RIP Boris Spashky

[Songbird]

Spashky will always be ashociated, unfairly, with Fischer in the United States. But I am reminded of this story from Sports Illustrated about Fischer:

SI Flashback: Bobby Fischer

An SI all-timer.

"To find him, to see him, had become a kind of crazy and delirious obsession, the kind of insanity that has hounded other men in search of, say, the Loch Ness monster."​

Sounds like Pearlman trying to track down Sports by Brooks.

 

[HanSenSE]

The early '70s were a weird time in sports. In '72, the chess match was the biggest story of the year (Munich Mashacre not sports story IMO). There was live if remote play by play of each match on PBS (naturally). The next year's big story was Billie Jean King vs. Bobby Riggs. Then in '74, it was Evel Knievel's try to jump the Snake River Canyon.

I remember those PBS broadcasts. They had a teleprinter on the set that sounded an alarm after every move. The hosts would then walk over to a big board and show the new position. A 1970s version of CNN's magic wall. We still got an afternoon paper then and they'd run not only stories on the front page, but a move-by-move chart.

As for popularity, it was the Cold War and an American was beating a Russian ...'

 

[BTExpress]

I don't remember that ringing bell thingy until Karpov-Kasparov. Did they really have it for Fischer-Spashky and I missed it?

 

[da man]

Of all the "you had to be there" moments I wasn't there for in the 70s, I am fascinated by the idea that chess captured the public's fancy for a hot minute.

 

[da man]

 

[Michael_ Gee]

Way back in 1979, when SI had its 25th anniversary, my Phoenix colleague George Kimball pointed out that in the magazine's very early years in the '50s, it had several horses, a dog, a deer, and a duck on its covers before it ran one with an NBA player.

 

[da man]

Of all the "you had to be there" moments I wasn't there for in the 70s, I am fascinated by the idea that chess captured the public's fancy for a hot minute.

It was similar to when Americans were winning the Tour de France. How much of a "thing" in the Tour in the U.S. now?

 

[da man]

Don't forget "Superstars" and "Battle of the Network Stars."

Superstars was cool because those people were actual athletes -- I remember Bob Seagren winning the first one and thinking that was awesome.

The network stars BS? Not at all interested.

 

[dixiehack]

The thing that strikes me about chess in popular culture then versus other niche sports and near-sports is that it is strictly an intellectual pursuit. I'm not saying this was a country of highbrows subscribing to the Paris Review and box seats at the Met. But especially compared to the present day it would have meant people using and appreciating brainpower to follow the matches.

 

[poindexter]

RIP Spashky.

Will flags at American federal office buildings fly at half-staff?

 

[Michael_ Gee]

The thing that strikes me about chess in popular culture then versus other niche sports and near-sports is that it is strictly an intellectual pursuit. I'm not saying this was a country of highbrows subscribing to the Paris Review and box seats at the Met. But especially compared to the present day it would have meant people using and appreciating brainpower to follow the matches.

1. The Cold War did a lot of weird things. The US-USSR track meet in the Kennedy era had an attendance of 90,000 and great TV ratings.
2. There was also a novelty aspect. Having a US chess champ was kind of like if there was an Ohtani equivalent who came from Uzbekistan. So people got into it out of curiosity.
3. The commentary on the PBS broadcasts was hilarious. One of the broadcasters said at one point, "That's either a brilliant move or a complete disaster. I don't know which though."

 

[HanSenSE]

It was similar to when Americans were winning the Tour de France. How much of a "thing" in the Tour in the U.S. now?

It hasn't been the same without Bo Jackson. But Armstrong scene in "Dodge Ball: gets more hilarious over the years.