Bobby Fischer Demonstrates Famous Chess Moves | The Dick Cavett Show

American chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer demonstrates the famous endgame position between the Duke of Brunswick and Paul Morphy.
Date aired - August 5th 1971 - Bobby Fischer
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Dick Cavett has been nominated for eleven Emmy awards (the most recent in 2012 for the HBO special, Mel Brooks and Dick Cavett Together Again), and won three. Spanning five decades, Dick Cavett’s television career has defined excellence in the interview format. He started at ABC in 1968, and also enjoyed success on PBS, USA, and CNBC.

His most recent television successes were the September 2014 PBS special, Dick Cavett’s Watergate, followed April 2015 by Dick Cavett’s Vietnam. He has appeared in movies, tv specials, tv commercials, and several Broadway plays. He starred in an off-Broadway production ofHellman v. McCarthy in 2014 and reprised the role at Theatre 40 in LA February 2015.

Cavett has published four books beginning with Cavett (1974) and Eye on Cavett (1983), co-authored with Christopher Porterfield. His two recent books -- Talk Show: Confrontations, Pointed Commentary, and Off-Screen Secrets (2010) and Brief Encounters: Conversations, Magic moments, and Assorted Hijinks(October 2014) are both collections of his online opinion column, written for The New York Times since 2007. Additionally, he has written for The New Yorker, TV Guide, Vanity Fair, and elsewhere.
#thedickcavettshow #BobbyFischer #Chess #DukeOfBrunswick #PaulMorphy #DickCavett

[@TheDickCavettShow]

Where, in your opinion, does Bobby Fischer rank in the list of the greatest Chess Grandmasters of all time?

[@pepapig5840]

Third probably

[@JayzSpray]

@@pepapig5840 who are your 2 before Fischer?

[@Tedi364]

@@JayzSpray probably his first 2 are Carlsen and Kasparov as the generic wave of mass-media dictates it. In my opinion however, the greatest is the guy in this video. Exceptional, can't be compared to anyone.

[@beyondthehorizon94]

Fisher is the GOAT.

[@JayzSpray]

@@Tedi364 Agreed, Fischer is number 1 for me, with Tal following very close behind ....

[@RyanWolfNZ]

One thing I like about Fischer is he doesn’t overstate. He could easily have said “oh I see 20 moves in advance” but he makes it abundantly clear that it’s based on position.

[@13herald]

He’s a rational thinker. Always gives the simplest most accurate answers.

[@videofudge]

Yeah he is confident but real

[@joeshell123]

You can only be confident from what is real.

[@dertfert745]

20 moves ahead might not be possible in some situations. Sure you can calculate for one line but what if there are a couple candidate moves to consider after each move. 2^20 is over 1 million possibilities

[@videofudge]

@@dertfert745 If you are talking half-moves, 20 is feasible. Also, when someone is talking about calculations of this magnitude, it is very forced variations, so to a GM like Fischer 20 moves deep is ok.

[@maulcs]

Weird, two unseen Fischer interviews pop out of nowhere on both the Dick Cavett and Johnny Carson channels in the past week. It's great

[@ucctgg]

The Carson interview was much better.

[@groovybuddha667]

Right?

[@staypositive4358]

Yep!! Both show a side of Fischer that completely defy that he was crazy. Great look into his personality either way.

[@Theoria]

Same

[@Daggerfall40]

Literally just watched the Johnny Carson one before coming here

[@EGarrett01]

4:49 "Do you know why he lost when he doesn't?" Mark Taimanov wrote about exactly this later after losing to Bobby Fischer. He said that normally grandmasters understand each other's moves even if they lose to them. But Bobby's moves didn't make sense, and by the time you figured it out you were already dead. "We were playing chess, Fischer was playing something else."

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

He just played the game some times instead of all the memorised pre played moves.

[@michaelbarlow6610]

One of my favorite stories about Bobby Fischer is the one that the great chessplayer and chess teacher Yasser Seirawan tells about the time a Russian player was about to play a game against Fischer in a tournament and the player asked a friend of his who was a grandmaster to help him prepare for his game against Fischer , and the grandmaster said to him, "There is nothing I can do to help you prepare against Fischer. Fischer. Fischer is going to cream you. After the game we will go out and have a nice dinner and then we will analyse how perhaps you could have achieved a draw!"

[@staypositive4358]

Amazing! Do you have a link to a publication with this statement? Thanks!

[@EGarrett01]

@@staypositive4358 It's referenced in the book "Parting with Ilusions" by Vladimir Pozner, and Bobby himself talked about it in an interview in 2006 here. He mentions the book etc in the minute or so before this. watch?v=cLSWCLk_M0o?t=2423

[@staypositive4358]

@@EGarrett01 . Thank you!!

[@TOGGGAA1]

I love watching these Bobby Fischer interviews when he was in his prime. He’s so confident, it really makes you wonder “What if?”

[@Blinkers2007GameDev]

It certainly does

[@wearytrader535]

What if what

[@dinardinar2657]

@BlackFlag714 you must be fun at parties

[@dinardinar2657]

@BlackFlag714 Scientists, programmers, mathematicians, chess players and way more are actually REQUIRED to use the question "what if..?"

[@wearytrader535]

@@dinardinar2657 What if they didn't. I think theorists can get by with practical premises

[@StephenDoty84]

Wow, this was during Fischer's 20-0 streak against grandmasters, a streak that has never been broken. He had just blanked Taimanov 6-0 before this interview.

[@stevedavis8329]

caught a cold and lost one to petrosian next!

