“ One Night In Bangkok”Written by Benny Andersson , Björn Ulvaeus and Tim Rice ( 1984)Originally talk by Murray Head
The Music
With its perky refrain married to stiffly rapped rhyme about a chess grandmaster scoping out the metropolis of his latest mate , this was one of the strangest hits of the 1980s . Written by ABBA ’s Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus , and lyricist Tim Rice ( Jesus Christ Superstar , Evita ) , it was part ofChess , a musical based on the 1972 “ Match of the Century ” between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky . Chesshad a troubled run both in London ’s West End and on Broadway , but “ Bangkok ” charted worldwide , reaching # 3 in the US . The song was covered by Mike Tyson in 2011 , for the soundtrack ofThe Hangover II .
The History
It seems unfathomable now , the entire world hanging on every move of a chess game . And the players – a flamboyantly brilliant American and a quietly intense Russian – grabbing headline like celebrities . But the match that pitted Bobby Fischer against Boris Spassky was more than a game . It was twenty - five class of cold war competition between the Americans and the Russians bring to a head .
For the Soviets , chess was serious business organisation . “ Gymnastics of the mind , ” Lenin had call it . subsidize by the authorities , it was prescribed for all citizens . Its champions were internal hero . And those booster ruled the international chess game earth for over fifty years .
By compare , the US was apathetic to chess . It was the plot bring by your nerdy pal , or by old men in the common . But then along came Bobby Fischer . In 1966 , the 13 - twelvemonth erstwhile prodigy from Brooklyn wrench head when he became the US wiz . By 1972 , he ’d shoot down twenty external challenger and was ready to dispute Boris Spassky for the earthly concern title .
The two would meet for twenty - four secret plan . With a win equalize one point , and a hooking a half a point , the first histrion to twelve and a half points would be the victor . The winner would be grant $ 78,125 . The loser would get $ 46,875 . The setting for the equal was Reykjavik , Iceland , a neutral zone midway between the US and Russia .
Cold War Games
But the match almost did n’t fall out . After Spassky get , Fischer continue in New York , score outrageous last - minute demand . On top of prize money , he wanted 30 % of the gate receipts and 30 % of the film and TV rights . After a calendar week of stalled negotiations with the Icelanders , Secretary of State Henry Kissinger stepped in , urging Fischer to play . Hours before the deadline for a compeer forfeit , Fischer arrived . In the middle of all this drama , the macrocosm got swipe on the story .
Fischer started poorly , losing the first biz . He forfeited the 2nd game , say the randomness from the TV cameras was distracting him . Two down , he severely considering flee Iceland . But a member of his inner circle tamper with his machine engine so he would n’t be able to drive to the drome . Spassky conceded to Fischer ’s demand that game three be go to a side elbow room of the large expo Charles Martin Hall , with no tv camera . Fischer won . Games four and five were draws , then Fischer took game six . Once he settled in , he gathered momentum . By game 17 , it was Fischer 10 , Spassky 7 .
Each secret plan last an average of five hours , with the two men seat across from each other in a silence bristling with scheme and superstition .
Prior to the match , Fischer had filling removed from his teeth because he was certain that Soviets had devices that could interact with the metallic element fillings to understand his brain wave . Spassky was evenly paranoid . The fruit succus he was served in Reykjavik was flown back to Moscow to be tested for drugs . And Fischer ’s chair was x - rayed because Spassky believe there was a generator within it manoeuvre invisible thought - shin ray at him .
Checkmate
The match go on , and in game twenty - one , Spassky finally surrendered his statute title .
The candid Fischer triumph about how well it feel to “ break the ego of his resister ” and rupture down the propaganda of the Russian chess game elite . Spassky was personally blamed for the defeat , then eschew by the governance . He now lives in France , and is still active in the chess community . A calendar month after the loss to Fischer , the Russians were train a novel overlord , Anatoly Karpov , to reclaim the crown . But Fischer refused to fight back his deed , and was stripped of it in 1975 .
He became ever more reclusive , chess ’s own Howard Hughes , complete with the beard , wild rants and unrevealed location . In 1992 , he restaged the match against Spassky and win again . It was the only time in twenty years Fischer had played chess in public . The peer was played in Yugoslavia , then under international embargo . Because Fischer had defied a word of advice by President George H.W. Bush , an arrest warrant was issued . Fischer never return to the US , living in Budapest and the Philippines , before being give institution by Iceland . In 2008 , he died in Reykjavik , metropolis of his greatest triumph , at the years of 64 .
