Bobby Fischer vs. the Rest of the World: Updated in 2009, with a New Foreword and scores of all 25 games between Fischer and Spassky, with diagrams and some chess analysis by Sam Sloan [Paperback]

Brad Darrach (Author), Sam Sloan (Foreword)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2009

In 1972, an epic chess match took place in Iceland between representatives of the two great super-powers of the world: Bobby vs. Boris. Boris was backed by the Mighty Soviet Union, with late night phone calls coming from his handlers in Moscow, telling him what his next move should be. Meanwhile, Bobby stood alone against the might of the opposing nation. But, Bobby was not exactly alone. The Americans did not need to tell him what moves to make on the chessboard. Bobby already knew how to do that. Rather, what the Americans needed to do was somehow to get him to sit down at the board and play the game. Here is the story of that titanic struggle: One half of the world trying to get Bobby to play, while the other half was trying to defeat him assuming that he did play. Hence the Title: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World. In the end, Bobby won. Émigrés from the Soviet Union often state that, more than any other single event, this defeat led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Brad Darrach was a reporter for Time and Life magazines, who was assigned to cover the 1972 World Chess Championship match in Reykjavik, Iceland between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky.

Product Details

• Paperback: 334 pages
• Publisher: Ishi Press (January 30, 2009)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0923891412
• ISBN-13: 978-0923891411
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,585,651 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #84 in Books > Travel > Europe > Iceland
  • #94 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Ethnic & National > Scandinavian

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars From the Inside Cover, May 17, 2008

By 

Emily Rounds "Emirou'sBooks" (Duluth, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bobby Fischer Vs. the Rest of the World (Paperback)

Are you ready for Bobby Fischer?

For people-watchers everywhere, Brad Darrach uncovers the sometimes grotesque, often hilarious secret life of Fischer the Great. Through screaming tantrums, paranoid panics, greedy schemes, orgies of eating, desperate loneliness and magnificent courage, he reveals sides of Bobby never seen before.

Writing with eye-witness force, Darrach shows Bobby in action--artfully handling international diplomacy ("I'm gonna teach those Icelandic creeps a lesson!"), striving for fairness in his business deals ("I don't want anybody to make money out of me!"), graciously discussing his opponent Boris Spassky ("I'm crushing him with brute force! Haaaaaa!") and accepting the adulation of his fans ("Tell 'em if they bother me any more, I'll go home!").

Delving into the past, Darrach also reveals the origins of Bobby's chess genius, his peculiar relationship with his mother, his life as a teenage hermit in a rubble-filled Brooklyn apartment, his conversion to an extremist religious sect, and his curious attitude toward young women. Advance readers have hailed his book as the most deliciously indiscreet biography ever written.

5.0 out of 5 stars The Best, November 29, 2010

By 

A. Rudy (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Bobby Fischer vs. the Rest of the World: Updated in 2009, with a New Foreword and scores of all 25 games between Fischer and Spassky, with diagrams and some chess analysis by Sam Sloan (Paperback)

Of the many books written about the 1972 championship, Darrach's is the best, the most entertaining, and -- from my personal knowledge -- the truest.

5 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiration for the phrase 'next best thing to being there', January 28, 2002

By A Customer

This review is from: Bobby Fischer Vs. the Rest of the World (Paperback)

How do you review a rainbow? Summarize a sunset? Paraphrase a pearl? I won't even attempt to. Let's face it, this is not Shakespeare and lord knows, the subject of the book is no Saint Francis of Assisi. Accept the book for what it is, however, and you're in for quite an enjoyable ride. Darrach's metaphors alone are worth the price of the book. They're sprinkled liberally throughout; and when you hit them you'll cry with laughter or shake your head in amazement - or both. Thinking of buying this book? Let me put it to you this way: I once sent an email to someone who was INTIMATELY involved in these proceedings in Iceland asking him for some first hand opinions of the 'doings' there, and he referred me to this book. That's reason enough, but once again the writing style, structure, pacing and characterizations almost defy description. This book invites re-readings. I hate the word 'brilliant', but I'll say it. Brilliant.