A World Championship Match...Are You Kidding?!

    Aside from Bobby Fischer himself, nobody took his 1992 match with Boris Spassky seriously and it certainly was not for the World Championship, its billing notwithstanding. 

    One of the world’s top players at the time, Yasser Seirawan, was of the opinion that Fischer's playing strength was "somewhere in the top ten in the world.  Gary Kasparov stated that Fischer’s play was “OK” and probably in the 2600-2650 range and a match between him and Fischer wouldn’t be close. Spassky’s rating at the time was only 2560 which tied for 96th–102nd on the FIDE rating list. 

    The match was played from September to November, 1992 in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, Yugoslavia and Fischer won 10–5 with 15 draws 

    After defeating Spassky for the World Championship in1972, Fischer was supposed to defend his title in 1975 against the winner of the 1974 Candidates Tournament, Anatoly Karpov. However, Fischer didn’t like the format and ended up forfeiting his title. 

    Personally, I thought he was afraid to play Karpov. The late National Master James R. Schroeder wrote, “Because he (Fischer) had achieved his one goal in life, he could not play any more serious chess because he might lose. It’s amazing that a person who was irrational to the point of being insane could be one of the best players of all time.“ I would not agree with the bombastic Schroeder when he also wrote, “Because of severe life-time mental illness it would have been best if Fischer had died after becoming world champion, as he had no other reason to live.”  Fischer died on January 17, 2008, at the age of 64.

    By the time of the first Karpov-Kasparov match in 1984, chess seemed to have advanced beyond Fischer. He insisted that the games were prearranged and fixed by the Soviets and that computers were used. Clearly he did not understand computers either because at that time chess computers were playing at the 2100-2200 level at best. 

    In the 1992 match there was no one game that everybody agreed was “best”, but the first game comes close.

[Event "Match"] [Site "Sveti Stefan / Belgrade"] [Date "1992.09.02"] [Round "1"] [White "Robert Fischer"] [Black "Boris Spassky"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "C95"] [Annotator "Stockfish 18"] [PlyCount "99"] [EventDate "1992.09.02"] {C95: Ruy Lopez: Breyer Variation} 1. e4 e5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 a6 {What will Fischer play? He revived the Exchanges Variation 4.Bxc6 in 1966 and played it once against Spassky in their 1972 match.} 4. Ba4 Nf6 5. O-O Be7 6. Re1 b5 7. Bb3 O-O 8. c3 {Will Spassky play the Marshall Attack (8...d5)? It's good for a draw at best which is what he got the one time he played it against Fischer in a previous game.} d6 9. h3 {White could play 9.d4 at once. but prefers not to allow black to undermine white's center with ...Bg4} Nb8 {The Breyer Defense. It looks strange to undevelop a piece, but black wants to free his c-Pawn and deploy the N om d7 to defend the strong point at e5.} 10. d4 Nbd7 11. Nbd2 Bb7 12. Bc2 Re8 13. Nf1 Bf8 14. Ng3 g6 15. Bg5 {This is just a gesture. His real prospects are on the Q-side and so usual is 15.a4} h6 16. Bd2 Bg7 17. a4 c5 18. d5 c4 19. b4 Nh7 {This is a major mistake because after this black is doomed to passivity. Correct was 19.... cxb3!} (19... cxb3 20. Bxb3 Nc5 21. c4 Qd7 {Ponomariov,R (2700)-Gyimesi,Z (2602) Moscow Aeroflot Open 2005. The players soon agreed to a draw.}) 20. Be3 h5 21. Qd2 Rf8 {Intending to play ...f5 at some point.} 22. Ra3 Ndf6 23. Rea1 Qd7 {An interesting position. Black has played passively, but doesn't have any real weaknesses, but this move which aims at contesting the a-file is a poor one. The B on b7 would be better repositioned on d7 at some point.} 24. R1a2 {This makes room for the Q on a1.} Rfc8 25. Qc1 Bf8 26. Qa1 Qe8 27. Nf1 Be7 28. N1d2 Kg7 29. Nb1 Nxe4 {Tired of waiting, Spassky makes an attenpt at breaking free in what is probably his best practical choice.} 30. Bxe4 f5 {The long awaited P break...remember 21...Rf8} 31. Bc2 Bxd5 32. axb5 axb5 33. Ra7 {Fischer's control of the 7th rank pretty much assures him of victory.} Kf6 {It's hard o visualize now, but this leaves his K exposed to a devastating attack.} (33... Rcb8 {All black can really do here is shift pieces and wait.} 34. Nbd2 Rxa7 35. Rxa7 Rb7 {White has a N vs. 2Ps, but at least black has challenged his contro; of the 7th rank. Even so, hos position is lost.}) 34. Nbd2 $18 Rxa7 35. Rxa7 Ra8 {Fischer concludes the game in brillaint fashion.} 36. g4 $3 {Ripping apart the K's position.} hxg4 37. hxg4 Rxa7 38. Qxa7 f4 {Hoping to blockade the K-side. It doesn't work, but them neither would anything else.} 39. Bxf4 (39. Bb6 {is the Stockfish way.} Qa8 40. g5+ Ke6 41. Qxa8 Bxa8 42. Bxg6 Nxg5 43. Nxg5+ Bxg5 44. Be8 {with a won ending, but that would be no fun.}) 39... exf4 (39... Bxf3 {is no better.} 40. Nxf3 exf4 41. Qd4+ Kf7 42. Qxf4+ Kg8 43. Qh6 Bf8 44. Bxg6 Qe1+ 45. Nxe1 Bxh6 46. Be8 d5 47. Bxb5 {White wins the ending in spite of Bs of opposite color.}) 40. Nh4 {[%mdl 32] To quote Larry Evans, "A wonderful follow-up to an inspired sacrifice."} Bf7 41. Qd4+ $1 Ke6 (41... Kg5 42. Qg7 Bf8 43. Nhf3+ Kxg4 44. Qxh7 {mates in 4 at most.} Qe1+ 45. Kg2 Qg1+ 46. Kxg1 Bh6 47. Qxh6 g5 48. Nh2#) 42. Nf5 {Again, to quote Larry Evans, "A flash of the old genius."} Bf8 43. Qxf4 Kd7 44. Nd4 $1 {[%mdl 2048] The brilliant moves keep coming.} Qe1+ 45. Kg2 $1 Bd5+ 46. Be4 {White is clearly winning.} Bxe4+ {Spassky's play has had a touch of cunning...if Fischer does not play the only correct move Spassky will have equalized!} 47. Nxe4 {Found it!} (47. Qxe4 Qxe4+ 48. Nxe4 Bg7 {Black has fully equalized.}) 47... Be7 48. Nxb5 Nf8 49. Nbxd6 $3 {To quote Fritz, " Excellent horsemanship."} Ne6 (49... Bxd6 50. Qxd6+ Ke8 51. Qe5+ Kd8 52. Qd6+ Ke8 53. Qb8+ Kd7 54. Nf6+ Kc6 55. b5+ Kc5 56. Qxf8+ {etc.}) 50. Qe5 {Black resigned.} (50. Qe5 Nf4+ 51. Qxf4 Qe2 52. Nc5+ Kc6 53. Nde4 Bxc5 54. Nxc5 {White has a huge material advantage.}) 1-0