Judit Polgar of Hungary, the strongest female chess player of all time, will be inducted into the World Chess Hall of Fame during the 6th Annual Strategy Across the Board Gala hosted by the Saint Louis Chess Club and World Chess Hall of Fame (WCHOF) on Saturday, December 3 in Saint Louis, Missouri. | Photo: Bill Hook / Jana Maskova (Czechoslovakia) vs. Judit Polgar (Hungary) at the 1988 Thessaloniki, Greece, Chess Olympiad 1988
Chess history will be made this year at induction ceremonies recognizing several exceptional contributors to the iconic game as the newest members of the U.S. and World Chess Halls of Fame. The first ceremony will honor 2022 U.S. Chess Hall of Fame inductees Daniel Willard Fiske, James Tarjan and John Watson, as well as 2021 World Chess Hall of Fame inductees Miguel Najdorf and Eugene Torre.
After twenty games the score was 11½-8½ for Challenger Bobby Fischer, who needed 12½ to win the title. In game 21 he had the black pieces, gained a distinct advantage, but then allowed Boris Spassky to get a drawn position. However, when the still-reigning World Champion adjourned, he sealed a losing move. The next day, September 1st, 1972, resigned by telephone on. At 2:35 p.m. Chief Arbiter Lothar Schmid congratulated Fischer and announced in the hall that Bobby was the new champion.
After draws in games 14 and 15, Fischer still had a three-point lead in the World Championship match, and the Spassky side was getting nervous. The Champion was fighting hard, but not getting any points. Suspicion arose that Fischer might be using secret weapons: hypnosis, devices planted in the lights or the chairs, and even perhaps assistance from an "IBM" (Russian for "computer" at the time). All this was formally investigated, while Fischer continued to coast.
Players sit face to face in deep concentration, contemplating their next moves before the piece is selected and glides across the chess board to settle in its chosen space.