Product Description

In the summer of 1972, with a presidential crisis stirring in the United States and the cold war at a pivotal point, the Soviet world chess champion, Boris Spassky,and his American challenger, Bobby Fischer, met in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the most notorious chess match of all time. Their showdown, played against the backdrop of superpower politics, held the world spellbound for two months with reports of psychological warfare, ultimatums, political intrigue, cliffhangers, and farce to rival a Marx Brothers film. Thirty years later, David Edmonds and John Eidinow have set out to reexamine the story we recollect as the quintessential cold war clash between a lone American star and the Soviet chess machine. A mesmerizing narrative of brilliance and triumph, hubris and despair, Bobby Fischer Goes to War is a biting deconstruction of the Bobby Fischer myth, a nuanced study on the art of brinkmanship, and a revelatory cold war tragicomedy.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #342141 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03-01
• Released on: 2005-03-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

Review
"Engagingly written... a real page-turner!" (Library Journal )

"A fascinating story well told." (Nashville Tennessean )

"[An] intriguing look at the world of competitive chess, circa 1972.... Good reading, especially for chess buffs." (Booklist )

"Readers will savor a marvelous portrait of East against West, with perceived societal superiority as the real prize." (Kirkus Reviews )

A superbly researched reminder of a 20th century culture clash." (Atlanta Journal-Constitution )

"The book will be one of the major sources of history for new generations of chess players." (Boston Globe )

"[A] praiseworthy, terrific book. marvelous." (Chess Life )

"Bobby Fischer Goes to War tells the story in fine, brisk style.conveying the richness of the world beyond the chessboard." (Time magazine )

"This is the definitive history of Fischer vs. Spassky." (Washington Post Book World )

"[Edmonds and Eidinow] show themselves once again to be grandmasters of nonfiction narrative." (Christian Science Monitor )

"Enthralling.. Edmonds and Eidinow are ideal guides through the history and psychology of chess." (San Francisco Chronicle )

"The finest addendum ever to the 1972 chess world championship.'" (Los Angeles Times )

"David Edmonds and John Eidinow have penned a delightful book about the politics of that legendary match." (Washington Times )

"Note to Hollywood: It's Miracle meets A Beautiful Mind. Get on it." (Entertainment Weekly )

"Superbly researched.. Bobby Fischer Goes to War fills an important gab in the literature on this showdown." (Florida Sun-Sentinel )

About the Author

David Edmonds is an award-winning journalists with the BBC. He's the bestselling authors of Bobby Fischer Goes to War and Wittgenstein’s Poker.

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Customer Reviews

Strange, Disjointed, Unfocused, Tedious Book that is more about Spassky than Fischer
I was pretty excited about buying this book, because who wouldn't want a book about how one man stood up to a Superpower at the height of the Cold War and won?

But then, when you get into it, the book becomes more of a breakdown of the Fischer/Spassky match, only one written for non-chess players. Apparently most all of the story comes from interviews and the recollections and memos of the participants

The problem with that is that they couldn't get an interview with Fischer, and the book shows it. In terms of pages, "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" is 40% about Spassky, 20% about chess, 30% about the reporters or other GMs at the match or whatever, and maybe 10% about Bobby Fischer. Which would be fine if it wasn't put out there as a book about Bobby Fischer, but it was and its not that at all

Written by 2 co-authors and apparently not edited at all, the book meanders from place to place and anecdote to anecdote, and the last 100 pages are intolerably slow. They cover the post-mortem of the match; what went wrong and where the participants ended up. The main problem with that, again, is maybe 10 of those 100 pages are about Fischer. I mean, its really great to know that some Soviet minister of whatever retired and had a good life, but to my mind the book is crippled by long detours into side characters' lives, and I think the authors only indulged in those detours because they had next to no information about Bobby, so they had to talk about something to run up the page count

The first half of the book is interesting and relatively fast-paced, and actually does illuminate the Spassky/Fischer match, even if it doesn't offer any actual insights into Bobby Fischer, beyond what some people who met him once or twice think of him. The second half is just a re-hash of things already stated, and a "where are they now?" type piece on each of the officials of the various organizations who put the match together

So to sum up: this book is basically just a story about that historic match up, and its more told from Spassky's side than anyone else's. If that's what you want, great. Here it is. If you wanted a book about Bobby Fischer, about any part of his life other than those few months in Iceland, you won't find it here. If you wanted his insight into the matches, or analysis of the matches, that's not here either

Also, you should be warned that the story is told about 75% from the Soviet side of things, so there are alot of Russian names and governmental titles. That might bother some readers; I found it difficult after awhile to differentiate between the various Russian officials, especially since some are referred to by nicknames at one point, then by their given names, then by title, etc.

Hope that helps you make an informed decision on whether or not to buy the book

A Metaphor of the Cold War Era
I was pleasantly surprised at this very urbane, almost panoramic, and far-sighted treatment of the clash of the two Titans of chess.

The authors not only captured the essential elements of the decisive games that led to Fischer's stunning victory, but more importantly, they also did a masterful job of situating the meaning of the match in the political context of the times. Their parallel overlaying of the times with the events going on in Iceland, left us with an enduring picture of the tension of those troubled times, demonstrating how a single chess match managed to relieve much of it, if only for a brief spell.

In the hands of these very skilled writers, a chess match became more than just a report on the World Championship, it became a metaphor of the Cold War: The clash in Iceland was as much a battle of ideas, political systems and ideologies as it was a parlor game waged with great skill, tension, and tenacity across a wooden board of 64 squares.

Edmonds and Eidinow brought it all alive in grand, almost epic fashion -- from the humble beginnings of the players, and the idyllic surroundings in Reykjavik, to a resounding crescendo of fireworks at the last game of the grand finale in Iceland. Through this book, we are not just eye witnesses to history in the making, we are made to feel that we are a vicarious part of it!

For chess lovers everywhere, this is the book to read if you want to know about the game, the particpants, the politics, the ideosyncracies and emotional ups-and-downs of the participants, as well as the events in the background in Reykjavik. A great read FIVE STARS!

Coffee, Chess and Politics
I was in a coffee shop last weekend when I noticed two men playing Chess near the cream and sugar counter. A small but intent group had huddled around their table quite captivated by the game. Memories of Bobby Fischer came to mind. I also watched the game for a while and then decided to visit my local bookstore and just by happenstance I saw "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" and picked up a copy. It is very interesting reading. Bobby Fischer's 1972 match with the Soviet Boris Spassky held in Reykjavik, Iceland is legendary. Spassky, the world chess champion, certainly seemed the gentleman and Fisher was billed as the young Chess prodigy. To me Chess was always a game played by elitists or other higher order members of the social ladder. In reality that is truly not the case. If there is anything elite about the game or those who play it, it is the social refinement that one takes away from the chess board. There is a certain amount of respect that one experiences and earns that should be used in a higher order of one's conduct as a person. From this book Spassky seems to fit that picture, but Bobby Fischer is anything but. Fischer had a deep intuitive intellect for the game but his social upbringing and behavior seemed rather crude and almost not worthy of the game. His behavior during the match seems embarrassing and nothing honorable as demonstrated by Spassky. Fischer seems to have learned none of finer aspects of being a participant and journeyman of the game. This is a good book and brings many avenues of thought ion this history making Chess match.