Bobby Fischer has been a favorite subject of authors, both chess players and otherwise, for his enigmatic personality. With this in mind, it is interesting to note that while his life and chess career as a whole have been well documented, as far as I am aware most works have focused on attempting to profile Fischer, a complete collection of his games, or his spectacular final bout with Spassky. I noted the release of The Unstoppable American by prolific author Jan Timman with interest, as it covers a period of Fischer’s chess career somewhat less focused on – Fischer’s “Road to Reykjavik,” from his return to play in 1970 to his final Candidates match victory against Petrosian.
The book starts out with a lengthy discussion of the tournaments and games played by Fischer in early to mid-1970 before moving on to the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal held in the same year. The World Championship cycle has changed tremendously in the 50+ year interim since Fischer’s times, and many claim that Fischer cruised through the opposition on his way to the title. While this may be true, the Interzonal was a tournament of epic proportions, a 24-player month long round-robin.
Fischer’s practice and study prior to the tournament paid off nicely, as he scored 18½/23 for a three-and-a-half-point lead over the second place Larsen. After this brilliant show many became convinced of Fischer’s perfection on the chessboard, but Timman’s insightful game analysis shows a different story. Indeed, in Mallorca Fischer was in danger several times, but his amazing practical skill allowed him to extract himself more times than not.
As is well known, Fischer triumphed in his first two Candidates matches against Taimanov and Larsen to the tune of 6-0 in each. Fischer was simply the superior player in both cases, and most commentators pass over these without many notes. I found it interesting that Timman gave these apparent walks in the park very serious attention, unearthing many new ideas that had yet to see the light of day.
One example was the revelation that Fischer was demonstrably lost in game 6 against Taimanov! Still, with the score at 5-0 Taimanov was not in the right mindset or form to take advantage of this sudden opportunity to get on the board. The match with Larsen was also a difficult fight, but after the third loss the wheels began to fall off the wagon for the great Dane.
The final obstacle in Fischer’s path was Petrosian. Earlier in the book Timman made the interesting observation that Petrosian was a bit scared of Fischer (at the 1970 USSR-World match), which typically helped the American play his best. By the time of the Candidates final, he must have gotten over this, as the first half of the match was close. Petrosian had a big chance to score in the first game. Who knows how Fischer’s nervous system would have handled this unexpected outcome?
In the very next game Fischer suffered his first loss, and Timman showed that he could easily have fallen to a second straight defeat in the third game. Again, it is easy to imagine how that could have affected him. The turning point came in game 4, when Petrosian aimed for a draw straight from the opening. This helped Fischer regain his confidence, and he concluded with four sparkling wins.
Here is the game that broke Petrosian’s spirit, with Timman’s analysis (223-232).
Timman’s game analysis of Fischer’s runup to the World Championship is well balanced and instructive, as always. While Fischer’s games are the main focus of the book, the historical aspect is not necessarily neglected as well, which is important. Timman took the time to properly introduce each tournament and match, and indeed, there were some interesting tidbits that I couldn’t recall having read before.
The reader would rather turn to Donaldson’s Bobby Fischer and his World if you are looking for an irrepressibly thorough look at the American World Champion through a historical lens, but The Unstoppable American is highly recommended if you wish to learn something from Fischer’s great games, of which there are many!
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