USA Bans Chess World Champion 

Something I liked about Spassky is that when Fischer got arrested, he demanded his release. Finally he stated, "If you won't release him, put me in his cell with a chess board." Spassky was an ultimate gamesman.

Fischer's performance rating from this match was 2660, which would have put him at #10 in the world on the January 1993 fide rating list. He did this after not playing chess for TWENTY YEARS at the age of 50. Simply incredible.

“Chess doesn't drive people mad, it keeps mad people sane” - Bill Hartston

It's worth nothing that Bobby's proposal reportedly lost by a single vote. It's also worth noting that the conditions Fischer demanded for a return match with Karpov we're no different and even more fair than previous conditions set by Botvinnik who demanded an instant rematch.

I feel like the thumbnails never get enough attention, they are really well made!

Fischer is an all time great regardless and a genius who was simply ahead of his time on the chess board. His story and that of Morphy and Sultan Khan are simply unbelievable and also sad in that they weren't able to do justice to their talents. Perhaps if chess had sports psychologists like they have in different sports now then maybe such talents could have been fostered better. Fischer should have been better handled by the US admin despite his outbursts. He gave the US a strong ideological bragging right at an intellectual sport and at the height of the cold war rivalry. Regardless of his stances later he deserved better. A lot better.

I personally went to those matches several times. Let me give you a bit of context. Serbia was a living hellhole at the time, like Venezuela today, except with a war happening right next door and even more of a pariah status. The average salaries were a couple of euros a MONTH and hyperinflation was rampant. Nothing worked, nothing functioned, crime and violence were everywhere and people were just desperate to survive somehow. You were essentially considered upper-middle-class if you weren't starving. The entire country was completely sealed off and travel out of it was next to impossible, perhaps the worst sanctions in human history. Today, no country would ever face such sanctions since the world is no longer unipolar and you could never get a vote for it in the UN. In this context, imagine a 10 year old kid in this situation, entering the Sava Center with one of my grandparents, a glitzy convention center. The entrance was free. It was literally the event of the year so the place was packed. I believe even the drinks were free or purchasable for a very low price. It was the atmosphere of a cocktail party. People wore their best clothes. I didn't understand a single bit of chess theory, but just a chance to watch something this big was absolutely magical. It gave me hope to endure the coming years. Oh, and on a final note the guy organizing it, Jezdimir Vasiljević, was a major crook who ultimately stole hundreds of millions of dollars from desperate people looking to invest into his bank. I mean, the state took most of it, but he eloped with quite a bit.

I think Fischer was the most talented player of all time. To do what he did pre computer age is hard to fathom. Having to get all his education from books and a board on front of him is incredible. No engine to check his lines, no giant databases to prep for opponents, just incredible.

Levy, your historical chess game videos are amongst your best videos! Your talent for storytelling equals your talent for commentating games, and that makes these videos so much fun!

Imagine.... Bobby Fischer was the only US-born world chess champion during 50+ years of complete Soviet chess domination. Yet, the Soviets were kinder to the US champion than the US government itself.

Wow, I never knew Bobby Fischer invented increment... that's pretty insane, it always seemed like such a natural thing to have in chess. As most of the other comments have said, I absolutely love when you make historical chess content and think you should definitely do more, they're always some of your best work.

please cover the history of the soviet chess school, would be fascinating to learn about the styles and approach to the game that saw that succession of champions from botvinnik up to kasparov and kramnik.

Don't get me wrong, I love all your recaps. But this one in particular was one of the best. Incredible commentary, explaining everything in detail very well, just a blast. Story time was also sick. Great video. Also, Fischer was a SAVAGE

the US Department of the Treasury warned Fischer before the start of the match that his participation was illegal, that it would violate President George H. W. Bush's Executive Order 12810 imposing United Nations Security Council Resolution 757 sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia In response, during the first scheduled press conference on September 1, 1992, in front of the international press, Fischer spat on the US order, saying "this is my reply"

I come from Serbia and this is a very well known fact in our country that this match happened. We love our chess. Or at least we used to cherish it more than we do today. But after the chess boom in 2020 many young kids started playing chess and some people for whom I would never be able to tell that they love chess, started playing it. So I hope that one day some grand masters can come out from our country. I personally know a kid who is 8 years old who is really good so there is hope!

