Olympic Games, 11, 232, 273, 275
Operation Barbarossa, 34
P
Palace of Young Pioneers, 39–40
Palsson, Asgeir, 215
Palsson, Saemundur (Saemi-Rock), 214–17, 220, 223, 283–85, 295, 297–99, 309
Panov, Vasili, 104, 107
Paulus, Friedrich von, 114
Pavlov, Sergei, 52, 90, 91, 99–104, 110, 112–14, 155, 156, 200, 261, 268, 275, 295, 301
Penkovskii, Oleg, 58, 254
Petrosian, Rona, 95
Petrosian, Tigran, 2, 9, 13, 14, 17, 20, 22, 23, 28, 29, 38, 43–48, 83, 86, 87, 93–98, 105–7, 114, 116–17, 121, 124, 128, 131, 137, 141, 184, 200, 204, 205, 253, 286, 291, 298–300, 310
Pfleger, Helmut, 81
Philidor, François, 207
Pichtchenko, Vladimir, 259
Pirc, Vasja, 241
Podgornii, Nikolai, 276
Politburo, 51–52, 109, 292
Political Uses of Madness, The(Ellsberg), 189
Polugaievskii, Lev, 86, 300
Ponomarenko, Yuri, 166
Porter, Colin, 215
Portisch, Lajos, 28, 86, 294, 295, 299
Postnikov, V.I., 63, 117–18, 120
Pravda,36, 88
Prefab Sprout (pop group), 308–9
“Problem of Paul Morphy, The” (Jones), 78
Pushkin, Aleksandr, 35, 73
R
Rabell Mendez, N., 127
Rahman, Mujibur, 227–28
Rajcsanyi, Zita, 305
random chess, 307
Reek, Jan van, 38
Rein, Yevgeni, 33–34, 60
Reisman, Marty (the Needle), 20
Reshevsky, Samuel, 7, 15, 17, 18, 20, 37, 82, 225
Reykjavik, 1–3, 50, 122, 123, 124, 133, 138, 145, 192, 195, 239, 307
Rice, Tim, 308
Rodionov, B. I., 290
Rogers, William, 143
Rosenwald competition, 7–8
Rossolimo (chess master), 225
Rostropovich, Mstislav, 91
Royal Game, The (Zweig), 74–75
Rubinstein, Akiba, 78
Rusakov, Konstantin, 276
Rusk, Dean, 186
Russell, Bertrand, 188
Russian Mind, The (Hingley), 56–57
Russian nationalism, 40, 55, 58, 60–61
Russian Orthodox Church, 38, 60
S
Sadat, Anwar al-, 279
Saga hotel, 133, 250, 282
Saidy, Anthony, 135, 137
Saidy, Fred, 137
St. Petersburg. See Leningrad
Sakharov, Andrei, 62
Schmid, Lothar, 1, 30, 95, 96, 137, 138, 147, 157, 158, 161, 167–69, 171–75, 178–84, 192, 208–9, 210, 213, 219, 220, 236, 241, 243, 245–47, 266, 281, 282, 307, 311
Schonberg, Harold, 73, 146
Schultz, Don, 20, 23–24, 213, 226, 264
Searching for Bobby Fischer (film), 306
Shakhmatni Listok (chess magazine), 61
Shchelokov, Nikolai, 292
Shcherbacheva, General, 293
Shcherbacheva, Marina, 293, 294
Shelepin, Aleksandr, 102
Sherwin, Jim, 6, 22, 30
Short, Nigel, 308
Sigfusson, Sigfus, 195, 286
Sigurdsson, Halldor E., 138, 282 64 (chess magazine), 36, 95, 100, 103
Skliarov, Yuri, 260–61
Skoff, Frank, 213–14, 223
Slater, James, 148–50, 283
Smith, Ken (Top Hat), 130–31, 236
Smith, Tommie, 11
Smyslov, Vasili, 28, 37, 38, 41, 45, 62, 80, 86, 105, 107, 121, 184, 200, 287
Sneider, Harry, 302
Soltis, Andrew, 119
Solzhenitsyn, Aleksandr, 52, 90, 91
Sophocles, 162
Sosonko, Genna, 119
Soviet Union, 5, 7, 17, 33–35, 50–58
chess’s importance in, 8–9, 35–38, 50, 52–58, 89–92
extra-chess intrigue and, 249–57, 261–67
Fischer’s hatred of, 26
ignorance of West, 55
“Ours (Means) Better” policy, 55, 57
press coverage of match, 274
propaganda edifices, 38
Spassky championship loss and, 287–92
travel restrictions, 53–54, 258–59, 267, 293
See also cold war; Communist Party, Soviet; Sports Committee
Soviet Union Since the Fall of
Khrushchev, The(Brown), 50
Soviet Union vs. the Rest of the World (1970), 82–83
Spanier, David, 285
Spasskaia, Larisa (Boris’s second wife), 44, 46, 107–8, 116, 209, 221, 233, 249–51, 286, 287
Spassky, Boris, 38–69, 99, 131, 216
Angola, lack of interest in, 293
anti-Semitism of, 61
background and youth, 33–35, 38–41, 60
Baturinskii, breach with, 114
Bondarevskii, falling out with, 116
career rise, 41–48
character and beliefs of, 58–61, 64–65
chess style of, 73–74
defection rumors about, 267–69
Dostoyevskian affinities of, 59–60, 61
