Bobby Fischer was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A prodigy, he won the first of a record eight United States Championships at age fourteen, including one tournament in 1964 that he swept with a perfect 11-0 score. He qualified for the 1972 World Championship by defeating Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen 6-0 each and Tigran Petrosian in a further match, then won the title itself against the Soviet Unions Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland, a match publicized as a Cold War confrontation that drew more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.
Facts
Career HighlightEleventh World Chess Champion, won the 1972 world title match against Boris Spassky in Reykjavik. 1 Classification
Competition Category FAQs
Why did the 1972 World Chess Championship draw so much attention beyond the chess world?
It was publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the American challenger and the Soviet titleholder, and it drew more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.
The 1972 World Chess Championship pitted Bobby Fischer, the American challenger, against Boris Spassky, the Soviet titleholder, in Reykjavik, Iceland. Fischer had already defeated Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by a score of six to nothing each, then beaten Tigran Petrosian, to reach the match. The Reykjavik match itself was publicized as a Cold War confrontation and drew more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since, so a game normally followed by a small specialist audience became, for a few weeks, a story that newspapers outside the chess world followed closely too.
Connections
Competed In
Source Wikipedia, Bobby Fischer
Plays
In the Other Atlases
Nationality
Also in Geography Atlas: the nationality of this subject.
Source Wikipedia, Bobby FischerLead sentence 1tier 2Quote, Lead sentence 1
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion.
Sources
1. Wikipedia, Bobby Fischer
Wikimedia FoundationInfobox: birth_date
March 9, 1943
Introduction
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion.
Competed In: World Chess Championship, Article text
In the end, World Chess Championship finalist Boris Spassky edged him out by a half point, scoring 11½/18 to Fischer's 11/18 (+7−3=8).
View the Source Essays About This Entity (1 essay)
A Chess Match Publicized As A Cold War Confrontation
Reader Challenges (0)
No disputes yet. Spotted an error or a better source? Open the first one.
Sign in to dispute this or suggest a correction.