fischer and Bosnitch appeared briefly on the BBC World Service, via a telephone link to the Tokyo airport. Bosnitch stated that Fischer would never play traditional chess again. Fischer denounced President Bush as a criminal and Japan as a puppet of the United States.
Upon his arrival in Reykjavík, Fischer was welcomed by a crowd and gave a news conference.[308] He lived a reclusive life in Iceland, avoiding entrepreneurs and others who approached him with various proposals.[309]
On December 10, 2006, Fischer telephoned an Icelandic television station and pointed out a winning combination, missed by the players and commentators, in a chess game televised live in Iceland.[310]
Fischer moved into an apartment in the same building as his closest friend and spokesman, Garðar Sverrisson. Sverrisson's wife, Kristín Þórarinsdóttir, was a nurse and later looked after Fischer as a terminally ill patient. Garðar's two children, especially his son, were very close to Fischer.
Fischer also developed a friendship with Magnús Skúlason, a psychiatrist and chess player who later recalled long discussions with Fischer about a wide variety of subjects.[311]
Death, estate dispute, and exhumation[link]
Church of Laugardælir, Fischer's resting place
Fischer's grave
On January 17, 2008, Fischer died from degenerative renal failure at the Reykjavik hospital.[312][313][314] He originally had a urinary tract blockage but refused surgery or medications.[315][316] Magnús Skúlason reported Fischer's last words as "Nothing is as healing as the human touch."[311][317] On January 21, he was buried in the small Christian cemetery of Laugardælir church, outside the town of Selfoss, 60 km southeast of Reykjavík, after a Catholic funeral presided over by Fr. Jakob Rolland of the diocese of Reykjavik. In accordance with Fischer's wishes, no one else was present except Miyoko Watai, Garðar Sverrisson, and Garðar's family.[318][319]
Fischer's estate was estimated at 140 million ISK (about 1 million GBP or US$2 million) and it quickly became the object of a legal battle involving claims from four parties with Miyoko Watai ultimately inheriting what remained of his 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).[273][311][320][321][322] 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.[323] On June 16, 2010, the Court ruled in favor of a petition on behalf of Jinky Young to have Bobby Fischer's remains exhumed.[324][325] This 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.[326] On August 17, 2010, the Court announced that from the DNA sample it was determined that Fischer was not the father of Jinky Young.[274][275] On March 3, 2011, a district court in Iceland ruled that Miyoko Watai, as Fischer's widow and heir, was therefore entitled to inherit his estate.[327]
Contributions to chess[link]
 |
This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. |
Opening theory[link]
Fischer was predictable in his use of openings and variations of those openings, but it was still difficult for opponents to exploit this limitation because his knowledge of them was so deep. As black, he would usually play the Nadjorf Variation of the Sicilian defense 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). As white, Fischer opened with 1. e4 almost exclusively throughout his career. On occasion he would open with 1. Nf3 or 1. d4, but these were rarities. He was a master of the Sicilian from both sides of the board and won many games as white with 1. e4 c5. The next most common defense against his 1. e4 was the Caro-Kann Defense (1. e4 c6), to which Fischer had a good record. His worst record was against the French Defense (1. e4 e6), and especially the Winawer Variation (1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4). For most of his career he maintained that the Winawer was unsound because it exposed Black's kingside, but later on he grudgingly admitted that it might have some merit.[citation needed]
Fischer was renowned for his deep opening preparation and made numerous contributions to chess opening theory.[328] He was one of the foremost experts on the Ruy Lopez.[329] 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.[330][331] Fischer's lifetime score with the move 5.0-0 in tournament and match games was six wins, three draws, and no losses (83.3%).[332]
He was a recognized expert in the Black side of the Najdorf Sicilian and the King's Indian Defense.[333] He used the Grünfeld Defence and Neo-Grünfeld Defence to win his celebrated games against Donald and Robert Byrne, and played a theoretical novelty in the Grünfeld against reigning World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik, refuting Botvinnik's prepared analysis over-the-board.[334][335] 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 for him.[336][337][338]
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,[339][340][341] but Fischer succeeded in proving its soundness.[342] Out of ten tournament and match games as Black in the Poisoned Pawn, Fischer won five, drew four, and lost only one, the 11th game of his 1972 match against Spassky.[343] Following Fischer's use, the Poisoned Pawn became a respected line played by many of the world's leading players.[344]
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,[342][345] which has sometimes been named for him.[346] In 1961, prompted by a loss the year before to Spassky,[347] 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 loses by force."[348] Fischer recommended 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6,[349] which has since become known as the Fischer Defense to the King's Gambit.[350][351][352] Surprisingly, Fischer later played the King's Gambit as White in three tournament games (preferring 3.Bc4 to 3.Nf3), winning them all.[353]
Endgame[link]
Fischer had an excellent endgame technique.[354] International Master Jeremy Silman listed him as one of the five best endgame players, along with Emanuel Lasker, Akiba Rubinstein, José Capablanca, and Vasily Smyslov. Silman called him a "master of bishop endings".[355]
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.[356][357][358] One of the games was in the 1970 Interzonal and the other two were in their 1971 quarter-final candidates match.
Fischer clock[link]
Further information: Game clock#Recent developments of digital clocks and current usage
In 1988, Fischer filed for U.S. Patent 4,884,255 for a new type of digital chess clock. Fischer's clock gave each player a fixed period of time at the start of the game and then added a small increment after each completed move. The "Fischer clock" soon became standard in most major chess tournaments. The patent expired in November 2001 because of overdue maintenance fees.
Fischer Random Chess[link]
Main article: Chess960
On June 19, 1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fischer announced and advocated a variant of chess named Fischerandom Chess (later known as Fischer Random Chess or Chess960) intended to ensure that a game between players is a contest between their understandings of chess, rather than their abilities to memorize opening lines or prepare opening strategies.
Fischer Random was designed to remove any advantage from the memorization of opening variations by rendering it impracticable. Fischer complained in a 2006 phoned-in call with a radio interviewer that because of the progress in openings and the memorization of opening books, the best players from history, if brought back from the dead to play today, would no longer be competitive. "Some kid of fourteen today, or even younger, could get an opening advantage against Capablanca", he said, merely because of opening-book memorization, which Fischer disdained. "Now chess is completely dead. It is all just memorization and prearrangement. It's a terrible game now. Very uncreative."[359] Fischer heavily disparaged chess as it was currently being played at the highest levels.[360]
Legacy[link]
Kasparov calls Fischer "perhaps the most mythologically shrouded figure in chess".[361] Some leading players and some of his biographers have ranked him as the greatest player who ever lived.[362] Other writers have said that he was arguably the greatest player ever, without reaching a definitive conclusion.[363] Leonard Barden wrote, "Most experts place him the second or third best ever, behind Kasparov but probably ahead of Karpov."[364] 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."[365]
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.[203][204] After beating Spassky by the score 12½–8½ in their 1972 match, his rating dropped to 2780.[204]
Although international ratings were just introduced in 1970, Chessmetrics.com has used modern algorithms to rank performances retrospectively and uniformly throughout chess history. According to the Chessmetrics calculation, Fischer's peak rating was 2895 in October 1971. His one-year peak average was 2881, in 1971, the highest of all time. His three-year peak average was 2867, from January 1971 to December 1973—the second highest ever, just behind Garry Kasparov. Chessmetrics ranked Fischer as the number one player in the world for a total of 109 different months, running (not consecutively) from February 1964 until July 1974.[366]
Fischer's great rival Mikhail Tal praised him as "the greatest genius to have descended from the chess heavens".[367] American grandmaster Arthur Bisguier, who won his first tournament game against Fischer, drew his second, and lost the remaining 13, 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."[368]
Kasparov wrote that Fischer "became the detonator of an avalanche of new chess ideas, a revolutionary whose revolution is still in progress."[369] In January 2009, reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand described him as "the greatest chess player who ever lived. He was a very special person, and I was fortunate to meet him two years ago."[370] Serbian grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojević called Fischer, "A man without frontiers. He didn't divide the East and the West, he brought them together in their admiration of him."[371]
German grandmaster Karsten Müller wrote:[372]
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.
St. Louis philanthropist Rex A. 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.[373]
In popular culture[link]
- The musical Chess, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn 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.[374] In later versions of the show, "The American" is named "Freddie Trumper" and "The Russian" is "Anatoly Sergieveski".[375]
- During the 1972 Fischer–Spassky 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.[376]
- The 1993 film Searching for Bobby Fischer uses Fischer's name in the title even though the film is actually about the life of Joshua Waitzkin.[377] Outside of the United States, it was released as Innocent Moves.[378] The title refers to the search for Fischer's successor after his disappearance from competitive chess, and for a talent like Fischer's in the author's chess-playing son. In the book on which the film is based, the narrator/author actually looks for Fischer for a brief period and imagines what he would say to him if found. In an unpublished 1997 manuscript, Fischer complained that he had not "received one thin dime for the totally exploitative Paramount Pictures 'rip-off' full-length feature film".[379]
- Bobby Fischer is mentioned in Milan Kundera's novel, The Book of Laughter and Forgetting.
- A 2005 episode of Law & Order: Criminal Intent, "Gone" is based on Bobby Fischer.
- An episode of the Nickelodeon program Hey Arnold! featured a character called Robbie Fisher, a skilled Chinese checkers player and obvious parody of Bobby Fischer.
- Bobby Fischer is mentioned in a Saturday Night Live skit on January 20, 1996: Will Ferrell and Cheri Oteri, acting as Spartan cheerleaders, repeat the line "Bobby Fischer, where is he? I don't know!? I don't know!?" in one of their cheers.
- In an episode of The Mary Tyler Moore Show called "The Good-Time News" aired on September 16, 1972, Mary tries to develop a new format for the news, saying that most modern newscasts have two anchormen and all they have to do is "find someone who is warm and endearing enough to balance Ted." Newsroom boss Lou Grant replies, "I don't think Bobby Fischer wants to do television."
- The Prefab Sprout song "Cue Fanfare", from the album Swoon, includes the lyric: "When Bobby Fischer's plane touches the ground / He'll take those Russian boys and play them out of town / Playing for blood as grandmasters should."
- Progressive metal band OSI recorded the song "OSIdea 9" featuring audio clips of Fischer's rambling interview with a radio station after his arrest in Japan. In the interview Fischer asserts that the U.S. government will torture and murder him as soon as he is extradited back to the country.
- Post-rock band iLiKETRAiNS's song "A Rook House For Bobby" is about Fischer's absconding from the American legal system
- In the Arli$$ episode "End Game", which aired on August 18, 2002, Arliss and Stanley try to persuade a reclusive former chess champion called Bobby Salmon (an obvious reference to Bobby Fischer) to get back into the game.[380]
- An HBO original documentary entitled Bobby Fischer Against the World, directed by Liz Garbus premiered on June 6, 2011. The ninety-minute documentary explores the complex life of the troubled genius.[381]
- An episode of the Canadian series Endgame shows the main hero (genius chess player Arkady Balagan) replaying "The Game of the Century" with himself and trying to defeat "Bobby Fischer".[citation needed] When he changes a tactic of Donald Byrne, he concludes that even if he (Donald) had changed his tactic he would have lost, and admires the talent of 13-year-old Bobby.
- Bobby Fischer is mentioned in the Big Bang Theory episode "The Werewolf Transformation" when Penny beats Leonard at chess and her playing abilities are compared to the grandmasters, despite not knowing any of the pieces names and calling them such things as the "lighthouse" and "pointy head guy".
Writings[link]
- Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess (Simon and Schuster, New York, 1959). ISBN 0-923891-46-3. An early collection of 34 lightly annotated games including the famous "Game of the Century" against Donald Byrne.
- "A Bust to the King's Gambit" (American Chess Quarterly, Vol. 1, No. 1 (Summer 1961), pp. 3–9).
- "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 Curaçao Candidates' tournament had colluded with one another.
- "'The Ten Greatest Masters in History" (Chessworld, Vol. 1, No. 1 (January–February 1964), pp. 56–61). A famous article, in which Fischer named Paul Morphy, Howard Staunton, Wilhelm Steinitz, Siegbert Tarrasch, Mikhail Chigorin, Alexander Alekhine, José Raúl Capablanca, Boris Spassky, Mikhail Tal, and Samuel Reshevsky as the best players of all time. He modestly omitted himself, and controversially did not include World Champions Emanuel Lasker and Mikhail Botvinnik.[382]
- "Checkmate" column from December 1966 to December 1969 in Boys' Life, assumed later 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."[383]
- I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse! (1982) pamphlet.
