When a chess match became a Cold War spy thriller

A closer look

Forget nuclear submarines and espionage; the most intense battle of the Cold War was fought with carved wooden horses and sheer, unadulterated paranoia. The 1972 World Chess Championship in Reykjavik was an absolute geopolitical circus. The eccentric American Bobby Fischer demanded specific lighting and complained about camera noise, while the Soviet KGB literally X-rayed the players' chairs because they genuinely believed Fischer was using electronic devices to beam distracting frequencies into Spassky's brain.