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Famous Fischer game · 1972

Spassky vs. Fischer, Reykjavík 1972, Game 1

The opening game of the 1972 title match: in a level ending Fischer took the h2-pawn with his bishop, which was shut in after 30.g3, and he lost after the adjournment.

White
Boris Spassky
Black
Bobby Fischer
Result
1–0
Date
Event
1972 World Chess Championship (Spassky vs. Fischer)
Place
Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík, Iceland
Round
1
Opening
Nimzo-Indian Defence (E56)
Moves
56

Position after 29…Bxh2

  1. 1.
  2. 2.
  3. 3.
  4. 4.
  5. 5.
  6. 6.
  7. 7.
  8. 8.
  9. 9.
  10. 10.
  11. 11.
  12. 12.
  13. 13.
  14. 14.
  15. 15.
  16. 16.
  17. 17.
  18. 18.
  19. 19.
  20. 20.
  21. 21.
  22. 22.
  23. 23.
  24. 24.
  25. 25.
  26. 26.
  27. 27.
  28. 28.
  29. 29.
  30. 30.
  31. 31.
  32. 32.
  33. 33.
  34. 34.
  35. 35.
  36. 36.
  37. 37.
  38. 38.
  39. 39.
  40. 40.
  41. 41.
  42. 42.
  43. 43.
  44. 44.
  45. 45.
  46. 46.
  47. 47.
  48. 48.
  49. 49.
  50. 50.
  51. 51.
  52. 52.
  53. 53.
  54. 54.
  55. 55.
  56. 56.

Background

The first game of the 1972 World Championship was played at Laugardalshöll in Reykjavík on 11 July. Fischer arrived several minutes late, and the game became a Nimzo-Indian Defence. After a long series of exchanges the players reached a bishop ending with equal material, which almost everyone expected to end in a draw. Then, on his 29th move, Fischer took the h2-pawn with his bishop – one of the most discussed moves in chess history.[1][2][3][4][5][6]

Most annotators judged 29…Bxh2 a mistake: after 30.g3 the bishop was shut in, and in the end Fischer received only two pawns for it. Botvinnik and Gligorić thought he had counted on freeing it with …h3 and overlooked a defence. Fischer's own later accounts do not agree: in 1992 he confirmed to a journalist that he had been trying to create winning chances, while the Icelandic organiser Guðmundur Thórarinsson recalled Fischer telling him that he had overlooked that the bishop would be hemmed in.[4][5][6][3]

The game was adjourned after Black's 40th move. Botvinnik wrote that his analysis of the adjourned position already showed a win for White, and when play resumed the next day Fischer resigned at move 56. His troubles were only beginning: in the dispute over cameras he did not appear for the second game, which was awarded to Spassky by default. Fischer trailed 0–2 although only one game had actually been played.[4][3][5][7]

Key moments

  1. Fischer's bishop takes the h2-pawn. After 30.g3 it is cut off: its only free square is g1, and the alternative is to give it up for pawns – which is what finally happened with 34…Bxg3 35.Kxg3. In the end Black had two pawns for the bishop.[3][4][1]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) prefers 29…a6 (+0.3 from White’s point of view); after 29…Bxh2 its evaluation is +1.1 from White’s point of view.

  2. The rescue attempt 32…h3 fails to 33.Kg4 Bg1 34.Kxh3 Bxf2 35.Bd2, and the bishop is still trapped. Botvinnik thought Fischer only realised this now; many annotators believe 35.Bd2 was the move he had missed. Fischer played 32…Ke7 instead.[4][3][5]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) rates 32.Kf3 practically as strong as its first choice 32.gxh4; evaluation afterwards: +0.9 from White’s point of view.

  3. Botvinnik considered this White's only way to keep winning chances, since a pawn exchange on the queenside would have led to a draw. He named 39…e5 as a better reply than Fischer's 39…f5; Kasparov later also saw 39…e5 as Black's last good chance to draw.[4][5]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) also chooses 39.b6 here; evaluation afterwards: +0.3 from White’s point of view.

  4. The last move before the adjournment; Spassky sealed his reply, 41.exf4. Botvinnik called 40…f4 a move that made White's task easier and concluded from his analysis that Black was lost. The next day Fischer resigned at move 56 after a little over an hour's play.[4][3]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) prefers 40…Kd5 (+1.4 from White’s point of view); after 40…f4 its evaluation is +2.0 from White’s point of view.

PGN

[Event "1972 World Chess Championship (Spassky vs. Fischer)"]
[Site "Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík, Iceland"]
[Date "1972.07.11"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Spassky, Boris V"]
[Black "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "E56"]
[PlyCount "111"]
[Source "Chess Database by Ana L. Schaigorodsky, DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.4276523, CC BY 4.0"]

1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nf3 d5 4. Nc3 Bb4 5. e3 O-O 6. Bd3 c5 7. O-O Nc6 8. a3
Ba5 9. Ne2 dxc4 10. Bxc4 Bb6 11. dxc5 Qxd1 12. Rxd1 Bxc5 13. b4 Be7 14. Bb2 Bd7
15. Rac1 Rfd8 16. Ned4 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 Ba4 18. Bb3 Bxb3 19. Nxb3 Rxd1+ 20. Rxd1
Rc8 21. Kf1 Kf8 22. Ke2 Ne4 23. Rc1 Rxc1 24. Bxc1 f6 25. Na5 Nd6 26. Kd3 Bd8
27. Nc4 Bc7 28. Nxd6 Bxd6 29. b5 Bxh2 30. g3 h5 31. Ke2 h4 32. Kf3 Ke7 33. Kg2
hxg3 34. fxg3 Bxg3 35. Kxg3 Kd6 36. a4 Kd5 37. Ba3 Ke4 38. Bc5 a6 39. b6 f5 40.
Kh4 f4 41. exf4 Kxf4 42. Kh5 Kf5 43. Be3 Ke4 44. Bf2 Kf5 45. Bh4 e5 46. Bg5 e4
47. Be3 Kf6 48. Kg4 Ke5 49. Kg5 Kd5 50. Kf5 a5 51. Bf2 g5 52. Kxg5 Kc4 53. Kf5
Kb4 54. Kxe4 Kxa4 55. Kd5 Kb5 56. Kd6 1-0

Download PGNOpen in the game archive →

Sources

  1. [1972] Frægasta skákeinvígi sögunnar · Gísli Karlsson / Laugardalshöllin · 2020-09-30; updated 2020-10-12
  2. World Championship match, Reykjavik 1972: PGN game file (wc1972-wch.pgn) · OlimpBase · n.d.; accessed 2026-09-25
  3. Bobby Fischer Opens Match With Incredible Blunder · Peter Doggers / Chess.com · updated 2022-07-25; accessed 2026-09-25
  4. Spassky–Fischer, first match-game, World Championship, Reykjavik 1972: contemporary annotations · Mikhail Botvinnik, 64 no.28 (1972); translated by Douglas Griffin · 1972; translation published 2018
  5. World Chess Championship 1972 · Wikipedia (English), summarising Gligorić (1972), Evans & Smith (1973), Brady and others · version current on 2026-09-25
  6. Spassky v Fischer, Reykjavik, 1972 · Edward Winter / Chess Notes · 2026-07-06 (latest update)
  7. Bobby Fischer Scores 1st Win · NM Vanessa / Chess.com · updated 2022-07-25; accessed 2026-09-14

Game data: Chess Database by Ana L. Schaigorodsky, DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.4276523, licensed under CC BY 4.0; selected and converted to PGN for BobbyChess.