Under Fischer's name[link]
There have been numerous books, in many languages, that list Fischer as the author or as endorsing the book.[384] One of these is the 1972 book Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess with Donn Mosenfelder and Stuart Margulies.[385] The book uses programmed learning to help beginners learn how to see elementary chess combinations. Although Fischer allowed his name to be used, he had little involvement with the writing of the book.[386]
Tournament and match summary[link]
Tournaments[link]
| Year | Tournament | Location | Wins | Draws | Losses | Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1955 | U.S. Junior Championship | Lincoln | 2 | 6 | 2 | 10–20 |
| 1956 | U.S. Amateur Championship | New Jersey | 3 | 2 | 1 | 21 |
| 1956 | U.S. Junior Championship | Philadelphia | 8 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| 1956 | U.S. Open | Oklahoma City | 5 | 7 | 0 | 4–8 |
| 1956 | Canadian Open | Montreal | 6 | 2 | 2 | 8–12 |
| 1956 | Rosenwald Trophy | New York | 2 | 5 | 4 | 8–10 |
| 1956 | Eastern States Open | Washington, D.C. | 4 | 2 | 0 | 2–4 |
| 1956 | Manhattan Club Championship, semifinals | New York | 2 | 1 | 2 | 4 |
| 1957 | Log Cabin Open | West Orange | 4 | 0 | 2 | 6 |
| 1957 | Log Cabin 50–50 | West Orange | 3 | 2 | 2 | unknown |
| 1957 | New Western Open | Milwaukee | 5 | 2 | 1 | 6–12 |
| 1957 | U.S. Junior Open Championship | San Francisco | 8 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1957 | U.S. Open | Cleveland | 8 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1957 | New Jersey State Open | East Orange | 6 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1957 | North Central Open | Milwaukee | 4 | 2 | 1 | 5–11 |
| 1957 | U.S. Championship | New York | 8 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 1958 | Interzonal | Portorož | 6 | 12 | 2 | 5–6 |
| 1958 | U.S. Championship | New York | 6 | 5 | 0 | 1 |
| 1959 | Mar del Plata | 8 | 4 | 1 | 3–4 | |
| 1959 | Santiago | 7 | 1 | 4 | 4–7 | |
| 1959 | Zurich | 8 | 5 | 2 | 3–4 | |
| 1959 | Candidates | Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade | 8 | 9 | 11 | 5–6 |
| 1959 | U.S. Championship | New York | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1960 | Mar del Plata | 13 | 1 | 1 | 1–2 | |
| 1960 | Buenos Aires | 3 | 11 | 5 | 13–16 | |
| 1960 | Reykjavík | 3 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1960 | U.S. Championship | New York | 7 | 4 | 0 | 1 |
| 1961 | Bled | 8 | 11 | 0 | 2 | |
| 1962 | Interzonal | Stockholm | 13 | 9 | 0 | 1 |
| 1962 | Candidates | Curaçao | 8 | 12 | 7 | 4 |
| 1962 | U.S. Championship | New York | 6 | 4 | 1 | 1 |
| 1963 | Western Open | Bay City | 7 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 1963 | New York State Open | Poughkeepsie | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1963 | U.S. Championship | New York | 11 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 1965 | Capablanca Memorial | Havana | 12 | 6 | 3 | 2–4 |
| 1965 | U.S. Championship | New York | 8 | 1 | 2 | 1 |
| 1966 | Piatigorsky Cup | Santa Monica | 7 | 8 | 3 | 2 |
| 1966 | U.S. Championship | New York | 8 | 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 1967 | Monaco | 6 | 2 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1967 | Skopje | 11 | 3 | 2 | 1 | |
| 1967 | Interzonal | Sousse | 7 | 3 | 0 | withdrew |
| 1968 | Netanya | 10 | 3 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1968 | Vinkovci | 9 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1970 | Rovinj/Zagreb | 10 | 6 | 1 | 1 | |
| 1970 | Buenos Aires | 13 | 4 | 0 | 1 | |
| 1970 | Interzonal | Palma de Mallorca | 15[388] | 7 | 1 | 1 |
Matches[link]
| Year | Opponent | Location | Tournament | Wins | Draws | Losses | result |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1957 | Max Euwe | New York | match | 0 | 1 | 1 | lost |
| 1957 | Rodolfo Tan Cardoso | New York | match | 5 | 2 | 1 | won |
| 1958 | Dragoljub Janošević | Belgrade | training match | 0 | 2 | 0 | tied |
| 1958 | Milan Matulović | Belgrade | match | 2 | 1 | 1 | won |
| 1961 | Samuel Reshevsky | New York & Los Angeles | match | 2 | 7 | 2 | unfinished |
| 1971 | Mark Taimanov | Vancouver | Candidates | 6 | 0 | 0 | won |
| 1971 | Bent Larsen | Denver | Candidates | 6 | 0 | 0 | won |
| 1971 | Tigran Petrosian | Buenos Aires | Candidates | 5 | 3 | 1 | won |
| 1972 | Boris Spassky | Reykjavík | World Championship | 7 | 11 | 3[391] | won |
| 1992 | Boris Spassky | Sveti Stefan & Belgrade | match | 10 | 15 | 5 | won |
Team events[link]
| Year | Event | Location | Wins | Draws | Losses | Opponent | Board | Individual ranking | team ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1960 | 14th Olympiad | Leipzig | 10 | 6 | 2 | various | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 1962 | 15th Olympiad | Varna | 8 | 6 | 3 | various | 1 | 8 | 4 |
| 1966 | 17th Olympiad | Havana | 14 | 2 | 1 | various | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| 1970 | USSR vs World | Belgrade | 2 | 2 | 0 | Tigran Petrosian | 2 | won individual match | team lost |
| 1970 | 19th Olympiad | Siegen | 8 | 4 | 1 | various | 1 | 2 | 4 |
Notable games[link]
- "The Game of the Century" – an external link: Donald Byrne–Fischer, New York 1956, Grünfeld, 5.Bf4 (D92), 0–1 At just 13 years old, Bobby played in a bold combinational style.
- Robert Byrne–Fischer, 1963–64 U.S. Championship, Neo-Grünfeld 0–1 annotated From an almost symmetrical position, Fischer as Black beats a strong grandmaster in just 21 moves – "a game that was immediately recognized as an all-time classic".[392]
- Fischer–Tigran Petrosian, Buenos Aires Candidates Final 1971, 7th match game, Sicilian Defense: Kan. Modern Variation (B42), 1–0 Even Petrosian, the master of defense, was not able to bear the pressure of Fischer's rooks.
- Fischer–Boris Spassky, World Championship 1972, 6th match game, Queen's Gambit Declined, Tartakower (D59), 1–0 One of the most beautiful and important games of the match.
See also[link]
Notes[link]
- ^ Sonas, Jeff (2005-04-24). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part I". http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2345. Retrieved 2010-02-20.
- ^ "Bobby Fischer arrives in Iceland". British Broadcasting Corporation. March 25, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4374811.stm. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
- ^ "Question of Yugoslavia (1992)". Ozone Secretariat. 2004. http://ozone.unep.org/Publications/MP_Handbook/Section_3.8_Annexes_Declarations/Question_of_Yugoslavia.shtml. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
- ^ "General Assembly". United Nations. December 21, 1993. http://www.un.org/documents/ga/res/48/a48r210.htm. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
- ^ "Asia-Pacific | Fischer 'must be deported to US'". BBC News. March 15, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4351201.stm. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ "Asia-Pacific | Iceland grants Fischer passport". BBC News. March 21, 2005. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/4370119.stm. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Batty, David (January 18, 2008). "Chess champion Bobby Fischer dies". London: The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/jan/18/sport.davidbatty. Retrieved February 19, 2008.
- ^ a b Brady 1973, p. 2.
- ^ Ancestry of Bobby Fischer
- ^ Quinn, Ben; Alan Hamilton (January 28, 2008). "Bobby Fischer, chess genius, heartless son". London: The Times. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3261419.ece. Retrieved September 14, 2008.
- ^ Schulz, Von André (October 8, 2004). "Mutmaßungen über Fischer" (in German). http://www.chessbase.de/nachrichten.asp?newsid=3433. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ a b c d e f g h Nicholas, Peter (September 21, 2009). "Chasing the king of chess". Los Angeles Times. http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-bobby-fischer21-2009sep21,0,1824779,full.story. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
- ^ a b c d e Nicholas, Peter, and Clea Benson. Files reveal how FBI hounded chess king. Philadelphia Inquirer. November 17, 2002
- ^ a b Nicholas, Peter, and Clea Benson. Life is not a Board Game. The Philadelphia Inquirer, February 8, 2003
- ^ Regina Fischer entry, passenger manifest, SS Manhattan, January 18, 1939, pg. 74, line 6, accessed January 20, 2008 via ancestry.com
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 22.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 22, 135.
- ^ Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 43.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 4–5.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 5.
- ^ Fischer 1959, p. xi.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 5–6.
- ^ Fischer 1959, pp. xi–xii.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 7.
- ^ Fischer 1959, p. xii.
- ^ Brady 2011, pp. 38-39.
- ^ Fischer 1959, p. xiii.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Collins 1974, pp. 34–35.
- ^ Denker & Parr 1995, p. 107.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 15.
- ^ Collins 1974, pp. 55–56.
- ^ Brady 2011, p. 49.
- ^ 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.
- ^ Boyer, David (March 11, 2001). "NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: FLATBUSH; Grads Hail Erasmus as It Enters a Fourth Century". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2001/03/11/nyregion/neighborhood-report-flatbush-grads-hail-erasmus-as-it-enters-a-fourth-century.html. Retrieved August 15, 2009.
- ^ Brady 1965, p. 1, 25.
- ^ Collins 1974, p. 52.
- ^ Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 47.
- ^ Brady 1965, p. 25.
- ^ Ginzburg 1962, p. 51.
- ^ Quinn, Ben; Hamilton, Alan (January 28, 2008). "Bobby Fischer, chess genius, heartless son". London: Times Newspapers Ltd. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/us_and_americas/article3261419.ece. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ Ginzburg 1962, p. 55.
- ^ Nicholas, Peter; Benson, Clea (February 9, 2003). "Life is not a board game/page 3 of 7". The Piladelphia Inquirer. http://www.philly.com/inquirer/news/13891951.html?page=3&c=y. Retrieved July 10, 2010.
- ^ Brady 2011, p. 56.
- ^ Chess Life, May 20, 1956, p. 4. Also available on DVD (p. 76 in "Chess Life 1956" PDF file").
- ^ Chess Life, May 20, 1956, p. 1. Also available on DVD (p. 73 in "Chess Life 1956" PDF file").
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 100.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 101.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 105.
- ^ a b Brady 1973, p. 16.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 108.
- ^ Chess Review, December 1956, p. 374. Also available on DVD (p. 418 on Chess Review 1956 PDF file).
- ^ Brady 2011, p. 64.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 123.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 17.
- ^ Chess Life, May 5, 1957, p. 3. Also available on DVD (p. 67 in "Chess Life 1957" PDF file").
- ^ Wall, Bill (2002–2008). "Bobby Fischer Trivia". Chessville.com. http://www.chessville.com/BillWall/FischerTrivia.htm. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 127.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 130.
- ^ Collins 1974, p. 56.
- ^ Chess Review, September 1957, p. 260. Also available on DVD (p. 294 in "Chess Review 1957" PDF file).
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 138–40.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 135–37.
- ^ a b Brady 1973, p. 19.
- ^ Harkness 1967, p. 272.
- ^ a b Brady 1973, p. 20.
- ^ Kažić 1974, pp. 273–74.
- ^ 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).
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 51.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 20–21.
- ^ In 2005, at age 16, Hikaru Nakamura became the youngest champion since Fischer. John Donaldson and John Watson, "Nakamura, Goletiani Soar to the Top at the U.S. Championship", Chess Life, February 2005, p. 9; Macauley Peterson, "Nakamura Claims U.S. Championship!", Chess Life, July 2009, p. 35. The champions since then – Alexander Onischuk, Alexander Shabalov, Yuri Shulman, Nakamura himself in 2009, and Gata Kamsky – have all been older.
- ^ Edward Winter, Chess Note 6428 (citing Chess Life, February 5, 1958).
- ^ Edward Winter, Chess Note 6436 (citing FIDE Revue, April 1958, p. 106).
- ^ a b Bisguier & Soltis 1974, pp. 282–84.
- ^ Hooper & Whyld 1992, pp. 136–37.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 51 (1-point margin in 1957–58), 57 (1-point margin in 1958–59), 62 (1-point margin in 1959–60), 67 (2-point margin in 1960–61), 71 (1-point margin in 1962–63), 77 (3½-point margin in 1963–64), 82 (1-point margin in 1965–66), 87 (2-point margin in 1966–67).
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 51, 57, 62, 67, 71, 76, 82, 87.
- ^ Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 283.
- ^ Mednis 1997, pp. x–xi, 179–83, 202–11.
- ^ "Body of chess legend Bobby Fischer to be exhumed as his former lovers battle over £1.3m estate". London: Daily Mail. June 18, 2010. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/worldnews/article-1287387/Bobby-Fischers-body-exhumed-lovers-battle-1-3m-estate.html. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
- ^ Bisguier in Wade & Connell 1973, pp. 49–50.
- ^ a b Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 81.
- ^ Soltis 2002, pp. 81–83.
- ^ Sunnucks 1970, p. 76.
- ^ Larry Evans in Müller 2009, p. 7.
- ^ The Games of Robert J. Fischer, Batsford, 1973, section on chess Olympiads by Robert Wade
- ^ Kažić 1974, pp. 75, 81, 94, 108.
- ^ "Fischer, Robert James". Wojciech Bartelski & Co. 2003–2008. http://www.olimpbase.org/players/q8aycaol.html.
- ^ Müller 2009, pp. 276–77.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 286–87.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 335. Petrosian later wrote:
Id.It was not only Fischer who did not like the conditions. 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.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 25.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 163–64.
- ^ Leonard Barden, "From Portorož to Petrosian", in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 332.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972. pp. 332–34, 347.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, pp. 225–26.
- ^ Forbes 1992, p. 171.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 28.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 165, 171, 176.
- ^ 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
- ^ Brady 1965, p. 34.
- ^ Denker & Parr, pp. 103–04 .
- ^ Brady 1965, p. 35.
- ^ "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.
- ^ Ginzburg 1962, pp. 53–54.
- ^ Wade & 'Connell 1972, p. 356.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 183.
- ^ Bronstein wrote of their first meeting at Mar del Plata, "They became friends instantly and have remained so until this day." Bronstein & Fürstenberg 2009, p. 149.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 189.
- ^ a b c Donner 2006, p. 228.
- ^ Benko & Silman 2003, p. 422 (interview with Evans).
- ^ Donner writes of Fischer's performance at Buenos Aires 1960, "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—the only real debacle he ever suffered." Donner 2006, p. 228.
- ^ Benko & Silman, pp. 426–27 (interview with Benko).
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 196–197.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 198.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 42.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 43–46.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 46.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 199.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 369.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 51.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 53–54.
- ^ Obituary, Bobby Fischer. Leonard Barden, The Guardian, January 19, 2008.
