The Forever Friends

At the closing ceremony of the “World Chess Championship Revenge Match of the Twentieth Century” (1992): Bobby Fischer and Boris Vasilievich Spassky share bread like brothers. Photo via Collin Gaylord.

Lost in Translation

11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer and Florencio Campomanes enjoy a leisure visit to Paete, Laguna, Philippines, Wednesday, October 24, 1973. Photos via Paete, Laguna. Courtesy of Luchie Carolino Adea.

Cloud 9

11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer (left) on cloud nine shares his joy with Miguel Quinteros (right) immediately after winning the thirtieth and final game of the “World Chess Championship Revenge Match of the Twentieth Century” against Boris Vasilievich Spassky in Belgrade, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, on Thursday, November 5, 1992. Photo: Miguel Quinteros.

Once Upon a Yugoslavia

President of Serbia Slobodan Milošević welcoming 11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer in Belgrade, Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, on Tuesday, October 6, 1992. Video: Al Jazeera via Malina.

K through Twelve

Phone Calls from Heaven

In an article of his for ChessBase.com, titled “Quo vadis, Fischer Random Chess? (1)”, Frederic Friedel recounts his phone conversations about Fischerandom chess with its inventor, 11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer. The content is particularly interesting, as it confirms that, even shortly before his death, Fischer dreamed to play a Fischerandom chess match with Viswanathan Anand sponsored by ChessBase — but the German company was not willing to fulfil Fischer’s financial requests.
Friedel put forward various proposals to make Fischerandom chess more suitable to the average woodpusher’s understanding, including Garry Kimovich Kasparov’s suggestion to downsize the number of opening positions from 960 to 10. At first, Fischer was receptive, probably out of etiquette, but as soon as he knew who the idea came from, receptivity immediately turned into hostility: “No, there’s a trick. He has preparation for special positions or something”.
A must read!

Fischer featuring the worldwide launch of his trademark Fischerandom chess at Pasaje Dardo Rocha in the city of La Plata, Argentina, on July 11, 1996. Photo: Juan Sebastián Morgado.

In Belgrade Once Again

Shown above are three screenshots from a grainy, low-quality video footage of Bobby Fischer’s visit to Belgrade, Yugoslavia, in October 1978, which was his almost first public appearance, after he had lived for six years obscurely in his basement at Pasadena, California, United States. On Friday, October 20, 1978, an AP wire story regarding a possible Fischer’s comeback broke worldwide as he flew to Yugoslavia to meet Grandmaster Svetozar Gligorić and discuss the possibility of a chess match with him, as well as to back Gligorić’s candidacy for President of FIDE. But alas for Caïssa’s hopes, neither one nor the other was the choice of the chess world. Photos via Baron Rich.

A King’s Incognito

The story of the visit incognito of dethroned World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer in West Berlin in 1978, so as it appeared in BSV-Mitteilungsblatt, Volume 58, Issue 2, March/April 2008, pp. 14-15. It also reproduced the fateful picture — originally published in the Berliner Morgenpost of the time — that costed Alfred Seppelt the excommunication by Fischer.

Photo taken by Bobby Fischer’s mother at the Brandenburg Gate in 1978. (From the photo archive of Alfred Seppelt, left in the picture).

Visions and Re-visions

A Gift from the East

Fabiano Caruana – 韦奕 (Wéi Yì)
Candidates Tournament 2026; Pegeia, March 31, 2026
English Opening A34

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 c5 3. g3 g6 4. Nc3 d5 5. cxd5 Nxd5 6. Bg2 Bg7 7. Qa4+ Nc6 8. Ng5!? In his time, International Master Stefano Tatai attached a “?!” to the move in the text, as “White goes hunting for the Pawn, but Black gets more than enough compensation for it”, and suggested 8. 0-0 0-0 9. a3 instead.
8. ... Nb6! A well-cooked novelty: Black sacrifices two Pawns to speed development. The whole idea is reminiscent of 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov: 8. ... e6 9. Nge4 Nb6! 10. Qb5 c4 11. Na4!? 0-0! 12. Nxb6 axb6 13. Qxc4 e5! 14.Qc2 Nd4 15. Qb1 f5 16. Nc3 e4 17. d3 b5 18. Be3 b4 19. Nd1 Re8 20. dxe4 fxe4 21. Bxd4 Qxd4 22. a3 Bg4! 23. Qc2 Qd3!! 24. exd3 exd3+ 25. Kd2 Re2+! 26. Kxd3 Rd8+ 27. Kc4 Rxc2+ 28. Kxb4 Rcd2 29. f3 Bf8+ 30. Ka5 Bd7! 0–1 Tatai – Karpov, 6th Gran Torneo Internacional de Ajedrez “Ciudad de Las Palmas de Gran Canaria”, Las Palmas 1977.
9. Bxc6+ bxc6 10. Qxc6+ Bd7 11. Qxc5 h6 12. Nf3 Rc8 13. Qa5 Bh3 14. Qb5+ Nd7 15. Rg1

