The Road to Reykjavik

Enda en bok om Bobby Fischers unike vei til VM i sjakk, for 50 år siden. Dette er nok den "beste og meste" av dem, en herlig kombinasjon av story og sjakkanalyser. Forfatteren konsentrerer seg om årene 1970 og 71.

Forlagets egen omtale:

Robert James Fischer is one of the greatest and most celebrated players in chess history. Exactly fifty years since the American won the right to challenge Boris Spassky for the World Championship crown, Tibor Karolyi documents Fischer’s unique journey from precocious youngster to the chess icon who obliterated Taimanov and Larsen before convincingly beating Petrosian on The Road to Reykjavik .

The second volume, Fischer – Spassky 1972, is devoted to the Reykjavik match which captivated the entire world.

International Master Tibor Karolyi is a former Hungarian Champion who is renowned as both an author and a trainer. His previous biographical works for Quality Chess received glowing praise from chess readers and reviewers.

Forfatterens forord:

This is the first volume in a two-part work on the legendary accomplishments of Robert James (Bobby) Fischer, marking the 50th anniversary since the American grandmaster won the right to challenge for the World Championship crown. The second volume will focus on the match itself, and will similarly be published on or close to the 50th anniversary of the event itself.

Bobby Fischer attracted more media attention than any other chess player. His 1972 World Championship final match against Boris Spassky became a page in the book of the Cold War and he affected chess more powerfully than anyone else, virtually on his own changing the game once and forever: he stopped the 24-year domination of the Soviets; he attracted the biggest ever prizemoney in the history of chess, and his records can be endlessly enumerated. The first Soviet champions played for little money, while all champions after Fischer became millionaires. He achieved the strongest domination of any player by winning twenty games in a row against world-class opposition, a record which most probably will never be matched.

It was not only his amazing results that had such an effect; his personality also contributed a lot. Fischer brought a new level to the board; he was more versatile than the World Champions before him. Let me tell two small stories, both of which happened decades after he conquered the chess throne, and which describe how well-known he had become outside of the world of chess.

In the late nineties Hungarian IM Janos Rigo drove Fischer to Germany via Austria and at the border control the official asked for their passports. Rigo asked the controller whether he knew who was in the back seat of the car, and after a quick glance the man replied: “The world chess champion.”

In 2016 or 2017 I heard two Hungarians (non-chess-players) talking, one of whom told a joke which went something like this: Two prisoners walking in a Soviet labour camp in Siberia in 1972. One says to the other, with news arriving here so slowly, “I would like to know so much how the Spassky – Fischer match ended.” The other replied, “I blundered a piece in the last game.”

No other chess champion has ever received such recognition outside of our world, and no one is likely to get it in the future.

Innhold:

005 Preface

007 Introduction

015 1) 1956-57 Teenage Chess

025 2) 1958-61 International Recognition

051 3) 1962-69 A World-Class Player

081 4) 1970 Part 1: Soviet Union vs. Rest of the World Match

107 5) 1970 Part 2: Herceg Novi & Rovinj/Zagreb

133 6) 1970 Part 3: Buenos Aires

159 7) 1970 Part 4: Siegen Olympiad

179 8) 1970 Part 5: Palma de Mallorca Interzonal

207 9) 1971 Fischer – Taimanov

261 10) 1971 Fischer – Larsen

313 11) 1971 Fischer – Petrosian

420 Epilogue

422 Game Index

426 Opening Index

427 Name Index