2 ms·
No, he had to be in exile in the first place because the played "The Soviets" when the bearucrats prohibited it.
by kirubakaran 19y ago
No, he had to be in exile in the first place because the played "The Soviets" when the bearucrats prohibited it.
- anamax 19y agoNo. He played A soviet in a Serbia in violation of an embargo. If you're going to argue that embargos are wrong, please start with the one against South Africa under apartheid.
- kirubakaran 19y agoI am not saying that embargoes are bad in all situations. Trade embargoes against certain countries make sense. But I hope you will agree with me that branding someone a traitor just because he played with another dude is kinda extreme.
- neilc 19y agoIt's not a question of "branding someone a traitor". There was an embargo against Serbia at the time, and the 1992 Fischer-Spassky chess match constituted a major commercial transaction (considering the press coverage and the $5 million prize money at stake). The State Department told Fischer about the consequences of playing the game well before it happened -- not only did he play the game anyway, he spat upon the letter from the State Department. IMHO he got pretty much what he deserved for that sort of behavior -- why not just play the match somewhere else, anyway?
- kirubakaran 19y agoDid anyone die when he spat on the letter? I don't care for his political views either. But I don't think anyone should be chased around the world like that because of the views they hold.
- neilc 19y agoHe wasn't chased around the world for spitting, or for the views he held -- he was accused of violating the trade embargo, which is a serious allegation.
- rms 19y agoI would have violated the trade embargo for prize money that big.