15. ... 0-0!? In hindsight, 韦奕 (Wéi Yì) should have perhaps contented himself with 15. ... Be6! 16. Kf1 Bh3+ 17. Ke1 Be6 drawing by repetition.
16. g4! Rc5? The Rook is badly placed here. 16. ... Nf6! seems to be perfectly sound.
17. Qb3 Ne5?? A gross oversight, which loses a piece and the game. 17. ... Nf6 was still called for.

Of course Caruana seizes the day:
18. Nxe5 Rxe5 19. Nd1! 1–0.

Despite being surprised in the opening, Caruana eventually got on the lucky side of the fence. Photo: Michał Walusza/FIDE.

Frenemies

Fabiano Caruana tries it again and starts off well. His fellow countryman, Hikaru Nakamura, now more a YouTube celebrity than an ascetic worshipper of Caïssa, can do nothing but give way to his light-square symphony, stubbornly defending every inch of white even in impossible circumstances. But just when it seemed like it was a done deal, Caruana threw it all away, and only the generosity of Nakamura allowed him to have back what he gave up.

Fabiano Caruana – Hikaru Nakamura
Candidates Tournament 2026; Pegeia, March 29, 2026
English Opening A13

1. Nf3 d5 2. c4 e6 3. g3 d4 4. Bg2 Nc6 5. 0-0 Bc5 6. e3 Nge7 7. Nxd4 Nxd4 8. b4 Bxb4 9. exd4 0-0 10. Qb3 Ba5 11. Nc3 Nf5 12. Ba3 Re8 13. d5 Nd4 14. Qa4 b6 15. Rae1 Bd7 16. Qd1 c5 17. Bb2 Rb8 18. a4 a6 19. dxe6 Bxe6 20. Nd5 Qd6 21. Bxd4 cxd4 22. Re4 Bxd5 23. Rxe8+ Rxe8 24. Bxd5 Bb4? 24. ... g6! was recommended afterwards by both of them, so as to reply to 25. h4 with 25. ... h5 (Nakamura), whereas the win of a Pawn by 25. Bb7 can be countered by 25. ... d3! (Caruana).

25. h4! a5 26. d3 Qf6 27. Kg2 Qe5 28. Qf3 Qf6 29. Qg4 Bc5 30. h5 h6 31. Rh1 Qg5 32. Qd1 Qe7 33. Bc6 Rc8 34. Re1 Qc7 35. Bd5 Kf8 36. Qg4 Rd8 37. Qe4 Kg8 38. Qf5 Qd7 39. Qf3 Rf8 40. Re5 Bd6 41. Rf5 Qe7 42. Qg4 Be5 43. Rf3 Bf6 44. Rf4 Qd8 45. Be4 Re8 46. Rf5 Qd7 47. Qf4 Bg5 48. Qf3 Qc7

We find here a further confirmation of the assumption that opposite-coloured Bishops in the middle game always favour the attacker.
49. Rxf7! Qxf7 50. Bd5 Re6 51. Qg4 Kf8 52. Bxe6 Qe8 53. Bd7 Qa8+ 54. Kg1 Bf6 55. Qe6 Qd8 56. Bc6 Qe7 57. Qc8+ Qd8 58. Qb7 Be5 59. Bd5 Qc7 60. Qa8+ Ke7 61. Qg8 Kd6 62. Be4 Ke7 63. Bg6 Bf6 64. Qf7+ Kd6 65. Qd5+ Ke7 66. Bf5 Be5 67. f4 Bf6 68. Kg2 Qd6 69. Qb7+ Kf8 70. Kf3 Qe7 71. Qe4 Qxe4+ 72. dxe4 Be7 73. e5 Bb4 74. Bd3 Be1 75. g4 Ke7 76. Ke4 Bg3 77. f5 Kd7 78. Kd5 Bh4

