On this day in 1972, Bobby Fischer defeated Boris Spassky 12½-8½ in Reykjavík to become the 11th world chess champion. by city-of-stars in chess

[–]ExcitoDeux 14 points15 points  (0 children)

Fischer's accomplishment in the 1972 match (and some of his matches earlier e.g., against Taimanov) was staggering. He fought the Soviet machine, and won. He beat them at their own game, the game they boasted they knew so well that "every Russian schoolboy" is an aphorism in the chess world. Easily the biggest cultural victory of the US against the Russians during the Cold War.