Spassky vs. Fischer | World Championship 1972 - GM Yasser Seirawan - 2015.09.17

Grandmaster Yasser Seirawan looks at Game 1 of the "Match of the Century" and compares it to the game's portrayal in the film "Pawn Sacrifice." Also, hear a couple funny Bobby Fischer stories.
Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer, Fischer - Spassky World Championship Match (1972): E56 Nimzo-Indian, 4.e3, main line with 7...Nc6

[@bmetal2]

we are lucky to have Yasser in chess. Great person!!

[@bennysaravi2832]

Seirawan is undeniable the most entertaining chess commentator with his impeccable english and deep intellect .It is just a pleasure to listen to him

[@lordhelps1]

not quite impeccable, but good nonetheless.

[@peter_castle]

mmmm... seirawan is a native english speaker, wtf u talking about?

[@Wickerless]

I love Seirawan, but you gonna have to have a look on Ben Finegold.

[@greghh2223]

@Mark Richardson Nope. He's American from Seattle. A nice little kid too. I remember him, though he has no reason to remember me.

[@ZephaniahL]

A model sadly neglected by so many more recent immigrants to the Anglo-Saxon countries.

[@ariskolaretakis6833]

Why am I watching this ? I don't even play chess, it's 3:00 am and I have to write 2 essays due in 8 hours

[@CrazyMunky84]

+Aris Kolaretakis Most university students while academics are actually morons. That's why.

[@ariskolaretakis6833]

i'm not a university student tho

[@CrazyMunky84]

Aris Kolaretakis You are what I say you are you gyro eating putz.

[@ariskolaretakis6833]

CrazyMunky84 everyone likes gyro dude don't blame me

[@dimabakumenko9823]

omg 2.55 am on my clock

[@CraigPendlebury]

Came for the chess, stayed for the stories. Love Yasser's work so much!

[@bryanhaakman]

Great stories at the end, very amusing

[@krisudhir]

Awesome video by GM Yasser Seirawan. Am very grateful for the fantastic gift of presentation you have - it makes the world of chess so much more beautiful.

[@shakeebuddinkashif4578]

i am very thankful to GM yasser seirawan for improving my chess. I am from India. thanks a lot!

[@princessaiko]

Loved the stories about Bobby Fischer. Thanks for sharing... :)

[@scottpaul7427]

Game 2 of this championship is the only game that I have memorized

[@dandecastro51]

4 yrs gone by and no one replied! Probably the funniest comment ever!!

[@zachhaywood1564]

HA!

[@gerardoroldan96]

you gotta love GM Yasser Seirawan

[@chesswithrichie8256]

That was wonderful, we are blessed to have the pleasure of listening to your stories.

[@HandsHeldHighh]

Not that it needs saying again, as everyone seems to be on the same page, but I enjoy you as well GM Mr. Seirawan. Your educational lectures and stories are amusing and interesting and invoke ambition =) Thanks!

[@cmdrfun1]

Thank you Yasser and CCSCSL! (also, more Ben please)

[@omarceentayyab]

Has there ever been a bigger fan boy of anyone ever? Lol. So Nice to see a legend like Yasser being such a fan of another legend

[@galefray]

GM Yasser's stories are the absolute best.

[@arpeeh21]

GM Yasser Seirawan, the Bob Ross of chess :)

[@stefanholbek2449]

Yasser as president! ;O) What a gentleman he is.

[@williambamann1845]

I love that intro music!! Brings a lot of energy to these videos at the beginning of these.

[@SaucyBat]

That friggin box that keeps popping up everytime Yasser does a variation is killing this video for me

[@KA1blow]

Hahahahhahahhahahahhahahahhahahahah

[@Oscardiaz131]

The Dardans

[@andrewschultz6608]

I'd seen the game and some of the analysis--but the anecdotes really make this shine. Well done!

[@MaraKaspar]

Mad respect to Yasser for correcting what the majority was told to believe.

[@samurguy9]

Sweet video, I really love the Bobby Fischer stories!! Lolz

[@blathmartin8347]

@12:20 Yasser says Spassky was seated when Bxh2 was played. But there is footage of the moment on KZbin which contradicts that, showing an empty seat across from Fischer when he plays the move.

[@dhochee]

Link? I've searched and can't find that.

