The Cold War of Chess

U.S. vs. Russia

Bobby Fischer (1943-2008), born a Jew and raised in a Jewish neighborhood, is arguably the greatest chess player in history and brought popularity to the game in the 1970s. Russia had dominated chess, boasting the world's top ranked player since 1948. Fischer was undaunted and ended the Russian reign. The championship match took place in Reykjavik, Iceland in 1972. Fischer beat Boris Spassky, in what has been dubbed the "Match of the Century," to earn the title of world chess champion. He kept the ranking until 1975 when he forfeited a match to the Russian player, Anatoly Karpov. Fischer retired soon after and moved abroad to live in seclusion. He came out of retirement in 1992 and traveled illegally to Yugoslavia for a rematch with Spassky. For violating a U.S. ban on travel to Yugoslavia, he was issued an arrest warrant by the U.S. government. He avoided arrest by staying abroad, and remained prominent in the media through his criticism of U.S. policies and denunciation of Judaism. He claimed that he was a victim of an international Jewish conspiracy spearheaded by the Jewish-controlled U.S. government. He died in Reykjavik on January 17, 2008 from kidney failure.