"The Match of the Century"

No one can say with absolute certainty, how old is the origin of the game of chess, but the most likely hypothesis is that he was born in India. Why is it that at the end of a chess game in which the adversary king has a deadly attack, it says: "Chess mat"? The term probably comes from the Persian word meaning that "the King is dead". The origin of this game remains very dark. However, in the last century, chess was enriched with another aspect: the political one. Suffice it to mention what is called "the match of the century". The meeting took place in 1972, among world champions, Soviet Boris Spaski, and American challenger Robert James Fischer, often known as "Bobby." It was the Cold War, and the two superpowers tried to cross each other in everything. At that time, the chess was the pride of the Soviet regime.


Since 1914, Cari Nicole II had created the title of the Great Master. In the Soviet Union, chess became a kind of national sport, state-funded centers and schools.
It had to be ensured that it had lasted for almost half a century. Against the Russians came the lonely challenge of a genius American. A man without tradition, school education, or any backward coach. Who would win the game in Reykjavik, Iceland? Even the chosen country was symbolically halfway between the two opposite worlds. Fischer was a puzzler: psychologically unstable, and played an unpredictable game. Until the last few minutes he was not sure if he would play: to convince him, it was the intervention of US Secretary of State Henry Kissinger himself. On the other side of the table, the pressure on Spaski was terrific. He won the American, and the Russians lost their lead after 35 years. The game lasted nearly 2 months (July 11 - September 2, 1972).