Match of the half-century

They called it the Match of the Century. A full 50 years has passed since Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, thereby becoming the 11th world champion. On 1 September 1972, Fischer won game 21 to win the match by 12.5-8.5. I enjoyed the perspective of a new book, The Match of All Time by Gudmundur G. Thorarinsson. (New in Chess, 2022, though first published in Iceland in 2020). Indeed, it is hard to imagine that the exceptional dramatic backdrop – an American against a Soviet in the midst of the Cold War – will ever be equalled.

In 1972, Thorarinsson was president of the Icelandic Chess Federation, and one of the key figures in the organisation of the match, which was so nearly derailed many times over. Famously, it might not have happened without Henry Kissinger’s phone call to Fischer (reportedly, ‘America wants you to go over there and beat the Russians’).