- ^ Kažić 1974, pp. 188–89.
- ^ Benko & Silman, p. 155.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 29–30, 37, 40, 83.
- ^ "Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fischer", Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2008, p. D8.
- ^ Karpov on Karpov: Memoirs of a Chess World Champion, by Anatoly Karpov, London, Atheneum 1991
- ^ a b Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 331–46.
- ^ "Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fischer", Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2008, p.D8
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 207–08.
- ^ Bisguier in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49.
- ^ Ginzburg 1962, p. 54.
- ^ a b c d "Portrait of a Genius As a Young Chess Master". Ralph Ginzburg's January 1962 interview, Harper's Magazine. http://www.bobby-fischer.net/Bobby_Fischer_Articles4.html. Retrieved January 21, 2008.
- ^ "In Bed With Garner Ted". Ambassador Report. 1977. http://www.hwarmstrong.com/ar/InBed.html. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ "Bobby Fischer Speaks Out!". Ambassador Report. 1978. http://www.hwarmstrong.com/ar/Fischer.html. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ a b Arthur Bisguier, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 49.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 149–51.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 49, 152–53.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 70.
- ^ a b Levy 1975, p. 91.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 75.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 80–81.
- ^ Donaldson 2005, pp. 7, 11.
- ^ Donaldson 2005, p. 11.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 285.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 209.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 86–89.
- ^ Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 213.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 160, 209.
- ^ a b Pachman 1975, p. 215.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 88–89.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 86–88.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 209.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 82–86.
- ^ Brady 1973, pp. 92–94.
- ^ Kashdan 1977, p. v.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 322.
- ^ Müller 2009, pp. 284–85.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 87–91.
- ^ Müller 2009, pp. 291, 296–97.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 236–47.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, pp. 450–53.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 248–59.
- ^ a b Müller 2009, p. 321.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 154–55.
- ^ Sonas, J. (2005). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part IV". Chessbase. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2409.
- ^ a b Hooper & Whyld 1992, p. 137.
- ^ Benko & Silman, p. 426.
- ^ Leonard Barden, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 342.
- ^ "USSR vs Rest of the World: Belgrade 1970". Wojciech Bartelski & Co.. 2003–2008. http://www.olimpbase.org/1970g/1970in.html. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ Crowther, Mark (2008). "Robert James Fischer 1943–2008". Mark Crowther. http://www.chesscenter.com/twic/event/wijk08/fischer.html. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ a b Chess Digest 1971, p. 83.
- ^ a b Denker & Parr 1995, p. 105.
- ^ Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 188–89.
- ^ Chess Digest 1971, pp. 83–92.
- ^ a b Kasparov 2004, p. 343.
- ^ Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 183.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 263–70.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 342.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 271–78.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 279.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, pp. 342–44.
- ^ Weeks, Mark (1997–2008). "World Chess Championship 1970 Palma de Mallorca Interzonal Tournament". Mark Weeks. http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/7072$iix.htm. Retrieved October 4, 2008.
- ^ Kažić 1974, pp. 171–72.
- ^ 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. Fifty-two minutes had elapsed on Panno's clock before he came to the board and resigned. Brady 1973, p. 179; Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 344, 410.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 412–16.
- ^ Leonard Barden, From Portorož to Petrosian, in Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 345.
- ^ Before the match, former World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik had told a Soviet television audience:
Cafferty 1972, p. 102.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 him, all the more since having dealt with Taimanov thus, Fischer will want to do just the same to Larsen and this is impossible.
- ^ 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". Byrne & Nei 1974, p. 19.
- ^ "If the chess world had been surprised by Fischer's running roughshod over Taimanov, it was positively sent reeling by Bobby's crushing 6–0 defeat of Larsen." Müller 2009, p. 360.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, pp. 405–06.
- ^ Sonas, Jeff (April 28, 2005). "The Greatest Chess Player of All Time – Part II". Chessmetrics. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=2354. Retrieved November 1, 2009.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, pp. 408–17.
- ^ Jan Timman, The Art of Chess Analysis, R.H.M. Press, 1980, pp. 36–42. ISBN 0-89058-048-0.
- ^ Soltis 2003, pp. 259–62.
- ^ Soltis, Andy (2002). Chess Lists Second Edition. Jefferson, North Carolina and London: McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-1296-8
- ^ Mednis 1997, pp. 266–70.
- ^ Reuben Fine, The Final Candidates Match Buenos Aires, 1971: Fischer vs Petrosian, Hostel Chess Association, 1971, pp. 13–32.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 429.
- ^ Life, November 12, 1971, "The Deadly Gamesman".
- ^ Alexander 1972, p. 74.
- ^ a b Chess Informant, Volume 14, Šahovski Informator, 1973, pp. 302–07.
- ^ a b c All Time Rankings. Retrieved on 2009-06-21.
- ^ Gligoric 1972, pp. 10–11.
- ^ Gligoric 1972, pp. 11–12.
- ^ "The Inflation Calculator". Westegg.com. http://www.westegg.com/inflation/. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Gligoric 1972, p. 13.
- ^ Fischer vs Spassky: The Chess Match of the Century, by Svetozar Gligorić, New York 1972, Simon & Schuster
- ^ a b Alexander 1972, p. 141.
- ^ Alexander 1972, pp. 84–87.
- ^ Gligoric 1972, p. 37.
- ^ Alexander 1972, p. 87.
- ^ Edmonds & Eidinow 2004, pp. 271–73.
- ^ Perhaps the best-selling book on the match was subtitled "The New York Times Report on the Chess Match of the Century". Roberts, Schonberg, Horowitz & Reshevsky 1972. Gligorić's book on the match was also subtitled "The Chess Match of the Century". Gligorić 1972.
- ^ "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).
- ^ Byrne & Nei 1974, p. vii.
- ^ Roberts, Schonberg, Horowitz & Reshevsky 1972, pp. 195–96.
- ^ Müller 2009, p. 370. The match made the covers of Time and Newsweek. Id. at 19.
- ^ 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". Kasparov 2004, p. 206.
- ^ Müller 2009, p. 15.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 89.
- ^ Similarly, 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." Müller 2009, p. 13.
- ^ Saidy & Lessing 1974, pp. 224–25.
- ^ Larry Evans, in Müller 2009, p. 13.
- ^ Sports Illustrated, August 14, 1972, "BOBBY'S CHESSBOARD MASTERY".
- ^ "Bob Hope's Comedy Collection 1972". Createspace. 2000–2008. https://www.createspace.com/211957. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ "About the USCF". United States Chess Federation. 2007–2008. http://www.uschess.org/about/about.php. Retrieved October 17, 2008.
- ^ Karpov beat Lev Polugaevsky in a Candidates quarter-final match in January–February 1974 (+3 −0 =5). Byrne 1976, p. 19. In the semi-finals, held in April–May 1974, he beat Spassky (+4 −1 =6). Id., p. 79. In the finals, held in September–November 1974, he held on to beat Viktor Korchnoi (+3 −2 =19). Id., p. 113.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 471.
- ^ Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 412–13.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 472.
- ^ Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 413–14.
- ^ Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 414.
- ^ Grandmaster Hans Ree remarked of Fischer's demand that the champion keep his title in the event of a 9–9 tie, "They [FIDE] thought that this demand was too severe. It was rejected, understandably." Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 46.
- ^ Botvinnik called the 9–9 clause "unsporting". Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 417–18. However, Korchnoi, David Bronstein, and Lev Alburt considered the 9–9 clause reasonable, and 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. Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, pp. 418–19.
- ^ Donaldson & Tangborn 1999, p. 159.
- ^ Denker & Parr 1995, pp. 110–11.
- ^ Mednis 1997, p. 282.
- ^ Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 414–16.
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 473.
- ^ Karpov, Anatoly. Karpov on Karpov: Memoirs of a Chess World Champion. Atheneum 1991.
- ^ Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 22.
- ^ Ayoub, Chuck (2003–2008). "Bobby Fischer Biography". Chuck Ayoub. http://www.bobby-fischer.net/Bobby_Fischer_Biography.html. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
- ^ Fischer 1982, p. 1.
- ^ Fischer 1982, p. 2.
- ^ Fischer 1982, pp. 3–14.
- ^ Fischer 1982, pp. 10–12.
- ^ Fischer 1982, p. 14.
- ^ "I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!". Bobby Fischer. 1982. http://bobbyfischer.net/bobby13.html.
- ^ a b Chun, Rene. Bobby Fischer’s Pathetic Endgame. The Atlantic. December 2002.
- ^ a b Chun, Rene. Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame. GoddessChess.com. (backup copy)
- ^ Weeks, Mark (1997–2008). "1992 Fischer – Spassky Rematch Highlights". Mark Weeks. http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/92fs$$.htm. Retrieved January 1, 2009.
- ^ Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 8.
- ^ Müller 2009, p. 382.
- ^ Waitzkin 1993, p. 298.
- ^ Bobby Fischer player profile at ChessGames.com
- ^ 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, 15–21, 53–57, 86–90, 114–18, 149–54, 170–75, 208–14, 227–31, 256–60.
- ^ Seirawan & Stefanovic 1992, p. 291.
- ^ Winter 1993.
- ^ Seirawan & Stefanovic, pp. 85, 96, 303.
- ^ Threatening Letter to Bobby Fischer. samsloan.com.
- ^ "Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame". Theatlantic.com. http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200212/chun. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Daniszewski, John (1992-09-04). "Fischer's 19-Year-Old Companion Shares Chess Limelight". Community.seattletimes.nwsource.com. http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19920904&slug=1511077. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 65, 106–09.
- ^ "Sofia Polgar discussing Bobby Fischer". Youtube.com. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IpHyqg-gM-s. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ a b c Cabreza, Vincent (January 19, 2008). "Fischer has a Pinoy heir born in Baguio – friends". Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/breakingnews/nation/view/20080119-113499/Fischer-has-a-Pinoy-heir-born-in-Baguio----friends. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
- ^ 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 the following reference: "Fischer's daughter Jinky files claim to his estate". ChessBase.com. November 11, 2009. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5905. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ a b Ochoa, Francis (February 7, 2008). "Fischer's Filipino heirs going after estate". Philippine Daily Inquirer. http://sports.inquirer.net/inquirersports/inquirersports/view/20080207-117275/Fischers-Filipino-heirs-going-after-estate. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "Bobby Fischer's Pinay heir may get settlement". GMANews.tv. February 26, 2008. http://www.gmanews.tv/story/82348/Bobby-Fischers-Pinay-heir-may-get-settlement. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "Fischer's Pinay love child in Iceland to claim inheritance". Manila Bulletin. December 4, 2009. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/232529/fischer-s-pinay-love-child-iceland-claim-inheritance. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ "Fischer's daughter Jinky files claim to his estate". ChessBase.com. November 11, 2009. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=5905. Retrieved January 3, 2010.
- ^ a b "4 gera kröfu í dánarbú Fischers (Four parties make claims)". RÚV. April 22, 2008. http://www.ruv.is/heim/frettir/frett/store64/item202726/. Retrieved January 3, 2010. (apparent broken link)
- ^ a b Reuters (August 17, 2010). "DNA tests on chess champion's corpse exclude paternity". Yahoo!. http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20100817/wl_nm/us_iceland_fischer;_ylt=Anx8MOXbJm2S7HJnWLLZmHNvaA8F;_ylu=X3oDMTJvdjR2anBjBGFzc2V0A25tLzIwMTAwODE3L3VzX2ljZWxhbmRfZmlzY2hlcgRwb3MDMTAEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNkbmF0ZXN0c29uY2g-. Retrieved August 17, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ a b "DNA results settle Bobby Fischer paternity case". Cnn.com. 2010-08-18. http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/08/18/iceland.bobby.fischer/index.html?hpt=T2. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 30, 44.
- ^ Mike Klein, Searching for Fischer's Legacy, United States Chess Federation. January 19, 2008
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 41, 45, 61, 66, 90, 92, 95, 101, 107, 117–20.
- ^ Parr, Larry: "Is Bobby Fischer Anti-Semitic?", Chess News, May 2001.
- ^ Nathaniel Popper, Chess Master Pawned Identity for Hatred, The Jewish Daily Forward, July 23, 2004.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 123.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 41, 65–66, 118–19, 121.
- ^ Fischer on Icelandic Radio April 11, 2006
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 118.
- ^ DeLucia 2009, pp. 160–62, 166. Chess historian Edward Winter, in his review of this book, calls it "[o]ne of the most extraordinary of all chess books". Winter 2009.
- ^ 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.
- ^ DeLucia 2009, pp. 290, 292.
- ^ a b Bamber, David; Chris Hastings (December 2, 2001). "Bobby Fischer speaks out to applaud Trade Centre attacks". Sunday Telegraph (London). p. 17.
- ^ a b "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.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, p. 122.
- ^ "Shame of Iceland". washingtonpost.com. March 28, 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A5682-2005Mar27.html. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ "US Chess Federation decision" (PDF). http://www.uschess.org/docs/pdf/15EBactionsvolex02.PDF.
- ^ DeLucia 2009, p. 301. The letter is in draft form, and the book does not reflect whether Fischer ever finalized or sent it.
- ^ Winter 2009.
- ^ Carol Off (2008-01-18). "As It Happens Daily". podcast. 9:43–10:33 minutes in. CBC.
- ^ Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 66–67.
- ^ "Archive of official site". Web.archive.org. 2008-01-21. http://web.archive.org/web/20080121125138/http://www.fischer.jp/. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ a b c Frederick, Jim (August 23, 2004). "King's Gambit". Time. http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,686101,00.html. Retrieved July 5, 2010.
- ^ a b "Fischer er jákvæður og skýr í hugsun". (Icelandic-language).
- ^ (apparent broken link)[dead link]
- ^ Suzuki, Hiroshi (August 6, 2004). "Bobby Fischer Renounces U.S. Citizenship, Seeks Refugee Status". Bloomberg. http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=amx21MqZzvxk&refer=us. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Profile: Bobby Fischer: Endgame on the darker side of genius. Timesonline.co.uk. Retrieved on 2009-07-18.
