I think I'd rather hear it from someone of higher authority.
You don't need to hear it; just look at Tal's best games and then look at Karpov's. NO COMPARISON!!! there will be no QUESTION in your mind who was the better tactician!
I think I'd rather hear it from someone of higher authority.
You don't need to hear it; just look at Tal's best games and then look at Karpov's. NO COMPARISON!!! there will be no QUESTION in your mind who was the better tactician!
Capital letters, triple exclamation marks AND sweeping statements?
I need look no further, you have CONVINCED me!!!
Fischer didn't defend his title because he was still traumatised by police brutality in the Pasadena jailhouse.
I lean towards to theory that Fischer had no intention of defending his title against Karpov nor anyone else, even Spassky. He had set a goal to defeat the Russians and win the world championship title and once he did he had nothing else to aim for in chess. He achieved all there was to achieve in chess at that time, there was no post championship victory plan for him. At most he would fight to maintain his status as champion, to defend himself. But he never liked to defend, he was an attacker. But now the predator was to become the prey, and he couldn't deal with that idea, of losing his title, of losing his "best of the best" status, so instead he quit while he was at the top, unquestioned as to who the best chess player was at the time. He quit with the legacy of a young lad who learned chess as a boy and then taught himself to become a master. A master who then took on and did the seemingly impossible by beating the "Soviet chess machine", crushing all his opposition in his quest for the title, with some records yet to be broken. Of proving himself as the absolute best among his peers, if you could even call them that. He left a legacy of a man who became the best and never gave a chance for anyone to take that away from him, at least, not over the chess board. Whether intentionally or not, he became Morphy all over again. The American tragic hero.
There was never going to be another world championship match after 1972 because in my opinion, Fischer never planned on risking the loss of that title he coveted since he was a boy and fought so hard to get. Losing was not an option and since he could only eventually lose, his only option was to prevent anyone from actually beating him for it. He solved his problem as simple and effective as he always did over the board. He just gave up what consumed his life and made his identity, what he truely loved in life. Chess. He, and so many chess fans lost out because of it. What a tragedy indeed.
Why not take him for his word?: he did not like the match conditions.
Why not take him for his word?: he did not like the match conditions.
So he quit chess completely over it? Obviously there is more to it than that. Remember he didn't play in any tournaments after the Spassky match. Your saying he was planning to defend his title after 3 years of not playing any competitive chess? I really doubt it. It was just his excuse not to play.
I think I'd rather hear it from someone of higher authority.
You don't need to hear it; just look at Tal's best games and then look at Karpov's. NO COMPARISON!!! there will be no QUESTION in your mind who was the better tactician!
lol
I think I'd rather hear it from someone of higher authority.
You don't need to hear it; just look at Tal's best games and then look at Karpov's. NO COMPARISON!!! there will be no QUESTION in your mind who was the better tactician!
Reminiscent of Chess-assasssins.
"Bobby was afraid that if he had defended against Karpov in 1975, the Russians would have had him murdered" -Pal Benko
That was a senseless fear. Karpov would have destroyed him.
"Bobby was afraid that if he had defended against Karpov in 1975, the Russians would have had him murdered" -Pal Benko
Didn't Kamsky's dad once say that Kasparov was planning to have Gata poisoned to death? Whereupon Kasparov answered that he rather would poison Ivanchuk :-)
Wow Pal Benko seems to be a mind reader.anyway, too many things worked most likely and the past is past.
Fischer was a genius on another level. Everything he said about the Russians colluding with each other to draw on purpose or helping analyze adjourned games overnight turned out to be true. He also invented the incremental time system (Fischer clock) and random chess 960. These inventions happened in the 90's well after people claimed he'd gone mad. There were very powerful people who did not like what he had to say about politics. That's why they denied him entry back into the US and shut him down in any way they could. Chess players are supposed to be smarter than the average person. I'm surprised so many here still think Fischer was nuts. Yes, he had an ego, but everyone does. He just wasn't afraid to speak the truth to power.
My girlfriend and I just watched Bobby Fischer Against The World (HBO documentary) this past week and I have to agree with those saying that Fischer didn't defend his title because of the standard he had set for himself and the legacy of his last 20-30 matches.
I'm OCD myself, and I can completely relate. When something we've built is so pristine, so perfect, so special - sometimes the desire to keep it that way drives us away from it altogether out of the fear that if we even go near it again, we'll destroy what we've built.
Bobby had built a house of cards that the entire chess world will always study/remember. I think he realized this and simply didn't want to risk tarnishing it.
Very well put!