> And then in the Championship against Spassky he won 12.5-8.5 (+7-3=11) TBH in that match Fischer started his shenanigans about demanding all sorts of things

> And then in the Championship against Spassky he won 12.5-8.5 (+7-3=11) TBH in that match Fischer started his shenanigans about demanding all sorts of things which most likely unbalanced Spassky - who was known to be somewhat lazy - so with all the political pressure and mind games he likely decided that he doesn't care enough. The match was actually not that top-level chess as it is presented in chess mythology. Reshevsky [1] said the following things about it: "True, there were several excellent games, but the match as a whole was disappointing. It was marked by blunders by both players. The blunders committed by Spassky were incredible. In two games, for example, Spassky overlooked a one-move combination. In the first, he was compelled to resign immediately, and, in the other, he threw away all chances for a win. Fischer was also not in his best form. He made errors in a number of games." ... and he is also very critical of how Spassky was prepareding for the match. So a well-prepared Karpov would likely have been able to dethrone Bobby, and I think Fischer knew it, and it played a big part in why he had forfeited the defence. [1]: http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/collections/The%20Fischer-Spassky%20Games.pdf http://billwall.phpwebhosting.com/collections/The%20Fischer-...