- ^ "Fischer's next moves: renounce U.S. citizenship and marry a Japanese | The Japan Times Online". Search.japantimes.co.jp. August 17, 2004. http://search.japantimes.co.jp/cgi-bin/nn20040817a3.html. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ "Fischer renounces US citizenship". Chessbase.com. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=1852. Retrieved July 27, 2010.
- ^ "Japan rejects Bobby Fischer's deportation appeal – CTV News". Ctv.ca. http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1091010084435_63/. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ Bobby Fischer: ich bin ein Icelander!. March 21, 2005.
- ^ Smith-Spark, Laura (March 23, 2005). "Fischer 'put Iceland on the map'". British Broadcasting Corporation. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4102367.stm. Retrieved September 13, 2008.
- ^ Chess legend still intrigues people May 9, 2005
- ^ "Bobby Fischer dies in Iceland". Chessbase.com. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4392. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Bobby Fischer and the missed combination. ChessBase.com. December 17, 2006.
- ^ a b c Bobby Fischer's final manoeuvre, The Sunday Times, April 20, 2008 (Subscription required)
- ^ Dánarorsök Fischers var nýrnabilun, mbl.is, 2008-01-20
- ^ Death:
- Mig Greengard (November 23, 2007). "Fischer Hospitalized in Reykjavik". Chess Ninja. http://www.chessninja.com/dailydirt/2007/11/fischer_hospitalized_in_reykjavik.htm. [dead link]
- Chess genius Bobby Fischer, from American hero to paranoid fugitive January 18, 2008
- Bobby Fischer: Demise of a chess legend, the BBC on Fischer's personality and downfall
- Chess legend Fischer dies at 64, BBC News, 2008-01-18
- "AP Obituary". January 18, 2008. http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/O/OBIT_FISCHER?SITE=AP. [dead link]
- Obituary in The Times, 19 January 2008
- ^ Weber, Bruce (January 19, 2008). "Bobby Fischer, Chess Master, Dies at 64". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/19/crosswords/chess/19fischer.html. Retrieved January 20, 2008.
- ^ Brady 2011
- ^ Dirda, Michael (10 February 2011). "A chess master who defeated himself". Washington Post
- ^ Síðustu orð Fischers, Vísir.is, 2008-01-20
- ^ "– Bobby Fischer – his final weeks". Chessbase.com. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4410. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Burial:
- Chessbase: Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland
- Find A Grave – Robert James Fischer
- Útför Fischers í kyrrþey Jan. 21, 2008. Icelandic.
- Unnustan ræður hvílustað Bobbys – visir.is, January 19, 2008 (Icelandic)
- Chess champion Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland at noon on Jan. 21, 2008
- ^ Case still pending (apparent broken link)[dead link]
- ^ Andrew Soltis, Fi$cher Family Feud, New York Post, November 15, 2009. Retrieved on 2009-11-16.
- ^ Loeb, Dylan (2010-07-05). "Bobby Fischer Is Exhumed, New York Times chess blog by Dylan Loeb McClain". Gambit.blogs.nytimes.com. http://gambit.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/07/05/bobby-fischer-is-exhumed/. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ "Fischer’s remains to be exhumed?". Chessbase. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6227. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Dylan Loeb McClain, Iceland: Bobby Fischer’s Estate Dispute, New York Times Europe
- ^ Court rules Bobby Fischer's body can be exhumed, CNN.com
- ^ Helgason, Gudjon (July 5, 2010). "Chess icon Fischer's body exhumed over paternity". San Francisco Chronicle. http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2010/07/05/international/i065031D45.DTL. Retrieved July 5, 2010. [dead link]
- ^ Iceland Court Hands Bobby Fischer Estate to Japanese Claimant by Dylan Loeb McClain, March 4, 2011
- ^ Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 208.
- ^ Plisetsky & Voronkov 2005, p. 322 (quoting March 20, 1972 letter from Paul Keres to the USSR Chess Federation).
- ^ "The Exchange Variation was a feared weapon in the hands of Bobby Fischer". Kasparov & Keene 1989, p. 382.
- ^ "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 brilliantly, "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. 4–5.
- ^ Fischer games with Ruy Lopez Exchange Variation. ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 2009-02-19.
- ^ Andrew Soltis, in Müller 2009, pp. 29, 32–33.
- ^ L.S. Blackstock, in Wade & O'Connell 1973, p. 36.
- ^ Andrew Soltis, in Müller 2009, p. 25.
- ^ Hansen 2002, p. 132.
- ^ Pliester 1995, p. 272.
- ^ Gligoric 1985, p. 65.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "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.
- ^ The Poisoned Pawn Variation "was considered dubious by certain GMs and crazy by Bent Larsen". Polugaevsky, Piket & Guéneau 1995, p. 83.
- ^ a b Andrew Soltis, in Müller 2009, p. 30.
- ^ Fischer (Black) Poisoned Pawn games. ChessGames.com. Retrieved on 03-22-2009.
- ^ Georgiev & Kolev 2007, p. 6.
- ^ Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 146.
- ^ Mednis calls 6.Bc4 against the Najdorf Variation "Fischer's 6 B-QB4". Mednis 1997, pp. 56, 74, 80, 88.
- ^ "Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer". ChessGames.com. http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1080046. Retrieved January 18, 2008.
- ^ Fischer 1961, p. 4.
- ^ Fischer 1961, pp. 4–9.
- ^ Korchnoi & Zak 1975, p. 39.
- ^ Estrin & Glaskov 1982, p. 115.
- ^ Andrew Soltis, in Müller 2009, p. 29.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1973, pp. 27, 76–77, 253, 256.
- ^ Bisguier & Soltis 1974, p. 214.
- ^ Silman 2007, pp. 510–23.
- ^ Müller & Lamprecht 2001, p. 304.
- ^ Mayer 1997, p. 201.
- ^ Steve Giddins, 2012, The Greatest Ever chess endgames, p. 68
- ^ Speaking about Fischer... Nov. 4, 2006
- ^ Audio clip of Bobby Fischer[dead link]
- ^ Kasparov 2004, p. 207.
- ^ Greatest player ever:
- ^ Arguably greatest player ever:
- Euwe 1979, p. ix.
- Soltis 2003, p. 9.
- Mednis 1997, p. xiii.
- Kasparov 2004, p. 490.
- Golombek 1977. p. 117.
- Divinsky 1990. p. 67.
- Böhm & Jongkind 2003, pp. 133–34.
- ^ Obituary of Bobby Fischer, Leonard Barden, The Guardian, 19 January 2008
- ^ "Victim of His Own Success: The Tragedy of Bobby Fischer", Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2008, p. D8.
- ^ the Bobby Fischer player file.
- ^ Saidy & Lessing 1974, p. 226.
- ^ Wade & O'Connell 1972, p. 43.
- ^ The Chessman, TIME, 26 January 2008
- ^ "The Telegraph – Calcutta (Kolkata) | Sports | Fischer is greatest ever, says Anand". Calcutta, India: Telegraphindia.com. January 16, 2009. http://www.telegraphindia.com/1090116/jsp/sports/story_10397969.jsp. Retrieved August 2, 2010.
- ^ "– Chess News – Bobby Fischer dies in Iceland". Chessbase.com. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=4392. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Müller 2009, p. 23.
- ^ "All participants at U.S. Chess Championship now officially ineligible for $64,000 Fischer memorial prize for a 'sweep'". Saintlouischessclub.org. http://www.saintlouischessclub.org/ALL-PARTICIPANTS-AT-US-CHESS-CHAMPIONSHIP-NOW-OFFICIALLY-INELIGIBLE-FOR-FISCHER-PRIZE.html. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ William Hartston, Chess: The Making of the Musical, Pavilion Books, 1986, p. 10. ISBN 1-85145-006-8.
- ^ Harold C. Schonberg, Does Anyone Make a Bad Move In 'Chess'?, The New York Times, May 8, 1998. Retrieved on 2009-11-15.
- ^ (Russian) Chess Problems (about chess songs of Vladimir Vysotsky).
- ^ Searching for Bobby Fischer review, Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times, August 11, 1993. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
- ^ Searching for Bobby Fischer (1993). IMDb.com. Retrieved on 2009-11-04.
- ^ DeLucia 2009, p. 252.
- ^ "End Game". Arli$$. http://www.tv.com/arli/end-game/episode/187205/summary.html.
- ^ "hbo.com". hbo.com. http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/bobby-fischer-against-the-world/index.html. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 78.
- ^ Hooper & Whyld 1992, pp. 138–39.
- ^ "Chess Notes 4707, 4721, Edward Winter, Chess Notes Archive". Chesshistory.com. http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter28.html. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Bantam Books, May 1972, ISBN 0-553-26315-3.
- ^ Soltis writes that Fischer "contributed some ideas, but chiefly his name, to Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess". Soltis 2003, p. 10.
- ^ a b Bobby Fischer for Beginners, by Renzo Verwer, 2010, p. 116-18
- ^ includes one game where opponent was reluctant to play and resigned on the first move
- ^ Bobby Fischer for Beginners, by Renzo Verwer, 2010, p. 118
- ^ Wade & O'Connell BFCG Doubleday 1972, p.11.
- ^ includes one forfeit
- ^ Brady 1973, p. 74.
References[link]
- Alexander, C. H. O'D. (1972). Fischer v. Spassky. Vintage. ISBN 0-394-71830-5.
- Andersen, Christopher (2006). Barbra: The Way She Is. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-056256-4
- Benko, Pal; Silman, Jeremy (2003). Pal Benko: My Life, Games and Compositions. Siles Press. ISBN 1-890085-08-1.
- Bisguier, Arthur; Soltis, Andrew (1974). American Chess Masters from Morphy to Fischer. Macmillan. ISBN 0-02-511050-0.
- Böhm, Hans; Jongkind, Kees (2003). Bobby Fischer: The Wandering King. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8935-9.
- Brady, Frank (1965). Profile of a Prodigy (1st ed.). David McKay. OCLC 2574422.
- Brady, Frank (1973). Profile of a Prodigy (2nd ed.). David McKay. OCLC 724113.
- Brady, Frank (2011). ENDGAME: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall- from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness (1st ed.). Crown Publishing. ISBN 0-307-46390-7.
- Bronstein, David; Fürstenberg, Tom (2009). The Sorcerer's Apprentice (2nd ed.). New in Chess. ISBN 978-90-5691-272-7.
- Byrne, Robert (1976). Anatoly Karpov: The Road to the World Chess Championship. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-02876-6.
- Byrne, Robert; Nei, Ivo (1974). Both Sides of the Chessboard. Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Company. ISBN 0-8129-0379-X.
- Cafferty, Bernard (1972). Candidates Matches 1971. The Chess Player.
- Chernev, Irving (1995). Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games. New York: Dover. pp. 127–142. ISBN 0-486-28674-6.
- Chess Digest (1971). Bobby Fischer: His Games and His Openings 1969 through 1971. Chess Digest.
- Collins, John W. (1974). My Seven Chess Prodigies. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-21941-3.
- DeLucia, David (2007). David DeLucia's Chess Library: A Few Old Friends (2nd ed.).
- DeLucia, David; DeLucia, Alessandra (2009). Bobby Fischer Uncensored.
- Denker, Arnold; Parr, Larry (1995). The Bobby Fischer I Knew and Other Stories. Hypermodern Press. ISBN 1-886040-18-4.
- Divinsky, Nathan (1990). The Batsford Chess Encyclopedia. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-6214-0.
- Donaldson, John (2005). A Legend on the Road: Bobby Fischer's 1964 Simul Tour. International Chess Enterprises. ISBN 1-888690-25-9.
- Donner, J. H. (2006). The King: Chess Pieces. New in Chess. ISBN 90-5691-171-6.
- Donaldson, John; Tangborn, Eric (1999). The Unknown Bobby Fischer. International Chess Enterprises. ISBN 1-879479-85-0.
- Edmonds, David; Eidinow, John (2004). Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time. HarperCollins. ISBN 978-0-06-051025-1.
- Estrin, Yakov; Glaskov, I.B. (1982). Play the King's Gambit, Volume 1. Pergamon Press.
- Euwe, Max (1979). Bobby Fischer-The Greatest?. Sterling Publishing Co.. ISBN 978-0-8069-4950-5.
- Fischer, Bobby (1959). Bobby Fischer's Games of Chess. Simon and Schuster.
- Fischer, Bobby (Summer 1961). A Bust to the King's Gambit. pp. 3–9.
- Fischer, Bobby (1961). "A Bust to the King's Gambit" (PDF). ChessCafe.com. http://www.chesscafe.com/text/bust.pdf. Retrieved November 8, 2009.
- Fischer, Bobby (1982). I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!.
- Forbes, Cathy (1992). The Polgar Sisters: Training or Genius?. Henry Holt. ISBN 0-8050-2426-3.
- Georgiev, Kiril; Kolev, Atanas (2007). The Sharpest Sicilian: A Black Repertoire with 1.e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6. Simolini 94 (Sofia, Bulgaria).
- Ginzburg, Ralph (January 1962). Portrait of a Genius as a Young Chess Master. pp. 49–55.
- Gligoric, Svetozar (1972). Fischer vs. Spassky: World Chess Championship Match 1972. Simon and Schuster.
- Gligoric, Svetozar (1985). Play the Nimzo-Indian Defense. Pergamon Press.
- Golombek, Harry (1977). Golombek's Encyclopedia of Chess. Crown Publishers. ISBN 0-517-53146-1.
- Hansen, Carsten (2002). The Nimzo-Indian: 4 e3. Gambit Publications.
- Harkness, Kenneth (1967). Official Chess Handbook. David McKay.
- Hartston, William (1985). The Kings of Chess. Harper & Row. ISBN 0-06-015358-X.
