László Szabó vs Bobby Fischer
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| László Szabó | Bobby Fischer | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1917 | 1943 |
| Died | 1998 | 2008 |
| Country of birth | Hungary | - |
| Star sign | Pisces | Pisces |
Who they are
László Szabó
In the spring of 1950, chess's governing body FIDE organized the first official World Championship Candidates Tournament in Budapest — and it was played on Hungarian soil, in front of Hungarian crowds, with a Hungarian player competing seriously for the right to challenge world champion Mikhail Botvinnik. That player was László Szabó, and while he finished fifth in a field containing the greatest players alive, his presence alone announced something unmistakable: Hungarian chess had arrived at the summit of the game, and Szabó had carried it there.
Full biography of László Szabó →
Bobby Fischer
On a July evening in 1972, in a stark hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, two men sat down to play chess with the eyes of the world upon them. One represented the Soviet Union, the dominant chess power that had held the World Championship for twenty-four consecutive years. The other was a twenty-nine-year-old from Brooklyn who had learned the game from a pamphlet at age six, who had barely slept in weeks, who had already threatened to withdraw from the match twice, and who was now the most famous chess player on earth. Robert James Fischer…
Full biography of Bobby Fischer →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
- Both Pisces.
Where they part
- 26 years separate their births (1917 and 1943).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, László Szabó or Bobby Fischer?
- László Szabó. László Szabó was born in 1917, Bobby Fischer in 1943.
- What field is each of them in?
- László Szabó is filed under Sports (Chess). Bobby Fischer is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.