Fischer - Castro, Havana 1966? Not!

Fischer-Castro, Havana 1966? Not exactly!

Anticipating the 40th Anniversary of the 17th Chess Olympiad in Havana, Cuba (October 23-November 20, 1966), I thought I'd try to learn more about the supposed offhand game that Bobby Fischer appears to have played with Fidel Castro. I say "supposed" and "appears" since the facts of the case (including news reports and photographic evidence) seem to suggest that Fischer was only doing some strong kibitzing in a game between Castro and Filiberto Terrazas and did not exactly play the Cuban leader "mano a mano." The evidence I have remains a bit ambiguous, however, and so I'd welcome more information or photographs to settle the matter conclusively (if Edward Winter, for instance, has not already figured this one out).

Let's start with the famous Fischer - Castro photo, which appeared in Chess Review. The caption to the photo reads as follows: "Fischer is apparently removing one of Premiere Castro's men in a friendly game. World Champion Petrosyan [sic] had drawn such a game with Castro. In background (with mustache and light tie) is Drimer, captain of the Roumanian Olympiad team." Then there is a second photo:

Fischer resigning?

Here the caption reads: "Surprise! Fischer concedes to Castro, and Petrosyan [sic] reaches to shake Fischer's hand."

The images and commentary suggest that both Petrosian and Fischer had done their best to appease Castro's ego by drawing or losing a game to the dictator. Indeed, the members of the Eastern bloc contingent seem to be thanking Fischer for playing along with their obsequious scheme. I had suggested as much myself in a previous post, which was based on my recollection of this caption and some subsequent writer's commentary (a source I cannot recall). But on closer inspection, I now think that view of the event is completely mistaken and probably some caption-writer's Cold War-inspired invention, which he never bothered to fact-check (note the word "apparently").

A different view of the incident is presented in the article "Bobby Fischer's Relationship with Cuba" by Miguel Ernesto Gomez Masjuan (Cuba Now No.23 - August 19, 2004) and reads as follows:

"During this tournament [the XVII World Chess Olympics--MG], sheer chance made Fischer and Cuban President Fidel Castro play against each other in an unusual chess game. Mexican Master Filiberto Terrazas wrote in an article published in Jaque Mate magazine (Havana, 1966) that it all started when he [Terrazas] and Fidel Castro sat down to play a match. Some minutes after the game began the Cuban leader received an important backup from Soviet chess player Tigran Petrosian. Then Terrazas asked Fischer, who was nearby, for help. / That’s how a game between the four began: Fidel Castro-Tigran Petrosian on one side (whites) and Filiberto Terrazas-Bobby Fischer on the other. In the end, whites won. / Testimonies of those times point out that Fischer talked for a while with the Cuban President and, before saying goodbye, gave him an autographed book." In Terrazas's account, the opening played in the consultation game was a French Defense, likely the Winawer (which he calls "Nimzowitsch") variation 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4.

Here is a photo that corroborates part of that story of the events. It shows Terrazas playing Castro with some of the same group of spectators as in the Fischer photo (including the woman in the flowered dress).

Terrazas-Castro, Havana 1966

The game Filiberto Terrazas vs Fidel Castro (Olympiad 1966) offered at Chessgames.com clearly supports Terrazas's version (compare the picture above to the position at move 12 in the game). Also, a close look at the first picture above suggests that Petrosian is not reaching to shake Fischer's hand but that of Terrazas in the lighter-colored suit reaching below Fischer.

However, things remain a bit ambiguous if we compare the available photos of this event more closely. If you look carefully at the piece position in the photo of Fischer (see close-up below), it appears that he has just played 3.exf5 in a game that likely began 1.e4 e5 2.Nc3 f5 3.exf5. It is also possible, if unlikely, that Castro is using the Black pieces but playing as White (which would fit somewhat with Terrazas's account), in which case the game began 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4! (with the White pieces playing as Black).

Fischer steps in to play either 3.exf5 or 2...exf4! [sic]

I rather like this second possibility, though it is sheer speculation, since it might explain the vigor of Fischer's kibitzing, seeing as he had written his famous article "A Bust to the King's Gambit" in 1961 and so his stance on accepting the gambit would have been well-known. In any event, this game is not the one between Terrazas and Castro given above, which began with Castro as Black accepting the King's Gambit, nor is it the consultation game that Terrazas describes, which was a French Defense.

The best explanation I can offer is that Terrazas and Castro played at least three games, with Fischer and Petrosian offering advice in two of them: a French Defense and a game where Castro appears to have played 1...e5 and 2...f5 as Black. That at least three games were played is also supported by an examination of a third photo of the event that depicts Petrosian's advice to Castro.

Petrosian helping Castro

A close look at this game shows that it is certainly not the King's Gambit game given above, nor (because Castro and Petrosian appear to be conducting the White pieces) the game depicted in the first photo where Fischer is White. It could, however, be the French Defense that Terrazas describes. Therefore, there must have been at least three games in the match, two of which involved Fischer's consultation.

Petrosian points to White's pieces.

Though I don't have all of the facts, it does appear that the commonly accepted view of this event in American sources is mistaken. Fischer did not purposely lose a game to Castro. Instead, he participated in what was likely two consultation games on the side of Terrazas against Castro and Petrosian. Seen in light of the Cold War (with the 1961 Bay of Pigs and 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis fresh in memory), the incident practically becomes a symbol of how the warring superpowers at that time struggled against each other in mediated fashion, using Cuba and other countries as surrogates in their contest for power.

I welcome further information or interpretation.

Update: Edward Winter kindly posted more pictures of Castro in Chess Notes #4502 at the 1966 Olympiad, though none related to the game with Fischer.