- Hooper, David; Whyld, Kenneth (1992). The Oxford Companion to Chess (2nd ed.). Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-280049-3.
- Kashdan, Isaac (1977 [1968]). Second Piatigorsky Cup: International Grandmaster Tournament held in Santa Monica, California August, 1966. Dover. ISBN 0-486-23572-6.
- 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.
- Kasparov, Garry; Keene, Raymond (1989). Batsford Chess Openings 2. Collier Books. ISBN 0-02-033991-7.
- Kaufman, Larry (2004). The Chess Advantage in Black and White. David McKay. ISBN 0-8129-3571-3.
- Kažić, B.M. (1974). International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events. Pitman. ISBN 0-273-07078-9.
- 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.
- Mayer, Steve (1997). Bishop versus Knight: The Verdict. Batsford. ISBN 1-879479-73-7.
- Mednis, Edmar (1997). How to Beat Bobby Fischer (2nd ed.). Dover. ISBN 0-486-29844-2.
- Müller, Karsten (2009). Bobby Fischer: The Career and Complete Games of the American World Chess Champion. Russell Enterprises, Inc.. ISBN 978-1-888690-68-2.
- Müller, Karsten; Lamprecht, Frank (2001). Fundamental Chess Endings. Gambit Publications. ISBN 1-901983-53-6.
- Pachman, Luděk (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 978-1-879479-25-8.
- Plisetsky, Dmitry; Voronkov, Sergey (2005). Russians versus Fischer (2nd ed.). Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-380-2.
- Polugevsky, Lev; Piket, Jeroen; Guéneau, Christophe (1995). Sicilian Love: Lev Polugaevsky Chess Tournament, Buenos Aires 1994. New in Chess. ISBN 90-71689-99-9.
- 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.
- Saidy, Anthony; Lessing, Norman (1974). The World of Chess. Random House. ISBN 0-394-48777-X.
- Seirawan, Yasser; Stefanovic, George (1992). No Regrets: Fischer-Spassky 1992. International Chess Enterprises. ISBN 1-879479-09-5.
- Silman, Jeremy (2007). Silman's Complete Endgame Course: From Beginner to Master. Siles Press. ISBN 1-890085-10-3.
- Soltis, Andy (2002). Chess Lists Second Edition. McFarland and Company. ISBN 0-7864-1296-8.
- Soltis, Andrew (2003). Bobby Fischer Rediscovered. Batsford. ISBN 0-7134-8846-8.
- Sunnucks, Anne (1970). The Encyclopaedia of Chess. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-7091-4697-1.
- Wade, Robert G.; O'Connell, Kevin J. (1972). The Games of Robert J. Fischer (1st ed.). Batsford.
- Wade, Robert G.; O'Connell, Kevin J. (1973). Bobby Fischer's Chess Games (2nd ed.). Doubleday. ISBN 0-385-08627-X.
- Wade, Robert G.; O'Connell, Kevin J. (1972). Bobby Fischer's Chess Games. Doubleday.
- Waitzkin, Fred (1993). Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov. G.P. Putnam's Sons. ISBN 0-399-13827-7.
- Watson, John (1998). Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy: Advances since Nimzowitsch. Gambit Publications. ISBN 1-901983-07-2.
- Watson, John (2006). Mastering the Chess Openings, Volume 1. Gambit Publications. ISBN 978-1-904600-60-2.
- Winter, Edward (1993). "Instant Fischer". chesshistory.com. http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/instant.html. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
- Winter, Edward (2009). "Chess Note 6189. Bobby Fischer Uncensored". chesshistory.com. http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/index.html#6189._Bobby_Fischer_Uncensored. Retrieved June 24, 2009.
Further reading[link]
- Bobby Fischer: A Study of His Approach to Chess by Elie Agur, Cadogan 1992, ISBN 1-85744-001-3.
- Bobby Fischer vs. the Rest of the World by Brad Darrach, Stein & Day, 1974, ISBN 0-8128-1618-8 (prizewinning behind-the-scenes account of the Spassky-Fischer match)
- Bobby Fischer – wie er wirklich ist: Ein Jahr mit dem Schachgenie by Petra Dautov, ISBN 3-9804281-3-3.
- World Champion Fischer (ChessBase, CD-ROM) – includes all Fischer's games (about half annotated), biographical notes, and an examination by Robert Hübner of Fischer's annotations in My Sixty Memorable Games.
- World Chess Champions by Edward G. Winter, editor, 1981, ISBN 0-08-024094-1
- Bobby Fischer for Beginners, by Renzo Verwer, 2010, New in Chess, ISBN 978-90-5691-315-1
- Gardner, Martin (September 2009). "Bobby Fischer: Genius and Idiot". Skeptical Inquirer 33 (5): 22–23. http://www.csicop.org/si/show/bobby_fischer_genius_and_idiot. Retrieved Nov. 26, 2010
- Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness, by Frank Brady, 2011, Crown, ISBN 978-0-307-46390-6
External links[link]
 |
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Bobby Fischer |
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Bobby Fischer |
- Bobby Fischer player profile at ChessGames.com
- "The Chessman", Garry Kasparov, TIME magazine, 26 January 2008
- "Was It Only a Game?", Dick Cavett, NY Times, February 8, 2008
- "Death of a madman driven sane by chess", Stephen Moss The Guardian, 19 January 2008
- "Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame", Rene Chun The Atlantic, December 2002
- Extensive collection of Fischer photographs, Echecs-photos online
- Edward Winter, List of Books About Fischer and Kasparov
- Archive of Fischer's personal homepage
- Bobby Fischer Live Radio Interviews (1999–2006)
- A compilation of pictures of Fischer in the Philippines 1967 made into a video
- "Breaking news: Fischer comeback? (27.05.2005)", chessbase.com Alex Titomirov initiated discussion about Fischer comeback to the arena of competitive chess
- The Bobby Fischer Defense 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
- A ninety-minute HBO documentary about Bobby's Fischer's life entitled "Bobby Fischer Against the World" that aired in June, 2011
- Bobby Fischer: Chess's beguiling, eccentric genius BBC News, 4 July 2011
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Boris Spassky |
World Chess Champion 1972–1975 |
Succeeded by Anatoly Karpov |
| Preceded by Arthur Bisguier |
United States Chess Champion 1958–1960 |
Succeeded by Larry Evans |
| Preceded by Larry Evans |
United States Chess Champion 1962–1966 |
Succeeded by Larry Evans |
| Achievements | ||
| Preceded by None |
World No. 1 July 1, 1971 – December 31, 1975 |
Succeeded by Anatoly Karpov |
| Preceded by Boris Spassky |
Youngest chess grandmaster ever 1958–1991 |
Succeeded by Judit Polgár |
|
|||||||||||||||||||
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Fischer, Bobby |
| Alternative names | Fischer, Robert James |
| Short description | Chess Grandmaster |
| Date of birth | March 9, 1943 |
| Place of birth | Chicago, Illinois, United States |
| Date of death | January 17, 2008 |
| Place of death | Reykjavík, Iceland |
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|
This article uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. |
Donald Byrne (June 12, 1930 – April 8, 1976) was one of the USA's strongest chess players during the 1950s and 1960s.
Born in New York City, he won the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1953, was awarded the International Master title by FIDE (English: World Chess Federation) in 1962, and played for or captained five U.S. Chess Olympiad teams between 1962 and 1972. His older brother, International Grandmaster Robert Byrne, was also a leading player of that time.
Byrne lost to a 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Game of the Century in 1956.[1]
Byrne was a professor of English. He taught at Penn State University from 1961 until his death, having been invited there to teach and to coach the varsity chess team.
Byrne died in Philadelphia of complications arising from lupus. He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 2002.
In the following game, Byrne beats perennial world championship contender Efim Geller:
Geller-D. Byrne, Moscow 1955 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 6.Be3 Bg7 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 O-O 9.O-O-O Be6 10.Kb1 Rc8 11.g4 Qa5 12.Nxe6 fxe6 13.Bc4 Nd8 14.Be2 Nd7 15.Bd4 Ne5 16.f4 Ndc6 17.Bxe5 dxe5 18.f5 Nd4 19.fxg6 hxg6 20.Rhf1 Rf4 21.g5 b5 22.Bd3 Rcf8 23.Qg2 b4 24.Ne2 Qc5 25.Qh3 Rf3 26.Rxf3 Rxf3 27.Qg4 Rxd3 28.Rc1 Rd1 29.c3 Rxc1+ 30.Kxc1 Nxe2+ 31.Qxe2 bxc3 32.Qg2 cxb2 33.Kxb2 Qb4+ 34.Kc2 a5 35.Qg4 Qc5+ 36.Kb3 Qb6+ 37.Kc3 a4 38.h4 Qd4+ 39.Kc2 Qf2+ 40.Kd3 Qxa2 41.h5 Qb3+ 42.Kd2 gxh5 0-1.
External links[link]
- "Former chess coach named to Hall of Fame" – remembrance in a Penn State publication
- Inductee Biography – at the Chess Hall of Fame
- Donald Byrne player profile at ChessGames.com
- Statistics at ChessWorld.net
References[link]
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Byrne, Donald |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | June 12, 1930 |
| Place of birth | |
| Date of death | April 8, 1976 |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Donald_Byrne
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Бирн, Дональд
http://fr.wn.com/Donald Byrne
http://pt.wn.com/Donald Byrne
http://de.wn.com/Donald Byrne
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donald_Byrne
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
For the football player of the same name, see Larry Evans (American football).
| Larry Evans | |
|---|---|
| File:Larrymelvynevans.jpg | |
| Full name | Larry Melvyn Evans |
| Country | United States |
| Born | March 22, 1932 New York |
| Died | November 15, 2010(2010-11-15) (aged 78) Reno, Nevada |
| Title | Grandmaster (1957) |
Larry Melvyn Evans (March 22, 1932 – November 15, 2010) was an American chess grandmaster, author, and journalist. He won or shared the U.S. Chess Championship five times and the U.S. Open Chess Championship four times. He wrote a long-running syndicated chess column and wrote or co-wrote more than 20 books on chess.
Contents |
Chess career[link]
Early years[link]
Evans was born in Manhattan on March 22, 1932, and learned much about the game by playing for ten cents an hour on 42nd Street in New York City[citation needed], quickly becoming a rising star. At age 14, he tied for fourth-fifth place in the Marshall Chess Club championship. The next year he won it outright, becoming the youngest Marshall champion at that time. He also finished equal second in the U.S. Junior Championship, which led to an article in the September 1947 issue of Chess Review. At 16, he played in the 1948 U.S. Chess Championship, his first, tying for eighth place at 11½–7½.[1] Evans tied with Arthur Bisguier for first place in the U.S. Junior Chess Championship of 1949. By age 18, he had won a New York State championship as well as a gold medal in the Dubrovnik 1950 Chess Olympiad. In the latter, his 90% score (eight wins and two draws) on sixth board tied with Rabar of Yugoslavia for the best result of the entire Olympiad.[2]
U.S. champion[link]
In 1951, he first won the U.S. Championship, ahead of Samuel Reshevsky, who had tied for third-fourth in the 1948 World Championship match-tournament.[3] Evans won his second championship the following year by winning a title match against Herman Steiner.[4] He won the national championship thrice more – in 1961–62, 1967–68[5] and 1980, the last in a tie with Walter Browne and Larry Christiansen.[6][7][8]
Grandmaster[link]
FIDE awarded Evans the titles of International Master (1952) and International Grandmaster (1957). In 1956 the U.S. State Department appointed him a "chess ambassador".
Evans performed well in many U.S. events during the 1960s and 1970s, but his trips abroad to international tournaments were infrequent and less successful. He won the U.S. Open Chess Championship in 1951, 1952, 1954 (he tied with Arturo Pomar but won the title on the tie-break) and tied with Walter Browne in 1971. He also won the first Lone Pine tournament in 1971.[9]
Olympiad successes[link]
He represented the U.S. in eight Chess Olympiads over a period of twenty-six years, winning gold (1950), silver (1958), and bronze (1976) medals for his play, and participating in team gold (1976) and silver (1966) medals.[10][11][12]
Best international results[link]
File:Fischer and evans.jpg
Evans (right) helping Fischer prepare for his World Championship match
His best results on foreign soil included two wins at the Canadian Open Chess Championship, 1956 in Montreal, and 1966 in Kingston, Ontario. He tied for first-second in the 1975 Portimão, Portugal International[13] and for second-third with World Champion Tigran Petrosian, behind Jan Hein Donner, in Venice, 1967.[14] However, his first, and what ultimately proved to be his only, chance in the World Chess Championship cycle ended with a disappointing 14th place (10/23) in the 1964 Amsterdam Interzonal.[15]
Working with Bobby Fischer[link]
He never entered the world championship cycle again, and concentrated his efforts on assisting his fellow American Bobby Fischer in his quest for the world title. He was Fischer's second for the Candidates matches leading up to the World Chess Championship 1972 against Boris Spassky, though not for the championship match itself, after a disagreement with Fischer.
At his peak in October 1968 he was rated 2631 by the United States Chess Federation.
Chess journalism[link]
Evans had always been interested in writing as well as playing. By the age of eighteen, he had already published David Bronstein's Best Games of Chess, 1944–1949 and the Vienna International Tournament, 1922. His book New Ideas in Chess was published in 1958, and was later reprinted. He wrote or co-wrote more than 20 books on chess.[16]
He wrote the tenth edition of the important openings treatise Modern Chess Openings (1965), co-authored with editor Walter Korn. He also made a significant contribution to Fischer's My 60 Memorable Games (1969), writing the introductions to each of the games and urging the future World Champion to publish when he had initially been reluctant to do so.[17] Some of Evans's other books are Modern Chess Brilliancies (1970), What's The Best Move (1973), and Test Your Chess I.Q. (2001).
