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Robert James Fischer
Fischer 
The Championship Season: Bobby Fischer in 1972.  

Number of games in database: 1,101
Years covered: 1953 to 1992
Last FIDE rating: 2780
Highest rating achieved in database: 2785
Overall record: +432 -87 =248 (72.5%)*
   * Overall winning percentage = (wins+draws/2) / total games in the database. 334 exhibition games, blitz/rapid, odds games, etc. are excluded from this statistic.

MOST PLAYED OPENINGS
With the White pieces:
 Sicilian (202) 
    B90 B32 B88 B44 B77
 Ruy Lopez (128) 
    C92 C69 C95 C98 C97
 French Defense (80) 
    C19 C18 C11 C16 C10
 Ruy Lopez, Closed (79) 
    C92 C95 C98 C97 C89
 Caro-Kann (52) 
    B11 B10 B18 B13 B14
 French Winawer (47) 
    C19 C18 C16 C15 C17
With the Black pieces:
 Sicilian (126) 
    B92 B99 B90 B97 B93
 King's Indian (117) 
    E80 E62 E97 E60 E67
 Sicilian Najdorf (83) 
    B92 B99 B90 B97 B93
 Nimzo Indian (23) 
    E45 E46 E40 E43 E34
 Grunfeld (20) 
    D86 D79 D98 D80 D85
 English (18) 
    A16 A15 A10 A19
Repertoire Explorer

NOTABLE GAMES: [what is this?]
   D Byrne vs Fischer, 1956 0-1
   R Byrne vs Fischer, 1963 0-1
   Fischer vs Spassky, 1972 1-0
   Fischer vs Benko, 1963 1-0
   Fischer vs Myagmarsuren, 1967 1-0
   Fischer vs Fine, 1963 1-0
   Fischer vs Petrosian, 1971 1-0
   Letelier vs Fischer, 1960 0-1
   Fischer vs Tal, 1961 1-0
   Fischer vs Panno, 1970 1-0

WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS: [what is this?]
   Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match (1972)

NOTABLE TOURNAMENTS: [what is this?]
   Stockholm Interzonal (1962)
   US Championship 1963/64 (1963)
   Havana Olympiad Final-A (1966)
   Solidarity Tournament (1967)
   Rovinj / Zagreb (1970)
   Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970)
   Vinkovci (1968)
   Buenos Aires (1970)
   Netanya (1968)
   Fischer - Spassky (1992)
   Mar del Plata (1960)
   Bled (1961)
   Zuerich (1959)
   Havana (1965)
   Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959)

GAME COLLECTIONS: [what is this?]
   -ER RJF by fredthebear
   1964 Fischer simul exhibition tour by gauer
   Fischer vs The Russians by wanabe2000
   Match Fischer! by dwinco
   Match Fischer! by amadeus
   Bobby Fischer: Selected Games from 1955-1992 by rpn4
   Bobby Fischer: Selected Games from 1955-1992 by rpn4
   Bobby Fischer: Selected Games from 1955-1992 by Sergio X Garcia
   Bobby Fischer: Selected Games from 1955-1992 by igiene
   Bobby Fischer: Selected Games from 1955-1992 by wanabe2000
   Bobby Fischer: Selected Games from 1955-1992 by fernando.laroca
   0ZeR0's Favorite Games Volume 31 by 0ZeR0
   Bjelica_125 by Gottschalk
   book: Russians versus Fischer by Baby Hawk

GAMES ANNOTATED BY FISCHER: [what is this?]
   Petrosian vs Pachman, 1961
   Unzicker vs Fischer, 1962
   Fischer vs Bolbochan, 1962
   Korchnoi vs Fischer, 1970
   Zukertort vs Steinitz, 1886
   >> 16 GAMES ANNOTATED BY FISCHER


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ROBERT JAMES FISCHER
(born Mar-09-1943, died Jan-17-2008, 64 years old) United States of America (federation/nationality Iceland)

[what is this?]

Robert James ("Bobby") Fischer was a chess prodigy born on March 9, 1943 in Chicago.

At 13, he won the stunning brilliancy D Byrne vs Fischer, 1956, which Hans Kmoch christened "The Game of the Century." At 14, he won the United States Championship (1957/58), making him the youngest U.S. Champion ever.

