Fischer – Spassky – Game 2 of the 1972 World Championship Match
This is the infamous non-game. Fischer made objections to the television cameras (and the popping of flash bulbs in the audience), and refused to play until all cameras were banned from the playing hall.
When game time came, the dispute had not been resolved and Fischer didn’t show up. Fischer was declared to have forfeited, making the match score 2-0 in favor of Spassky.
One suspects that Fischer was merely upset about his game 1 loss, and was looking for some way to get the psychological upper hand despite his loss. I have no doubt Fischer felt he could beat Spassky, even with a 2-game deficit. Thus his forfeit of the game could — at least in terms of the 2-game deficit — be considered of not much more consequence than a gambited Pawn.
Here are the moves:
Round 2.
Fischer-Spassky
Date: July 13, 1972
0-1
Match score: Fischer 0, Spassky 2.
If you want to download the pgn file for the game, here’s a link.
See my post of game 1 for a note about the dates of the games in this match.