Customer Reviews

Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How A Lone American Star Defeated the Soviet Chess Machine (P.S.)

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(30)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

For a brief time in 1972, chess was the only game in the world. Bobby Fischer came face to face with Boris Spassky in Iceland, and the world took delight in a simple morality play. Fischer was depicted as the lone American hero gunning to win the title from the Soviets who had held it for decades. The Cold War was reduced to the free world's champion versus the apparatchiks spawned by the Soviet socialist chess machine. It was fun to watch the battle in such black and white terms, but in _Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time_ (Ecco), David Edmonds and John Eidinow show that the true story was much more complicated although just as exciting. For instance, Spassky may have been a Russian patriot, but he was not a Soviet patriot and he was not a member of the Communist Party. Fischer was eccentric and asocial, and his bratty behavior seemed un-American to many of his fellow Americans. But both their governments had a stake in the match, and people all over the world who knew nothing about chess watched the contest carefully, and many took up the game. It was quite truly the most extraordinary chess match of all time, just as the book's subtitle says, and the book makes clear in how many ways it was extraordinary.

Spassky loved the game for itself, and, as a well-rounded gentleman who liked fishing and festive parties with his friends, seemed sincerely to be looking forward to what he called "a feast of chess," win or lose. He admired Fischer, but the book shows that beyond a colossal talent for chess, Fischer possessed few admirable qualities. He was a morose man who one journalist said "was likely to greet even an old friend as if he were expecting a subpoena". His frequent tantrums (which earned him much derision from his compatriots) did, at least, stop when he sat down to play, and he never attempted to disturb an opponent across the table. He was called by Dr. Henry Kissinger when he did not show up for the match, assured that he was "our man up against the commies." Having lost the first game, he didn't even show up for the second, and thus lost it as well. But then he crushed Spassky in the third, and went on to a match full of hard-fought draws and wins, many of which are regarded as among the finest games ever played. President Nixon sent congratulations. Spassky eventually went into contented retirement in France, continuing to regard the Soviet chess administration with disdain. Fischer never defended his title, although he has played some exposition games. He went on to join a fundamentalist Christian church, then to denounce it as satanic. He may have been the American hope during the match, but he is now deeply anti-American, spouting anti-Semitic conspiracy theories (ironic, given his parentage on both sides, revealed here) to any radio station that will allow him voice.

The authors have interviewed all the important officials involved who are still alive, especially Spassky; they didn't interview Fischer, and don't say why, but that was probably just not possible. _Bobby Fischer Goes to War_ is not a book for those who want to study the chess games. It has exactly one board diagram, and the games are described generally, not play by play. Chess players interested in this aspect of the match already have bought better books on the games themselves. This is a book about personalities, about the history of the times, and about the off-board gambits and counter-gambits, and you certainly don't have to know any details about chess to enjoy it. There is, to be sure, a great deal to enjoy here, in the re-creation of the match and the geopolitics of the time that lent it importance.

If Bobby Fischer's name is affiliated with a book, it comes to reason that there is some amount of weirdness forthcoming. I am not referring to the chess books Fischer wrote, as those are guidelines to chess perfection. This refers to any discussion of his life, which this book does. The world's greatest chess player, Fischer, has lived his personal life much less logically than his life is an eight by eight square cell.

To help the nonchess reader sort out the menagerie, authors David Edmonds and John Eidinow provide a "Dramatis Personae," listing 21 Americans, 24 Soviets, six Icelanders, four match officials, and six sundry others, explaining their relationship to the Reykjavik, Iceland chess match. They also include a short glossary to educate us in the vocabulary of competitive chess.

The book begins with a vital quote by Boris Spassky, "When you play Bobby, it is not a question of whether you win or lose. It is a question of whether you survive. This sets the tone for all that follows.

Edmonds and Eidinow lay out the social mire Fischer was growing up in, and his quick rise to chess dominance.

In 1954, when Fischer was 11, he was attending matches and doing well enough but not at his later prodigy level. In that year, as he is quoted, he "just got good." Modern chess history, or at least for one its most colorful characters, begins then.

