Beers & Books (454) – Fischer vs. Spasski

The complete games 
from the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, 
with detailed commentary

On 1 September 1972, the chess world had a new world champion. The American Robert ‘Bobby’ Fischer, a highly unpleasant character, ended the decades-long dominance of Russian chess players in Reykjavik with a 12.5–8.5 victory over the defending champion Boris Spassky, and pocketed the highest prize money ever awarded in chess up to that point: 78,125 dollars from the host country, Iceland, and the British banker Jim Slater, with special permission from the Bank of England, had a special prize of 50,000 pounds sterling transferred to an Icelandic bank account.