79. f6? A moment of blindness. 79. Kxd4 was apparently the simplest way to win.
79. ... gxf6 80. e6+ Ke7? Returning the courtesy, Nakamura helped Caruana into his own armour. The right way was 80. ... Kc7! 81. Bf5 (neither 81. e7 Kd7 82. e8=Q+ Kxe8 83. Kc6 f5! 84. gxf5 Bd8= nor 81. Kxd4 Kd6= leads nowhere) 81. ... d3!! (this move was probably overlooked by both of them) 82. Bxd3 Kd8 83. Kc6 Bf2 with a dead draw.
81. Kc6 Kxe6 82. Kxb6 Be1 83. c5 1–0.

As Nakamura himself entitled his YouTube commentary, “Wow, whatta game!!”. Photo: Michał Walusza/FIDE.

Around and Around

All the World’s a Board

No, I’m not Byron

In an exclusive interview to Komsomolskaya Pravda, 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov opened the doors of his penthouse apartment and of his heart, sharing with the interviewers memories and secrets about his life.
The whole interview is permeated by a melancholic nostalgia for the golden times of the Soviet chess school, of which he, alongside with Mikhail Moiseyevich Botvinnik, was one of the most prominent ambassadors.
One of Karpov’s deepest regrets is that after the Soviet Union’s dissolution, the new Russian Federation was no longer so involved in funding the national chess machine, with the result that China and India can now claim the primacy of elite chess. “Our school has become practically extinct”, Karpov said. “The State is no longer involved, and if so only nominally”.
As a man from the Urals, he went a long way before getting to the chess throne, and owes much of his successes to his family. An exemplary Soviet family. “Yes, after all, both my father and mother were from working-class families. My father worked as a chief engineer at a major plant in Tula. And my father actually participated in the invention of the BM-21 Grad”, Karpov said. “He is also one of the inventors of antipersonnel ball-bombs. I remember him coming home one day with a grenade in hand. I asked what it was, and he said, ‘It’s a new ball-bomb. It will be used in Vietnam against the Americans’. It’s one of the inventions that inspired the Americans to end the Vietnam war”.
And finally, lastly, but not leastly, the sirens of the West sung to him, too. He was offered to leave the Soviet Union for a foreign land. When and where? “Well, I don’t remember. I remember it was at the 1974 Olympiad in France, when I was preparing for the match against Fischer”. Guess what his answer was. “I don’t even think about it”.

Karpov speaks out on his life and times. Photo: Ivan Igorevich Makeev/Komsomolskaya Pravda.

ICE Breaker

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Dead Leaves

Fischer is not the same as he was

Miguel Najdorf, Clarín, Saturday, November 28, 1992, p. 50

Perhaps I shouldn’t write like this. As with all competitions, chess has its “fan clubs”: if I speak well of Boca Juniors, the River Plate fans will get angry (none other than the President is a River Plate’s fan). Yet I have to speak about what the 1992 Fischer vs. Spassky match meant. There is no doubt that Fischer, due to his eccentricities off the board, aroused enormous enthusiasm and gained a “fan club”, probably the biggest in the chess world.
Bobby, for personal (or unknown) reasons, retired for 20 years. He didn’t play in any official competitions. The press exploited his absence, enhancing his myth, sometimes by spreading fake news. Twenty years is a long time. My daughters, both psychiatrists, said to me: “Dad, one day ‘Bobby’ will play again; his vanity won’t allow him to end in oblivion”. And they were right. Twenty years later, at 49, he came back. For fabulous money figures and against the one who was his last rival at the peak of his glory: Boris Vasilievich Spassky. He, too, after 20 years, look at chess with a certain skepticism.
Fischer’s closest associates did everything they could, during those 20 years, to bring him back. I must confess that I was pessimistic about his comeback. But... finally... he was back... and he’s not the same as he was. The progress and momentum of chess over those 20 years brought radical changes. The computers, everyone is a professional now, prize moneys are exorbitant, etcetera.
Press and executives are interested in maintaining the “Bobby Fischer myth” — they make a lot of money on it — but as a player, I must say that Bobby was a genius; now he plays like many other masters. I asked Kasparov what he thought, and he said to me: “I do not focus on him personally but rather on his games, and they are very poor now”.
A month ago Fischer and Spassky played 30 games in the former Yugoslavia, and some offered a glimpse of what they were like 20 years ago. I must acknowledge that this kind of matches benefit us all: there’s more liveliness and new sponsors appear. Now there’s talk of a Fischer vs. Kasparov match. Garry Kimovich said to me, “It’s worth it to me if there is a lot of money. It wouldn’t be a match, it would be a breeze for me”. I disagree; I believe Kasparov would win, but it wouldn’t be that easy.
I believe the best game of the match was the eleventh, which they played in Sveti Stefan (first part of the encounter). It’s worth watching again:

