The match of all time

Fifty years have passed since the famous match that made Bobby Fischer the World Champion. Many books have been written about Firscher in general, and this match in particular. And recently, a new book was published in which one of the match organizers tells the inside story of the match and what happened behind the scenes, before, during and after the match. I was very excited to read this book, and I am ready to share my impressions with you.

If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details.
Become a Patron!

What can you expect from this book?

As mentioned above, The Match of All Time is a book about the World championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in 1972. The match was played in Reykjavik, Iceland between July 11 and August 31. So this week, 50 years ago, Bobby Fischer became the 11th world chess champion.

The Match of All Time is written by Gudmundur Thorarinsson, who was the chairman of the Icelandic Chess Federation in 1972, and responsible for the team that was organizing the match between Fischer and Spassky. So he is in an excellent position to provide an inside account of the match.

The book has six chapters in all. The first chapter is a short introduction to the book itself. In chapter 2, Thorarinsson provides a short history of chess and its origins. And in chapter 3, we get a short presentation of the lives and careers of the official and unofficial world champions that came before Spassky, from the 1700s to the 1960s. While these chapters may be interesting for many readers, I do not really see their place in this book.

Chapter 4 is focused mainly on the events before the match. However, the chapter does only focus on the match itself, but also the candidates tournament. And we also get a more detailed presentation of the players (Fischer and Spassky). I find the structure of the chapter a bit confusing. It starts with a short presentation of the state of the chess world around 1970. We then get into a semi-detailed account of Fischer's participation in the candidates match, followed by a few pages on the bids for the world championship match. Only after all this do we get a presentation of the players. And then we return to the bidding process.

Chapter 5 is the main event of the book. This is where we learn about the match itself and all the drama that took place during and between the rounds. This is where most of the 'inside story' is told. Thorarinsson was in an excellent position to tell us about details that are likely unknown to the general public (I say likely because I do not have sufficient knowledge about what has been documented in other sources). Once again, the structure of the chapter is a bit confusing, jumping back and forth between various negotiations, letters from different people, match preparations, conditions and events surrounding the rounds.

Chapter 6 concludes the book with a summary of the events that transpired after the match. The chapter gives a brief summary of how Fischer refused to defend his title against Karpov, the 1992 match against Spassky and Fischer's arrest and subsequent move to Iceland where he spent the rest of his life.

In my opinion, the author should have given more attention to the structure of the book. The lack of chronology is sometimes confusing, and there are examples stories and anecdotes that are presented several times and in slightly different versions. This detracts from the reading experience, and should have been weeded out during the editing process.

The match betwen Fischer and Spassky has been dubbed 'the match of the century', and not without reason. It's probably the most fascinating match in chess history, which is one of the reasons why Thorarinsson calls it 'the match of all time'. Overall, I think this is an interesting book, but I get the impression that 'the inside story' part of the book is rather limited. Most of the book covers topics that are well known, even to people who haven't studied the match in detail.

I had big expectations on this book, but do not feel that it delivered. Perhaps my expectations were unrealistic, I don't know. But you should know that this is the first book I read about the match, so for readers who are well versed in the history and details of this famous match, you may assess the book differently. So if you're curious, read the book and find out for yourself.

Who should read this book?

Unlike many chess books, this book does not require any particular knowledge of chess. It's simply a story of the famous world championship match of 1972. My impression is that this book gives a good introduction to the events of the match, but if you are looking for the book on the match, this is probably not the book you're looking for.

About this book

Author:	Gudmundur G. Thorarinsson
Title:	The Match of All Time
Type of book:	Biography
Level:	Any

Comments

Popular reviews

Chaos on the board

Have you ever felt tired of chess? Maybe you’ve been uninspired or perhaps you think it’s too much work. To paraphrase a famous movie: All work and no play makes you a dull person. If that is the case, I may have a cure. You need a fun chess book. Something that will rekindle your joy for the game and inspire you to play creatively. I give you Tiger’s Chaos Theory ! This book found me at a time when I needed it the most. My inspiration and motivation to study chess was way down. And like a bolt from the blue, the Swedish Chess Federation approached me and wanted me to review this book. And the kind people at Quality Chess agreed to send me a review copy. An offer I couldn't refuse. So after this happy turn of events, I have a new review for you. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? Grandmaster Tiger Hillarp Persson, a multi-time Swedish chess champion, has al...

Think like a Super-GM

In my previous review I mentioned how I would like to see an improved version of The Improving Chess Thinker , and that a book had recently come out that seemed to be perfectly in line with my ideas. A few months later, I have bought the book, worked through the exercises and read the prose. And finally, I am ready to give my complete review of the new book Think like a Super-GM . And I can tell you, I was not disappointed by this book. Read on to find out why you should probably get the book too. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from this book? As the title indicates, Think like a Super-GM is a book about thinking in chess. At its core, it is a puzzle book. But it is more than that. In the chapters surrounding the puzzles, the book digs into the challenges of thinking in chess and how the thinking process differs between players of different levels. The first chapter ...

Master of strategy

During the past two years, I’ve been working on improving my strategic/positional play. In this process, I have read a number of books, and two books that have long been on my reading list are the strategy books by Johan Hellsten. So when the Swedish chess federation requested reviewers for two of these books, I didn’t hesitate. I am happy that I was given the opportunity to review these books, and hope this review can be of help to you as a reader. If you like these reviews, please consider supporting my work. Visit my patreon page for details. Become a Patron! What can you expect from these books? Johan Hellsten has created a name for himself as one of the leading experts of chess strategy in modern times. His series of strategy books ( Mastering Opening Strategy , Mastering Chess Strategy and Mastering Endgame Strategy ) have received glowing reviews from many parts of the chess world. So it feels good to finally dig into these nuggets. His endgame book is still in my boo...

A guide to chess improvement

During the past years, I have sporadically read Dan Heisman's old Novice nook articles . And they are really great. When I realized that Dan had put together the best of Novice Nook in a book called A guide to chess improvement , I felt I had to read it. This review is based on a post on my previous blog on chess.com. And I thought it was a good article to include here. What can you expect from this book? This book is really good, but it also hurts to read. Because reading the book made me realize that I have some fundamental issues that I need to iron out in order to become a better player. According to Dan, there are three skills that must be mastered before going for more advanced studies. Play slowly enough to identify and properly evaluate candidate moves. Ensure that the selected move is safe, which means checking for your opponent's tactics. Develop the pieces to squares where they have activity and can do something constructive. Why is this important? The...

Attack the king

One of the finest chess books ever written. Those are tall words from the back cover of this classic book. But The art of attack in chess is one of those books that keep popping up in lists of best chess books. It is highly regarded by many players and trainers, so the initial statement is probably not all wrong. This is a book that has been on my reading list for several years, but it has taken some time for me to actually pick it up. I've been curious about what the hype is all about, and now that I've finally found out for myself, I am ready to share that insight with you. So let's dive in! What can you expect from this book? Before we begin, let me just get one detail out of the way. One thing that struck me when I picked up the book is the title, which seems to be missing a "the". When reading about the book online, it is referred to both with and without "the". When I looked up the original book (this one is a revised edition, edited by Joh...

Patzer's review

Search This Blog