Robert Fisher: an unrivaled chess player of the twentieth century

Robert "Bobby" Fisher (09.03.1943 - 17.01.2008) - American chess grandmaster, 11th world chess crown winner, creator of alternative chess version - "960", owner of the patent of new chess clock "Fisher clock" with time control. Many consider him to be the greatest and unsurpassed chess player of all time. Bobby Fisher is a three-time winner of the "Chess Oscar" (from 1970 to 1972 inclusive). The highest rating was recorded in July 1972 - 2785 points.

Childhood and youth of Bobby Fischer

In March 1949, 6-year-old Bobby was introduced to chess for the first time. The first parties were with the older sister Joan. Young Fisher quickly began to fall in love with the game, it was impossible to keep from the addiction to chess. When Joan lost interest in this game, Bobby had nothing to do but play against himself.

Sitting at the chessboard for hours on end, Robert did not want to make friends, he simply disliked human communication. He could only communicate with those children who know how to play chess, but none of them were peers. The current circumstances were very troubling to his mother - Regina Fisher, she turned to psychologists to explain such a strange development of the child, but Robert did not want to change.

First titles

Soon Robert is enrolled in the local chess section, and at the age of 10 he held the first serious chess tournament, which he won. Phenomenal gift and good memory allowed Robert with the maximum speed to make the right decisions behind the chessboard. Fischer constantly sharpened his skills and even easily learned several foreign languages, he could freely read chess literature in Spanish, German and Serbo-Croatian. In 1957 Robert Fisher became the official champion of the United States of America in chess. Such achievements were not observed before, the 14-year-old became the youngest chess champion of the country.

Chess battle of the twentieth century

Representatives of two leading powers in the world - Boris Spassky (USSR) and Robert Fisher (USA) met in the final stage of the 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavik. The prize fund of the match was 250 thousand dollars, at the time of 1972 this amount was a record in competitions of this kind. This was a principled battle not only for the world chess crown, but also for political ideology in the midst of the Cold War. The first meeting took place on July 11, in which Boris Spassky was victorious , but there were still twenty game parties ahead. The final stage was completed on August 31 with a total score of (12½): (8½) in favor of the American. Robert Fisher gives the chess crown to the United States of America.

Robert Fisher returns home winner

Now Robert Fisher is a chess player with a capital letter, he became a national hero! After winning the World Cup, chess interest in the US reached its peak. Upon his return to his homeland, US President Richard Nixon invited a chess player to a public dinner in the White House, but was refused. Fisher responded very boldly: "I hate when someone looks into my mouth when I eat."

Such behavior caused surprise of the world community, however, the press and the media continued to flatterly express themselves towards the new champion. Fischer's response to what was happening was very calm, he remained bold and unyielding. Robert Fisher was still the same independent of someone else's opinion, a man who is skeptical of any conversation with the press. He was offered advertising contracts for millions of royalties, but he always refused them.

Comprehensive popularization of chess in the West grew at a rapid pace. The party of Robert Fisher studied not only America, but the whole world! The secular public wanted to have a conversation with him, and the rest called their children after his name.