earnings of, 65–66, 107–8
Estonia, support for, 65
extra-chess intrigue and, 249–51, 253–57, 262, 263, 265–67
Fischer similarities with, 32
Fischer viewed by, 30, 295
Geller’s charges of pressures on, 237–40
Icelanders’ view of, 194–95
life outside of chess of, 77
KGB and, 61, 63, 258–62, 267–69
marriages of, 25, 44, 46, 107–8, 116, 293–94
move to France by, 293–94, 295
post-Fischer match loss by, 282–83, 285–95, 300
on possible Fischer random chess match, 307
Russian history, interest in, 61
Russian patriot, 60
Soviet Communist Party and, 61–66, 109–13, 290–93
and Sports Committee postmortem on
stress management by, 80–81
Taimanov’s defeat by Fischer and, 92
training plan of, 110
university education of, 43, 60–61
world championship, 48–50, 63–64, 66, 68–69, 84, 98, 100–101, 107, 117, 124, 285
See also Fischer-Spassky competition
Spassky, Ekaterina Petrovna (Boris’s mother), 38, 39
Spassky, Georgi (Boris’s brother), 34, 39
Spassky, Iraida (Boris’s sister), 39
Spassky, Tania (Boris’s daughter), 44
Spassky, Vasili (Boris’s son), 46, 108, 294
Spassky, Vasili Vladimirovich (Boris’s father), 38, 39
Speelman, Jonathan, 167
Spitz, Mark, 232
Sports Committee, USSR, 37–38, 52–53, 62–63, 90, 99–102, 106, 107–14, 155–56, 202, 253–57, 261, 265, 267, 273, 287–91, 293, 294
Stalin, Joseph, 33, 36, 41, 51, 52, 55, 59
State Committee for Physical Training and Sport. See Sports Committee
State Department, U.S., 3, 12, 16, 145, 252
Staunton, Howard, 201
Stein, Leonid, 45, 62, 200
Stein, Richard, 162, 171, 173, 224
Steiner, George, 71, 77, 133–34
Steinitz, Wilhelm, 78
Suslov, Mikhail, 276, 301
Szabo, Laszlo, 41
T
Taimanov, Igor, 87
Taimanov, Mark, 29, 38, 40, 62, 74, 80, 83, 96, 104–5, 131, 205, 253, 287, 310
Fischer match with, 86–93
Tal, Mikhail, 22, 25, 30, 38, 43, 45, 46, 53, 62, 80, 88, 105, 121, 184, 200, 204, 290, 310
Targ, Joan Fischer, 4, 5, 8, 221, 306
Tarrasch, Siegbert, 35
TASS (news agency), 129, 137, 273–74
Thorarinsson, Gudmundur, 124, 127, 128, 138–42, 144, 145, 147, 151–52, 154, 157–58, 161, 163, 164, 170, 171,
180, 183, 197. 201, 237, 281–83, 309
Thorarinsson, Johann, 124
Thordarson, Ulvar, 209–10
Thorsteinsdottir, Anna, 283–84
Tikhomirova, Vera, 118, 121
Tolush, Aleksandr, 40, 41, 43–44
Toner, Bob, 153–54, 227
Torre, Carlos, 78
Treasury Department, U.S., 304
Tremblay, Theodore, 142, 143, 145–46, 153, 154, 160, 251–52, 267–69
Tsarapkin, Semion, 84
Tsvigun, Semion, 261
Tupikin, A. P., 290
Turover, Isaac, 147, 178
U
Uhlmann, Wolfgang, 86, 87
Ulvaeus, Björn, 308
Unzicker, Wolfgang, 31
U.S. Chess Championship, 8, 10, 15–16, 17, 82
U.S. Chess Federation, 10, 84, 104, 127, 128, 212, 305, 308
U.S. Junior Chess Championship, 7
USSR Chess Federation, 64, 66, 100, 120, 127, 128. 147, 299
USSR Council of Ministers Committee for Physical Training and Sport. See Sports Committee
V
Vartanian, Professor, 256, 262
Vasil’iev, Dmitri, 257, 260
Vasiljevic, Jezdimir, 304
Vasiukov, Yevgeni, 9, 15, 88
Vietnam War, 11, 12, 188–89, 230, 232
W
Wade, Bob, 7, 131–32
Walker, Peter, 148
Warner Brothers, 297
Washington Post,136, 159, 160, 172, 176, 270–71, 272
Washington Square Park (N.Y.C.), 6
Watergate break-in, 231
Waters, Archie, 221
Weintraub, Jerry, 205
Weiss, Cyrus, 308
Wellington, Duke of, 281
White House Years, The(Kissinger), 276
Wicker, Tom, 230
Wilder, Billy, 281
Woodward, Bob, 231
World Chess Championship, 8, 57
first official champion, 78
Fischer title, 247. 280–85, 287, 295–301
Reyjkavik site choice, 123
Soviet dominance of. 37–38, 57
Spassky title, 48–50, 63–64, 66, 68–69, 84, 98, 100–101, 107, 117, 124, 285
See alsoFischer-Spassky competition
World Cup (chess), 295
World Junior Chess Championship, 42, 133, 259
