Things That Never Happened

Georgian-Spanish Grandmaster Elizbar Elizbarovich Ubilava, best known for having been the second of two World Chess Champions, Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov and Viswanathan Anand, thinks that FIDE should have done more to persuade both Bobby Fischer and Magnus Carlsen to defend their title. “The history of our sport could have been written differently had Fischer remained in the system”, Ubilava told Amit Karmarkar of The Times of India. “I agree that Fischer was difficult to deal with, but it is also true that the chess world lost this fantastic match (Fischer vs Karpov in 1975), right? And we also lost Fischer as a chess player. I know there are other reasons too for Fischer’s exit from the chess scene”.

Fischer relaxes at a press conference following his arrival in Manila for an indefinite stay in the Philippines, Monday, September 20, 1976. He told reporters he would remain throughout negotiations for a multi-million dollar challenge match with Soviet World Champion Karpov. Photo: AP.