Evans began his career in chess journalism during the 1960s, helping to found the American Chess Quarterly, which ran from 1961–65. He was an editor of Chess Digest during the 1960s and 1970s. For over thirty years, until 2006, he wrote a question-and-answer column for Chess Life, the official publication of the United States Chess Federation (USCF), and has also written for Chess Life Online. His weekly chess column, Evans on Chess, has appeared in more than fifty separate newspapers throughout the United States. He also wrote a column for the World Chess Network.
Evans has also commentated on some of the most important matches for Time magazine and ABC's Wide World of Sports, including the 1972 Fischer versus Spassky match, the 1993 PCA world title battle between Garry Kasparov and Nigel Short and the Braingames world chess championship match between Vladimir Kramnik and Garry Kasparov in 2000.
Evans also contributed a large amount of tutorial and other content to the Chessmaster computer game series, most notably an endgame quiz and annotations of classic chess games. His contributions to chess writing and journalism earned him many awards, including the USCF's Chess Journalist of the Year award in 2000.[citation needed] He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1994.
Criticism of Writings[link]
Chess historian Edward Winter criticized Evans's work, asserting that it was sloppy, dishonest, and riddled with factual inaccuracies,[18] International Master John L. Watson, has noted that Evans has "huge bias", "long histories of ignoring and distorting evidence", and "absurd arguments".[19] In 2000, Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan published on his Inside Chess website a strongly-worded open letter ‘Enough is Enough’ which called on the FIDE President to resign. In a follow-up article (also on-line at Inside Chess) Seirawan reviewed the reaction, including that of the "long time rabid critic of FIDE, GM Evans". After pointing out how Evans had misrepresented his open letter, Seirawan concluded: "Experienced Evans-watchers know that it is the kind of untruth and distortion that is endemic in him." [18]Larry Parr, a friend of Evans, has denounced these assertions.[20]
Death[link]
On November 15, 2010, Evans died in Reno, Nevada, from complications following gallbladder surgery.[21][22][23]
Selected games[link]
|
This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. |
This game, against future grandmaster Abe Yanofsky, who had won the brilliancy prize against Mikhail Botvinnik at Groningen the year before, was Evans's first victory against a noted player:
Daniel Yanofsky – Larry Evans, 1947
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Position after 25. f3
Yanofsky – Evans, U.S. Open 1947, Alekhine defence B05
1. e4 Nf6 2. e5 Nd5 3. d4 d6 4. Nf3 Bg4 5. h3 Bxf3 6. Qxf3 dxe5 7. dxe5 e6 8. a3 Nc6 9. Bb5 Qd7 10. c4 Nde7 11. 0-0 Qd4 12. Bg5 a6 13. Bxe7 axb5 14. Bxf8 Rxf8 15. cxb5 Nxe5 16. Qe2 0-0-0 17. Nc3 Ng6 18. Rad1 Qe5 19. Qc2 Rxd1 20. Rxd1 Rd8 21. Rc1 Nf4 22. Kh1 Qh5 24. Kh2 Rd3 25. f3 (see diagram at left) 25 ...Rxf3! 26. Rd1 Nxh3! 27. gxf3 Nf2+ 28. Kg3 Qh3+ 29. Kf4 Qh2+ 30. Ke3 (0–1)
In his book Modern Chess Brilliances, Evans listed four of his own wins:
- Evans vs. Berger, 1964
- Evans vs. Blackstone, 1965
- Evans vs. Zuckerman, 1967, U.S. Championship
- Koehler vs. Evans, 1968, U.S. National Open
References[link]
- ^ William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, pp. 33–36. ISBN 0-679-13042-X.
- ^ Árpád Főldeák, Chess Olympiads 1927–1968, Dover Publications, 1979, pp. 181, 183. ISBN 0-486-23733-8.
- ^ William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, pp. 37–39. ISBN 0-679-13042-X.
- ^ William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, p. 40. ISBN 0-679-13042-X.
- ^ Strawberry Open
- ^ William Lombardy and David Daniels, U.S. Championship Chess, David McKay, 1975, pp. 54–56, 69–71. ISBN 0-679-13042-X.
- ^ Chess Informant, Volume 30, Šahovski Informator, 1981, p. 290.
- ^ Larry Christiansen, 1980 U.S. Championship, Chess Enterprises, Inc., 1980, pp. 6, 108. ISBN 0-931462-09-6.
- ^ John Grefe and Dennis Waterman, The Best of Lone Pine: The Louis D. Statham Chess Tournaments 1971–1980, R.H.M. Press, 1981, pp. 38, 42. ISBN 0-89058-049-9 ISBN 4-87187-816-3.
- ^ Árpád Főldeák, Chess Olympiads 1927–1968, Dover Publications, 1979, pp. 181–83, 198–202, 264–69, 311–15, 358–64, 383–89. ISBN 0-486-23733-8.
- ^ R.D. Keene and D.N.L. Levy, Siegen Chess Olympiad, CHESS Ltd., 1970, p. 214.
- ^ R.D. Keene and D.N.L. Levy, Haifa Chess Olympiad 1976, The Chess Player, 1977, pp. 63–78. ISBN 0-906042-02-X, ISBN 978-0-906042-02-1
- ^ Chess Informant, Šahovski Informator, Volume 20, 1976, p. 263.
- ^ Chess Informant, Šahovski Informator, Volume 4, 1968, p. 282.
- ^ B.M. Kazic, International Championship Chess: A Complete Record of FIDE Events, 1974, pp. 167–68. ISBN 0-273-07078-9.
- ^ Larry Evans, This Crazy World of Chess, Cardoza Publishing, 2007, back cover. ISBN 1-58042-218-7.
- ^ Larry Evans, This Crazy World of Chess, Cardoza Publishing, 2007, pp. 20, 29. ISBN 1-58042-218-7.
- ^ a b Edward Winter, "The Facts About Larry Evans" (2001). Retrieved on 2009-01-18.
- ^ John Watson, Kingpin, Spring 199,pgs. 33-38.
- ^ Larry Parr, Not Quicker Than the Mind's Eye ChessCity.com.
- ^ USCF: Eulogy
- ^ Chessbase: Eulogy
- ^ McLain, Dylan Loeb (November 17, 2010), "Larry Evans, Chess Champ, Dies at 78", The New York Times, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/18/us/18evans.html?hpw
Selected books[link]
- What's the Best Move? (1995). ISBN 0-671-51159-9.
- The 10 Most Common Chess Mistakes (1998). ISBN 1-58042-009-5.
- How Good Is Your Chess? (2004). ISBN 1-58042-126-1.
- New Ideas in Chess (1958). Pitman. ISBN 0-486-28305-4 (1984 Dover edition). Revised edition in 2011, Cardoza Publishing, ISBN 978-1-58042-274-1.
- Modern Chess Brilliancies (1970). Fireside Simon and Schuster. ISBN 0-671-22420-4.
- Modern Chess Openings (1965). 10th edition, revised by Larry Evans, edited by Walter Korn. Pitman Publishing.
- Evans on Chess (1974). Cornerstone Library.
- This Crazy World of Chess (2007). Cardoza Publishing. ISBN 1-58042-218-7.
External links[link]
- Larry Evans player profile at ChessGames.com
- Larry Evans download 419 of his games in pgn format.
- http://www.worldchessnetwork.com/English/chessNews/evans/bio.php
- Statistics at ChessWorld.net
- The Facts About Larry Evans Critical article by Edward Winter
- Not Quicker Than the Mind's Eye Response to above article by Larry Parr
- Grandmaster Larry Evans On Bobby Fischer, Chessville, July 30, 2004
- OlimpBase
- Interview with GM Larry Evans
- The United States Chess Federation eulogy
| Preceded by Herman Steiner |
United States Chess Champion 1951–1954 |
Succeeded by Arthur Bisguier |
| Preceded by Bobby Fischer |
United States Chess Champion 1961 |
Succeeded by Bobby Fischer |
| Preceded by Bobby Fischer |
United States Chess Champion 1968 |
Succeeded by Samuel Reshevsky |
| Preceded by Lubomir Kavalek |
United States Chess Champion 1980 (with Walter Browne and Larry Christiansen) |
Succeeded by Walter Browne and Yasser Seirawan |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Evans, Larry |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Chess player |
| Date of birth | March 22, 1932 |
| Place of birth | New York |
| Date of death | November 15, 2010 |
| Place of death | Reno, Nevada |
http://wn.com/Larry_Evans
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Эванс, Ларри
http://fr.wn.com/Larry Evans
http://pt.wn.com/Larry Evans
http://de.wn.com/Larry Evans
http://it.wn.com/Larry Evans
http://pl.wn.com/Larry Evans
http://es.wn.com/Larry Evans
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Evans
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Pal Benko | |
|---|---|
 Pal Benko with Benko Gambit position. |
|
| Full name | Benkő Pál |
| Country | Hungary United States |
| Born | (1928-07-14) July 14, 1928 (age 83) Amiens, France |
| Title | International Master (1950) Grandmaster (1958) |
| FIDE rating | 2408 (May 2012) |
| Peak rating | 2530 (July 1973) |
Pal Benko (Hungarian: Benkő Pál, born July 14, 1928 in Amiens) is a chess grandmaster, author, and composer of endgame studies and chess problems.
Contents |
Early life[link]
Benko was born in France but was raised in Hungary. He was Hungarian champion by age 20. He emigrated to the United States in 1958, after defecting following the World Student Team Championship in Reykjavík, Iceland in 1957. FIDE awarded him the title of Grandmaster in 1958.
World title candidate[link]
Benko's highest achievements were playing in the Candidates Tournament—the tournament to decide the challenger for the World Championship—in 1959 and 1962. Both tournaments had eight of the world's top players.
He qualified for the 1970 Interzonal tournament, the leaders of which advance to the Candidates. However, he gave up his spot in the Interzonal to Bobby Fischer, who went on to win the World Championship in 1972.
Other achievements[link]
Benko finished in first place (or tied for first place) in eight U.S. Open Chess Championships, a record. His titles were: 1961, 1964, 1965, 1966, 1967, 1969, 1974, 1975. He won the 1964 Canadian Open Chess Championship.
Benko played some of his very best chess in team competition. He represented Hungary at the 1957 Student Olympiad in Reykjavík on board one, scoring 7.5/12, and Hungary was fourth as a team. He had earlier played for the national Hungarian team at the Moscow 1956 Olympiad, on board three, scoring 10/15, and helping Hungary to team bronze. He moved to the United States, but it was not until 1962 that he appeared on their team. He would wind up on six teams in a row. At Varna 1962, Benko played board two, scored 8/12 for the silver medal on his board, and the USA finished fourth. At Tel Aviv 1964, he was again on board two, scored 9.5/14, and the USA ended up sixth. At Havana 1966, Benko was on board three, scored 8/12, and the Americans won team silver. At Lugano 1968, he made 6/12 on board three, and the USA finished fourth. At Siegen 1970, Benko was on board four, scoring 8.5/12, and the Americans again finished fourth. His last Olympiad was Skopje 1972, where he played on board three, made 9.5/16, and the USA ended up ninth. (Source: olimpbase.org)
Legacy and writings[link]
|
This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. |
Some chess openings he pioneered are named for him:
- The Benko Gambit (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 c5 3.d5 b5), which he popularised, and played with great success from the mid-1960s.
- Benko's Opening (1.g3), which he introduced at the 1962 Candidates Tournament, defeating Bobby Fischer and Mikhail Tal with it.
He was inducted into the U.S. Chess Hall of Fame in 1993.
In addition to his success as a player, Benko is a noted authority on the chess endgame and a composer of endgame studies and chess problems. He was awarded the title of International Master of Chess Composition by FIDE. He wrote a book on the Benko Gambit for RHM Publishing in the early 1970s. For decades, he has had a column on endgames in Chess Life magazine, which is published by the United States Chess Federation, and he has published in 1991 the book Winning with Chess Psychology. In 2003 he revised the classic book Basic Chess Endings, by Reuben Fine.
Notable chess games[link]
- Pal Benko vs Viacheslav Ragozin, Budapest 1949, Budapest Gambit (A52), 1-0 Ragozin tries the Budapest Gambit in Budapest, but Hungarian Benko is well prepared.
- Laszlo Szabo vs Pal Benko, Hungarian Championship 1951, Sicilian Defence, Sozin-Fischer Variation (B88), 0-1 Szabo is a nine-time Hungarian champion, but the young Benko more than holds his own.
- Pal Benko vs Robert Fischer, Portoroz Interzonal 1958, King's Indian Defence, Saemisch Variation (E80), 1-0 The young Fischer would go on to qualify, but he suffers a drastic loss here.
- Pal Benko vs Fridrik Olafsson, Yugoslavia Candidates' tournament 1959, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B99), 1-0 One of Benko's best games from this tournament.
- Pal Benko vs Robert Fischer, Buenos Aires 1960, King's Indian Defence, Fianchetto Variation (E62), 1-0 Fischer overextends and is punished badly.
- Pal Benko vs Samuel Reshevsky, New York match 1960, Grunfeld Defence (D76), 1-0 Benko lost the match, but he scores a nice win here.
- Pal Benko vs Mikhail Tal, Curacao Candidates' tournament 1962, Benko's Opening (A00), 1-0 Benko introduces an original opening scheme, and finally beats Tal, one of his great tormentors.
- Pal Benko vs Robert Fischer, Curacao Candidates' tournament 1962, Benko's Opening (A00), 1-0 Benko again utilizes his new plan to defeat Fischer.
- Pal Benko vs Paul Keres, Curacao Candidates' tournament 1962, King's Indian Attack, Keres Variation (A07), 1-0 An extraordinarily painful loss for Keres, who had beaten Benko in the three previous cycles of the tournament; it costs him a chance to qualify for the world championship match.
- Milan Vukic vs Pal Benko, Sarajevo 1967, Benko Gambit (A58), 0-1 Benko was crafting this gambit into a formidable weapon during these years with wins like this.
