World Championship 1972: Fischer – Spassky
In the summer of 1972, at the height of the Cold War, the American Bobby Fischer challenged the Soviet champion Boris Spassky in Reykjavík. It became the most famous chess match ever played — and Fischer's victory ended twenty-four years of unbroken Soviet dominance of the title.
◈A disastrous start
Fischer began catastrophically. In game 1 he grabbed a poisoned pawn with 29...Bxh2 and lost an ending that should have been drawn; then, in a dispute over cameras in the hall, he refused to appear for game 2 and forfeited it. Two games in, he trailed 0–2 and threatened to leave Iceland altogether.
Persuaded to continue — the third game was played in a small back room away from the audience — Fischer won it, and the match turned.
◈Fischer takes command
From that point Fischer was irresistible, mixing deep opening preparation with relentless accuracy. He won the match 12½–8½ (seven wins, three losses, and eleven draws) to become the eleventh World Champion — the first American to hold the title, and the first non-Soviet since 1948.
Because game 2 was forfeited without play, this archive holds 20 played games rather than the full 21; the official 12½–8½ score above includes that forfeit.
◈Cross Table
This archive holds 20 of the 21 match games; the official score above is authoritative.
| Player | 1 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | Pts |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fischer | 0 | 1 | ½ | 1 | 1 | ½ | 1 | ½ | 1 | 0 | ½ | 1 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 1 | 12½ |
| Spassky | 1 | 0 | ½ | 0 | 0 | ½ | 0 | ½ | 0 | 1 | ½ | 0 | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | ½ | 0 | 8½ |
1 win · ½ draw · 0 loss — click a game number to replay it.
“Chess is war over the board. The object is to crush the opponent's mind.”