Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World

In 1972, an epic chess match took place in Iceland between representatives of the two great super-powers of the world: Bobby vs. Boris. Boris was backed by the Mighty Soviet Union, with late night phone calls coming from his handlers in Moscow, telling him what his next move should be. Meanwhile, Bobby stood alone against the might of the opposing nation. But, Bobby was not exactly alone. The Americans did not need to tell him what moves to make on the chessboard. Bobby already knew how to do that. Rather, what the Americans needed to do was somehow to get him to sit down at the board and play the game. Here is the story of that titanic struggle: One half of the world trying to get Bobby to play, while the other half was trying to defeat him assuming that he did play. Hence the Title: Bobby Fischer vs. The Rest of the World. In the end, Bobby won. Emigres from the Soviet Union often state that, more than any other single event, this defeat led to the collapse of the Soviet Union.