- Igor Zaitsev vs Pal Benko, Solnak 1974, Benko Gambit (A57), 0-1 Zaitsev came prepared with his own variation, but Benko manages to win anyway.
- Pal Benko vs Yasser Seirawan, Lone Pine 1978, English Opening, Symmetrical Variation (A34), 1-0 Benko is spotting young Seirawan 32 years, but shows experience and craft certainly count for something in chess.
Books[link]
- Pal Benko: My Life, Games and Compositions, by Pal Benko, Jeremy Silman, and John L. Watson, 2003, Siles Press ISBN 1-890085-08-1
- Pal Benko's Endgame Laboratory ISBN 0-923891-88-9
- The Benko Gambit ISBN 0713429127
- Basic Chess Endings by Reuben Fine revised by Pal Benko ISBN 0-8129-3493-8
External links[link]
- Pal Benko player profile at ChessGames.com
- Pal Benko download 765 of his games in pgn format.
- "Best Chess Bio Yet?", by Taylor Kingston. A review of a biography of Benko, but the review itself contains some more information on Benko.
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Benko, Pal |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | |
| Date of birth | July 14, 1928 |
| Place of birth | Amiens, France |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Pal_Benko
Related pages:
http://ru.wn.com/Бенко, Пал
http://fr.wn.com/Pal Benko
http://nl.wn.com/Pál Benkő
http://pt.wn.com/Pal Charles Benko
http://de.wn.com/Pál Benkő
http://it.wn.com/Pál Benkő
http://pl.wn.com/Pál Benkő
http://id.wn.com/Pal Benko
http://es.wn.com/Pal Benko
This page contains text from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pal_Benko
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
| Boris Spassky | |
|---|---|
 Spassky at the Thessaloniki Olympiad, 1984 |
|
| Full name | Boris Vasilievich Spassky |
| Country | Soviet Union France |
| Born | (1937-01-30) January 30, 1937 (age 75) Leningrad, Soviet Union |
| Title | Grandmaster |
| World Champion | 1969–72 |
| FIDE rating | 2548 (May 2012) |
| Peak rating | 2690 (January 1971) |
Boris Vasilievich Spassky (also Spasskij; Бори́с Васи́льевич Спа́сский; born January 30, 1937) is a Soviet-French chess grandmaster. He was the tenth World Chess Champion, holding the title from 1969 to 1972. He is known as one of the greatest living chess players, and is the oldest living world champion.
Spassky won the Soviet Chess Championship twice outright (1961, 1973), and twice lost in playoffs (1956, 1963), after tying for first place during the event proper. He was a World Chess Championship candidate on seven occasions (1956, 1965, 1968, 1974, 1977, 1980, and 1985).
Spassky defeated Tigran Petrosian in 1969 to become World Champion, then lost the title in the Fischer–Spassky match in 1972 - one of the most famous chess matches in history.
Contents |
Early life[link]
He was born in Leningrad (now Saint Petersburg) to a Russian mother and father, and learned to play chess at the age of five on a train evacuating from Leningrad during World War II. He first drew wide attention in 1947 at age ten, when he defeated Soviet champion Mikhail Botvinnik in a simultaneous exhibition in Leningrad.[1] His early coach was Vladimir Zak, a respected master and trainer. During his youth, from the age of ten, Spassky often worked on chess for several hours a day with master-level coaches. He set records as the youngest Soviet player to achieve first category rank (age ten), candidate master rank (age eleven), and Soviet Master rank (age fifteen). In 1952, at fifteen, Spassky scored 50 percent in the Soviet Championship semifinal at Riga, and placed second in the Leningrad Championship that same year, being highly praised by Botvinnik.
Career[link]
Young Grandmaster[link]
Spassky made his international debut in 1953, aged sixteen, at a tournament in Bucharest, Romania, finishing tied 4th–5th with 12/19, an event won by his trainer, Alexander Tolush, and where he defeated Vasily Smyslov who would challenge for the World Championship the following year. He was awarded the title of International Master by FIDE. In his first attempt at the Soviet Championship final, the 22nd in the series, held in Moscow 1955, Spassky tied for 3rd–6th places with 11½/19, after joint winners Smyslov and Efim Geller, which was sufficient to qualify him for the Gothenburg Interzonal later that year.
The same year, he won the World Junior Chess Championship held at Antwerp, Belgium, with the score of 14/16. Spassky competed for the Lokomotiv Voluntary Sports Society.
By sharing 7th–9th place with 11/20 at Gothenburg, Spassky qualified for the 1956 Candidates' Tournament, held in Amsterdam, automatically gaining the grandmaster title, and was then the youngest to hold the title. There, he finished in the middle of the ten-player field, tied for 3rd–7th places with 9½/18. At the 23rd Soviet final, held in Leningrad in January-February 1956[2], Spassky shared 1st–3rd places on 11½/19, with Mark Taimanov and Yuri Averbakh, but Taimanov won the subsequent playoff to become champion. Spassky then tied for first with Tolush in a strong Leningrad tournament later in 1956.
Uneven results[link]
After these early successes, Spassky then went into a slump in world championship qualifying events, failing to advance to the next two Interzonals (1958 and 1962), a necessary step to earn the right to play for the World Chess Championship. This crisis coincides with the hard three final years of his first marriage before his divorce in 1961,[3] the same year that he broke with his trainer Tolush.
In the 1957 Soviet final, URS-ch24 at Moscow, Spassky finished tied 4th–5th with 13/21, as Mikhail Tal won the first of his six Soviet titles, which began his ascent to the world title in 1960.
Spassky's failure to qualify for the 1958 Interzonal came about after a last-round defeat at the hands of Tal, in a nervy game in the 1958 Soviet final, URS-ch25 at Riga. He had the advantage for much of the game, but missed a difficult win after adjournment, then later declined a draw. A win would have qualified him for the Interzonal, and a draw would have ensured a share of fourth place with Yuri Averbakh, with qualification possible via a playoff.
Spassky tied for first place at Moscow 1959 on 7/11, with Smyslov and David Bronstein. He nearly won the title at the next Soviet final, URS-ch26 at Tbilisi 1959, finishing half a point behind champion Tigran Petrosian, in equal second place with Tal, on 12½/19. Soon after Spassky notched a victory at Riga, 1959, with 11½/13. Spassky was in the middle of the pack at the next Soviet final, URS-ch27 at Leningrad, with 10/19, as fellow Leningrader Viktor Korchnoi scored his first Soviet title victory. Spassky travelled to Argentina, where he shared first place, ahead of Bronstein, at Mar del Plata 1960 with Bobby Fischer on 13½/15, defeating Fischer in their first career meeting.
Another disappointment for Spassky came at the qualifier for the next Interzonal, the Soviet final URS-ch28 at Moscow 1961, where he again missed advancing by one place, finishing tied 5th–6th with 11/19, as Petrosian won.
Title contender[link]
Spassky decided upon a switch in trainers, from the volatile attacker Alexander Tolush to the calmer strategist Igor Bondarevsky. This proved the key to his resurgence. He won his first of two USSR Championships, URS-ch29, at Baku 1961, with a score of 14.5/20. Spassky shared 2nd–3rd at Havana 1962 with 16/21, behind winner Miguel Najdorf. He placed joint 5th–6th at Yerevan 1962, URS-ch30, with 11.5/19. At Leningrad 1963, the site for URS-ch31, Spassky tied for first with Leonid Stein and Ratmir Kholmov, with Stein winning the playoff. Spassky won at Belgrade 1964 with an undefeated 13/17, ahead of Korchnoi and Borislav Ivkov. He was fourth at Sochi 1964 with 9.5/15, as Nikolai Krogius won.
Then, in the 1964 Soviet Zonal at Moscow, a seven-player double round-robin event, Spassky won with 7/12, to advance to the Amsterdam Interzonal the same year. At Amsterdam, he tied for 1st–4th places, along with Tal, Vasily Smyslov, and Bent Larsen, on 17/23, with all four, along with Borislav Ivkov and Lajos Portisch, thus qualifying for the newly created Candidates' Matches the next year. With Bondarevsky, Spassky's style broadened and deepened, with poor results mostly banished, yet his fighting spirit was even enhanced. He added psychology and surprise to his quiver, and this proved enough to eventually propel him to the top.
Challenger[link]
Spassky was considered an all-rounder on the chess board, and his adaptable "universal style" was a distinct advantage in beating many top grandmasters. In the 1965 cycle, he beat Paul Keres at Riga 1965 with careful strategy, triumphing in the last game to win 6–4 (+4 =4 −2). Also at Riga, he defeated Efim Geller with mating attacks, winning by 5½–2½ (+3 =5 −0). Then, in his Candidates' Final match (the match which determines who will challenge the reigning world champion for the title) against Mikhail Tal the legendary tactician (Tbilisi 1965), Spassky often managed to steer play into quieter positions, either avoiding former champion Tal's tactical strength, or extracting too high a price for complications. Though losing the first game, he won by 7–4 (+4 =6 −1).
Spassky won two tournaments in the run-up to the final. He shared first at the Chigorin Memorial in Sochi, in 1965 with Wolfgang Unzicker on 10½/15, then tied for first at Hastings 1965–66 with Wolfgang Uhlmann on 7½/9.
Spassky lost a keenly-fought final match in Moscow, with three wins against Petrosian's four, with seventeen draws, though the last of his three victories came only in the twenty-third game, after Petrosian had already ensured his retention of the title. A few months after the match, however, Spassky finished ahead of Petrosian and a super-class field at Santa Monica 1966 (the Piatigorsky Cup), with 11½/18, half a point ahead of Bobby Fischer. Spassky also won at Beverwijk 1967 with 11/15 ahead of Anatoly Lutikov, and shared 1st–5th places at Sochi 1967 on 10/15 with Krogius, Alexander Zaitsev, Leonid Shamkovich, and Vladimir Simagin.
As losing finalist in 1966, Spassky was automatically seeded into the next Candidates' cycle. In 1968, he faced Geller again, this time at Sukhumi, and won by the same margin as in 1965 (5½–2½, +3 =5). He next met Bent Larsen at Malmö, and won by 5½–2½. The final was against his Leningrad rival Viktor Korchnoi at Kiev, and Spassky triumphed (+4 −1 =5), which earned him another match with Petrosian, at Moscow 1969. Spassky's flexibility of style was the key to his eventual victory over Petrosian in the 1969 World Championship. Spassky won by 12½–10½.
World Champion[link]
During Spassky's three-year reign as World Champion, he won several more tournaments. He placed first at San Juan 1969 with 11½/15. He won a quadrangular event at Leiden 1970 with 7/12, ahead of Larsen, Botvinnik and Jan Hein Donner. Spassky shared first at Amsterdam 1970 with Lev Polugaevsky on 11½/15. He was third at Gothenburg 1971 with 8/11, behind winners Vlastimil Hort and Ulf Andersson. He shared first with Hans Ree at the 1971 Canadian Open Chess Championship in Vancouver.
Spassky's reign as world champion lasted three years, as he lost to Fischer of the United States in 1972 in the "Match of the Century". The contest took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, at the height of the Cold War, and consequently was seen as symbolic of the political confrontation between the two superpowers. Spassky accommodated many demands by Fischer, including moving the third game into a side room. The Fischer vs Spassky World championship was the most widely covered chess match in history, as mainstream media throughout the world covered the match. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger spoke with Fischer urging him to play the match, and chess was at its apex. The match could not have occurred without Spassky's tremendous sportsmanship, accommodating many demands of Fischer, refusing to use these demands as an opportunity to win by forfeit.
Going into the match, Fischer had never won a game from Spassky in five attempts, losing three. In addition, Spassky had secured Geller as his coach, who also had a plus score against Fischer. However, Fischer was in excellent form, and won the title match convincingly (+7 −3 =11), with one of the three losses by default.
The match could be divided into halves, the first won convincingly by Fischer, and the second a close battle. Before Spassky, Mark Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian, had lost convincingly to Fischer, but Spassky maintained his composure and competitiveness.
Ex-champion (1973–85)[link]
Spassky continued to play some excellent chess after losing his crown, winning several championships. In 1973, he tied for first at Dortmund on 9½/15 with Hans-Joachim Hecht and Ulf Andersson. In the 41st Soviet Championship[4] at Moscow, Spassky scored 11½/17 to win by a full point in a field which included all the top Soviet grandmasters of the time.
In the 1974 Candidates' matches, Spassky first defeated American Robert Byrne in Puerto Rico by 4½–1½ (+3 =3); he then lost the semifinal match to Anatoly Karpov in Leningrad, despite winning the first game, (+1 −4 =6). Karpov had publicly acknowledged that Spassky was superior, but had nevertheless outplayed him.
In 1976, Spassky was obliged to return to the Interzonal stage, and finished in a tie for 10th-13th places in the Manila Interzonal[5], but was nominated to play in the Candidates' matches after Fischer declined his place. Spassky won an exhibition match with rising Dutch grandmaster Jan Timman at Amsterdam 1977 by 4–2. He triumphed in extra games in his first Candidates' match over Vlastimil Hort at Reykjavík 1977 by 8½–7½. This match saw Spassky fall ill, exhaust all his available rest days while recovering[citation needed]; then the healthy Hort used one of his own rest days, to allow Spassky more time to recover; Spassky eventually won the match.
Spassky won an exhibition match over Robert Hübner at Solingen, 1977 by 3½–2½, then defeated Lubomir Kavalek, also at Solingen, by 4/6 in another exhibition. His next Candidates' match was against Lajos Portisch at Geneva 1977, and Spassky won again, by 8½–6½, to qualify for the final. At Belgrade 1977, Spassky lost to Viktor Korchnoi, by (+4 −7 =7).