World Student Team Championship (1960), 133
World War II, 34–35, 37, 54–55
Worldwide Church of God, 15, 301–2
Wright, Esmond, 11
Writers Union, 51, 52, 90
Wyndham, Francis, 272
Y
Yakovlev, Aleksandr, 58, 66, 155, 260–61, 269
Yates, Frederick, 40
Yeremenko, Vitali, 251
Yermakov, Aleksandr, 155, 156, 273–74
Young, Terence, 240
Yudovich, Mikhail, 33
Yugoslav Chess Federation, 127
Yugoslavia, 124–28, 228, 304
Z
Zak, Vladimir, 40–41
Zharikov, Professor, 256–57, 262
Zonal (tournament), 9, 82, 85
Zuckerman, Bernard, 302
Zweig, Stefan, 74–75
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Fischer-Spassky was an international affair. Necessarily, our research had to be equally wide—and likewise now our expressions of gratitude.
There are those without whom our book could not have been written: to them we offer profound thanks. Though he had a long arranged rendezvous with his autobiography, Boris Spassky unfailingly answered our questions. In Paris, he and Marina also gave us a memorable insight into Russian hospitality. In Germany, the chief arbiter Lothar Schmid set aside several days to take us in detail through the match as well as around the beauties of his ancient home city, Bamberg. Gudmundur Thorarinsson, similarly, could not have been more cordial and helpful and gave us three lengthy interviews. Also in Reykjavik, Freysteinn Johannsson, who was the Icelandic Chess Federation press officer for the match and wrote his own book on it three decades ago, tirelessly tracked down Icelandic facts, names, and telephone numbers. Without him, the book would have taken much longer to write. Saemundur Palsson regaled us with his experiences and warmly entertained us in his home by the sea, as he had the American challenger three decades before.
Viktor Ivonin gave us an unrivaled view of Moscow’s part in our story from his remarkable personal records, his archive, and his (not quite) total recall of the Sports Committee and other comrades involved in the match. We would also like to thank Larisa Solovieva for setting aside understandable qualms to share her memories of life with Boris Spassky. From New York, Nikolai Krogius provided us with detailed written responses to our many queries. In Tallinn, Ivo Nei took a break from running Estonian chess at Keres House to recall his role in the match.
Former chess players, administrators, and observers of the match also gave generously of their time and memories: Lev Abramov, Yuri Averbakh, Yuri Balashov, the late Viktor Baturinskii, Yevegeni Bebchuk, Mikhail Beilin, Valeri Chamanin, Naum Dymarskii, Viktor Korchnoi, Aleksandr Nikitin, Aleksandr Roshal, Mark Taimanov, Vera Tikhomirova, Aleksandr Yermakov, and Nikolai Zharikov. Extremely pertinent too were the reflections of Anatoli Dobrynin on the absence of Fischer-Spassky from his White House agenda, Dmitri Vasil’iev on the challenges of his Reykjavik diplomatic posting, and Vitali Yeremenko on fortifying Spassky’s inner man. Olga Baturinskaia kindly supported her father during our interview and supplied us with documents and photographs.
This is the appropriate point to mention our Russian researchers and translators. Carl Schreck scoured the Soviet press and chess magazines. Hannah Whitley and Andrew Yorke skillfully translated the dead language of Soviet bureaucracy and interpreted interviews; they also drew on their knowledge of Russian and Russia to offer us insights into the significance of what they read and heard. We are grateful to Tess Stobie for acting as our own Moscow Center, administering our research needs. John would also like to thank Tess and Alastair for their wonderful hospitality.