Fischer's victory qualified him for the Portoroz Interzonal (1958). He tied for 5th-6th, which sufficed to advance him to the Candidates Tournament to decide the challenger to World Champion Mikhail Botvinnik. This made the 15-year-old Fischer the youngest candidate for the World Championship. It also made him the youngest grandmaster ever - a record that stood until Judit Polgar broke it in 1991. At the Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959), Fischer finished fifth out of eight, the top non-Soviet player.

Fischer won the US Championship all eight times he played, in each case by at least a point. In the US Championship (1963/64) he achieved the only perfect score (11-0) in the history of the tournament.

Fischer won the Stockholm Interzonal (1962) 2½ points ahead of Efim Geller and Tigran Petrosian. This made him a favorite to win the Curacao Candidates (1962), but he only finished fourth, behind Petrosian, Geller, and Paul Keres. In a famous article in Sports Illustrated magazine, The Russians Have Fixed World Chess, he accused the Soviets of cheating: Petrosian, Geller, and Keres had drawn all 12 of the games among themselves at Curacao, most of them quickly.

Because of this, Fischer refused to play in the next Candidates cycle. He did play in the Sousse Interzonal (1967), but left it while leading, because of a scheduling dispute occasioned by Fischer's refusal to play on Saturday, his Sabbath.

He won the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970) by a record 3½ points. The following year, he shocked the chess world by sweeping the Fischer - Taimanov Candidates Quarterfinal (1971) and Fischer - Larsen Candidates Semifinal (1971) by identical 6-0 scores, the only perfect scores in the history of the Candidates Matches.

Fischer also won the first game of the Fischer - Petrosian Candidates Final (1971) against former World Champion Tigran Petrosian, giving him a modern record of 20 consecutive wins at the highest level of competition. He won the match by 6½-2½ to advance to the World Championship match against reigning champion Boris Spassky. This also gave him a FIDE rating of 2785, making him at that time the highest-rated player in history.

In Reykjavik, he won the Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match (1972) by 12½-8½ to become the 11th World Chess Champion. In 1975, Fischer forfeited his title after FIDE refused to meet his conditions for a World Championship match with Anatoly Karpov. He then virtually disappeared from the public eye for nearly 20 years.

After ending his competitive career, he proposed a new variant of chess and a modified chess timing system. His idea of adding a time increment after each move is now standard, and his variant "Fischerandom" (or "Chess960") is gaining in popularity.(2)

Fischer resurfaced in 1992 to play a match against his old rival Spassky in Yugoslavia. Fischer won Fischer - Spassky (1992) 10-5 with 15 draws. The United States considered that Fischer, in playing this match in Yugoslavia, violated U.S. Treasury Department regulations that forbade transacting business with Yugoslavia. Fischer evaded authorities for twelve years until July 13, 2004, when he was arrested in Japan. On March 22, 2005, he was granted Icelandic citizenship and finally freed from Japan. He died of renal failure in Iceland on January 17, 2008 at the age of 64. Gravestone photo: http://www.sjakkfantomet.no/wp-cont....

Fischer's anthology, My 60 Memorable Games, was published in 1969. It has been described as a "classic of objective and painstaking analysis,"1 and is regarded as one of the greats of chess literature.

(1) Hooper & Whyld. The Oxford Companion to Chess. 1992

(2) Wikipedia article: Bobby Fischer

(3) User: jessicafischerqueen 's YouTube documentary of Fischer http://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...

Last updated: 2025-03-27 21:53:15

Try our new games table.

