3/24/2005 - Unfortunately we
never hear this too often. The 1975 world championship match between
Fischer and Karpov never occurred.
Both the 11th and 12th world champions won their games today. Both games were hard fought, grinding endgames.
Fischer
won his endgame against the US and Japanese’s governments. He won his
freedom today and is on his way to Iceland. Bobby was imprisoned in Japan
since August of 2004. Fischer didn’t play any moves in his last game
against his jailers. Fischer’s life has been in an adjournment since his
arrest in August for failing to have a valid passport.
When Bobby played chess he never trusted his seconds.
He always found his own way through a tough adjournment.
This time things would be different. Fischer had to rely on his
team of seconds to make the correct moves for him. They came to his rescue.
Bobby always seems to get himself in trouble, but he always seems
to have his guardian angel with him. He always seems to land on his feet,
despite his poor judgments off the board.
No question, Bobby has near flawless judgment on the
board, but off of it, he is a complete disaster. Back in 1969, Bobby refused to play in the US championship.
He thought the tournament was too short. This failure in judgment
prevented Bobby from qualifying for the 1970 Interzonal tournament and the
1972 world championship cycle. However Bobby’s guardian angel would come
to his rescued again. This time the angels were USCF President Ed
Edmonson and GM Pal Benko. Edmonson asked Pal Benko, who qualified for the
interzonal, to step aside for Bobby.
Pal Benko realized that Fischer had the best shot to win. So Pal
Benko stepped aside and allowed Bobby Fischer to play in the 1970
interzonal. Bobby won the interzonal and won all three of his candidate
matches.
There would be more guardian angles who would come to
Bobby's rescue. They would keep the
1972 world championship match from being canceled. When Bobby didn’t
arrive on time for the start of the 1972 world championship match with
Boris Spassky, Bobby’s guardian angel would appear in the form of FIDE
President Max Euwe. The FIDE President would resist pressures from the
Soviet Union to cancel the match. Euwe held his ground and kept the match
from being canceled.
Bobby shows up for game one of the match, which he lost in a shocking manner. Bobby would complain about the noise from the
TV cameras. He refused to play game two and was forfeited. Enter guardian
angel, Arbiter Lothar Schmid, who would come to Bobby’s rescue. Lothar
would talk
both Fischer and Spassky into playing in a room off stage. It got heated
back stage, Lothar was able to calm both players down and game three was
played. Bobby would go on to win this game, his first against Boris
Spassky.
This match would never have occurred had guardian angle Boris
Spassky not defied orders from his own government to come home after Bobby
forfeit game two. No one would have blamed Spassky for leaving. He
defeated Bobby in game one and Bobby failed to show up for game two.
Spassky, a great sportsman and gentleman, defied his government and played
the rest of the match. Spassky knew if the lost, he would be punished and
punished he was. Spassky lost the match and was denied travel privileges.
It takes great courage to defy an oppressive government like the
Soviet Union. Spassky had that great courage.
Bobby would get himself in trouble again in
1992, when he came out of a 20-year retirement and play Boris Spassky in
Yugoslavia. This was in defiance of a Presidential decree that barred commerce
with Yugoslavia. Bobby spit on
the decree in front of the press. Bobby would remain a fugitive overseas.
He would
pop up again in 2000 and 2001, when he made controversial anti-American
and anti-Semitic statements on a Philippine radio station.
Bobby’s hate filled tirades would get him noticed
by US authorities, who renewed their interest in Bobby’s legal problems.
Bobby passport would get revoked in 2004. He would be arrest in Japan for
traveling without a passport. The US government tried to extradite Bobby
back to the US, however he would fight extradition in the Japanese courts.
Bobby’s guardian angels would come to his rescue again. While Bobby
languished inside a jail cell, the Icelandic government would come to his
rescue. They would issue Bobby a passport and Icelandic citizenship.
These moves would prove to be decisive. Bobby has
been freed and allowed to leave Japan for Iceland. At the time of this writing,
Bobby is on his way to his new home in Iceland.
It’s clear that someone up there likes Bobby. They always come to
Bobby’s rescue. We should all be so lucky.
I think God likes chess. He probably opens 1.e4 just
like Bobby does. I bet God’s computer has 16-piece table bases. I
wonder if God uses Fritz or Deep Junior? Anyways, I wish
God would do something about Bobby’s hate filled tirades. I hope Bobby
starts to appreciate those who came to his rescue.
There is still something Bobby can learn on the chessboard, but
Bobby needs to learn a lot more about the stuff off the board.
Bobby makes all his chess moves and that’s why he
wins, nobody helps him. But in this latest battle in Japan, Bobby didn’t
make any good moves. It was his seconds that bailed him out.
Bobby was in a dead lost position. However,
his guardian angels come to his rescue. They made Bobby's winning moves for
him. I hope Bobby doesn’t
waste this last opportunity. Bobby, you need to turn your life around.
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