1972: Boris Spassky was the champ. He deserved to be there. Bobby Fischer was the contender. He deserved to have the opportunity. Between these two men stood a world of complex politics, money, national pride, idiosyncrasies, and suitors to the game. Reykjavik, Iceland was the location of what has become one of the most legendary chess matches ever, between Spassky and Fischer.

Early on during Fischer's career, he had the same impact Michael Jordan would later enjoy later enjoy as professional basketball player. "Fischer-fear" was the description of some players' psychosomatic illnesses from Fischer's intimidation. Opponents would make mistakes as a result. Fischer had the bravado of Muhammad Ali, but none of his class. He would take this personality and boorish demands to the match.

Boris Spassky is painted differently. A product of the Soviet support system, he became professional about the game. Affable and popular, an opposite to in every way to Fischer, he still had what Fischer lacked -- the title "World Champion."

The bulk of the book moves on from biography and personality profiles. It follows the path the chess culture -- all chaotic in its apparent systemic approach. Going from the need to compete to the actual match turned through every convoluted corner, with Kissinger's involvement, the FBI, the KGB, and as much intrigue as a James Bond movie.

The travails of the match are outlined as needed (but not heavily), highlighting the most interesting parts and never boring nonchess players. The psychology of the players and chess players in general is discussed, as is the history of modern champions, providing a field for tension and a framework for the match.

This was in the midst of the Cold War, and the Soviets -- not just Spassky, owned the chess champ title. Nixon was president. Fischer, the bombastic, arrogant American who hated Russia, had a knack for successfully risking it all on the board by knowing the principles of chess as a sublime art form. Spassky, the methodical Russian, against Fischer, became a symbol of the Cold war itself. The image of the match was only half of the matter. Neither man was the caricature the press saw them as, but such are the stories of legend.

I fully recommend "Bobby Fischer Goes to War: How the Soviets Lost the Most Extraordinary Chess Match of All Time," by David Edmonds and John Eidinow. Oh, and if you somehow missed the big news back in 1972, Fischer won the match.

Anthony Trendl
editor, HungarianBookstore.com

I was pleasantly surprised at this very urbane, almost panoramic, and far-sighted treatment of the clash of the two Titans of chess.

The authors not only captured the essential elements of the decisive games that led to Fischer's stunning victory, but more importantly, they also did a masterful job of situating the meaning of the match in the political context of the times. Their parallel overlaying of the times with the events going on in Iceland, left us with an enduring picture of the tension of those troubled times, demonstrating how a single chess match managed to relieve much of it, if only for a brief spell.

In the hands of these very skilled writers, a chess match became more than just a report on the World Championship, it became a metaphor of the Cold War: The clash in Iceland was as much a battle of ideas, political systems and ideologies as it was a parlor game waged with great skill, tension, and tenacity across a wooden board of 64 squares.

Edmonds and Eidinow brought it all alive in grand, almost epic fashion -- from the humble beginnings of the players, and the idyllic surroundings in Reykjavik, to a resounding crescendo of fireworks at the last game of the grand finale in Iceland. Through this book, we are not just eye witnesses to history in the making, we are made to feel that we are a vicarious part of it!

For chess lovers everywhere, this is the book to read if you want to know about the game, the particpants, the politics, the ideosyncracies and emotional ups-and-downs of the participants, as well as the events in the background in Reykjavik. A great read FIVE STARS!

Authors David Edmonds and John Eidinow, responsible for the best-selling "Wittgenstein's Poker," have now turned to the surprisingly gripping 1972 World Championship chess match between Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer in their new book, "Bobby Fischer Goes to War."

As someone who is old enough to remember the match (and who watched Shelby Lyman's engagingly dorky commentary about the matches on Channel 13), I thought I knew the outline of this story fairly well. But Edmonds and Eidinow have come up with plenty of new details about what happened in the Icelandic city of Reykjavik that Summer, and the result is a book that, oddly enough, will keep you on the edge of your seat wondering how a chess match is going to turn out. Or, given Bobby Fischer's legendary eccentricities, whether the match is going to happen at all.