Robert James Fischer – Boris Vasilievich Spassky

The Revenge World Chess Championship Match of the Twentieth Century; match game 11; Sveti Stefan, September 20, 1992

Sicilian Defence B31

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. Bb5 g6 4. Bxc6 bxc6 5. 0-0 Bg7 6. Re1 e5

7. b4!! The novelty. Prepartion or improvisation? Bobby said he found it at the board. The idea is old. That has echoes of the old Evans Gambit and the ancient Sicilian Wing Gambit. Very well-known is 7. c3.
7. ... cxb4 8. a3 c5?! Better was 8. ... b3, without opening a file for White.
9. axb4 cxb4 10. d4 exd4 11. Bb2 d6 12. Nxd4 Qd7 13. Nd2 Bb7 14. Nc4 Nh6

15. Nf5! A coup in the style of the Bobby of 20 years ago.
15. ... Bxb2 16. Ncxd6+ Kf8 17. Nxh6 f6. After 17. ... Bxa1 18. Qxa1 Qd6 19. Qh8+ Ke7 20. Qxh7 White would retain a large initiative.
18. Ndf7 Qxd1 19. Raxd1 Ke7 20. Nxh8 Rxh8 21. Nf5+ gxf5 22. exf5+ Be5 23. f4 Rc8 24. fxe5. The simplest. If 24. Rd2 Rc5 25. Rde2 Ra6 [sic] with some problems.
24. ... Rxc2 25. e6 Bc6 26. Rc1 Rxc1 27. Rxc1 Kd6

28. Rd1+. Absolute precision. Black must control the passed e-Pawn, and that’s impossible... Furthermore, White will gain Black’s a-Pawn.
28. ... Ke5 29. e7 a5 30. Rc1 Bd7 31. Rc5+ Kd4 32. Rxa5 b3 33. Ra7 Be8 34. Rb7 Kc3 35. Kf2 b2 36. Ke3 Bf7 37. g4. The winning move; Black could resign here.
37. ... Kc2 38. Kd4 b1=Q 39. Rxb1 Kxb1 40. Kc5 Kc2 41. Kd6 1–0. This game shows Fischer’s style, just like 20 years ago, but now he’s not the same as he was. He’s bald and pot-bellied; and besides, his play is not constantly brilliant: it has ups and downs.

(English translation by I, Robot)

Fischer and Spassky answering questions at a press conference. Photos: MN Press.

Postcards from the Past

On Wednesday, September 3, 2025, 12th World Chess Champion and Honorary President of the Soviet Peace Foundation, Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov, attended the commemoration ceremony of the 80th anniversary of victory over militarist Japan and the end of World War II, organised and hosted by the Foundation ”My Genealogy“ in the Column Hall of the House of Unions at Moscow, Russia. Photos: Soviet Peace Foundation.

The Razor’s Edge

12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov interviewed by the French TV channel GPTV in Moscow, Russia, Saturday, May 10, 2025.

Le Repos du guerrier

On Saturday, May 10, 2025, 12th World Chess Champion Anatoly Yevgenyevich Karpov, in his capacity as Honorary President of the Soviet Peace Foundation, conceded an interview to the French TV channel GPTV. The channel is popular not only in France, but also in Africa and Middle East.
The interview took place in Moscow, Russia — where the day before the GPTV crew had followed the celebrations of the 80th anniversary of Victory Day Parade on Red Square.

Pictured seated, wearing glasses, is Karpov, on his reappearance in public after a long absence through convalescence and regeneration. Photos: Soviet Peace Foundation.

A Little Thing