EAN: 9789493257474

THE MATCH OF ALL TIME - GUDMUNDUR THORARINSSON ...

When the Icelandic Chess Federation made a bid to host the 1972 world title match between
Soviet icon Boris Spassky and American challenger Bobby Fischer  many Icelanders were rightly
shaking their heads in disbelief. How could their small island country in the middle of the
Atlantic Ocean with a population of less than 300 thousand people stage such a prestigious
event in the first place?Undeterred and naively optimistic the young President of the Icelandic
Chess Federation  Gudmundur Thorarinsson  set to work and to everyones astonishment theirs was
the winning bid. But that was only the beginning of one of the most amazing stories in chess
historyBobby Fischers demands and whims constantly jeopardised the match. First the American
chose not to board his plane in New York  and then he came late for the first game. That game
he lost after a silly blunder and the second game he lost because he didnt turn up in a fight
about noisy cameras. But next he won the third game  that was played in a back room  and the
rest. is history.Fifty years on  Gudmundur Thorarinsson has written a tell-all book about The
Match of the Century  crammed with behind-the-scenes stories and improbable twists and turns.
Reading his gripping account of probably the most iconic sports contest during the Cold War 
you will understand why he prefers to call it The Match of All Time.And why reliving this most
unlikely adventure he comes to the conclusion: It was not possible to organise this match  nor
was it possible to rescue itbut still it was done!

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