[@harabas3499]

love those stories!

[@nyrfan]

Yasser misspoke at 5:30 when he called 4...Bb4 "The Veresov". It's Ragozin's Defense.

[@frodejohnsen8559]

Thank you.

[@mrengler1]

Whom did they hire as their chess expert? Mike kummer?

[@beingamo4]

+jason engler lmao

[@mattso7465]

+jason engler It is this grand master called Maxim Dlugy.

[@AlexSosaBolivia]

Mike "Heavy" Kummer is a good guy! Don't rag on the heavy kummer.

[@MKWiiLuke4TW]

grandmaster ken west perhaps?

[@gog4167]

Actually, they hired two chess experts: Rufus and Dufus...

[@blueromeo1974]

Ohh that boby fisher...thanks for telling those wonderful story of him Yasser! !

[@slylataupe4272]

This is the kind of guy you should never tell your secrets 😂

[@rbpompeu1]

Thank you Yasser, very instructive!

[@jameskala7278]

I'm really hoping that Yassar can give a lecture on game 6!! Spassky vs Fischer, its one of the most beautiful games ever played and I'm surprised you guys haven't given a lecture on it yet.

[@mazymetric8267]

I think game 6 is a little overrated. Spassky wasn't at his best in that game. In my opinion, game 13 was best game of the match. In that game, Fischer resurrected the Alekhine Defense. Botvinnik called it Fischer's greatest achievement at Reykjavik. Bronstein commented: "Out of the entire match, I find the 13th game the most attractive...like a mysterious sphinx, it teases my imagination."

[@hoodcountychess]

Thanks Yaz for sharing these great stories. By the way, I love your book Chess Duels! It's one of my favorite chess books in my library.

[@pixelheartsoftware]

"Passed pawn" might be a really good title for a movie about Bobby's death.

[@johncarlisle6865]

great video, i just he wouldn't do the analysis on the projection board as it's difficult to follow the game being discussed

[@benkar2039]

I do not believe Bobby missed 35.Bd2...he wanted to draw the ending which actually would have brought him psychological edge ..

[@dutchboy9991]

thanks yasvery good view.

[@dmaster20ify]

Yasser Seirawan you should be the one to make a Bobby Fisher movie! Infact when they were making the movie they should have hired you as a plot editor. You and Kevin From The Chesswebsite could team up and make a movie.

[@SyncChrome]

Yasser is da man.

[@phildo3668]

Ludek, a man after my own heart.

[@Waterflux]

Nice talk about some aspects of Bobby Fisher's background after the lesson. In many ways, he just did not seem to have the kind of personality required to bear the burden of being a celebrity or a public figure. Could it be that he became extremely famous before he was psychologically ready which then adversely affected the rest of his chess career? This sort of a sudden change in life can be too much to bear. We also see this sort of freaking out from athletes all the time, high draft football draft busts, for example.

[@Drvelasco45]

I want to watch pawn sacrifice in argentina but can't find a place :(

[@dadomendez6978]

Excellent lecturer GM Yasser! By the way, I would like to know the name of the music that open and close these inspiring lectures ... can anybody help me?

[@Leikjarinn]

Can do a video on Fridrik Olafsson GM from Iceland ♟️

[@RobertSmith-bn3zw]

thnks Yasser

[@kurtozan251]

Yasser is the best

[@lbvprasad5495]

Mega Star of chess, Super grand master, einstein of chess.......call what you may, words are not enough to describe the genius of bobby fischer in this life. Fischer rejecting the title retaining match against Anatoly karpov has pained the hearts of all his fans even today though bobby himself never regretted. Bobby fischer giving up chess at his pinnacle has made the chess world bankrupt of a great talent. This is the only blunder he made though never on chess board but in life. we love you bobby forever. in spirit you are always with us. your games are in this world for all of us to cherish for generations together. you are the very reason for our existance in chess. Though you are no more, we are still learning from you through your games. god takes them away young whom he loves the most....you are foremost among them.

[@niqwalshensemble9164]

Lbv PrasadBobby Fischer is still alive

[@Brandon-a-writer]

i've never seen such a graphic rhetorical rimjob ... Bobby Fischer was a great talent, but still human, and certainly no saint.