The book is not free from flaws. Perhaps out of a desire not to alienate the non-chess playing reader, the commentary on the individual games seldom rises above the perfunctory: in fact, they don't bother to print the moves of any given game in their entirety, not even in an appendix, which strikes me as extremely misguided.

Also, the book has a few conspicuous errors of fact. On page 175 the authors mention Henry Kissinger taking Soviet Ambassador Anatoli Dobrynin and his wife to Hollywood "to mingle with the stars." The next sentence begins, "There is no record of them meeting the Marx Brothers..." which would have been a trifle unlikely, since Harpo and Chico were both long dead by 1972. On page 228 they claim that the Metropolitan Museum is "just up the road from the UN..." which they would never have written had they ever actually walked from one building to the other, since they're more than three miles apart (and halfway across town from each other).

But the heart of this book is Bobby Fischer, the brilliant but wildly unstable genius who was the most gifted (and easily the most troubled) chess player of the last century. This story is, as the authors admit towards the end, a tragedy: a perfect example of the saying "Be careful what you wish for: you might get it." Fischer had trained almost all his life with a monomaniacal passion to be the World Chess Champion, although on more than one occasion putting self-destructive obstacles in his own way, as if he was afraid of achieving what everyone said he was destined for, and when he finally achieved his lifelong ambition, he promptly fell apart mentally, to the point where today he is a fugitive from American justice, giving insane interviews to whoever will listen to him spewing out vicious anti-Semitic and anti-American propaganda.

The final part of the story, Fischer's descent into seeming madness, is a little skimped by the authors, and really deserves a book of its own (although it would be decidedly depressing reading). But with all its flaws, this is a fascinating book about a moment in history that anyone, chess player or non-chess player, can find interesting. And if it intrigues you enough to inspire you to pick up a chess set and start playing, so much the better.

I am not what you would call a chess enthusiast. Although I can play the game, I do not do so often. What I do enjoy, however, are good tales about the Cold War. It was on that basis that I purchased this book. It is also on that basis that the book succeeds very, very well.

There are three themes that I thought were well illuminated by this book. First was Bobby Fischer's behavior. Of course I had heard that he was eccentric and difficult, but never did I imagine just how bizarre he really could be. His unbelievable micromanagement of every aspect of a tournament, his antisocial behavior, his forfeiting of a game in the world championship, all these are brought to life in a way that provides the reader a real taste for the character of the man that was wonderful, if frustrating, to read.

Second, the book did an excellent job of detailing exactly how beneficial Fischer, and the Fischer/Spassky match, was to chess overall. Bizarre behavior or not, Fischer took chess from a poor man's game to one in which top players could demand top dollar. This was far more interesting than most people would probably imagine and more interesting than I can convey with a simple review.

Third, and most fascinating, was the description of the Cold War chess match that was being played by the US and USSR on the world stage over the Fischer/Spassky match itself. Think about it - the Soviets not only dominated chess but explicitly stated that their chess superiority was evidence of the superiority of their socialist system. Then, not only are the Soviets knocked off their perch, they are utterly demolished. Even worse (from the Soviet perspective), the person doing the demolishing is not only an American, but one who is extremely arrogant, openly states that he will crush anyone the Soviets put up against him, and whose behavior is so odd and obnoxious that he would have been thrown in the Gulag if the nationalities were reversed. You could almost feel the Soviets squirm!

I must admit that I did feel bad for poor Boris Spassky, a good man representing a bad system which used him for propaganda purposes. Alas, such is history, and this book serves a very delicious slice of it.

"Bobby Fischer Goes to War" succinctly recounts the events leading up to and surrounding the famous 1972 chess match that (briefly) wrested the world championship away from the Soviets. The story was compelling then as a surrogate battle of the Cold War. Now, however, it fascinates because of the incredible and tragic story of the American champion who was made famous by and ultimately consumed by the game of chess.

