Photo of poster from the Bobby Fischer Museum , courtesy of Kristoffersonshach via Flickr
Welcome to another edition of Chess Books Recaptured, a monthly Bonus Pod. This month, we tried something different and are recapping an enjoyable and informative chess history book, Bobby Fischer goes to War by David Edmonds and John Eidenow.
This book gives a deep and broad history of the “Match of the Century” between challenger Bobby Fischer, and World Chess champion, GM Boris Spassky, in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1972. To help me discuss the book, I enlisted the help of long time friend of the podcast, Chris Wainscott. Chris is a part time chess journalist, and a full time chess junkie and adult improver. For lots more details of what we discussed, please keep reading.
Click here to download the episode.
2:00- We being by introducing guest co-host Chris Wainscott, and discussing why we picked Bobby Fischer goes to War to recap.
Mentioned: Recap Pod of Life and Games of Mikhail Tal here, and Reassess Your Chess by IM Jeremy Silman, here. One Move at a Time podcast with Chris Wainscott
8:00- I read the Kindle Version of Bobby Fischer goes to War, Chris read the Paperback version. Audiobook link here.
9:00- What was going on in the chess world in 2005 when Bobby Goes to War was published.
Mentioned: GM Garry Kasparov, FIDE World Champion GM Rustam Kasimdzhanov, GM Vladimir Kramnik
14:00- What other writing should we be aware of regarding the Fischer Spassky match?
Mentioned: Edward Winter post on Fischer-Spassky, Fischer gegn Spassky by Freysteinn Jóhannsson and Friðrik Ólafsson (Reykjavik, 1973), and Fischer World Champion! by Max Euwe and Jan Timman
15:30- We give a few biographical details about the writers, David Winter and John Eidenow
16:30- For what level chess player is this book suited?
18:30- This episode is brought to you in part by Chessable, check out My Great Predecessors, Volume 4, on Chessable to see GM Garry Kasparov’s reflections and annotations on Bobby Fischer (among others).
19:30- We dive into the book, Chris reads the opening paragraphs and we discuss some key events surrounding the match and the structure of the book.
28:30- What were the major themes of the match/book?
Fischer-Spassky Game 1, Game 5, The Anand Files by Michiel Abeln
31:30- We read a few of our favorite quotes from the book.
Fischer-Spassky Game 13, GM Awonder Liang, Bobby Fischer Against the World, IM Anthony Saidy, Paul Marshall, GM Nikolai Krogius, Psychology in Chess by Nikolai Krogius, GM Larry Evans, GM Anatoly Karpov, GM Mark Taimanov
41:00- What were our favorite games that were mentioned in the match?
Spassky - Petrosian Game 5 1969 , Spassky-Fischer Game 3, GM Evgeny Bareev, IM John Watson’s The Secrets of Modern Chess Strategy
44:50- What were our favorite anecdotes from the book?
GM Lothar Schmid, Chester Fox, Saemi Palsson, Jim Slater, Reykjavik Open 2020 , Victor Jackovich
53:20- Are there chess improvement lessons to be derived from this book?
57:00- What are our quibbles with this book?
Mentioned: George Steiner’s Field of Force, Paul Morphy, NY Times Review of Bobby Fischer Goes to War
1:02:00- Coming next month, recapturing Think Like a Grandmaster by Alexander Kotov, with Christopher Chabris.
1:02:00- Thanks to Chris Wainscott for helping out this month! He will be generously donating his compensation for this project to US Chess Women.
Keep up with Chris via twitter, Facebook and his blog
1:04:00- Blindfold chess puzzles of the month, here they are:
Puzzle #1- Black to move and win
White- Pawns on h2, g2, d5, a2, Rook on f1, King on h1, Queen on d7, Bishop on a3
Black- Pawns on h7, g7, f7, d6. King on g8, Bishop on f8, Rook on e8, Queen on d4
Solution-
Puzzle #2- Black to move and mate in 4, only the checkmating solution counts!
White- pawns on h2, g3, f2, e3, king on e2, queen on f3
Black- pawns on g7, f7, king on g8, Queen on c3,Bishop on b3
Solution-
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