[@bowrudder899]

I think it was Taimanov, Larsen, Petrosian. He had just come off beating Larsen 6-0.

[@Xenotypic]

who would win in a fischer vs carlson match? what about fischer vs niemann? haha, anyway, just wondering as a relative outsider to the chess world.

[@StephenDoty84]

@@Xenotypic In a 12 game match, Fischer comes out ahead with 3 wins, 2 losses and the rest draws.

[@akrishna1729]

@@Xenotypic It's apples to oranges - different generations have had varying degrees of access to tools like engines, consolidates theory, etc. and Fischer notoriously despised theory, as he believed it was killing creativity in chess. Carlsen is, by machine standards, considered the most precise player of all time, Fischer exerted unparalleled dominance over his contemporaries. It's hard to gauge which player is/was uniformly better; there are a lot of relative factors and circumstances that distinguish chess in Fischer's prime vs. chess today.

[@vajee5]

Man, he had it all. Good looks, genius, confidence, attitude, honesty. Love the guy.

[@ironlionzion1380]

Not really. He was psychologically damaged, especially in his last days he was completely paranoid and chased by internal demons.

[@genieinthepot2455]

definitely did not have the attitude and morals

[@constangelo1028]

@@ironlionzion1380 Where you beside him at his deathbed?

[@ironlionzion1380]

@@constangelo1028 This is common knowledge and was covered by many documentaries, easily found in YT.

[@yankeepirate6039]

@@ironlionzion1380 seethe rabbi

[@frepi]

I love how he slams pieces on the board.

[@hellopleychess3190]

it's from his aggressions

[@jamesjachimski1595]

.. muscle memory from repeated repetition..& all tangibles

[@averagebro413]

It's actually quite interesting, some masters are very gentle with pieces, some of them slam them. it's about character. I personally slam quite hard and hit the clock like it owes me money.

[@jefftaylor1186]

There was a Spanish GM back in the day named Juan Manuel Bellon, and that guy would throw pieces at squares and try to break the clock.

[@Bobby_Hall]

For me Fischer is the greatest. Maybe he wasn’t the absolute strongest, but he didn’t have the resources that a lot of strong grandmasters have now or had back then. When he was 15, he became the youngest grandmaster of all time at that point. He won the US Championship with a perfect 11-0 score and he defeated two of the strongest grandmasters, Taimanov and Larsen, with a perfect 6-0 score against each. These results would be unheard of today. The he went on to beat Petrosian and then Spassky, to claim the world chess championship title. He made chess become front page news in the US.

[@harkmay]

you're right, and he developed this mostly completely on his own by the sounds of it. He seemed to be without peer for most of his young life simply because there was no one else at all comparable.

[@germanchris4440]

I believe FIscher was the best, in the sense that he mastered the game more comprehensively and first-class than anyone else ever has. His technique was fantastic. And he did that almost entirely on his own! Look at the training and support that Karpov and Kasparov received, from early on. Fischer was there before they were, and he did almost everything by himself and alone. And his results were overwhelming. Because of all that, he was the best. But it seems to me that Kasparov was the strongest ever - if this distinction makes sense (between the best and the strongest). His technique was not as comprehensive and perfect as Fischer's, but he didn't need that because he was uniquely strong, a brutal annihilator, so to speak. And in that he took great advantage of his extreme opening preparation; basically he played many of his games at home rather than at the board. Fischer, on the other hand, was much more of a real player (though he was also a model in opening preparation, not least for Kasparov)! I'm sure Fischer would have had to improve further if he wanted to hold his own against Karpov and Kasparov - he would have had to play more carefully than against Larsen, Petrosian, or Spassky. A player grows with the increasing strength of his opponents, and Fischer was still young enough when he had become world champion. If he had then also been "psychologically" able to do his best, would K&K then have been able to cope with him? I almost doubt it. But this is and remains purely hypothetical. We will never know! He stopped playing too early, and there were reasons for that. And that is it. So it seems to me that Fischer was the best and most complete player technically, but didn't quite reach the penetrating strength of Kasparov's direct, brutal chess. Hard to say how the encounter would have turned out. And in my opinion Fischer can't be seen as the greatest of all time, because he didn't compete against his most difficult opponent Karpov. Unfortunately, there was not even a match or a greater number of tournament games against Korchnoi. That's simply not enough!

[@danielkurzyna7394]

He was the best. It’s without a doubt. He literally stopped playing for decades and came back to beat the best.

[@Dan-G97]

@@danielkurzyna7394 wait really??? Wtf that’s insane.

[@aliensconfirmed3498]

​@@Dan-G97that's not true but without that he is still the best. Not the strongest as strength increases with time but best easily.

[@jackpast]

I taught myself chess in grade school but when Fischer played Spassky shortly after this interview my interest in chess skyrocketed!

[@interstella5555]

so did you become good at it?

[@rickrick5041]

@@interstella5555 No

[@tmpqtyutmpqty4733]

Well good for you

[@Dev-fo7oi]

"that guy Petrosian" imagine being good enough to say that

[@markvegas7152]

I know a guy who knew petrosyan in Russia my acquaintance was employed in the chess schools of Russia where all the Masters gather to play he would do errands for them and move the pieces around on the board they keep on the wall he knew all the great Russian Masters in Vivo and he tells me petrosyan was absolutely top-notch such a great defensive player he was considered unbeatable for a very long time

[@ulrichschmidt5559]

I am disappointed, that Bobby in this interview can't even pronounce the name "Petrosian" correctly...?! I mean, he learned Russian in his youth and he met "that guy Petrosian" in person back in the 50s and probably several times since in tournaments!