 page 1 of 45; games 1-25 of 1,101  PGN Download
Game  ResultMoves YearEvent/LocaleOpening
1. D Mayers vs Fischer 1-0171953Blitz gameC33 King's Gambit Accepted
2. J Altusky vs Fischer 0-181954Offhand gameC71 Ruy Lopez
3. Fischer vs J Altusky 1-0121954Offhand gameE90 King's Indian
4. A W Conger vs Fischer 1-0121955corrE70 King's Indian
5. Fischer vs S Greene ½-½111955US Amateur ChB77 Sicilian, Dragon, Yugoslav Attack
6. A Humphrey vs Fischer ½-½331955US Amateur ChE61 King's Indian
7. Fischer vs K Warner 0-1281955Lincoln ch-US jrB58 Sicilian
8. W Whisler vs Fischer ½-½251955Lincoln ch-US jrE80 King's Indian, Samisch Variation
9. J Thomason vs Fischer 0-1231955Lincoln ch-US jrE90 King's Indian
10. Fischer vs D Ames ½-½281955Lincoln ch-US jrC47 Four Knights
11. Fischer vs V Pupols 0-1441955Lincoln ch-US jrC40 King's Knight Opening
12. Fischer vs F Saksena 1-0221955Lincoln ch-US jrC53 Giuoco Piano
13. Fischer vs M Pavey 0-1521956Manhattan CC chA07 King's Indian Attack
14. J Tamargo vs Fischer 0-1401956Manhattan CC chB22 Sicilian, Alapin
15. A Turner vs Fischer 1-0531956Manhattan Chess Club Semifinal BE68 King's Indian, Fianchetto, Classical Variation, 8.e4
16. Fischer vs K Vine ½-½361956Manhattan Chess Club Semifinal BB32 Sicilian
17. Fischer vs S Baron 1-0531956Manhattan Chess Club Semifinal BC98 Ruy Lopez, Closed, Chigorin
18. Pat Smith vs Fischer 0-1231956Casual gameC48 Four Knights
19. Fischer vs I Spector 1-0351956Casual gameB95 Sicilian, Najdorf, 6...e6
20. J R Florido vs Fischer 0-1261956Capablanca CC - Log Cabin mC50 Giuoco Piano
21. Fischer vs J A Casado ½-½481956Simul, 12bB32 Sicilian
22. A Jenkins vs Fischer 0-1181956North Carolina - Log Cabin CC mB20 Sicilian
23. Fischer vs J Fermoselle-Bacardi Sr 1-0281956US Amateur chA04 Reti Opening
24. Fischer vs E Nash 0-1511956US Amateur chA05 Reti Opening
25. R Riegler vs Fischer 0-1341956US Amateur chB20 Sicilian
 page 1 of 45; games 1-25 of 1,101  PGN Download
  REFINE SEARCH:   White wins (1-0) | Black wins (0-1) | Draws (1/2-1/2) | Fischer wins | Fischer loses  

Kibitzer's Corner
ARCHIVED POSTS
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 1542 OF 2111 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Sep-22-11  whiteshark: You live up to your name, <nanobrain>!
Sep-22-11  nanobrain: Thank you for the implement whiteshark. You have flattened me.
Sep-22-11  whiteshark: <nanobrain> I don't know how you do it, but keep on doin' it! :D
Sep-22-11  lamont: <King of Nothing> ~

Azzz whiteshark sd/ of nanobrain:

'You live up to your name!'

Sep-22-11  JoergWalter: < I wonder how most Americans would see it - an America that lost WW2, and politically and culturally divided into Japanese and German Nazi culture.>

I worked for an american company in France in 1995. Like all american companies in France they were in deep trouble. One of the company executives approached me and said: "you know Joerg basically it is our fault. We took the wrong allies."

Sep-22-11  JoergWalter: <lamont> according to history the womanizer was clubfoot G.
Sep-22-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Domdaniel: <brankat> -- <Both, "greatest player ever" and "awful poetry" parts of the statement, are very much debatable.>

So, for that matter, is < insult his memory >. It's easy to insult a person, but insulting a neuronal pattern is another thing.

Not to mention the fact that those who look for insults - to their deities or the memory of their idols - tend to find them everywhere they look.

Sep-22-11  lamont: Erradumb:Read~ <yr/ single vote COUNTS>
Sep-22-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  Domdaniel: "How do you like your blue-eyed boy,
Mister Death?"

e.e. cummings

Sep-22-11  lamont: <Domdaniel> ~

edward estlin
was writing abt/ Buffalo Bill

Sep-23-11  nanobrain: <lamont>

I quoted it verbatim, so rewriting isn't possible ("The Chess Reader, The Royal Game in World Literature", compiled by Jerome Salzmann, Greenberg: Publisher, N.Y., as cited in "The chess Players, Frances Parkinson Keyes). And who knows if the unknown author was referring to the city and not to the stone?

As to your first post, they have played a lot on my handle at the wesley so page, many of their efforts a lot more wicked, original and amusing than yours, so frankly these things now just bore me.

Sep-23-11  King of Nothing: <lamont> Maybe you should read your favorite motto instead of blabbing about it:

<tempus tacendi/tempus loquendi a time for silence/ a time to speaking>

Take some medicine for your verbal diarrhea, you need it.