I am curious about the other character in this story - Boris Spassky. Everything I have heard about his is that he is a true gentleman who maintained a high level of respect for Fischer and never really blamed him for all the nonsense of the 1972 match. Meanwhile Spassky was under the thumb of the Soviet system for so many years. What motivated him to face Fischer in 1992? The money? Curiosity about Fischer's condition? I understand he donated some memorabilia recently to the hall of fame in St. Louis for their 50 year anniversary exhibit of the 1972 match. Spassky is an interesting dude in his own right.

About a month ago I spoke with the man who made the clock for this match, he became Fishers close friend during that time and he told me some interesting stories about him.

My dad was watching this game live for free and pretty much the whole of Belgrade became circled around chess for the few days that they were there, which was truly brilliant, he also told me that he was standing and commentating on the game alongside jezda, the criminal that funded the match

There are a lot of Fischer stories. The one that stuck to me was when the Russians colluded against him - they were doing 20-30 move Draws against each other while going full strength against Bobby.

I think that if Fischer was born 40 years later, had access to modern theory and opportunity to train with engines he would cross 3000 elo today.

Just a note from someone who lived in Yugoslavia '92 - Organiser (Jezdimir Vasiljevic) was not an entrepreneur/businessman, but a scammer (and convicted criminal) that was close to the ruling party of president Slobodan Milosevic (died in Hague in 2006, while being tried for war crimes). He was arrested after his Bank was found to be a Ponzi/pyramid scheme - his bank was giving >10% monthly for savings in hard currency (USD/EUR), by paying it with new customers' savings. Needless to say, the government knew what he was doing, but did nothing, course he bought a few months of "social peace" in war thorned country, and he was helping the country (smuggling) the oil, whose import was banned by the Internationally imposed sanctions. Of course, they "tried" to arrest him, when he started to fail to give back people their money, but he "somehow" got over the border in March of 1993. He did return a decade or so later, and was even convicted to a relatively small sentence (5 years), but he was released just after the trial ended (he spent 5 years in jail during the trial). In 2013. he even participated in a reality show on government propaganda TV - Yep, not much political/judicial progress happened in Serbia since the 90s. By the way, a US law (not the Internation) is the one that sanctioned the play of Fischer in Yugoslavia (or to be paid by Yugoslav entity, to be precise), Spassky, a French citizen at the time (from '70s), didn't have that problem. Edit: I was writing this comment, while the video played in the background, so I just saw that Levy did mention the whole Vasiljevic thing. Kudos to Levy for not missing those kinds of details!

i love when gotham makes videos of old games

The US government was also insane to go after somebody who had been their hero during the Cold War. Kudos to tiny Iceland for standing up against them.

absolutely love these historic videos and been missing them, hope to see more in the future!

Magic in Harry Potter just does whatever J.K.Rolling wants for the drama and is conveniently forgotten outside of that scope

Bobby Fischer was a genius, he invented increment and Fischer random chess.

Thanks for this. You went rather fast over the last "episode" (which is a very interesting in my opinion (at least for an Icelander), and therefore all this writing). Bobby was jailed in Japan for half a year, and the government of Iceland gave Bobby Icelandic citizenship to save him from this unhuman prisonment - a way out. So he was an Icelander in for the remaining years of his live, and wanted to by burried here. He was left a lone, everybody knew about him and he was free to do what ever he wanted to do without being "interrupted". The sad part of this was the way he was treated, as he was obviously a sick man. Man that had a very difficult childhood, grew up in a very poor family - with his mother and siter, but his father was not around (...and "all that" father "issue" is another story which people should look up, Jewish hade later in live, does that have some past in that?) "alone" in a very small flat in NY and the only friend was the 64 black and white tiles. Learning to play buy studying and playing with him self. His mother, which was fighting to survive, financly, was hunted (her live no made easier) by the US government - thinking that she was some kind of a spy (at that time in the US there was a lot of strange things going on due to the cold war) So, even though she was highly intelligent, highly educated, she did not "make it" in the land of the opertunities, and they struckled to survive. So, back to Bobby, and the final stages of his live - Why could the US government not just let him be? This was obviously a sick man - That way he got the "channel" to say all kind of things that were not "good", for anybody, and things only got wors mainly for Bobby him self. Bobby was a man that fighted and won the USSR chess machine single handed (a machine that had helt firm grip on the world title in chess for decates) - in the height days of the cold war. Henry Kissinger knew all about how importand this match was, as a probaganda and got involved to make it happen. So the everybody knew how important this victory was for the US. Bobby died in Iceland at the age of 64 (which is ...yea think about it!), is burried in a semitary in a small village in Iceland, according to his wish - the greatest chess player US has ever owned and will ever own in the future - sad ending, but the Icelandic government did the right "act" to save him from this deadlock that the US government had put him in.