[@naklabtimothy2462]

I am not familiar with the term "GMA", what is it?

[@rajdeepdas2830]

nice story sir

[@mertgokgoz4073]

he should make more videos

[@epic0077]

yass is the best. very entertaining

[@williamhileman3966]

Cameraman could do a better job showing us what you might be pointing at...

[@dmaster20ify]

The movie Pawn Sacrifice is the shit.

[@dmaster20ify]

It's always amazing to revisit a game from the analysis of a grandmaster after you heard it from a lesser player. I think it was Kevin from the Chesswebsite.com that first annotated this game for me. In any case the person ended the analysis analysis at the variations surrounding Bobby's capture of the "poisson h2 pawn" and said it was just good technique from there by Boris. Now amazingly, Yasser is saying Bobby could have saved the game and it was only later he made the real blunder.

[@cheya111]

Game 1 is not that poison pawn game you are talking about. It is the next game Fisher is going to loose, I believe game 5 or 6.

[@Denis-mw9jy]

Guys, please, tell me the prog they always use to go for different variations and which i think has many great historical games. Thanks

[@aknopf8173]

I believe it's called chess base. It's not free though. There should be free chess databases of historical games though (just a guess)

[@MrSunilson]

you get the feeling that pawn sacrifice would have been a much better movie had yasser been involved somehow in directing it :)

[@makmidov]

... but why the idea of going with the king into the corner a8 in not applied by Fischer, is it not a draw then ...

[@lellul1749]

Wow always thought Bxg3 ended the game

[@Nootathotep]

was that start a metaphor?

[@ajedrezbrasil7968]

Bxh2 is not a mistake... according to the engine it is draw and it even offers chances for black to try to win a boring equal game/position

[@mattso7465]

Did they consult Boris Spassky?

[@silvaneteandrade3329]

Matt So

[@boomjonggol5757]

10:25 Bxf6 Bxf6 Rd7 scoops up pawns, so aftee Bxf6 gxf6 would be forced, and the game could imbalancs slightly?

[@recjack2816]

Guys stockfish 3300 elo has analized this position 18:57 and said that Ke4 is the best move for black

[@teamplayer2helper]

Then check your stockfish again.

[@dannygjk]

+Rec Jack You should know that even a powerful engine needs some time to accurately analyse some positions. Give it at least 5-10 minutes.

[@MusikPiratCH]

+Dan Kelly Maybe even then engines struggle in more than 7-piece endings. There is no database (like Nalimov or similar) awailable. This makes it harder for even the strongest engine to evaluate a position correctly. There strong GMs are much better. Because they know the strategic goals of the endgames! (Stockfish is the strongest engine for free - only Komodo is a little stronger.)

[@dannygjk]

MusikPiratCH Yes but most positions don't require special positional understanding for the engine to choose the best move(s).

[@MusikPiratCH]

Dan Kelly You're completely right. GM Larry Kaufman (responsible for the chess knowledge of Komodo) pointed out two weaknesses of even the strongest engines: 1. very calm strategic positions or openings and 2. endgames where the engines cannot simply find a combination that leads to one of the tablebases they use. That's very important to know if you rely on engines! ;)

[@fdsafdasfdas5256]

Wow that's amazing! I never knew there was an advanced variation planned behind the Bxh2 move. Too bad it didn't work.

[@dmaster20ify]

[34:20] Great story Yasser. This proves that Bobby Fischer wasn't really crazy an that he was just too smart for his own good. Because the man hires a private detective and Bobby Fischer spots him out. Let me tell you this. This realest people get the hardest fight. Bobby Fischer wasn't paranoid to a great extent. Probably he was being a pussy when he was complaining about the cameras just because he wanted to play with Boris's head and get to win. But when you begin to talk on certain issues people call you crazy and actually try to drive you into insanity. But Bobby Fischer was a tough and rough soldier. Never saw him eating out of garbage bin and he died at young age just to get out of this cruel world that full of satanic people. He is now at a better place.

[@lbvprasad5495]

Bobby Fischer was not a chess player - He was a chess magician....able to do the impossible tricks which even grand masters' brains could not comprehend. Had he continued his play, he would have whipped many more asses in the world of chess championship play. He was a messenger of god specially sent to the chess world. His lack of defending his title rematch with Anatoly Karpov is still regretted by all his fans throughout the world.