Nanobrain. You say petrifying, I say putrefying.

Sep-23-11  Meister326: < AnalyzeThis: Fischer just needed a manager, somebody to tell him to keep quiet.>

This <lamont> needs somebody to tell HIM to be a good boy and not to write such horrible pseudo poetry.

Sep-23-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: <You go on and on and on and on apropos of nothing, like we all care.

Bobby Fischer was an awesome player and you put this garbage on his page?>

The Fischer page has always been "special" and some parts are more special than others.

Sep-23-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  harrylime: Hey Lamont.. Your poetry is sublime...

Your chess ?

Sep-23-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <If you take a look at Hitler's oratory videos in you tube, it might explain how it happened that the ordinary German came to practically worship him. He could well be the best orator humanity has ever produced. He makes present-day politicians, actors, and rock stars look like cartoon figures. I never understood how charismatic Hitler was until I saw him orate in these old videos.>

Recently I read something John Gunther wrote about Hitler in the 1930s.

<The curious thing is that he is a bad speaker. He screeches; his mannerisms are awkward; his voice breaks at every peroration; he never knows when to stop. But he knows the tricks, and can arouse a large audience to frenzy.>

Sep-23-11
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <visayanbraindoctor>

But after watching this I think you are right and Gunther is wrong.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...

Sep-23-11  Meister326: < KKDEREK: <tpstar: <You go on and on and on and on apropos of nothing, like we all care. Bobby Fischer was an awesome player and you put this garbage on his page?> The Fischer page has always been "special" and some parts are more special than others.>

Very eccentric indeed.>

This <lamont>'s a real special guy.

Sep-23-11  Cemoblanca: "Bobby had a complicated personality. If he liked you, he would waive his fees and be generous; if not, regardless of the amount of money involved, he simply would refuse, including offers of one million or even five million dollars." - Yasser Seirawan
Sep-23-11  Cemoblanca: "Miguel Quinteros told me a fantastic story that went like this. He and Bobby arranged to visit Las Vegas and enjoy a short holiday. Bobby didn't like the idea of settling into one of the major casinos and preferred to stay in a hotel that was off the strip. They shared a double room and went off to play the slot machines, have a buffet and take in a show. Miguel explained how he had several large Samsonite suitcases packed with his expensive tailormade suits, whereas Bobby had packed a light one as well as a small briefcaselike bag that he kept locked and placed under his bed. This special case contained Bobby's prized Mexican comic books, which he loved, as well as some vitamin supplements. One night, when they returned to their room, they realized that they had been the victims of a burglary. Naturally, the thieves had not taken Miguel's expensive suits and indeed the only thing missing was Bobby's small locked case hidden under his bed. Bobby moaned: "The guy steals my comic books and leaves your suits alone? What's up with that?" Miguel has been chuckling for years." - Yasser Seirawan

:D

Sep-23-11  drnooo: I guess by default this is the nut brain page: one grand loony, a real doozy, and look what he has ushered in. No other player has so much twaddle littering each page. In fact you have to look far and wide to find one oddball comment on Tals page,as just one instance of a sane human being, but leafing back through this player's almost every bloody page has at least one instance of shrieking madness. And some of these guys apparently hang out here night and day. Yikes.
Sep-23-11  shach matov: Sooner or later google translate will have to introduce the new feature: "lamont to English". Then all of us will finally have the chance to read the treasure trove of Bobby related anecdotes that is this thread. Looking forward especially to the great stories like in 1977 me and Bobby were dining in one of the Brooklyn delis when we were suddenly captured by an alien spaceship and taken to a strange planet in the next galaxy, where we were greeted with 72 virgins who would not quit and who had exceptional chess skills comparable to Rybka. Bobby complained about the bad lighting of the planet and threatened not to accept the virgins if the aliens would not stop making noise and taking pictures. That's when Kirsan Ilumzhinov appeared out of nowhere (apparently also abducted)and promised better lighting in exchange for the 72 virgins.

Just think of all the great anecdotes we miss not being able to read the language of this thread...

Sep-23-11  Shams: <Sooner or later google translate will have to introduce the new feature: "lamont to English".>

It would make Navajo look like Pig Latin.

Sep-24-11  rogge: Is it <kill a troll> week? Why not.
Sep-24-11  lamont: <rogge> ~

If not now, when ??
--Reb Hillel

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