[@ulrichschmidt5559]

And did he actually say that Vera Menchik was "Hungarian"?? She was Czechoslovakian! (And later became British citizen by marriage, I believe.)

[@user-yq7ik8sk4c]

@@ulrichschmidt5559 I think in interviews he commonly likes to have fun with the audience.

[@bryantcullen1377]

He literally held the world in contempt....and rightfully so. A level of genius so high the rest of us will never understand.

[@stormbringer67]

Cavett plays the unknowing person so Fischer can talk about the game. You see Fischer getting a bit uneasy because he wants to explain it as fast as possible (because his mind works fast) but he has to do it slow for the show's sake. Great to watch. The man was absolutely brilliant. RIP Bobby Fischer.

[@jamesjachimski1595]

.. reference the mind of b. Shapiro...it's there in the heart before on the tongue,

[@baconian_road_construction]

When he says "after I take care of [Petrosian] I play Spassky", people laugh like he was joking, but I think he's being completely serious. He's a 100% confident he's going to completely crush Petrosian, the former world champ. And that was exactly what he ended up doing. What a beast!

[@vibovitold]

People had no idea who Petrosian was. They just laughed because it sounded so cold and killer-like

[@amigosXcorrespondenc]

He is talking about Najdorf, the guy that played 40 people blindfold. Later he played 45. Fun fact: He learned to move the pieces at 14 years old, when he had to take care of his friend's sick father, while this boy bring medicine from the farmacy, the sick man teach him to play. One week later, it was impossible for this man to beat Najdorf. By 17, he already was a top player and winning international tournaments all over Europe.

[@1KSarah]

@NATURALTALENT Is it possible he peeked?

[@rickrick5041]

@@1KSarah It was a one way blindfold

[@1KSarah]

@@rickrick5041 Meaning?

[@rickrick5041]

@@1KSarah He could see out but no one could see through the blindfold.

[@1KSarah]

@@rickrick5041 I still don't understand: Did he see the chess board or not?

[@martm216]

Good to hear Bobby being modest about blindfold chess, saying that he didn't know how someone could play twenty-plus games purely in their head.

[@allafleche]

He was just honest.

[@christopherhutchens8726]

Bobby trys to explain the ending of Morphy's famous 'opera house game' and Dick asks if the rook can move more than one square at a time 🤦‍♂️. Nevermind Dick...

[@FluffyBMe]

Exactly where I stopped watching

[@FourthFloorParkour]

“Show where you moved the queen for the people who really know what they’re looking at” ugh...

[@Splozy]

Bobby was very difficult to interview, it's likely he just didn't expect to him to talk given he barely did prior to that.

[@jtfike]

@@FourthFloorParkour hey you stole my name! :p

[@maxbrown8044]

I think it is fine because he is super humble about it. You do not need someone who knows about chess to conduct an interview.

[@QuiDocetDiscit]

Bobby was inspirational. I feel sad for his dysfunctional childhood but happy that chess gave him comfort and joy and produced such works of art for us to marvel at.

[@grannysgonerabid7425]

Fisher had a reputation for being a very difficult, aloof reclusive which, I guess, tragically he ended up becoming, but in this interview and the Carson interview he's quite personable and really interesting to listen to. Seems extraordinarily intelligent and reasonably comfortable in this interview

[@pauldavies5611]

I don’t quite agree with that. Fischer seems extremely comfortable, yes, but most of his answers are four to five words and he doesn’t expand too much on anything. I think that this makes Cavett uncomfortable (he looks it) as he has to keep coming up with questions.

[@LegalTyranny]

The y i d s drove him into more isolation than he would have been in after he called out these corrupt and demonic people.

[@innosanto]

@@pauldavies5611 his answers are small because he has answered. The answer is complete. He doesn't want to make movies out of them. If he asked him to comment on something then you could judge on that.

[@pauldavies5611]

@@innosanto Obviously you’ve never been interviewed.

[@evanhirsch6940]

@@pauldavies5611 That is because he asks inane questions.

[@Krishnashares]

Cavett: Are you good at Maths Fischer: I never tried to develop myself in those things Epic.

[@lolilollolilol7773]

Well, epic isn't the word I'd use. Bobby Fischer was tragically lacking in education, as he hardly went to school. He spent his entire time studying chess and nothing else. After he won the title, his career was basically over, and he couldn't do anything else, because he had no education beyond what he taught himself. He still had the ability to learn, but he didn't really used his mental capacities elsewhere than chess, because he needed competition, and studies didn't fulfill this need. And because of that, he became more and more reclused and he went more or less insane.

[@paki6277]

@@lolilollolilol7773 his career wasnt over he won the title, its just something happened at that time that only god knows why that made him quit chess. Also fischer was really smart with an astronomical high iq, he could become whatever he wanted, but after he quit chess he had nothing else to lean on to, no friends, no education as you say and that combinded with his personality trait with being introverted he became lonely and in the end sick.

[@rickrick5041]

@@lolilollolilol7773 Suppose he had a basic college degree. What would the great opportunities be? Driving a cab? He already had a profession and he was the best in the world at it

[@lolilollolilol7773]

@@rickrick5041 yeah, but he stopped right after he won the title. So basically, he started a career, and stopped it right away.

[@clonetrooper71]

Someone like Fischer would've killed himself in college because of how boring, slow, unoriginal, and useless it is to his kind of mind. Likewise, if he got a regular 9-5 job he would do the same. Fischer was always searching; he could never settle into a normal life. He had to keep moving and searching, albeit with his mind. Chess allowed him to do that, because if he didn't have the millions of dollars and many fans that chess gave him, he would have never gotten out of jail in the 2000's, and before that, he never would have made it into his late 20's without dedicating himself to chess. Case in point: he became a vagabond after quitting chess in the 80's.