Bobby was incredible. No chess engines in his day, no one to help him, did everything on his own.

there's just something about levy's old videos that are just so enchanting to watch, love this channel so much

He was like Einstein of chess, everyone slowly accepts his ideas as time passes

He got too vocal about his own tribe.. Bobby fischer is an absolute legend

Great video. Only people over a certain age understand how incredibly important the 1972 match was. It was way, way beyond just a chess championship. It was the US versus the Soviet Union, capitalism versus communism, individual versus the collective. Everyone in the US was following it, whether they ever played a chess game of not. This is way before Bobby went nuts; he was still a normal person who happened to be the greatest chess player of all time. Every person in the US was rooting for him, and nothing ever did as much for the popularization of the game than that championship.

Wow, Greater storytelling ! I followed the Fischer saga on another channel but the way you zoom in on this particular event with your own Gotham speed and energy really makes it come alive. Thank you

Its weird how the US can ban somebody from playing in another country, i found that to be extremely fascist and non democratic.

Bobby Fischer was not only banned but also persecuted by US administration for this match. Ironically, he fell from a hero in 1972 to a traitor in 1992 for playing the same guy.

Soo sad that I have to remember the sad story of how his own nation didn't support him enough during his hard times.. Bobby Fischer was my idol who inspired me to play chess...

"Some of his views weren't fully acceptable today". Yeah, let's minimize hatemongering.

Fischer played with a novelty, the increment. But it was David Bronstein the first to talk about it. Some digital clocks even have Bronstein's mode.

Storytelling at its finest. Some history, some tragedy, some comedy… (ie: almost Shakespearean), but the old bard surely lacked fascinating chess content. Well played sir.

McDonnell vs. La Bourdonnais would be a fun game to recap. Really, the famous games from the Romantic era of chess are all pretty cool.

Hey Levy. I'm from Belgrade, Serbia, and your knowledge of history is impressive. A lot of americans don't know what Europe is, not to mention Yugoslavia etc... And you pronounce names incredibly. Great job right here mate. Have a nice day!

It is amazing that Fisher knew since 1975 the format in which tours should be played. He plain told them and these idiots still haven't changed anything 50 years later. We still have a format that is made for draws.. Simply baffling

These story pieces that examine the history of some of the game's greats are so freaking good. You're a damned good storyteller, Levy.

Watched the whole video, very instructive and educational. 10/10 would suggest

I remember the 1992 match. And I think it likely that the US State Department would have paid little attention to Fischer, and probably would not have made a warrant for his arrest. But remember that during a live press conference, Fischer produced a copy of the letter from the State Department, warning him not to play the match, and then spit on it, on camera. It was perfect news reel fodder. The State Department does not take that kind of disrespect "laying down". It was only after him spitting on the letter that they really diligently went after Fischer.

I'd love to see a video series on the top greats of chess we all have heard and have built the foundations of theory and chess on a whole. maybe weekly vid, 12 or 16 chapters on the biggest names up to today. The old champions still have wonderful games to explore and mean so much to where we are at now

Hey Levy, I was dying for a chess history video, thank you for this. Please do a video on the world championship match between Capablanca and Alekhine.

I remember following Fischer/Spassky II from the games printed in USAToday newspaper. No internet, RU-vid, commentary were available at the time.

