Official Review: Bobby Fischer World Champion for Poiltic...

[RegularGuy3]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Bobby Fischer World Champion for Poiltical Reasons?" by Julio A Hidalgo.]

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1 out of 4 stars

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Who doesn't love a good conspiracy theory? Unfortunately, Bobby Fischer: World Champion for Political Reasons? fails to build on an intriguing premise: did the Soviets, the U.S., and all of the individual participants fix the 1972 world chess championship to serve their own political ends?

The elements for an excellent story are all here: the drama of a one-on-one match of wits, a high-stakes moment in the Cold War, and a conspiracy surrounding the intersection of the two. The book starts with a review of Soviet-U.S. relations in the 1950's through the early 1970's and then jumps straight into the tournament, recapping Fischer's games and matches against the Soviet Mark Taimanov, the Danish Bent Larsen, and finally the 1972 championship match with Boris Spassky.

There are a few moments of genuine suspense--most notably, the crucial turning point in the Spassky match. Spassky took the first game, but Fischer resigned the second after becoming upset upon learning there were television cameras in certain places in the room. The match almost fell apart, but Spassky agreed to continue after acquiescing to Fischer's seemingly arbitrary demands before Game 3. Spassky was never the same as the match progressed. Hidalgo wants to explore whether there was more to the story of the gamesmanship and the match as a whole.

But there is not anything more to the story, at least as far as this book can credibly prove. Hidalgo presents his argument mostly by cutting, pasting, and occasionally bolding large portions of other published works that do not share his thesis. These block quotes comprise about two-thirds of each chapter, and are often newspaper coverage of the games or later-printed interviews with those who were present. Hidalgo explains that one must read between the lines to find the truth. But rather than mine those depths directly, each block quote is typically followed by rhetorical, conclusory questions that ignore either the context of the statements or the actual words used.

The rest of the evidence of a fixed match are essentially no different than the pre- and post-game quotes from any modern-day sporting event. Before the match, the challenger is overrated. After the win, the champ is an all-time great. As in all cases, the truth is probably somewhere in between.

The reader imagines Hidalgo insisting "See! I told you so!" over and over again while the reader thinks "So what?"

Aside from the games 2 and 3 intrigue, the primary entertainment comes from a couple of unexpected pictures (including Fischer playing chess against Fidel Castro and Franklin Roosevelt smoking a cigarette with Stalin) and some lively commentary from Fischer's competitors.

But those are not enough to save the book or even the premise. I rate this book 1 out of 4 stars for failing to bring any life to what could have been a compelling story and failing to meaningfully resolve the promise of the title. If the topic interests you, you are better off reading the source materials that Hidalgo copied into his book.

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Bobby Fischer World Champion for Poiltical Reasons?
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[AriyoJam]

"In our age there is no such thing as 'keeping out of politics. All issues are political issues, and politics itself is a mass of lies, evasions, folly, hatred and schizophrenia." -George Orwell

[kandscreeley]

Yikes. It's too bad the author didn't develop this better. Thanks for sticking with it through the end. I don't think I'll be reading it.

[kislany]

What a great premise, and how sad that it was ultimately ruined in the process. Thanks for posting your honest review.

[Ayosinmi]

The book sounds like a no to me. I'm totally not going near this one. Thanks for your very well structured review, rich and very professional. I'm impressed by it and you are on my watchlist. Cheers.

[Kelebogile Mbangi]

I enjoyed spunk and attitude in this review! I enjoyed reading this, it even made me laugh! Thank you for a well written, enjoyable review!

[Christina Rose]

Thank you for this honest review. I'm a huge fan of conspiracy theories, and it can be difficult at times to find decent books worth reading. It's good to know this book would probably not live up to expectations.

[Jaime Lync]

Yikes. It's too bad the author didn't develop this better. Thanks for sticking with it through the end. I don't think I'll be reading it.

Couldn't have said it better myself - Yikes!

[Snowflake]

It does sound like an interesting premise. It is really too bad the author didn't follow through. Thanks for the informative review.

[juliusotinyo]

Nice review, the book bored me at chess. I have played many board guys but I cannot stand chess.

[KlareAllison]

I always feel sad when a writer's efforts are marred by avoidable errors. I think it is very unfortunate that Bobby Fischer: World Champion for Political Reasons? fails to deliver on its title. I also think that RegularGuy3 has done the author a great service by his honest opinion of this book.

[Belynda White]

Wow. It's quite unfortunate the author's effort got marred like this. It all could have been avoided. I hope the author does a better job at editing this book.

[Marylynn]

An interesting review though it seems like you did not enjoy the book that much. Thanks for the review.

[geoffrey ngoima]

Oh, wow, great review, too bad about the book; it looked promising

[Quinto]

More of a tempest in a teaport...
Your review hit the mark and witty at that.