Bobby Fischer - Olympiads

Olympiads

Fischer refused to play in the 1958 Munich Olympiad when his demand was turned down that he, as the reigning U.S. Champion, play first board ahead of Samuel Reshevsky. According to some sources, Fischer, then 15, was unable to arrange leave from attending high school in order to play in Munich. However, he represented the United States on top board with great distinction at four Olympiads:

Olympiad	Individual result	U.S. team result
Leipzig 1960	13/18 (Bronze)	Silver
Varna 1962	11/17 (Eighth)	Fourth
Havana 1966	15/17 (Silver)	Silver
Siegen 1970	10/13 (Silver)	Fourth

Fischer's overall total was +40 −7 =18, for 49/65 or 75.4%. In 1966, he narrowly missed the individual gold medal, scoring 88.23% to World Champion Tigran Petrosian's 88.46%. Fischer played four more games than Petrosian, faced stiffer opposition, and would have won the gold if he had accepted Florin Gheorghiu's draw offer in the penultimate round rather than declining it and suffering his only loss.

Fischer had planned to play for the U.S. at the 1968 Lugano Olympiad, but backed out when he saw the poor playing conditions.

In the 1962 Varna Olympiad, on the eve of the match between the U.S. and Argentine teams, Fischer boasted to his teammates that he would finish his game in 25 moves. His opponent the next day, Miguel Najdorf, opened with the Sicilian Najdorf, and resigned on move 24.