[@97epicman]

They way he holds onto his chair like he's going to fall off, the constant rocking of the leg, the seeming disinterest in the questions... Bobby Fischer is a truly fascinating figure.

[@creamchunk]

To be fair he was being asked extremely simple questions. Even a novice like me who would lose a game to a vast majority of players out there would have been able to answer his questions and solve the puzzle. The good chess players are in a world of their own.

[@jamesjachimski1595]

..begin, friends, to understand every individual has a brainwiring unique as their own dna; rather accept than judge..

[@mrlag8467]

@@creamchunk yeah it's pretty unfortunate that the interviewer did not know much about chess or the interview could have been much more interesting

[@briankarcher8338]

@@creamchunk It's not just solving the puzzle. He knew where every piece was and recreated it. Easy for someone like Fisher, but impossible for us mere mortals. When the host asked to show him a famous move I was screaming in my head "The Opera game!" but could not for the life of me recreate the position in my head. All I knew was the queen sac and bishop/rook combo finish. The fascinating part is GM's can do a full-game replay of sooo many games from pure memory. It's so insane. Bobby would have been able to have redone the entire Opera game from scratch if he were asked, annotating as he goes on various alternate lines, mistakes on either side, best moves, etc. With zero prep. Hikaru does this on stream all the time and it is fascinating each time. He'll reach a position and go "This reminds me of when I played against XXX in 1996 at such and such match", then replays that entire other game from 25 years back and then shows where that game differed 25 moves in. "And on this move he went here and I ended up wining the game."

[@EKDhilipKumarAstrologer]

Most chess fans may hate Dick Cavett for not knowing how to play Chess. Yet, I like the way he did the interview with the world greatest Chess player. He played it well.

[@praveenrawat6574]

Why tf would someone would hate for not knowing something

[@martm216]

Dick Cavett was a fine interviewer.

[@PolycrisisActor]

It was a very frustrating interview to watch, I admit. Unfortunately he looked unprepared and oblivious.

[@PolycrisisActor]

@@praveenrawat6574 Hate is a strong word, but surely laziness is not admirable, he is a professional journalist with a unique interview subject and wasted time on screen. That's not worthy of hate, but it isn't exactly praiseworthy either.

[@fractal_mind562]

Its insane how under prepared interviewers were at the time, seems like a 1 man show, if he didn't know about the subject or the interviewee then he just bumbles through... I've never seen anyone on TV literally making up questions on the spot based on almost nothing, I dont hate him for it, its just embarrassing for him and the network

[@rage8kage]

I can see nick cage play him

[@dongeraci8599]

Yet, Tobey Maguire played him a few years ago. Nothing against Tobey, but he wasn't that great. Cage would have crushed it.

[@maulcs]

@@dongeraci8599 It was a massive miscast, Tobey looked and acted nothing like Fischer. The mediocre script didn't help either.

[@samsmith4216]

good casting

[@spfcasual3786]

Nice pick

[@Alamyst2011]

Tom Hardy. Really look at the face

[@sonnypod8492]

"The ability to play chess is the sign of a gentleman. The ability to play chess well is the sign of a wasted life." - Paul Morphy

[@StephenDoty84]

Yeah, Morphy never even fully committed to chess like Fischer and look how good he was. Morphy played at a time when chess was considered a mere fancy, not a profession.

[@patrickshaw3177]

Well, for once, Morphy was wrong!

[@badcornflakes6374]

That's why Morphy became a lawyer which is a pretty good profession

[@StephenDoty84]

@@badcornflakes6374 Then when his lawyer father cut him out of the will, he wallowed in self-pity and couldn't talk of anything else, people said, so Morphy had a bad old age without chess, it seems.

[@medah4rick]

Sounds like a hater

[@fredleeland2464]

This guy was 3 conversations ahead of Cavett

[@2313rafa]

🤣🤣

[@rickrick5041]

Yet he was very polite

[@firasnacef001]

I'm sure he even predicted the "One move away from mating" joke. That's why he didn't laugh.

[@Psyfi85]

@@firasnacef001 Of course, typical clever Cavett.

[@royfablooo2810]

Fischer is so chill in this interview and he pretty much a good dude to befriend. I wish I could've been there and hug the dude whenever he's feeling lonely.

[@noobmaster31]

That's what he was missing in life. His parents were absent. He had no foundation. He went off into chess and other worlds without anyone to reign him in or pull him back down to earth.

[@Dr.Pepperdave]

That's a really great thing to say.

[@aryankargar4852]

Me too

[@innosanto]

@@noobmaster31 he was on earth

[@noobmaster31]

@@innosanto don't know if you're trolling or legitimately never heard the phrase "down to earth". His theories towards the end of his life showed that he wasn't very realistic about the state of things. I.e. not down to earth.

[@jameshogan6142]

I love Fischer's line "I was US champion before before anyone heard of Clay".

[@clinteastwood7346]

Fischer the GOAT, during his time NO COMPUTER ENGINES TO LEARN FROM. PURE HARDWORK AND TALENT

[@Raizo1103]

Yup! And they have to analyze their own games on their own without relying on any computer at all. Pure geniuses.

[@williamrobert9898]

Lol Computer engines only made dominating an era much harder so try a better excuse bud

[@williamrobert9898]

​@@Raizo1103Literally Grandmasters still do that till this day LMAO

[@Aaron-i4k]

Why is it harder?

