Photo: Boris Spassky(Left) vs Bobby Fischer(Right)
The name Bobby Fischer, at least to Americans, is synonymous with chess. A prodigy in the 50s, a world class player in the 60s, the 70s saw Fischer at his pinnacle. He earned the right to challenge Boris Spassky in a title run without comparison, defeating Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen with perfect scores of 6-0, and ex-champion Petrosian 6½-2½. Now the stage was set, and the only thing standing between Fischer and Spassky was Fischer himself.
The match was mired in political overtones, during the height of the Cold War. The Soviet chess system had a monopoly on the title since 1948, and the expectations on Spassky were enormous. While Fischer studied chess virtually in seclusion, Spassky had the full resources of the USSR. Victor Baturinsky, head of Soviet Chess Sports Committee, said: “Basically, the Soviet leadership and the powers that be in sport, were interested in just one issue: how to stop Fischer from becoming World Champion.”
Boris Spassky(White) vs Bobby Fischer(Black)
On July 11th, the “Match of the Century” had begun. Whether it was a blunder, or a passion to win at all costs, the first game saw Fischer uncharacteristically lose a simple drawn endgame. Game 2 was awarded to Spassky by forfeit when Fischer failed to appear in a dispute over the presence of cameras in the playing hall.
With the score 2-0 in Spassky’s favor, Fischer refused to play unless TV cameras were removed from the playing hall. Only a last minute agreement by Spassky to play away from the cameras permitted the third game to be held. This turned out to be a huge psychological mistake by Spassky. In game 3, in a small room backstage, Fischer beat Spassky for the first time in his life.
The games then returned to the main stage, but without cameras. Winning again in games 5, 6, 8, and 10 the Fischer juggernaut had become unstoppable.
This particular game was Game 6 of the clash, and Fischer won it with the white pieces. Not only did Fischer win such a beautiful game but for the first time in this match, he took the lead with the score 3.5-2.5 in Fischer’s favour. This was the moment when thousands of people were applauding Fischer for his wonderful positional play and with them World Champion Boris Spassky also stood up and started applauding Fischer. Hence, the game is termed “The Applause”
Fischer later said that, this was too overwhelming for him and it truly touched him, hence he left quickly, truly a great moment for history and for chess.
On September 1, 1972, Robert James Fischer became the 11th World Chess Champion by defeating Boris Spassky.
Snap of LA Times after Fischer became the World Chess Champion
Game Moves:
1.c4 e6 2. Nf3 d5 3. d4 Nf6 4. Nc3 Be7 5. Bg5 O-O 6. e3 h6 7. Bh4 b6 8. cd5 Nd5 9. Be7 Qe7 10. Nd5 ed5 11. Rc1 Be6 12. Qa4 c5 13. Qa3 Rc8 14. Bb5 a6 15. dc5 bc5 16. O-O Ra7 17. Be2 Nd7 18. Nd4 Qf8 19. Ne6 fe6 20. e4 d4 21. f4 Qe7 22. e5 Rb8 23. Bc4 Kh8 24. Qh3 Nf8 25. b3 a5 26. f5 ef5 27. Rf5 Nh7 28. Rcf1 Qd8 29. Qg3 Re7 30. h4 Rbb7 31. e6 Rbc7 32. Qe5 Qe8 33. a4 Qd8 34. R1f2 Qe8 35. R2f3 Qd8 36. Bd3 Qe8 37. Qe4 Nf6 38. Rf6 gf6 39. Rf6 Kg8 40. Bc4 Kh8 41. Qf4
Check out the game: https://youtu.be/dv52uwNfFZg?si=CnyPsbllpo1tJMaU
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