Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time
by David Edmonds, John Eidinow
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Book Summary Information
Author: David Edmonds, John EidinowReader: Sam Tsoutsouvas
Edition: Audio Cassette
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Format: Audiobook, Unabridged
Published: 2004-03
ISBN: 0060591900
Publisher: HarperAudio
Book Reviews of Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time
Book Review: The Battles Behind the Scenes of the "Most Notorious Chess Duel in History".
Summary: 4 Stars
"Bobby Fischer Goes to War" revisits the Cold War showdown between Soviet World Chess Champion Boris Spassky and American enfant terrible Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik, Iceland in the summer of 1972. Billed by the press as an ideological duel between Western individualism and the Soviet chess machine, the match inspired an unprecedented interest in the game in the U.S. and ultimately rejuvenated the Soviet chess program as well. BBC journalists David Edmonds and John Eidinow propose that the greatest battle was not on the chessboard. This is a chronicle of the drama behind the scenes, among the American and Soviet teams and their Icelandic hosts, that makes the battle on the board look tame.
Background information about the two competitors, their personalities, how they got to this point, and an attempt by the authors to explain how a chess player's mind works bring us up to the negotiations for the World Championship match. If it seemed that getting everyone there was a feat, matters only got worse once the match started. It was to be two months in constant crisis, due mostly to Fischer's unrelenting, bizarre demands. The authors provide a blow-by-blow account of the confrontations on and off the chessboard, as the organizers tried to deal with Fischer, Spassky dealt with the stress, the Soviets with the prospect of losing, and paranoia on both sides that the players were victims of espionage.
"Bobby Fischer Goes to War" is a snapshot of a symbolic event in a particular political climate which, not surprisingly, does not seem to symbolize what it was made to at the time. Boris Spassky was hardly a Soviet loyalist, and Bobby Fischer was a poor representative of the Free World, hated by the U.S. State Department. Yet, these two men at this juncture in the Cold War fought "the most notorious chess duel in history". This is a very readable, engaging account of that event and its cast. I am puzzled, however, that no one suggests that Bobby Fischer suffered from some degree of autism, which, combined with a domineering and self-important personality, explains his behavior. He is demonized a bit too much considering that he clearly had a neurological disorder.
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