[@sesh8606]

@@Aaron-i4k because they don’t have computers Doing the work

[@MikeGamePro]

Stumbled across this video exactly 50 years after this episode aired. wow

[@pixelwrinkly1528]

given how things turned out for Bobby Fischer it's pretty sweet, seeing him apparently relaxed, having a little fun, talking about the game which at that time he was still in love with; dick cavett doing a great job

[@islamadam8502]

"How long would it take the average person ... OR EVEN MYSELF to learn..." 😂😂

[@JuicedGraph3481]

Bobby Fischer is one of my favorite chess grandmaster and he's a genius as well

[@larrylewis6771]

After Fischer died, Cavett said he regretted not reaching out and helping in any way that he could.

[@averagebro413]

This is my first time watching this and i am amazed how skilled Dick is as an interviewer. Fischer is not an easy guy to interview and Dick has no clue about chess, yet he manages to make decent jokes and keep the interview relatively smooth. Fischer is a GM at chess, but Dick seems to be GM as a journalist. Funny how skilled people can get in different aspects of life.

[@avengemybreath3084]

He was considered a lightweight at the time, but Dick Cavett was a better interviewer than anyone in the MSM today.

[@tjhallett]

Bobby was very polite to Dick Cavett. Bit of a shame that he didn’t even know how the pieces moved. But Bobby patiently sat with him, showed him a beautiful, classic game, and talked him through it. I imagine Bobby felt very lonely most of the time. He and Cavett were sitting together, but their minds were just in different worlds. Makes me sad in a way.

[@ghostapostle7225]

You have to consider that Dick's audience probably doesn't know much about chess either. He's trying to make the interview interesting to the average viewer. He did an amazing job considering Fischer's laconic answers.

[@tjhallett]

@@ghostapostle7225 I agree! What a difficult person to interview. Dick did a great job.

[@abhijitsen7749]

Just hearing this conversation I feel that Bobby Fisher is just a refreshingly honest person.

[@stevedavis8329]

he's playing with his favorite chess set--the dubrovnik from a Yugoslavian tournament of the 1950's. it's also interesting that fischer hasn't started to deteriorate mentally yet. he's polite, a bit withdrawn because even though the interview is funny to him, he knows he's speaking to someone who sadly knows nothing about the game, so why waste time with long answers.

[@wesdionne278]

I ordered Fisher Teaches Chess back in the 6th Grade(1980) while attending JCTMS and become Chess champion 3 years but then went to public high school where there was no Chess Club so just been playing online and at a neighborhood place since. Great game and highly recommend the book to anybody.

[@EGarrett01]

LOL at Bobby's body language in the very beginning.

[@jonis7989]

What about it?

[@fredleeland2464]

He was quietly judging him, looking for his next move

[@EGarrett01]

@Peter Evans lol yes that too. I found it hilarious how Fischer was staring stoically into the crowd and ignoring Cavett.

[@magikarp653]

Wow. They don't do interviews like this anymore. Legend.

[@DavidMartins1]

Funny you should say that considering this must be one of the worse interviews I've ever seen.

[@patstaysuckafreeboss8006]

Exactly this was a great interview. The garbage they have these days is out of control

[@brandondaniels9471]

_Joe Rogan: Have you ever done DMT before a big chess match? Dimenthyltryptamine..._

[@lefgia]

Thank god they dont

[@carlosandolini9923]

Bobby Fisher is fascinating on account that he was the greatest chess player in the world beating Russia's best. Great source of national pride for the U.S. at the time. Although I was only 13 and had no interest in chess, this episode in the history of the cold war has left a deep impression on me.

[@mardenhill]

fischer was a decent chess player. he never beat »russia’s best«, because at the time, he played against soviet players. also, petrosian was armenian, tal was latvian, so calling them russian is ridiculous. but canadians have never really bothered much about accuracy, including fischer.

[@jamesanthony5681]

@@mardenhill Decent? The man beat Spassky in '72. Is that just decent, or very, very good?

[@danielkurzyna7394]

@@mardenhill ROFL. There was no Russia, and Fischer didn’t beat the best? He ended up with 125 points over the best player in the world that day, Spassky. Carlson today is barely 60 points over his next opponent, and there are like 10 players within 125 points of Carlson. Fischer, who didn’t train or have the system behind him the way modern chess players do, literally destroyed everyone. All while suffering with severe mental illness, and as I said, a point advantage between him and Spassky over 125 points! That’s never going to be seen again.

[@jasonquinlan731]

Love watching Fischer.

[@stephanebelizaire3627]

A Very Good Chess Master, Good Citizen, Great Human Being, and a Kind Gentleman. Bravo and Well-done Mr Fischer !

[@FoF1212]

Cavett is actually a really intelligent dude, but it's shocking how little he knew about chess in this video.

[@PhilomathBret]

I don't think it's that shocking that he didn't know the rules of chess and I thought he came up with pretty good questions considering. It was just funny when he asked how the rook can move so far lol

[@nebulous6660]

You mean it's shocking how little he APPEARED to know. For all we know Cavett knows full well how to play chess.

[@lolilollolilol7773]

@@nebulous6660 Perhaps today, but on this interview, he looks like a fool. He should at least have learned the rules before the interview. Even his questions don't make sense, because of his lack of preparation.

[@nebulous6660]

@@lolilollolilol7773 My point was that he likely did already know the rules. Not understanding my simple post makes you look like a fool.

