Possibly the Most Stunning Moment In the History of Human Competition...

It was summer of the the year 1972.

The event was Game 6 of the World Chess Championship being held in Reykjavik Iceland between American Bobby Fischer and Russian Boris Spassky.

This was taking place at the height of the "Cold War" between these two most powerful nations on earth.

For most of the 20th Century the Russians had utterly dominated the world of competitive chess.

In that country it was state-sponsored wherein a talented chess player in that country would be financed fully by the state to play chess for their livelihood.

The reasoning of course was to try to show the world that Communism was the BEST ideology.

And by dominating human competitive events such as the Olympics, fine arts and even Chess, the Soviets felt that it would prove their point about their type of government being the best.

So it was done as much for political purposes as for competitive dominance.

In contrast, in the United States, chess was not subsidized.

So Bobby Fischer learned on his own ans was largely self-taught because there simply wasn't any real money in chess.

But by working himself up to the level of World Championship contender (let alone doing it against such a military powerhouse), Fischer was attempting to achieve what had never been done before by an American; World Chess Champion!

The subject of my article centers on Game 6 of this competition because after it was over, Fischer's Russian opponent Boris Spassky reacted in a way mostly unseen in professional competition in ANY sport or game.

He stood there and applauded along with the audience for his opponent's brilliant victory.

Here is more on this game which I obtained from my research regarding thie particular event.
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This victory marked the first time that Bobby Fischer had gone up in the match.

Be reminded that Spassky at that time was the sitting the World Chess champion.

The score now became 3-5 to 2.5 in favor of the challenger (Fischer) and he never looked back. A stunned Boris Spassky joined the audience after the game to applaud Fischer's victory. It was, after all, an extroadinary technical achievement. Fischer played perfectly throughout, topping the game of with a prosaic exchange sacrifice. Around the chess world, grandmasters were awed at the simplicity and precision of Fischer's play. He became a chess legend.

Here is a link to more details about this game:
https://www.chess.com/blog/DJAbacus/brilliant-games-1--making-history--f...