Bobby Fischer Movie: Pawn Sacrifice

The Story of Bobby Fischer the Legend

“Pawn Sacrifice”,  is a  movie based on the true story of Bobby Fischer, a chess prodigy who later becomes a world champion. This article is not about rating the movie or even reviewing it. We at Gevin Enterprises are professionals in our products, and we endeavor to meet the market’s demands, but we are not chess school or professional chess players, and we are not commentators on the history of chess championship. That is another league. We supply the products and we know our products well. This article shares the story of the legendary Bobby Fischer based on the film “Pawn Sacrifice” starring Tobey Maguire, released in 2015, with reference to Wikipedia．

Bobby’s Career and His Accusation Against the Russians

Bob Fischer does not learn chess from training classes or chess schools. He is a self-taught genius. He shows one of his major weaknesses quite soon: his intolerance to noise. Bobby’s mother is forced to move out with her lover because of this. In a friendly match, as claimed by Russia, Spassky, the world champion at that time, is sent to play in America. Fischer goes to challenge Spassky, but fails to win. Then a major event happens in Bobby’s career. He announces against the Russians in 1962. He claims that the Russians have a collusion and uses the rules of FIDE to make it impossible for non-Russian players to win. This accusation is generally thought to be correct. He announces his quitting of chess because FIDE is doing nothing about it, even though they know Russia’s plot.

Politics Behind the Scene

He semi-retires after this accusation. A lawyer comes to him to convince him to return to the game of chess. Even though the lawyer sees this as an opportunity to fulfill his patriotism to help Fischer win against the Soviets, Fischer shows no interest in politics. He does not care about the fact that social media and U.S. officials see his road back to challenging the Russians as a chance to win this intellectual war between the East and the West. He cares only about winning the game.

Long Road to World Championship

The lawyer finds Bobby a trainer who has had beaten Bobby’s nemesis: Spassky. This trainer is a priest who knows chess. He is said to have defeated Spassky, but he explains that it is a long time ago, implying that things may be quite different now. Fischer impresses his trainer upon first sight by showing him how he could have won a game he played before, with only 13 moves. The two becomes friends. However, the priest does not think Fischer has what it takes to endure to world championship, and tells the lawyer of his pessimism towards this goal. Fischer’s unstable personality, later considered to be paranoid personality disorder, means he may mentally break down due to the stress of the 3-year-long road to world championship.

Fischer continues to express his intolerance to noise soon after, and complains often about it. On the long road to world championship, Fischer becomes more and more paranoid, always imagining that someone is tapping his phone, following him, spying on him, trying to poison him, or even kill him. Bobby finally makes it to championship, although not without near-mental break down.

The Cold War of Chess

In the first game against Spassky, Fischer loses because of his inability to concentrate with noise from the cameras and the audience. He leaves the room agitated, finds a back room with quietness, and soon demands the rest of the game be held in the room, with no camera noise and no audience. If the conditions are not met, he would not continue the game. As a result, Fischer fails to show in the second game, and Spassky wins the game due to forfeiture. It is generally considered that Fischer would truly forfeit the entire competition if his conditions are not met. Spassky, not wanting to win the game by default, agrees to Fischer’s terms.

Most of the competition takes place in the back room. The back room has only one camera, placed behind a small window, designed to be completely silent without rolling noise heard in the room. Fischer’s moves becomes unorthodoxly in the next few rounds, surprising Spassky. The sixth round again surprises the world with moves unknown to the chess world. Spassky admits defeat in the round, not just by shaking hands with his opponent, but by standing up and applauding Fischer’s genius. No chess game has ever had a grandmaster applaud another grandmaster’s victory in such a manner. Fischer wins the rest of the competition by winning 7 out of 19 games, drawing 11, and losing only 1 game. He becomes the 11th world champion in 1972.

Bobby Fischer as the Hero of America in the Cold War

Fischer’s victory brings much media hype. It is publicized as “The Match of the Century”, a victory for America in the Cold War against the Soviet Union. No chess championship has received so much attention ever and since. Fischer becomes the lone hero of the West. What makes him even more significant is the fact that he comes from a country without chess culture.

Fischer as the Fugitive of the U.S.A.

In 1992, Fischer has a rematch with Spassky, titled “Revenge Match of the 20th Century.” Fischer wins the game, but the U.S. government deems the match illegal because it violates the nation’s sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia. He spits on the U.S. order in response, and is warranted for arrest by the U.S. He lives in Iceland, where he dies in 2008.

Fischer’s Contribution and Influence in the World of Chess

Fischer is commented by Kasparov as a chess player that brings much revolution in chess that still develops today. It is claimed by Taimanov that when grandmasters play, they see the logic of the moves of opponents, but Fischer’s moves do not make sense. The creativity of chess strategy allows Fischer to be arguably the best chess player in history.

Chessmetrics evaluates Fischer’s peak rating to be 2895 points, which is the highest in history.

The Most Dramatic History of Chess

Fischer’s story is perhaps the most distinct and dramatic in chess history. He is described to be strange, unpredictable, odd, and bizarre, but this is perhaps what makes such a genius – someone radically different and talented, so distinct from others, that he brings new light to ideas the world has never conceived before.