The authors do a great job of telling the story, giving just enough history of the game of chess and biography of the participants to set the stage. A particularly surprising revelation is what a sympathetic character Soviet champion Boris Spassky actualy was. A poltical maveric (at least by contemporary standards) Spassky comes off as a decent guy, especially when compared to the notoriously unstable and anti-Semitic Fisher.

The book climaxes with aa compelling description of the match itself, which would have been memorable even without the geopolitical implications. The authors wind down by revealing what became of the principle players in the drama, including the sad and notoriouslt paranoid state into which Fisher has descended.

Overall, this is a fascinating book that will delight the chess enthusiest as well as anyone else who likes a great story.

Prior to the match Boris Spassky said that regardless of the results the events in Reykjavik would be a "celebration of chess". Bobby Fischer on the other hand, was going to war and wanted "to crush the Soviets". Two thoughts on Fischer come to mind after reading this book: What a jerk, and what a shame. He pretty much flushed his career down the toilet after this match by refusing to defend his title against Karpov in 1974, and for the most selfish of reasons - he couldn't handle losing - and he went out on top. How convenient. While his chess games are incredible to follow (and I highly recommend you take the time to do so) the fact is that he lost in life; while Spassky, whom he beat over the board, won (some observers even say that Spassky should've won the match based on pure chess skill and preparation; regardless of the results, his best games are as well worth studying as Fischer's). Fischer's absence throughout much of the 70s and all of the 1980s is lamentable, and like so many of his acquaintances, the more I find myself making excuses for his ridiculous behavior. "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" depicts this paradox and phenomenon pretty well and anyone interested in Cold War history might really enjoy the bizarre and intriguing events in this little corner of the wider, global show-down between communism and capitalism. Nevertheless, I have a few reservations about this book.

Despite its being a well-researched, compelling and easy-to-read account of the off-board, behind the scenes battles between Fischer & the Russians, it has several short-comings, the foremost of which is a lack of chess. Sure, the authors make some token efforts to summarize certain highlights of a few games, but the focus is on Fischer's antics rather than his moves (or, if you're a Fischer apologist, his "off the board brinksmanship") and this seems unfortunate to me. By having the games interwoven into the main storyline the peripheral hoopla of the match would have its proper context. Not only this, but it would relieve the tedium of some 300 pages of some rather petty and exasperating behavior, and ultimately, would redeem the man himself. Reading about Bobby Fischer without his chess games is like, well, try imagining Mike Tyson without boxing. Additionally, I'm not sure how this book is any different from "The Russians vs. Fischer" (D. Plisetsky & S. Voronkov, Everyman, 1994, 2005 2nd ed.)? Not having been able to read it I can't say for sure, but from what I can tell it contains more interviews from the Russian side (the authors apparently utilized the same "unpublished U.S. & Soviet records" so prominently advertised on this book's jacket) and the games themselves. These two factors alone make me suspect that I bought the inferior product, and so I recommend you compare the two.

Other criticisms:

A complete absence of reference notes for any of the some 150+ sources for this book make it difficult, if not impossible to locate the sources for a large amount of curious material. Have these guys ever heard of plagiarism?

The authors, who are journalists, write in the typical "play by play" style of their profession, which works well in pithy newspaper or magazine columns (or for John Krakauer & Mark Bowden), but wears thin in a full-length narrative about a chess match without any real chess.

The coverage of the 1992 re-match is given short-shrift and conveniently written off a "a bad sequel".

In the end I wanted to hear more from Spassky and Fischer themselves. There are a lot of secondary viewpoints and great sources of information here, but how much better could the text have been had the authors solicited or used more direct quotes from the participants themselves - especially Spassky since he seemed most willing to talk? Recently I discovered "B. Fischer: The Wandering King" by H. Bohm & K. Jongkind (Batsford, 2005) which looks to be fill this gap.