[@lolilollolilol7773]

@@nebulous6660 "likely" ? EVERYTHING in the interview indicates that he doesn't know the rules. So much so that you're literally the only person in the comments who asserts the contrary: - the confused question at the beginning - ""How long would it take the average person ... OR EVEN MYSELF to learn..."" - the question whether a rook can move more than one square at a time (anyone who has watched a game longer than 2 mn knows that most pieces can move more than square at a time), - the very confused look he has at Bobby's simple explanation of the mate - etc And most of the time, the public laughed at him. You asserted "For all we know Cavett knows full well how to play chess." without any proof whatsoever that this applies to the interview. Perhaps he knows the rules today (he probably received some flack after that interview), but he sure does look that he had no clue whatsoever during the interview.

[@TheB787heavy]

Wow! Never saw this interview ! Thanks to whomever posted it.

[@haeleth7218]

If I could have played Fischer and made it all last 4 minutes I would have been incredibly proud.

[@cjpearce1407]

Just wait 4 minutes when it's your turn

[@tellahsage6477]

@@cjpearce1407 Not uncommon at all for IRL (physical board and all) chess, i read somewhere that there was a game from Paul Morphy where he sat thinking for 12 minutes before making the winning sequence of moves because he wanted to be absolutely 100% sure that it would work no matter what his opponent played (it was a queen sac too but a much more complicated one than this video)

[@sliceserve234]

I was (and am) a fan of Dick Cavett. And I have been involved in chess almost my entire life. The chess questions here are cringe to a chess player in the know. Bobby is showing remarkable restraint in dealing with the stupidity of the questions. A shame, a lost opportunity, in chess history, to put it mildly in light of later events.

[@gorge5412]

Yours is an EXCELLENT insight, SS. I think BF was paranoid (with good reason) about the Russians' "monitoring" him.

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

Cavett wasn't a chess player. His questions are basic, but not stupid.

[@ignacioruiz8825]

I don't what it is but there's something so satisfying in the way fischer captures a piece

[@herbertmische8660]

Great, fantastic and immortal Bobby Fischer!!! Respect forever!!! 👍

[@thomas-lb6gx]

Thank you so much for uploading this

[@magnusmagnusson8302]

did not spend like 30min before the show to learn how the pieces moved lol incredible

[@robedmund9948]

Dick Cavett didn't often struggle. Fischer played him like a cheap guitar. Dude was ALWAYS playing chess with or without the pieces.

[@staypositive4358]

I was thinking the same. I've seen many other DC shows and usually he's pretty composed and prepared.

[@lolilollolilol7773]

The problem is, he didn't even know the rules of the game. Hard not to look like a fool in this condition. He didn''t prepare and looked like a student being questioned on a subject he hasn't prepared.

[@genieinthepot2455]

did u seriously type this...

[@michaelbarlow6610]

You have to feel sorry for Dick Cavett in this interview of Bobby Fischer because Cavett was desperately trying to find the right questions that would get Fischer to relax and be more revealing about himself, but Fischer just kept giving short answers!

[@pauldavies5611]

All his interviews were like that. I don’t think he comes out well in interviews. Cavett ran out of questions before he thought he would and looks really uncomfortable 🥵

[@awimachinegun]

It would help if Mr. Cavett knew the first thing about chess. Usually interviewers do SOME research nowadays. It's hard to talk to somebody with which you share no common ground.

[@chazzmichaelsmichaels3331]

Yeah I noticed that too

[@fundhund62]

Their second interview felt more relaxed and friendly.

[@jansnauwaert1785]

@@awimachinegun Yeah, didn't even know how the pieces move. That such a lack of professionalism.

[@saltaeb99]

Funny he talks of taking on 20 people at one time! I was one of 20 people in 1971 in a chess club and played in new Rochelle, ny. I was the first to go in13 moves!

[@MrAM4D3U5]

against Fischer?

[@saltaeb99]

@@MrAM4D3U5 Yes!

[@staypositive4358]

Dude! I think the result was a forgone conclusion then as it is now but what an amazing experience!

[@saltaeb99]

@@staypositive4358 Absolutely. At one point he actually asked me and said did you move!! I was like Ralph Kramden, too nervous to talk.

[@staypositive4358]

@@saltaeb99 . That is such a phenomenal experience and one to cherish for life. Cheers!

[@andrewhall7930]

Petrosian had not only been a World Champion, but he was and is widely considered to be the Greatest Defensive player ever. Fischer did Beat him, as he predicted so confidently, 6-2 I believe.

[@markvegas7152]

I knew a guy that knew him personally that petrosyan and there is no doubt his legacy is among the very finest players ever play the game and had an immense respect

[@AllenFreemanMediaGuru]

I like that example. Sacrificing the queen to win the game. Beautiful.

[@mykonos466]

More of these videos of Bobby Fischer

[@kcran6291]

Yes there is another interview with Fischer on the Dick Cavett Show after the 1972 match with Spassky. Let's have it please

[@andrewharness2228]

Yea i figured the host knew nothing abt chess but then he went with “the rook moves down in one move or multiple” and then i knew he was really trying but had literally no idea what he was talking about

[@MrLeiduowen]

Yeah, that's where Cavett really collapsed.

[@79goldmaster1]

Bobby Fischer was a real genius. Greatest players of all time.

[@davidcopson5800]

How many "players" was he?

[@writamchatterjee4676]

@@davidcopson5800 stop judging you know what he meant

[@macdonaldnnadi]

He will always be behind Kasparov and Magnus

[@79goldmaster1]

@@macdonaldnnadi You are wrong. Fischer was awesome.

[@macdonaldnnadi]

@@79goldmaster1 how is being 3rd best no awesome? I would say being third best of all time is amazing

[@teejayB21]

30 years later this guy famously said “i hate chess”.