Spassky, as losing finalist, was seeded into the 1980 Candidates' matches, and faced Portisch again, with this match held in Mexico. After fourteen games, the match was 7–7, but Portisch advanced since he had won more games with the black pieces. Spassky missed qualification from the 1982 Toluca Interzonal with 8/13, finishing half a point short, in third place behind Portisch and Eugenio Torre. The 1985 Candidates' event was held as a round-robin tournament at Montpellier, France, and Spassky was nominated as an organizer's choice. He scored 8/15 to tie for 6th–7th places, behind joint winners Andrei Sokolov, Rafael Vaganian, and Artur Yusupov, but only four players advanced to matches. This was Spassky's last appearance at the Candidates' level.
International team results[link]
Spassky played five times for the USSR in Student Olympiads, winning eight medals. He scored 38½/47 (+31 −1 =15), for an outstanding 81.91 percent. His complete results are:
- Lyon 1955, board 2, 7½/8 (+7 −0 =1), team gold, board gold;
- Reykjavík 1957, board 2, 7/9 (+5 −0 =4), team gold, board gold;
- Varna 1958, board 2, 6½/9 (+4 −0 =5), team gold;
- Leningrad 1960, board 1, 10/12 (+9 −1 =2), team silver;
- Marianske Lazne 1962, board 1, 7½/9 (+6 −0 =3), team gold, board gold.[6][7]
Spassky played twice for the USSR in the European Team Championships, winning four gold medals. He scored 8½/12 (+5 =7 −0), for 70.83 percent. His complete results are:
- Vienna 1957, board 5, 3½/5 (+2 =3 −0), team gold, board gold;
- Bath, Somerset 1973, board 1, 5/7 (+3 =4 −0), team gold, board gold.[8]
Spassky played seven times for the Soviet Olympiad team. He won thirteen medals, and scored 69/94 (+45 −1 =48), for 73.40 percent. His complete results are:
- Varna 1962, board 3, 11/14 (+8 −0 =6), team gold, board gold medal;
- Tel Aviv 1964, 2nd reserve, 10½/13 (+8 −0 =5), team gold, board bronze;
- Havana 1966, board 2, 10/15, team gold.
- Lugano 1968, board 2, 10/14, team gold, board bronze;
- Siegen 1970, board 1, 9½/12, team gold, board gold;
- Nice 1974, board 3, 11/15, board gold, team gold;
- Buenos Aires 1978, board 1, 7/11 (+4 −1 =6), team silver.[8]
Spassky played board one in the USSR vs. Rest of the World match at Belgrade 1970, scoring (+1 −1 =1) against Larsen.
Spassky then represented France in three Olympiads, on board one in each case. For Thessaloniki 1984, he scored 8/14 (+2 −0 =12). At Dubai 1986, he scored 9/14 (+4 −0 =10). Finally at Thessaloniki 1988, he scored 7½/13 (+3 −1 =9). He also played board one for France at the inaugural World Team Championships, Lucerne 1985, where he scored 5½/9 (+3 −1 =5).
Later tournament career (after 1976)[link]
In his later years, Spassky showed a reluctance to totally devote himself to chess. He relied on his natural talent for the game, and sometimes would rather play a game of tennis than work hard at the board. Since 1976, Spassky has lived in France with his third wife; he became a French citizen in 1978, and has competed for France in the Chess Olympiads.
Spassky did, however, score some notable triumphs in his later years. He tied for first at Bugojno 1978 on 10/15, with Karpov. He was clear first at Montilla – Moriles 1978 with 6½/9. At Munich 1979, he tied for 1st–4th places with 8½/13, with Yuri Balashov, Ulf Andersson and Robert Hübner.[9] He shared first at Baden, Vienna in 1980, on 10½/15 with Alexander Beliavsky. He won his preliminary group at Hamburg 1982 with a powerful 5½/6, but lost the final playoff match to Anatoly Karpov in extra games.[10] His best result during this period was clear first at Linares 1983 with 6½/10, ahead of Karpov and Ulf Andersson, who shared second. At London Lloyds' Bank Open 1984, he tied for first with John Nunn and Murray Chandler, on 7/9. He won at Reykjavík 1985. At Brussels 1985, he placed second with 10½/13 behind Korchnoi. At Reggio Emilia 1986, he tied for 2nd–5th places with 6/11 behind Zoltán Ribli. He swept Fernand Gobet 4–0 in a match at Fribourg 1987. He finished equal first at Wellington 1988 with Chandler and Eduard Gufeld. Spassky maintained a top ten world ranking into the mid-1980s.
However, Spassky's performances in the World Cup events of 1988 and 1989 showed that he could by this stage finish no higher than the middle of the pack against elite fields. At Belfort WC 1988, he scored 8/15 for a joint 4th–7th place, as Garry Kasparov won. At Reykjavík WC 1988, he scored 7/17 for a joint 15th–16th place, with Kasparov again winning. Finally, at Barcelona WC 1989, Spassky scored 7½/16 for a tied 8th–12th place, as Kasparov shared first with Ljubomir Ljubojević.
Spassky played in the 1990 French Championship at Angers, placing fourth with 10½/15, as Marc Santo Roman won. At Salamanca 1991, he placed 2nd with 7½/11 behind winner Evgeny Vladimirov. Then in the 1991 French Championship, he scored 9½/15 for a tied 4th–5th place, as Santo Roman won again.
In 1992, Bobby Fischer, after a twenty-year hiatus from chess, re-emerged to arrange a "Revenge Match of the 20th century" against Spassky in Montenegro and Belgrade; this was a rematch of the 1972 World Championship. At the time, Spassky was rated 106th in the FIDE rankings, and Fischer did not appear on the list at all, owing to his inactivity. This match was essentially Spassky's last major challenge. Spassky lost the match with a score of +5 −10 =15. Spassky then played young female prodigy Judit Polgár in a 1993 match at Budapest, losing narrowly by 4.5–5.5.
Spassky continued to play occasional events through much of the 1990s, such as the Veterans versus Women series.
On October 1, 2006, Spassky suffered a minor stroke during a chess lecture in San Francisco. In his first major post-stroke play, he drew a six-game rapid match with Hungarian Grandmaster Lajos Portisch in April 2007.
On September 23, 2010, ChessBase reported that Spassky had suffered a more serious stroke that had left him paralyzed on his left side.[11] After that he returned to France for a long rehabilitation programme,[12] where he is recovering so well that he is expected to take part in the Botvinnik Memorial 2011 tournament in Suzdal (Russia).[13]
Spassky is the oldest living former world champion.
Legacy[link]
File:Boris Spassky 2009.jpg
Spassky, 2009
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This section uses algebraic notation to describe chess moves. |
Spassky's best years were as a youthful prodigy in the mid 1950s, and then again as an adult in the mid to late 1960s. He seemed to lose ambition once he became World Champion. Some suggest the first match with Fischer took a severe nervous toll, but others would disagree as he was a sportsman who appreciated his opponent's skill. He applauded one well-played game of Fischer, and attempted to defend Fischer when he faced jailing.
Some might suggest his preparation was largely bypassed by Fischer, but the match saw several important novelties by Spassky. Instead, Fischer was an incredible player in 1972, having won an unprecedented 20 games in a row, and Spassky probably showed he was number 2, and the match saw many enjoyable games. While one suggested he felt the disappointment of his nation for losing the title, others would say he conceived of himself as his own man and after the match took French citizenship. He had the equanimity to appreciate what was the chess event of the century, as chess occupied the spotlight for almost a year.
Never a true openings maven, at least when compared to contemporaries such as Geller and Fischer, he excelled in the middlegame with highly imaginative yet usually sound and deeply planned play, which could erupt into tactical violence as needed.
Spassky succeeded with a wide variety of openings, including the King's Gambit, 1.e4 e5 2.f4, an aggressive and risky line rarely seen at the top level. Indeed, his record of sixteen wins (including victories against Fischer, Bronstein, and Karpov), no losses, and a few draws with the King's Gambit is unmatched.[citation needed] The chess game between "Kronsteen" and "McAdams" in the early part of the James Bond movie From Russia With Love is based on a game in that opening played between Spassky and David Bronstein in 1960 in which Spassky ("Kronsteen") was victorious.[14]
His contributions to opening theory extend to reviving the Marshall Attack for Black in the Ruy Lopez (1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Ba4 Nf6 5.0-0 Be7 6.Re1 b5 7.Bb3 0-0 8.c3 d5), developing the Leningrad Variation for White in the Nimzo-Indian Defence (1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.Bg5), the Spassky Variation on the Black side of the Nimzo-Indian, and the Closed Variation of the Sicilian Defence for White (1.e4 c5 2.Nc3). Another rare line in the King's Indian Attack bears his name: 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 b5!?
Spassky is respected as a universal player, a great storyteller, a bon vivant on occasion, and someone who is rarely afraid to speak his mind on controversial chess issues, and who usually has something important to relate.
Notable chess games[link]
- Boris Spassky vs Robert Fischer, Santa Monica 1966, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation (D87), 1–0 Fischer seems to equalize in a sharp game, but he makes a small mistake and Spassky finishes nicely.
- Boris Spassky vs Efim Geller, Sukhumi Candidates' match 1968, game 6, Sicilian Defence, Closed Variation (B25), 1–0 One of three beautiful wins by Spassky over Geller in this match using the same variation, which is one of Spassky's favorites.
- Boris Spassky vs Tigran Petrosian, World Championship match, Moscow 1969, game 19, Sicilian Defence, Najdorf Variation (B94), 1–0 Aggressive style of play and brilliant sparkles of combinations shows Spassky at his heights.
- Bent Larsen vs Boris Spassky, Belgrade 1970 (match USSR vs. Rest of the World), Nimzo-Larsen Attack, Modern Variation (A01), 0–1 Another nice short win over a noted grandmaster.
- Boris Spassky vs Robert Fischer, Siegen Olympiad 1970, Grunfeld Defence, Exchange Variation (D87), 1–0 Fischer tries the Grunfeld again against Spassky, and the game is remarkably similar to their 1966 encounter.
- Boris Spassky vs Robert Fischer, World Championship match, Reykjavík 1972, game 11, Sicilian Defense, Najdorf, Poisoned Pawn Variation (B97), 1–0 Fischer's only loss in his favourite Poisoned Pawn variation.
- Anatoly Karpov vs Boris Spassky, Candidates' match, Leningrad 1974, game 1, Sicilian Defence, Scheveningen Variation (B83), 0–1 Spassky lost the match, but he started strongly with this fine win.
Notes[link]
- ^ http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=7883
- ^ http://www.365chess.com/tournaments/urs-ch23_1956/25288
- ^ As Boris Spassky said: "I had a very hard three years from 1959 to 1961. My nervous energy was completely destroyed for three years, and I could do nothing right" (Cafferty 1972, p. 21)
- ^ http://www.365chess.com/tournaments/URS-ch41_1973/23585
- ^ http://www.365chess.com/tournaments/Manila_Interzonal_1976/24112
- ^ Wojciech Bartelski. "Olimpbase records 1955–1960". Olimpbase.org. http://www.olimpbase.org/playersy/59pz3v1e.html. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Wojciech Bartelski. "Olimpbase records 1962". Olimpbase.org. http://www.olimpbase.org/1962y/1962urs.html. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ a b Wojciech Bartelski (2011-01-01). "Olimpbase records". Olimpbase.org. http://www.olimpbase.org. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ Grand Strategy Biographic appendix by Boris Spassky
- ^ Learn From Your Defeats, by Anatoly Karpov, Batsford 1985)
- ^ "Chess News - Boris Spassky in grave condition". ChessBase.com. http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=6692. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ By mishanp on November 26, 2010 (2010-11-26). "Bits and Pieces #1". Chessintranslation.com. http://www.chessintranslation.com/2010/11/bits-and-pieces-1/. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
- ^ "Spassky, Korchnoi and others will play in Botvinnik Memorial in Suzdal" 09 July 2011, [1]
- ^ "Spassky–Bronstein". Chessbase.com. 2004-08-29. http://www.chessbase.com/newsprint.asp?newsid=1882. Retrieved 2011-11-12.
Further reading[link]
- Spassky's Best Games by Bernard Cafferty, Batsford, 1969.
- World chess champions by Edward G. Winter, editor. 1981 ISBN 0-08-024117-4
- Cafferty, Bernard (1972). Boris Spassky Master of Tactics. Spassky's 100 Best Games 1949–1972. London: B. T. Batsford. ISBN 978-0-7134-2409-6.
- Chernev, Irving (1995). Twelve Great Chess Players and Their Best Games. New York: Dover. pp. 43–57. ISBN 0-486-28674-6.
- No Regrets: Fischer–Spassky by Yasser Seirawan; International Chess Enterprises; March 1997. ISBN 1-879479-08-7
- Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time by David Edmonds and John Eidinow; Ecco, 2004.
- Garry Kasparov (2004). My Great Predecessors, part III. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-371-3
- Raetsky, Alexander; Chetverik, Maxim (2006). Boris Spassky: Master of Initiative. Everyman Chess. ISBN 1-85744-425-6.
External links[link]
|
Wikiquote has a collection of quotations related to: Boris Spassky |
- Boris Spassky player profile at ChessGames.com
- Chessbase report of stroke
- OlimpBase
- Interview with Boris Spassky
| Awards | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by Tigran Petrosian |
World Chess Champion 1969–1972 |
Succeeded by Bobby Fischer |
| Achievements | ||
| Preceded by Tigran Petrosian |
Youngest chess grandmaster ever 1955–1958 |
Succeeded by Bobby Fischer |
|
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Boris Spassky |
| Persondata | |
|---|---|
| Name | Spassky, Boris |
| Alternative names | |
| Short description | Chess player |
| Date of birth | January 30, 1937 |
| Place of birth | Leningrad, Soviet Union |
| Date of death | |
| Place of death | |
http://wn.com/Boris_Spassky
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http://ru.wn.com/Спасский, Борис Васильевич
http://nl.wn.com/Boris Spasski
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This article is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, which means that you can copy and modify it as long as the entire work (including additions) remains under this license.