Fischer's 10-win condition is the same that prevailed during the very first official World Championship, between Wilhelm Steinitz and Johannes Zukertort, in 1886. Bur Kasparov-Karpov proved quite conclusively that such an open-ended contest is not realistic. And in any case, it clearly favors the player who is in better physical condition. It allows a win by physically outlasting the opposition, and not necessarily out playing the opposition. And Fischer demanded he keep the title, in the event of a 9-9 tie. That cannot be fair.

nice video! that was one of the most interesting match of chess. every chess player was watching the games, they were all curios about how Fischer would have played! sadly, Kasparov said that it was a match between two old guys whose style was still from the 70s. anyway, you haven't mentioned the most interesting fact: the president of the USA sent a letter to Bobby saying that he cannot play in Jugoslavia, because all the tensions you said also... and Bobby, after reading the letter in front of the camera, letterally SPIT on the letter! amazing Bobbyyyyy!!!!! all these facts as well as his history are covered on a documentary that I have. it is called "Bobby Fischer against the world". Amazing movie!

"He was later convicted of running a ponzi scheme" Oh so like the crypto you were just shilling?

It's amazing how in game 1 of this match after Spassky played a dubious move, Fischer, despite not having played seriously for the past 2 decades punishes him with razor-sharp accuracy!

There was a fairly interesting game in that match in which Fischer played a wing gambit vs Spassky in the Sicilian.

Passed away at the age of 64, for every square of the board.

Expelliarmus never reflected the Killing Curse. That's impossible. In volume 4 in the graveyard, it's Priori Incantatem, the connection of the twin cores in Harry's and Voldemort's wands, that makes the two wands unable to work against each other. In volume seven, in the Great Hall when Harry and Voldemort come face to face again, Voldemort uses the Elder wand. However, the Elder wand had choosen Harry as its master, because he disarmed Draco Malfoy, who disarmed Dumbledore. Thus, it didn't allow its user, Voldemort, to kill Harry.

Fisher was one of the best and strongest tactical player ever, he is also my favorite player.

the story of fischer is honestly one of the most depressing and most impactful things to happen in the chess world. he went from being a small boy in new york to becoming a literal soldier for the united states against the soviets playing chess, dominating the field for several fields and becoming undisputed. its such a tragedy how he lost his mind from being super isolated and all but even abused in japan and in his later years when he disappeared from the public. thanks levy i remember you made a clip stating you were thinking of showing this match, its a very instructive video and i hope many understand how much impact fischer left on the chess world, it was not a lightful world but a dark era for chess in general so yea cheers

Fischer never asked for any conditions that weren't best or normal from past eras. His terms were accepted later by the Soviets after Bobby left the game. They held the title for 6 more years by stealth. Fischer was the all-time greatest chess champion & all the other champs know it. Case closed. Ask Magnus. He'll say so if above the influence of Kasparov. That's chess in the 20th century.

A tragic story, Imagine If he got the help he needed how great he could have been.

Learning details of the greatest chess players is very motivating and GothamChess is the perfect actor/teacher for that for sure.

Fun fact: As it wasn't contested, the prize money raised for the '75 WCC match helped to fund the "Thrilla in Manila" fight.

1) I remember that Spassky beat Fisher with the King’s Gambit. Also, apparently it bugged Fisher enough that he studied the King’s Gambit, and wrote an article about how it is “flawed.” No one ever shows that game or explains what flaw Fisher saw in it. Could you analyze the game AND talk about Fisher’s article? Also, did anyone ever try the King’s Gambit on Bobby after his article? Did his analysis and claim of a flaw payoff for him? 2) Please show Tal. I love his games vs Fisher. It’s cool to see someone terrorize Fisher, and then see Fisher overcome them. Tal’s championship match against Botvinik is also really fun, and I’d love to hear your analysis of it.

3:04 Even levy is a virat kohli fan 😅

Levy being all hype about Fischer "inventing increment" while Fischer actually not caring about the freaking USA, thus inventing "Chess speaks for itself" is beyond me

Video was great Levy. Super educational and entertaining and I really appreciate that you simultaneously didn't shy away from the stain on Fisher's legacy without also dedicating too much time to it. I think that is an appropriate way to acknowledge the issue without making it the centerpiece.

Bronstein invented the "delay" clock before Fischer invented increments.

This is the most saddest story in history of chess. From world champ to exiled. Would have loved to see what he might have done to chess.

Spassky came to Dallas and played about 50 people of which I was one of. I was a young teenager at the time and fought to a draw. I like to joke that was the only time dad was proud of me.

