The Match That Wasn't

THE BOBBY FISCHER THAT WE LOVED by GM Larry Evans (Chess Life, March
2008)

<During the time when bogus rationales were discussed
at length in a vain attempt to "justify" the multitude of
Fischer demands, Larry Evans wrote a nice piece
pointing out that they were not fair, and Chess Lies
published it. That was too much "sunlight" for Mr.
Fischer to handle.> -- Greg Kennedy

Needless to say, our Greg has changed his tune but consistencey was
never his strong suit. In his first incarnation on this forum (when he
signed his real name) Greg repeatedly alleged that GM Evans had
"brainwashed" America into accepting Bobby's conditions vs. Karpov in
1975. Over the years, as new information emerged, GM Evans did place
some of the blame, GM Evans did place some of the blame on the USSR.
But he never changed his basic thesis that the main fault rested with
Bobby himself, as he noted once again after Bobby's death in a recent
issue of Chess Life.

Bobby finally wrested the title at age 29, but his refusal to defend
it against Anatoly Karpov in 1975 was utterly disastrous. Most fans
expected him to crush the darling of the Kremlin and they wondered if
he was crazy for spurning millions to play him in the Philippines.
Everyone was disappointed. His colleagues were bitter because he did
nothing to promote chess during his self-imposed exile in the
California sun.
A mathematician claimed that Bobby's demands against Karpov -- 10 wins
but he keeps the title on a 9-9 tie -- gave his challenger a better
break than a 24-game tilt where the champion had draw odds.

A French playwright depicted our hero as "a persecuted poet who
defends human dignity." A psychiatrist pontificated: "A paramount
theme is his refusal to compromise his principles." Diehards blamed it
all on a Commie plot. Benko claimed, "Bobby was afraid that if he
defeated Karpov the Russians would kill him."

This claptrap only encouraged Bobby to dig his own grave. I tried to
persuade him to set a shining example by not seeking any advantage,
yet reasoning with him was absolutely futile.

"You didn't think the champ should have any edge when you were the
challenger," I argued.

"That's besides the point! The Russkies always made the rules and got
away with it. Let's give 'em a dose of their own medicine," he
replied.

Bobby promised not to seek any edge in future matches if he got his
way just this once.  I DON'T THINK HE EVER QUITE FORGAVE ME FOR TRYING
TO GET HIM TO DO THE RIGHT THING [emphasis mine].

Why he didn=92t play again for 20 years until his rematch with Spassky
in 1992 is a mystery. He blamed it all on a Jewish conspiracy. In his
later years he even claimed in a radio rant that Jews were telling me
what to write about him. I told friends that paranoia is the state
with the prettiest name.

In  Bobby Fischer Goes to War (2004) Edmonds and Eidenow note: "[In
1972] Fischer stated that he would not shrink from defending his
title; on the contrary, he would regularly take on challengers. Few
expected him to be knocked off his throne for a decade or more. One
exception was his former second, Larry Evans, who explained to The New
York Times , 'I probably have more influence on him than anybody else,
and that's exactly zero. I just had the feeling he would never play
competitive chess again.=92"

In 1973 or '74 Bobby asked me to compose a challenge on his behalf,
offering a match against anyone in the world who was willing to put up
a million dollar purse in gold. But he never released this document.
In 1975 Marcos offered $5 million to host the title match with Karpov
in Manila, but Bobby wouldn't budge until FIDE agreed to every last
one of his demands.  KARPOV WAS PROBABLY EAGER TO PLAY BUT WAS
PRESSURED BY THE KREMLIN TO MAKE NO CONCESSIONS [my emphasis].

Some fans called Bobby=92s refusal to defend his title cowardice, but I
think that's too simplistic. He sacrificed his youth for chess and now
was discovering girls and all the things he had missed along the way.
Whatever the reason =96 real or imagined =96 abdication was a tragedy for
him as well as a tragedy for chess. Alas, his selfmate returned the
title to the Soviets without a fight.