GREG IS ALWAYS GOOD FOR A LAUGH

This nonsense about Bobby Fischer handing "his" title off to Anatoly
Karpov is wrongheaded. -- Greg Kennedy

Evans's account is fairly accurate -- by declining to play, Fischer
"gave" the title to his (known) opponent." -- John Hillery

As I recall, Korchnoi said he'd accept all Fischer's conditions if he
became the next challenger. Fischer sent him a cable congratulating
him on his defection in 1976.

In September 1976 (page 506) Chess Life & Review reported: "Viktor
Korchnoi, officially the world's second ranked player (having lost to
Anatoly Karpov in a match that turned out to have been for the world
championship title), became the latest in a growing list of
intellectuals and sports figures to have left the Soviet Union
permanently. Following his tie for first place (with Anthony Miles) at
the 1976 IBM tournament in Amsterdam, Korchnoi failed to show up at
the airport for his flight home. Instead he reported to police
headquarters in Amsterdam and asked for political asylum. The Dutch
government granted him a six-month permit to remain in Holland while
his request is being considered....

In a statement to the press shortly after his defection, Korchnoi
expressed his pleasure in knowing the predicament Soviet authorities
will face when forced to report his results in the Candidates Matches
next year. That is the time, he noted, when the millions of Russian
chess players will learn of his defection."

wrote:
help bot wrote:
On May 3, 1:36 pm, " wrote:

Several readers said they understood "selfmate" to mean only that
Fischer mated himself by handing the title to Karpov without a
fight..

This nonsense about Bobby Fischer handing "his"
title off to Anatoly Karpov is wrongheaded.

In fact, Mr. Fischer resigned the FIDE title, and it
was only later given to the winner of the final playoff
match, by FIDE (not BF). Mr. Fischer's battles
were with or against the FIDE assembly, not AK.
And I wouldn't say that BF did not put up a fight; it
is perhaps more accurate to say that he lost by
TKO, after winning nearly every round but the last.


-- help bot


You can argue this one either way. In June of 1974, when FIDE wouldn't
agree to his match conditions, Fischer wrote the letter resigning his
"FIDE title." In September of 1974, Karpov won the final Candidates
Match. In that sense, Kennedy's quibble is correct. However, in May-
June 1975, FIDE held another meeting and agreed to _almost_ all of
Fischer's conditions. They then sent Fischer a request to play, more
or less ignoring the "resignation" letter. When Fischer refused to
rely, Karpov was declared the winner by forfeit. Looked at that way,
Evans's account is fairly accurate -- by declining to play, Fischer
"gave" the title to his (known) opponent.