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Famous Fischer game · 1972

Spassky vs. Fischer, Reykjavík 1972, Game 21

The last game of the 1972 match: needing one more point, Fischer outplayed Spassky in a rook-versus-bishop ending; after the adjournment Spassky resigned by telephone.

White
Boris Spassky
Black
Bobby Fischer
Result
0–1
Date
Event
1972 World Chess Championship (Spassky vs. Fischer)
Place
Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík, Iceland
Round
21
Opening
Sicilian Defence, Taimanov Variation (via the Paulsen move order) (B46)
Moves
41

Position after 8…exd5

  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.

Background

After seven consecutive draws Fischer led 11½–8½ and needed one more point to take the title. In the 21st game, on 31 August, he chose a Sicilian line he had never played before as Black and surprised Spassky on move eight: instead of the usual recapture with the knight, he took back with the pawn and accepted an isolated d-pawn in return for active piece play. Karpov, annotating for 64, called this the essence of the new idea.[1][2][3][4][5]

In the middlegame Spassky gave up the exchange, and the game became an ending of rook against bishop in which White had good drawing chances. Karpov identified two errors that changed this: 30.g4 allowed Black to create a passed h-pawn, and 34.Kf3 let the black king in via e5 and f4, where 34.f4 would have built a fortress. The game was adjourned after 40…h5, with Spassky sealing his 41st move.[4][3]

Play was due to resume on 1 September, but Spassky did not return: he resigned by telephone, and chief arbiter Lothar Schmid announced the result in the hall. Fischer won the match 12½–8½ and became the eleventh world champion, ending a Soviet hold on the title that had lasted 24 years. Both Gligorić and Karpov later judged the sealed move, 41.Bd7, weaker than 41.Kh3.[3][5][1][6][7][4]

Key moments

  1. The novelty: instead of 8…Nxd5, Fischer recaptures with the pawn. Black accepts an isolated d-pawn but, as Karpov explained, gets enough piece play to compensate.[4][5]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) rates 8…exd5 practically as strong as its first choice 8…Nxd5; evaluation afterwards: +0.4 from White’s point of view.

  2. Karpov called this a serious positional mistake: Black can now give up his f-pawn and obtain a passed h-pawn (30…f5 31.gxf5 f6). Correct, in his view, was 30.Kg3 followed by f2–f4.[4]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) rates 30.g4 practically as strong as its first choice 30.Ke3; evaluation afterwards: −0.9 from White’s point of view.

  3. A further mistake, after which, according to Karpov, White was probably already lost. With 34.f4 White could have kept the black king away from e5; instead it marched in via e5 to f4.[4]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) prefers 34.Be6 (−0.7 from White’s point of view); after 34.Kf3 its evaluation is −1.3 from White’s point of view.

  4. Spassky's sealed move – the last move of the match. Gligorić and Karpov both preferred 41.Kh3. Spassky never resumed the game: on 1 September he resigned by telephone.[4][5][3]

    Engine check: The DeepSquare engine (depth 22) rates 41.Bd7 practically as strong as its first choice 41.Kh3; evaluation afterwards: −1.2 from White’s point of view.

PGN

[Event "1972 World Chess Championship (Spassky vs. Fischer)"]
[Site "Laugardalshöll, Reykjavík, Iceland"]
[Date "1972.08.31"]
[Round "21"]
[White "Spassky, Boris V"]
[Black "Fischer, Robert James"]
[Result "0-1"]
[ECO "B46"]
[PlyCount "81"]
[Source "Chess Database by Ana L. Schaigorodsky, DOI 10.6084/m9.figshare.4276523, CC BY 4.0"]

1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 e6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 a6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Be3 Nf6 7. Bd3 d5 8.
exd5 exd5 9. O-O Bd6 10. Nxc6 bxc6 11. Bd4 O-O 12. Qf3 Be6 13. Rfe1 c5 14. Bxf6
Qxf6 15. Qxf6 gxf6 16. Rad1 Rfd8 17. Be2 Rab8 18. b3 c4 19. Nxd5 Bxd5 20. Rxd5
Bxh2+ 21. Kxh2 Rxd5 22. Bxc4 Rd2 23. Bxa6 Rxc2 24. Re2 Rxe2 25. Bxe2 Rd8 26. a4
Rd2 27. Bc4 Ra2 28. Kg3 Kf8 29. Kf3 Ke7 30. g4 f5 31. gxf5 f6 32. Bg8 h6 33.
Kg3 Kd6 34. Kf3 Ra1 35. Kg2 Ke5 36. Be6 Kf4 37. Bd7 Rb1 38. Be6 Rb2 39. Bc4 Ra2
40. Be6 h5 41. Bd7 0-1

Download PGNOpen in the game archive →

Sources

  1. World Championship match, Reykjavik 1972: results and regulations · OlimpBase · n.d.; accessed 2026-09-14
  2. World Championship match, Reykjavik 1972: PGN game file (wc1972-wch.pgn) · OlimpBase · n.d.; accessed 2026-09-25
  3. Bobby Fischer Wins Match Of The Century · Nathaniel Green / Chess.com · updated 2022-09-01; accessed 2026-09-25
  4. Spassky–Fischer, 21st match-game, World Championship, Reykjavik 1972: contemporary annotations · Anatoly Karpov, 64 no.36 (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. Robert Fischer: biography · FIDE Open Chess Museum · n.d.; accessed 2026-09-14
  7. [1972] Frægasta skákeinvígi sögunnar · Gísli Karlsson / Laugardalshöllin · 2020-09-30; updated 2020-10-12

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.