We must reserve a special place here for Victoria Ivleva-Yorke. Victoria functioned peerlessly as fixer, researcher, and interpreter. No contact was able to resist her combination of charm and insistence; her interest in the story and following up of leads were invaluable.
We have many debts on the other side of the cold war chessboard, the United States. Our thanks are due to Bob Axelrod, Pal Benko, Sid Bernstein, Arthur Bisguier, Robert Byrne, Bill Chase at Cleveland Public Library, Larry Evans, Ralph Ginzburg, Philip Hall, Eliot Hearst, Burt Hochberg, Shelby Lyman, Paul Marshall, the late Edmar Mednis, Hanon Russell, Phil Schewe, Don Schultz, Jim Sherwin, Frank Skoff, Elaine Smith, Harry Sneider, Barb Vandermark, and Josh Waitzkin. On the role of the White House, the U.S. State Department, and the Reykjavik embassy in coping with the match and the troublesome challenger, we are grateful to Gerald Ford, Len Garment, Victor Jackovich, Henry Kissinger, Helmut Sonnenfeldt, and Theodore Tremblay. Franklin Noll trawled through U.S. government records and came up with some pearls.
Taking full advantage of America’s justly famed Freedom of Information Act, we asked the FBI if they held a file on Regina Fischer. A year and a half later, two telephone directory-size documents thumped through the letterbox. In the interval, Bureau weeders had pored over the text, and the many blanks spoke of their assiduity. Nevertheless, we are appreciative of the openness of the American system and the efforts in particular of Donna Shackleforth, who so courteously received our regular monthly inquiry after the dossiers whereabouts.
From our experience, the people of Iceland have a claim to be the most naturally courteous and helpful in the world. We have many to acknowledge, all of whom went out of their way to assist us. To demonstrate our regard for their country, we list them alphabetically by first name, as in the Iceland telephone directory: Colin Porter, Dadi Agustsson, Fridrik Olafsson, Fridthor Eydal, Gisli Gestsson, Gunnar Magnusson, Gunnlaugur Josefsso
n, Gylfi Baldursson, Hilmar Viggoson, Hjalmar Bardarson, Hrannar Arnarson, Karen Thorsteinsdottir, Paul Theodorsson, Ragnar Haraldsson, Saemundur Palsson, Sigfus Sigfusson, Sigmundur Gudbjarnason, Sigurdur Helgason, Steinn Bjornsson, Sverrir Kristinsson, Thrainn Gudmundsson, Tinna Gunnarsdottir, and the late Ulfar Thordarson. Valur Ingimundarson put the match into the wider context of Icelandic politics, and Ingolfur Gislason and Valur Steinarsson carried out research for us in Iceland.
We also want to acknowledge all those who made time to afford us their recollections or professional information and advice: Tony Attwood, Michael Bezold, Dimitri Bjelica, Archie Brown, Henk Chervet, Simon Baron Cohen, Jim Dumighan, Esther Eidinow, Hannah Eidinow, Leonid Finkelstein, Michael Fitzgerald, Svetozar Gligoric, Bill Hartston, Ray Keene, Bent Larsen, David Levy, Lennox Lewis, Helmut Pfleger, Stewart Reuben, Sir Tim Rice, Michael McDonald Ross, Jim Slater, Olexiy Solohubenko, Bob Toner, Wolfgang Unzicker, and Lawrence Warner.
Simona Celotti-Still gave up her spare time to translate many Italian newspaper articles. Hannah Edmonds assisted with German documents and Arlene Gregorius and Joanne Episcopo with Spanish.
We owe a particular debt to grandmaster Daniel King, who offered tremendous encouragement as well as chess advice throughout. Bob Wade gave us the run of his extensive library and furnished us with memories of his research for Fischer.
David would like to thank Charles Eisendrath for bestowing on him the extraordinary privilege of a Michigan Journalism Fellowship and all the fellow journalists who made the sabbatical so immensely pleasurable as well as rewarding; Marzio Mian and Carlos Prieto, who later helped with the book, deserve specific mention. Bill and Betty Ingram made it all possible by agreeing to a house swap; fortunately, their beautiful home in Ann Arbor had an icestorm-resistant roof.
Various chapters of the draft of the manuscript were sent to the following friends, all of whom identified flaws and suggested improvements. We would like to thank Archie Brown, Hannah Edmonds, Esther Eidinow, Sam Eidinow, the omniscient David Franklin, Freysteinn Johannsson, Daniel King, Peter Mangold, David Price, Zina Rohan, Neville Shack, Christopher Tugendhat, Maurice Walsh, Hannah Whitley, and Andrew Yorke.