It was more or less a miracle. There were about 30,000 chess players in America at the time of Fisher. Which was less than there were in my now defunct native country (Czechoslovakia - population 15,000,000 - 50,000 chess players). But at that time chess was extremely popular in the Soviet Union and there were 5,000,000 chess players.
Was Bobby Fischer the only American to become officially world chess champion?
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Mar 14, 2023
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#23
Yes @iza78 , I know it is not his passport name, but most know him under the first name Bobby🙌
trimalo wrote:
Yes @iza78 , I know it is not his passport name, but most know him under the first name Bobby🙌
Are you really this ignorant, or just pretending? It is not about "Bobby", you butchered his last name too in the title of the thread.
lza78 wrote:
magipi wrote:
trimalo wrote:
Yes @iza78 , I know it is not his passport name, but most know him under the first name Bobby🙌
Are you really this ignorant, or just pretending? It is not about "Bobby", you butchered his last name too in the title of the thread.
maybe he really didn't notice that so don't get angry with him......
So maybe he did not notice, then someone pointed it out, and then someone else pointed it out, and then someone else also pointed it out, and the guy still plays dumb and continues to talk nonsense.
Mar 14, 2023
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#26
Paul morphy would have been World Champ if chess had been a big thing back when he was alive
Mar 14, 2023
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#27
If anyone else is also interested in the complete list of World Chess Champions it can be found here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Chess_Championship#World_champions
barglegargle wrote:
Wilhelm Steinitz was actually an Austrian-American while he was the first official World Chess Champion, though it should be noted this was pre-FIDE.
And technically, although he wasn't American when he was champion, Emanuel Lasker, champion after Steinitz, emigrated to the US from Germany.
Depending on the definition of the demonym 'American', Jose Raul Capablanca, born and raised in Cuba, was the third World Champion.
Paul Morphy is also in the question, very clearly the strongest of his time, but never recognized as an official world champion. Lived and died in New Orleans.
Bobby Fischer is the only American FIDE World Champion, and the only official world champion born in the US.
Garry Kasparov emigrated to the United States, and AFAIK, he still lives in New York City. Is he an American FIDE World Champion?
Mar 15, 2023
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#29
magipi a écrit :
trimalo wrote:
Yes @iza78 , I know it is not his passport name, but most know him under the first name Bobby🙌
Are you really this ignorant, or just pretending? It is not about "Bobby", you butchered his last name too in the title of the thread.
Sorry @magipi for writing Fisher instead as Fischer. Apologies Sir.
Mar 15, 2023
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#30
Bobby fisher real name was Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008)
He was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11–0 score, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6–0 scores. After another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.
Mar 19, 2023
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#31
Kaliuzhkin a écrit :
barglegargle wrote:
Wilhelm Steinitz was actually an Austrian-American while he was the first official World Chess Champion, though it should be noted this was pre-FIDE.
And technically, although he wasn't American when he was champion, Emanuel Lasker, champion after Steinitz, emigrated to the US from Germany.
Depending on the definition of the demonym 'American', Jose Raul Capablanca, born and raised in Cuba, was the third World Champion.
Paul Morphy is also in the question, very clearly the strongest of his time, but never recognized as an official world champion. Lived and died in New Orleans.
Bobby Fischer is the only American FIDE World Champion, and the only official world champion born in the US.
Garry Kasparov emigrated to the United States, and AFAIK, he still lives in New York City. Is he an American FIDE World Champion?
No Sir, he does have an American passport... He became a Croatian citizen in 2014.
More under: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov
Mar 20, 2023
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#33
dfgh123 wrote:
barglegargle wrote:
dfgh123 wrote:
Americans are better at team sports even though their national character is more about individualism
I think Boxing is a bad example because they can cherry pick the opponents not to mention the dodgy judges and shady sanctioning bodies.
Fair enough, fair enough. At least we still have our Olympians. Phelps and Biles to wit, so we're not entirely bad at individual sports, just better at team sports I guess.
Mar 20, 2023
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#34
Worster_Tates wrote:
bobby Fischer is a racist bigot
Honestly? There's a good chance he is. He's said some very questionable stuff about things like 9/11 and the Holocaust.
Mar 20, 2023
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#35
DonThe2nd wrote:
I don't know why someone mentioned Cuba. When we say America we mean just the USA, not North America or the Caribbean. Russia is the only country I know of that has had multiple world champions, it would make more sense to ask why they have so many. India has only had one, and China so far has not had any despite their huge population. Ding Liren will be the first Chinese WC if he wins.
Steinitz qualifies as an official world champion, just not under FIDE.
trimalo wrote:
Kaliuzhkin a écrit :
barglegargle wrote:
Garry Kasparov emigrated to the United States, and AFAIK, he still lives in New York City. Is he an American FIDE World Champion?
No Sir, he does have an American passport... He became a Croatian citizen in 2014.
"Following his flight from Russia, he lived in New York City with his family. In 2014, he obtained Croatian citizenship and has maintained a residence in Podstrana near Split." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garry_Kasparov
barglegargle wrote:
Worster_Tates wrote:
bobby Fischer is a racist bigot
Honestly? There's a good chance he is. He's said some very questionable stuff about things like 9/11 and the Holocaust.
The guy was a total whack job. A genius at chess but clueless about everything else. Also he was anti-Semetic even though he was Jewish himself.
Mar 20, 2023
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#38
DonThe2nd wrote:
barglegargle wrote:
Worster_Tates wrote:
bobby Fischer is a racist bigot
Honestly? There's a good chance he is. He's said some very questionable stuff about things like 9/11 and the Holocaust.
The guy was a total whack job. A genius at chess but clueless about everything else. Also he was anti-Semetic even though he was Jewish himself.
Racist bigot? Probably. Total whack job and clueless about everything else other than chess? No doubt in my mind.
Mar 21, 2023
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#39
barglegargle a écrit :
Worster_Tates wrote:
bobby Fischer is a racist bigot
Honestly? There's a good chance he is. He's said some very questionable stuff about things like 9/11 and the Holocaust.
undoubtedly, when Bobby Fischer went insane, he became a different person. I only respect the chess player who surprised the world as nobody else before or later.
Mar 21, 2023
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#40
trimalo wrote:
barglegargle a écrit :
Worster_Tates wrote:
bobby Fischer is a racist bigot
Honestly? There's a good chance he is. He's said some very questionable stuff about things like 9/11 and the Holocaust.
undoubtedly, when Bobby Fischer went insane, he became a different person. I only respect the chess player who surprised the world as nobody else before or later.
That's a viewpoint I can get behind. I'll always remember Fischer as a chess player the likes of which the world will never see again first, and his whack-jobbery second.
Was bobby Fisher the only American to become officially world chess champion?
First of all Bobby Fisher isn't a world chess champion.
Bobby Fischer is XD
@iza78 FIDE Declared him world champion when he deafeated for the first time the USSR armada in the game of the century against Spassky in 1972. No American could repeat this tremendous achievement. Thank you.
Dude, I don't think you understand what is going on in here. "Bobby Fisher" never was a world champion. Read the name again, and you will see.