King's Gambit, Fischer Defense King's Gambit, Fischer Defense The Fischer Defense to the King's Gambit is a chess opening variation that begins with the moves: Although 3...d6 was previously known, it did not become a major variation until Fischer advocated it in a famous 1961 article in the first issue of the "American Chess Quarterly". In the "Encyclopaedia of Chess Openings", the Fischer Defense is given the code C34. After Bobby Fischer lost a 1960 game at Mar del Plata to Boris Spassky, in which Spassky played the Kieseritzky Gambit, Fischer left in tears and promptly went to work at devising a new defense
Bobby Fischer media and leading players) for 1970, 1971, and 1972. Fischer was a charter inductee into the US Chess Hall of Fame in Washington, D.C. in 1985. After routing Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian in 1971, Fischer achieved a then-record Elo rating of 2785. After beating Spassky by the score 12½–8½ in their 1972 match, his rating dropped to 2780. St. Louis philanthropist Rex Sinquefield offered a $64,000 "Fischer Memorial Prize" for any player who could win all nine of their games at the 2009 US Chess Championship. By the fifth day of the championship, all 24 participants became ineligible for the