[@cameronmac8928]

He hated what it had become, just pattern recognition and pre-set openings. He wanted it to evolve (Fischer random) but it still hasn't really

[@Bheemagni]

"Dates back thousands, back to India" man that's so goosebumps moment...when a chess legend remembers the origin of chess...thanks to our ancestors for bringing such a great game

[@hoonaignachowaneha]

Too bad they never figured out a solution to defecating in the street.

[@latermyfriend8934]

pretty sure he doesn't remember it, only queen elizabeth could remember it, he simply knows it.

[@latermyfriend8934]

This didn't age well at all 💀

[@pauldamelio4694]

What a fantastic interview! Dick Cavett is an awesome host and Bobby Fischer is just so chill!

[@staypositive4358]

Awesome interview! Thank you so much for posting this!!

[@tomitstube]

the beauty of that example is how paul morphy put his queen in a position for the duke to take it. thereby setting up the checkmate with his rook. only a very good chess play uses his/her queen as bait. there are many instances where the queen is covered by another piece leaving no escape, not the case here.

[@Bob31415]

But this was a forced mate meaning the only legal move was to take the queen. The queen literally had to be captured so it was not "bait".

[@tomitstube]

@@Bob31415 good point.

[@Bob31415]

@@tomitstube Thank you.

[@davidcopson5800]

@@Bob31415 And thank you. An Elo 800 player could have seen that forced combination.

[@1KSarah]

5:05 "...He just knows something went wrong somewhere..." Hilarious.

[@toddpeucker9905]

"You're one move away from mating"....woulda been a great line if it was spontaneous wit, but when Cavett said he'd been saving that up, I was thinking how lame it was to bring up marriage just to use that line fully knowing in advance that Bob was single.

[@lolilollolilol7773]

It would have been funny if Fischer himself had brought up the topic of women. But here it was lame.

[@zombie266]

Slightly off topic but I have seen a few of Bobby Fischer interviews and the man knows how to dress. Very fashion forward and so ahead of time. The blue / brown combination he has on for this interview became en vogue in the last few years in the US. On his interview with Carson, he had a custom made pinstriped suit that was meticulously put together.

[@ganeshr3493]

this is gold

[@adesh2383]

Bobby Fisher was not crazy, the world is.

[@GuitarGuy190]

Well you gotta see some of his interviews when he is older. He did go crazy.

[@aperson4913]

The guy was denying the holocaust from the 60s til the end of his life. He was insane

[@williamrae6874]

@@GuitarGuy190 It is no measure of good health to be well adjusted in an insane society

[@chandelier6811]

He was insane

[@aperson4913]

@Tony G you can be smart and crazy. fischer was both smart and crazy

[@shogimarufps]

I really like the questions, it's like Dick actually questioned me what I want to know about Bobby.

[@documenter1199]

Back when show hosts had a touch of intellectualism to them...

[@Trickxareforkids]

Haha what? This was incredibly sloppy production. dick was woefully unprepared, and had no idea what was going on. This was really boring and an incredible waste of having Bobby Fischer on.

[@flavoredwallpaper]

I mean, he's a smart guy and generally a good interviewer. But he could have at the very least learned the absolute basics of chess before having a demonstration. Nothing more than how each piece moves would've been fine.

[@shanedancer3895]

This isn’t intellectualism it’s class. He’s not laughing like a maniac or putting in canned laughter, but he didn’t even know how to play chess, which is pretty simple and something you should do if you’re going to have a chess pro demonstrate something

[@truebaronesse5653]

Sexist questions at the end clearly prove where his "intellect" is...

[@thenapdoreast4633]

@@flavoredwallpaper i dont know whether he could play or not, but i think he may have been interested in teaching those who dont know the basics so they could follow along. it was everyday people tuning into the show, not people who sought bobby explicitly. this is by far the worst ive seen dick do :p

[@HerbertBaruc-q4h]

The GOAT right there. We miss you Bobby And Dick is such a lovely human🤗

[@badcornflakes6374]

"I was U.S Champion before anyone even heard of Clay, (Muhammad Ali)" - Bobby Fischer

[@mardenhill]

people will talk about muhammad long after fischer will be forgotten. -- me

[@ethanssmart2083]

@@mardenhill how many old boxing legends have you heard of chess grand masters are remembered through out 100s of years of history lol

[@pizzaboy3946]

@@mardenhill and the fact we remember someone who is procicient in violence over someone who is proficient with his mind is pretty sad.

[@shaunigothictv1003]

@@pizzaboy3946 Excellent point.

[@ryder6743]

@@pizzaboy3946 To diminish Muhammad Alis legacy by just saying he was just a good fighter is pretty sad. He’s just as remembered for the things he did outside of the ring for civil rights and protesting the Vietnam war. Bobby Fischer is a great chess player, but we shouldn’t even be trying to compare him to Muhammad Ali.

[@DANTHETUBEMAN]

Bobby told us how the modern world works.

[@germanchris4440]

Exactly. Actually it always worked like this. But people still don't get it. Most never will. Bobby was right all the time ... But it's hard to handle it when you are alone in this world.

[@rivkabornstein]

Great interview :) thanks for posting

[@zul2788]

He looks like your average sportsperson, then you read his background story and turns out its really tragic. Very sad

[@germanchris4440]

He was one of the most honest people I know of, and very intelligent. Such a person cannot find a place in this world. Anyone who understands the truth and stands by it has an extremely difficult position in this totally perverted and wicked world that is totally deceived. Bobby knew what he was talking about when the world, including those who knew him personally for a long time, said he had lost it and was done.

