Did The USA Even Support Bobby Fischer?? (A Short Video Essay)
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- Опубліковано 2 жов 2024
- Fischer’s battle against the Soviets, of which he saw himself as a lone warrior against an evil system of Socialism, was marketed by Western media as a lone, individual battle against the collective of the Soviets.
All world chess champions since 1948 had been Soviet.
For the Soviets, chess was a state sponsored programme to demonstrate the intellectual superiority of Communist society.
The context of detente, however, meant that Fischer’s outbursts against the Soviets in interviews weren’t totally supported by America and indeed, media outlets in places like the UK seemed to despise Fischer and see him as a sort of vigilante.
Some anti Soviet Fischer quotes:
"The Russians have fixed world chess. They get together beforehand and agree to draw games amongst themselves."
"I like the moment when I break a man’s ego."
This quote came up in the context of facing Soviet players, and it reflects Fischer’s deep-seated desire to dismantle what he viewed as Soviet arrogance and dominance.
"The Russians have cheated me for years-long enough. They’re not going to do it anymore."
Fischer made this comment in reference to what he believed was a conspiracy by Soviet players to hinder his progress in tournaments, further fueling his hostility toward the Soviet system. This led to a restructuring of the Candidates tournament so there were several 1 vs 1 matches rather than a tournament filled with Soviet players.
"Soviet Russia is using chess as a propaganda weapon, against the capitalist West. They like to promote the idea that only the collective system, and not the individual, can produce the greatest chess players."
"It’s nice to smash the Russians... that was the whole idea, to smash the Russians."
This quote came after Fischer’s victory over Boris Spassky in the 1972 World Chess Championship. It underlines how personal and ideological the match was for him-seeing it as an opportunity to humiliate the Soviets.
But the USA did NOT support Fischer overtly. In private, there is evidence of telegrams sent to Fischer congratulating him for his victory from president Nixon and US secretary of state, Henry Kissinger, sent Fischer a message begging him to play the match after he didn’t show up for game 1.
However, after the match, Fischer retreated into obscurity and isolation, not wanting to defend his title against Karpov due to not agreeing to the tournament rules. The USA perhaps could have exercised more power over FIDE to get the rules changed but they did not. In 1992, Fischer played Spassky in a historic rematch in Yugoslavia which the USA responded with a warrant for Fischer’s arrest because of restrictions imposed on Yugoslavia for other political reasons. Fischer retreated yet again into hiding and was always viewed as a loner, an eccentric and a general madman by the American press.
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What you are describing seems to be a recurring theme in the US media and its portrayal of “great individuals.” You can think of the US media’s treatment of Elon Musk, Trump, or even Henry Ford as similar examples. Sure they are not the greatest beacons of morality but their innovation and spirit one would think aligns with what the goals of liberty brought on by capitalism and would be celebrated by the media but alas 😂.
This phenomena is outlined quite well in Ayn Rand’s The Fountainhead. She believes it is an extension of a foundational resentment that Nietzsche touches upon in his work too.
Great essay bro!
Very interesting point, I would have attributed that to a media Wokeism in the modern day as to the hatred towards Trump and Musk but maybe that isn't actually the case. Thanks for the comment, I'll have to follow up on this video and look a bit deeper into these ideas
@@ChessCenturion Interested to see what you find! There appears to be a through line of the woke-like ideology/hysteria popping up in different iterations though out history (e.g. the progression from political correctness in the 90s to wokeness in the 2010s). A good cultural critic who might provide some insights about this is Camile Paglia.
Very interesting video! I would definitely love to see more on that. Also bro, you are absolutely smashing it! Very happy to see you doing well!
Thank you man, much love
Fam, loved this video!!! The gameplay was great and the details you gave about everything in that era were awesome. I would love to see more vids like this. Watching all the way from Mexico 🇲🇽🫡
Thanks for watching man, glad you enjoyed :) I will make a follow up at some point and love to have different countries watching the channel
Love the gameplay in the background
Thanks man, gotta say I'm enjoying blitz more than rapid rn
Your officially on my Most underrated chess tubers list
My mann
Really good! What ECF league do you play in?
Thanks man, I play in the BDCL league Division 1 currently
wasnt the only reason the soviets beat Fischer early on was bc they noticed he struggled w a caro kann line? also, I think Euwe was Dutch no?
I actually didn't know that Caro Kann thing, do you know what line it was? Yeah Euwe was Dutch, sorry I might've made it sound like he was Soviet but I was trying to demonstrate how dominant Fischer was generally in the chess world at the time because Euwe was one of the best non Soviet players and got trounced by Fischer
@@ChessCenturion no. i'll research it after church tho
Thanks bro
You were right in thinking hockey! One of the biggest "cultural cold war" events was the 1972 summit series between Canada and the Soviet Union. It helps that it was a crazy 8 game series that went back and forth and had lots of drama and cultural implications. I recommend watching a documentary if you have the chance
Thank you for sending the documentary bro, I'll listen to it when I get the chance :)