Bobby Fischer
However, he burst back onto the scene in 1970, defeating former world champion Petrosian by a 3-1 score in the USSR-versus- the-world team match. Then he won the interzonal tournament, one of the steps to the world championship, with a record seven consecutive wins to end the event. He then set another record likely never to be equalled, when he won the quarter-final and semi-final matches for the world championship by identical scores of 6-0. Then when he won the first game of the final match, he had thus set a record of 20 consecutive wins (without draws!) at the highest level of grandmaster competition. He then went on to win the world championship by defeating the defending champion, Boris Spassky, by a five-game margin. That championship match was almost cancelled because of Fischer's numerous disputes with organizers.
Unfortunately, the match with Spassky was the last serious competition by Fischer for 20 years. He forfeited the world championship in 1975 after failing to get all of his demands met. He finally re-emerged after 20 years of seclusion from public life, to defeat Spassky in a rematch in 1992. Although Fischer claims that he never lost the world championship, and that his Spassky rematch was therefore a title defense, very few accept that view.
At the peak of success, Fischer became a major figure in the world news media. The publicity for chess caused a huge increase in its popularity; the US Chess Federation experienced a threefold increase in its membership!
Today, Fischer plays private games with certain grandmasters and advocates changes in the rules of chess. However, he remains a reclusive figure who belongs mostly to the realm of legend.
Unfortunately, he then began a pattern of conflicts with chess authorities. Some of Fischer's demands and complaints were valid, and led to improved conditions for chess professionals world-wide. However, Fischer had great difficulty compromising even slightly; he wanted 100% of everything he asked for even when he had already gained 95%. That failure to compromise led to his not getting a serious chance at the world championship until he was in his late 20's. In fact, in the late 1960's, many of his friends feared that he was giving up chess totally.