[@zbigniewdomozych5744]

Bobby, rest in peace.

[@Socialsoda]

amazing archive footage!

[@jasontuck-smith3896]

I think Fischer was a genius. I wish a chess player (doesn't have to be someone v good) had done the interview though...

[@tesla-v2681]

You're right. Cavett is terrible here.

[@MaxManiac14]

Right I was mad listening to him talk

[@jasontuck-smith3896]

@@MaxManiac14 Yeah, I feel your pain. Fischer demonstrates a beautful Queen sacrifice and the interviewer hasn't got a Scooby Doo!

[@u.v.s.5583]

Imagine Lex Fridman interviewing Fisher?

[@spetruck1]

Dashing man...love his confidence and mannerisms.

[@biblybims9868]

Not saying he was the best,but he was definitely in the TOP 1,love the brooklyn accent too

[@TristanTris321GoT]

He’s a tough interview.

[@strikercool911]

That's absolutely true

[@paulkerrigan9857]

Yeah he’s not giving much away. Dick asks a lot of good questions but doesn’t lose steam.

[@QueArgh]

By this point he had been well introduced the disingenous media stage that had printed endless lies abou him. Defame and mischaracterised him. So his obvious apprehension/cautiousness is very wise. Dont give the media a headline, they are not your friend, but are always pretending to be

[@shaunigothictv1003]

@@QueArgh Excellent point.

[@evanhirsch6940]

Imagine interviewing Mozart but having no idea about music, notes, harmony, instruments. Cavett is just as clueless. I feel sorry for Fischer. He did his best!

[@michaeljames4904]

The term that’s momentarily slipped Fischer’s mind from 10:10 is “Fool’s Mate.”

[@root.]

He's not talking about fool's mate though.

[@michaeljames4904]

@@root. _”I forget what they call it, as a matter of fact, a two-move mate: two moves.”_ Said after Cavett had just cited a conversation, they’d had upstairs, about the ability to win a game in the shortest number of moves possible. Dick mistakenly suggests one move, Fischer corrects him by saying “two moves.” That’s the very definition of _Fool’s Mate,_ the very shortest number of moves, to secure a win, actually possible in chess: two moves, specifically it has to be by Black, consequent to White having made a catastrophic mistake. (have done it myself and it’s horrendously embarrassing)

[@root.]

@@michaeljames4904 you're right. I was thinking about scholar's mate

[@michaeljames4904]

@@root. A fascinating interaction nonetheless in which Bobby comes across as far more earthy than cerebral.

[@JackConners123]

He even mistakenly called Menchik Hungarian, when in fact she was Czechoslovakian.

[@misganawchekole8971]

I love this interview seriously so smart and sophisticated chat by both men.

[@davidcopson5800]

Really? (or ironically?)

[@ask230]

1:22 Dick doesn't know what a "forced line" is. Obviously Fischer was a chess genius of historically rare caliber, but calculating 10+ moves is different from knowing the 10+ moves that are highly likely from a forced line that you've studied.

[@jorgesanchez9583]

You can see the level of intellect this guy possess, the interviewer doesn't even know how to ask questions that make him sound at the same level . This is a rare one since this guy always gets the better of them.

[@petersiegfriedkrug]

yes the famous Morphy game which I knew since I was a child

[@robmorr23]

Thanks for posting.

[@davidmartin7163]

Fischer explaining the way the rook moves and basic chess to Dick was exhausting 😱. Agadmator does a nice analysis of the entire game Paul Morphy versus the Duke. The way Agadmator explained it is way more in-depth and entertaining. The game was played at an Opera with Paul Morphy watching/listening the Opera that was to his back. Queen sacrifice was a nice Morphy ending 😃

[@rebeccalauren9191]

If you watch agadmator, you're probably a competent chess player who already knows the rules and pieces. Dick knew his audience (at least the majority of) probably didnt have any chess knowledge, so he was making Fischer's genius more accessible to them. But that's just my interpretation of what happened.

[@aimanesounaine1416]

At the risk of stating the obvious, Fischer wasn't a chess coach or a commentator. Being good at something doesn't really translate into explaining it well.

[@hienable6933]

Bobby showing the interviewer the Opera game instead of other more complex games is kinda nice of him

[@kikiu2619]

Cavett like many others didn't know chess, because Fischer put the game into the public consciousness!❤

[@harrydacosta9496]

FISCHER is the G.O.A.T THE END

[@milanpecelj8966]

"My head is always pretty clear." Oh, Bobby, dear Bobby....

[@nordmark16]

I feel like by today's talk show standards this conversation could be called "awkward" but it feels so much more genuine and real.

[@realmadridworld1688]

Dick Cavett is such a wonderful interviewer. Really wish today’s hosts would learn from him!

[@Unknown-jt1jo]

I liked how down-to-earth he was: "I wish I knew what else to ask you."

[@kierancoughlan1378]

Great video, now when can we have the Bobby Fischer interview on The Dick Cavett Show from 1972 after he won the world chess championship?

[@ralfrufus3691]

Bobby, I miss you so badly... the world is missing you so badly. It's not the same without you!

[@JustGeorgeOnYouTube]

'so, the pieces move in different ways?...'

[@francescoamatocfa2948]

Interviews back then were actual interviews. There was a lot of good and interesting questions here.

[@GNeuman]

This is such a treat watching these interviews. Dick was the the Grandmaster interviewer, wasn't he?

[@GoShwkk]

Cavett was great because Bobby was extremely hard to do interviews with he only answers the questions with very short sentences only few words and doesn’t say anything unless you ask him something

[@captainsplash]

That's greatness right there you understand boys?