Bobby Fischer - An icon from another time
The Land of the Free and Home of the Brave had taken on The Red Menace and beaten it at its own game — at least that’s how it was packaged and believed by millions on both sides of what was a very real and dangerous divide. The win by the eccentric genius straight from central casting made him a Cold War hero and afforded the West bragging rights almost on a par with those won by getting the first man on the moon.
By being one of the first Americans to engage with Soviet Russia, Fischer — and Spassky — made a significant contribution to the end of the Cold War and the relative stability we now enjoy.