You are parially right, but Fischer said he will retained his title but he rejected FIDE. He tried to do what Garry Kasperov did in the 90's.

Great recap Levy. If I remember correctly, Kasparov said Fischer Spassky 2 (1992), was chess of 1972. He wasn't impressed. Fischer for his part said the Kasparov Karpov WC matches were rigged. Say what you will about Fischer's mental health, he was sane enough not to challenge Kasparov to a match.

Automatically generated subtitles: "Boris Smashkey" 😂

historical vids like this are pretty cool, and adding touches of what happened to the players outside of chess was nice. Idk if there is much content to be made like this, but its very enjoyable

The aggression of Fischer vs The airtight play of Magnus.

Bobby Fischer: Avada Kedavra! Boris Spassky: Expelliarmus!

There are but two superstars that I know of who could put a war on hold. Pele played and put a revolution on pause for a day, Bobby and Boris put the war on pause. Bobby messed up US military savagery

You had Alekhine's gun finally in a video and you call it a triple stack?? It was right there LEVY!!!!

People going on about how Boris was #96 or whatever, but wasn't he world champion last time they played? Bobby wasn't. Although Boris had a ratings slip, what's impressive was how sharp Bobby was, even without playing matches against pros OTB.

Historical chess content idea: chess robot versus napoleon Bonaparte (yes that’s a real thing)

Serbs still love Bobby Fischer, and in those difficult times for our country, we had the honor of watching him live in our country.

Watching that Exchange Ruy makes me wonder: are any GMs playing it these days? I know Tom Wedberg used to play it back in the 90s

Profile of the player who you personally consider to be the best to never get a shot at the world championship.

suggestion: The fascinating win of Max Euwe from the Netherlands for the WC in 1935 against Alekhine.

Should revisit that first to 10 wins ideas. Draws suck >_>.

Passed at 64 like the 64 squares on the chess board

I think Fischer just loved saying things that stirred people up and pissed people off. The guy railed against Jewish people, but he was Jewish.

He was given citizenship here in Iceland and lived out last few years in relative reclusiveness, until his untimely death due to some kind of kidney disease. As reported by his friend Magnus, who sat with him when he died, his last words were "nothing is as healing as the human touch". The number 64 also marked his life, he dedicated his life to the 64 squares of the chessboard, became a worldchampion in Reykjavik, which is 64° north latitude, and died on that same latitude at the age of 64. But despite his greatness in chess, he was not exactly a very good human being, he had very harsh right leaning political opinions, was anti-Semitic and was a holocaust denier, just to name a few things.

Levy I really enjoyed this video, I like how you went through these games without talking about engine lines or evaluation. Peace bro

The world championship the year after Bobby Fischer was crowned world champion, the Soviets changed the rules so they could knock him out by playing for draws. They colluded with each other against him and this is when he became an anti-semite, even though he was Jewish himself, as many of the chess players from the Soviet Union were Jewish. It's a shame what happened to him.

Bobby Fischer started noticing and then he got CIA’d and it drove him batshit crazy

Anyone else miss pre-engine chess?

I'm still waiting for it to come out that the Soviets used Psyops on Fischer.

What I love about Mr. Fischer is what he said about a certain group of people, even though he was part of that same group. A true legend.

yasser's breakdown on this match is also fantastic

that was a beautiful story, thanks for telling it to us, Levy

As one of those that jumped in the cheers bandwagon during COVID-19, I'm liking the history of cheers element of this vid. Would make another good series.

Fischer had great pattern recognition. Especially in non chess related things. Super based guy.

Can you cover Capablanca vs Alekhine world championship match up also? It's very instructive and would be fun with your analysis.

Unpopular opinion -- many will say they don't like chess drama, like the one we just witnessed, but in reality, youtube channels such as these, benefit immensely from the drama -- their clicks, video views, subscribers all go through the roof, because of the added interest and attention. Btw, this is not said in a pejorative manner, simply as an observation. Cheers.

Nice video. More historical content is great. Also can you do some sort of a video about positional chess. May be covering some Karpov games. I think the biggest problem for intermediate players is positional chess

Videos of historical games, and especially crazy attacks, will NEVER get old