[@ajedrezbrasil7968]

Agree

[@pr0ject_nihilist]

in reference to the video i went to a titty a few months ago and was out of state. A dude get taken onstage like its his birthday and treated right and i asked a girl, "whats that dudes story?' She said, "He just won first place in some motor cross championship." We were out of state riding four wheedlers and motor bikes. I couldn't find a single reference to ANY motor cross race that day within 500 miles. The strippers didn't believe Bobby or the other dude. If you tell a stripper that the moon is made of cheese and buy her drink; she will agree.lol Even the chess champion of the world gets lucky> Anyone see Magnus's new found love? A real smart fool

[@MrsCarebearXX]

Two knights tango opening

[@silvaneteandrade3329]

MrsCarebearXX

[@Litago94]

I just have to say that 39...Kc6 loses to 40. Bf8!

[@rutvikthakkar7950]

GM Yasser Seirawan; Isn't it possible, that, Sir Robert James Fischer; purposely lost the first game, to let Borris Spassky, gain a tempo and think, he has world championship in his pockets?

[@thomasstokes1949]

That man should be ashamed. He knew Bobby was skittish.

[@Abc-tx4zr]

GM's don't even smoke crack

[@viktornagy6414]

32..g5! whith a good drawing chance, 33. Kg2- g4 34. Kxh4 h3 35 e4- a6 36. bxa6- bxa6 37. Be3 Ke7 The king stck in the corner protecting h pawn,

[@Con4dentual]

You! What or que?

[@jasonrawls6959]

What the heck was Bobby's problem!? Such a shame.......

[@patapon646]

Paranoia

[@Nootathotep]

+patapon646 wasn't it Schizophrenia? and later death?

[@patapon646]

not sure. no proper diagnosis

[@teamplayer2helper]

He didn't have schizophrene (can't spell it), but many believe he had Paranoia.

[@dnickaroo3574]

Bobby Fischer had unusual childhood. When asked about his father his eyes glaze over, and he can barely stutter a reply. (Friends said it could take him a couple of days to recover.) His mother married a German scientist before WW2, and they then lived in Moscow (both being Communists). With War looking immanent, they made arrangements to return to US. However, her husband was not allowed entry into US because he had fought with Communists against Franco in Spanish Civil War. Bobby's real father was a Hungarian scientist who had moved to US. He did not live with them, but visited Bobby quite regularly. However he was concerned about Bobby as being neglected, even reporting to child welfare agencies that Bobby was not being given enough to eat. His father died when Bobby was 11 years old. When Bobby became US Chess Champion at 14 years old, he and his mother could not live together and soon afterwards he was living alone in a disorderly apartment. His mother was still active in politics, and the FBI would periodically check on them. His mother had taught him to answer:"I have nothing to say." He experienced organisers who would change conditions of some Tournaments he played in, breaking Contracts they had made (at age of 15 years). It is easy to see why he became suspicious of people's motives and paranoid. When he was jailed in Japan for about 10 months, Boris Spassky wrote to George W. Bush asking him to show Bobby "some mercy". If not Spassky suggested that he should be jailed also -- they would have been happy together with a Chess Set!

[@palmarius104]

They portrayed Bobby as a paranoid schizo who was just conceited. He really wasn't, though he was portrayed that way.

[@adriaanpruyssers1459]

I was cracking up during the last story about Bobby Fischer. I don't hear any laughter from the audience however....

[@mikedee1771]

Great lecture. But "Pawn Sacrifice" is a mediocre movie with numerous inaccuracies. Spassky is made to look like a Russian gangster, often with dark glasses and looking menacing. Not a serious docu-drama.

[@whoisbhauji]

the movie sucked bad time... Peter was good as Bill but the movie was all over the place.. good anecdotes though!

[@johndarrell264]

Oh yea bishop takes h2 me and the homies are always yamming about that.

[@nerd6066]

Yasser! Much Evil.

[@dublintvcontent2023]

Can't believe or understand how Yasser could like that utter rubbish film "Pawn Sacrifice". It was so bad it was at times comically bad and so absurd, with the worse thing probably being Tobby Maguire as "Fischer". So bad and unsuitable and frankly creepy. Video here is otherwise good.