Top 10 Chess Player 4.Bobby Fischer

4. Bobby Fischer (1943-2008) from the U.S.

Fischer at a tournament in 1960 at the age of only 17

World Champion 1972-1975

Bobby Fischer was born to a Jewish woman of Polish descent and a German biophysicist. He was a chess prodigy, learning the game at age 6 and excelling at it at a very young age.

In 1956 at the age of only 13 he played what many have called "The Game of the Century" defeating the U.S. champion:

1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 O-O 5. Bf4 d5 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 c6 8. e4 Nbd7 9. Rd1 Nb6 10. Qc5 Bg4 11. Bg5 {11. Be2 followed by 12 O-O would have been more prudent. The bishop move played allows a sudden crescendo of tactical points to be uncovered by Fischer. -- Wade} Na4 {!} 12. Qa3 {On 12. Nxa4 Nxe4 and White faces considerable difficulties.} Nxc3 {At first glance, one might think that this move only helps White create a stronger pawn center; however, Fischer's plan is quite the opposite. By eliminating the Knight on c3, it becomes possible to sacrifice the exchange via Nxe4 and smash White's center, while the King remains trapped in the center.} 13. bxc3 Nxe4 {The natural continuation of Black's plan.} 14. Bxe7 Qb6 15. Bc4 Nxc3 16. Bc5 Rfe8+ 17. Kf1 Be6 {!! If this is the game of the century, then 17...Be6!! must be the counter of the century. Fischer offers his queen in exchange for a fierce attack with his minor pieces. Declining this offer is not so easy: 18. Bxe6 leads to a 'Philidor Mate' (smothered mate) with ...Qb5+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Ng3+ 21. Kg1 Qf1+ 22. Rxf1 Ne2#. Other ways to decline the queen also run into trouble: e.g., 18. Qxc3 Qxc5} 18. Bxb6 Bxc4+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Nxd4+ {This tactical scenario, where a king is repeatedly revealed to checks, is sometimes called a "windmill."} 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1 Nc3+ 23. Kg1 axb6 24. Qb4 Ra4 25. Qxb6 Nxd1 26. h3 Rxa2 27. Kh2 Nxf2 28. Re1 Rxe1 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. Nxe1 Bd5 31. Nf3 Ne4 32. Qb8 b5 {Every piece and pawn of the black camp is defended. The white queen has nothing to do.} 33. h4 h5 34. Ne5 Kg7 35. Kg1 Bc5+ 36. Kf1 Ng3+ {Now Byrne is hopelessly entangled in Fischer's mating net.} 37. Ke1 Bb4+ 38. Kd1 Bb3+ 39. Kc1 Ne2+ 40. Kb1 Nc3+ 41. Kc1 Rc2# 0-1

Fischer playing black and winning.

In 1971 in a semi-final match to play for the World Championship, he beat Bent Larsen, a grandmaster and genuine candidate for the World title 6/6 (six straight wins).

Fischer was a great boon to chess in the U.S., igniting a huge increase in chess participation and interest in the U.S. and also in other parts of the world. In a previous edition of the Guiness Book of Records, his I.Q. was listed at 163 which is well into the genius range. Other estimates place his I.Q. some where in the range of 167 to 187. However, he had poor social skills, did not get along with others well or the press and was often seen as rude and arrogant. For this, he may have done as much harm to chess than the good he did. In spite of being at least half Jewish (there are some reports that his biological father was also Jewish, making him full-Jewish by birth), he was fiercely anti-Semitic.

He did have the intelligence and vision to at least see that the opening systems and memorization of opening moves was destroying the game of chess as the better performances are often won by those with the greater memories of these systems rather than those with the best chess playing skills. He did advocate for a new version of chess and even created a variant, known as Fischer Random Chess or Chess960 because there are 960 different possible starting positions (back pieces randomly placed) eliminating opening theories for the most part.

Fischer is not placed at the top of my version of this list because of his poor attitudes, unfriendliness, and because he refused to defend his title after winning in 1975.