The one thing that redeems the author's decision to focus on the non-chess related action in my mind is that it does illuminate something important that I don't believe they intended; namely that, despite their extreme differences, both chess masters managed not only to play some great chess, but refused to be manipulated by their respective political systems. That is, regardless of Fischer's obsession with control and the fiasco he made of this match - not to mention the ass he made of himself - it seems to me that the "celebration of chess" Spassky envisioned came about in-spite of all this, and in no small part due to his own tolerance, patience and ability to challenge Fischer on the chess board. For it was these two individual chess-artists who not only enriched and popularized the game worldwide through their immortal play, greatly benefiting their fellow players through larger purses future tournaments, but most importantly, their outmaneuvering of systemic powers that sought to constrain them for narrow-minded political propaganda.

I was pretty excited about buying this book, because who wouldn't want a book about how one man stood up to a Superpower at the height of the Cold War and won?

But then, when you get into it, the book becomes more of a breakdown of the Fischer/Spassky match, only one written for non-chess players. Apparently most all of the story comes from interviews and the recollections and memos of the participants

The problem with that is that they couldn't get an interview with Fischer, and the book shows it. In terms of pages, "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" is 40% about Spassky, 20% about chess, 30% about the reporters or other GMs at the match or whatever, and maybe 10% about Bobby Fischer. Which would be fine if it wasn't put out there as a book about Bobby Fischer, but it was and its not that at all

Written by 2 co-authors and apparently not edited at all, the book meanders from place to place and anecdote to anecdote, and the last 100 pages are intolerably slow. They cover the post-mortem of the match; what went wrong and where the participants ended up. The main problem with that, again, is maybe 10 of those 100 pages are about Fischer. I mean, its really great to know that some Soviet minister of whatever retired and had a good life, but to my mind the book is crippled by long detours into side characters' lives, and I think the authors only indulged in those detours because they had next to no information about Bobby, so they had to talk about something to run up the page count

The first half of the book is interesting and relatively fast-paced, and actually does illuminate the Spassky/Fischer match, even if it doesn't offer any actual insights into Bobby Fischer, beyond what some people who met him once or twice think of him. The second half is just a re-hash of things already stated, and a "where are they now?" type piece on each of the officials of the various organizations who put the match together

So to sum up: this book is basically just a story about that historic match up, and its more told from Spassky's side than anyone else's. If that's what you want, great. Here it is. If you wanted a book about Bobby Fischer, about any part of his life other than those few months in Iceland, you won't find it here. If you wanted his insight into the matches, or analysis of the matches, that's not here either

Also, you should be warned that the story is told about 75% from the Soviet side of things, so there are alot of Russian names and governmental titles. That might bother some readers; I found it difficult after awhile to differentiate between the various Russian officials, especially since some are referred to by nicknames at one point, then by their given names, then by title, etc.

Hope that helps you make an informed decision on whether or not to buy the book

I was in a coffee shop last weekend when I noticed two men playing Chess near the cream and sugar counter. A small but intent group had huddled around their table quite captivated by the game. Memories of Bobby Fischer came to mind. I also watched the game for a while and then decided to visit my local bookstore and just by happenstance I saw "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" and picked up a copy. It is very interesting reading. Bobby Fischer's 1972 match with the Soviet Boris Spassky held in Reykjavik, Iceland is legendary. Spassky, the world chess champion, certainly seemed the gentleman and Fisher was billed as the young Chess prodigy. To me Chess was always a game played by elitists or other higher order members of the social ladder. In reality that is truly not the case. If there is anything elite about the game or those who play it, it is the social refinement that one takes away from the chess board. There is a certain amount of respect that one experiences and earns that should be used in a higher order of one's conduct as a person. From this book Spassky seems to fit that picture, but Bobby Fischer is anything but. Fischer had a deep intuitive intellect for the game but his social upbringing and behavior seemed rather crude and almost not worthy of the game. His behavior during the match seems embarrassing and nothing honorable as demonstrated by Spassky. Fischer seems to have learned none of finer aspects of being a participant and journeyman of the game. This is a good book and brings many avenues of thought ion this history making Chess match.

A wonderfully absorbing cultural history that digs deep into the psyches of Boris and Bobby to present a Shakespearean tragedy of sorts. Superb research and access to the minor characters who probably best understood the event makes this a not to be missed chronicle of a lost age.