Bobby Fischer

Biography

biography of great chess players

Bobby Fischer is considered by many to be the greatest chess player that ever lived.

Born in Chicago in 1943, he learnt to play chess at the age of six and soon became known as a child chess prodigy, winning the US Junior Chess Championship at the age of thirteen, and the US Chess Championship at the age of fourteen.

He became the youngest grandmaster ever at the age of fifteen, and defeated Boris Spassky from the Soviet Union to become the first and only US World Chess Champion. He remained World Champion until 1975.

biography of great chess players

The World Chess Championship match which he played against Boris Spassky in 1972 was widely publicized, as this was during the Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union. In fact, the match itself was referred to as a Cold War Battle. His victory led to a boost in popularity in the west of the game of chess.

After deciding not to defent his World Chess Champion title in 1975, largely due to a disagreement with FIDE, the International Chess Federation, Fischer became a recluse and did not play any further competitive matches for almost two decades.

Finally, in 1972, he played and won what became known as the Revenge Match of the 20th Century against his old rival Boris Spassky. The match was played in Belgrade, capital of the former Yugoslavia, which was at that time under a United Nations embargo, and sporting events were disallowed. Thus, Fischer entered into a conflict with the US government, and he was never to return to the United States again.

He died in Reykjavik, Iceland, in 2008, at the age of 64.