Celebrating Bobby Fischer: A quiet win by a troubled genius

Today Bobby Fischer, who was born in Chicago on 9 March 1943 and died in Reykjavik on 17 January 2008, would have turned 80 years old. Fischer, world champion from 1972 to 1975, was a man full of contradictions and made headlines time and again — through his brilliant play, but also through his eccentric behaviour. Fischer’s long-time rival Bent Larsen once said: “You can’t understand Robert James Fischer. But why should you want to? Why not just feast your eyes on his games?” To celebrate his 80th birthday, we present a typical victory by the American genius.