REYKJAVIK, Iceland — The historic chess match between American Bobby Fischer and Soviet champion Boris Spassky was the Cold War played out with pawns instead of missiles, a combat of mind games between two masters at the height of their powers.

Dubbed the Match of the Century and played in 1972 in the then-obscure Icelandic capital of Reykjavik, it made Fischer famous — and vice versa.

It was in that same city that he died Thursday at age 64 — one year for each square on the board — an outcast from the chess world and estranged from the United States.

Fischer called the match nothing less than "the free world against the lying, cheating hypocritical Russians." The affable Spassky, backed by an all-powerful, state-sponsored chess machine, just wanted to play.

The Soviet Union had held the chess crown since the end of World War II, Spassky since 1969. It was clear the freewheeling Fischer — U.S. champion since 14, grand master since 15 — was the most serious threat to their dominance.

The obnoxious but brilliant boy from Brooklyn, N.Y., relished humiliating Soviet players, in part, he said, because they agreed to quick draws in qualifying games between themselves, then forced him to play long, tactical and physically exhausting matches.

Fischer's confidence rose as he vanquished a succession of world-class players with trademark attacks that employed offensive tactics to crush opponents, not just simply defeat them.

The Spassky match almost didn't come off. Fischer threatened to boycott the Reykjavik match after complaining about the small prize money.

London financier Jim Slater stepped in, matching the $125,000 put up by the organizers in Iceland, who also gave the players a share of the money from television and movie rights. The winner would get more than $231,000, the loser more than $168,000.

Fischer lost the first game with a basic mistake, falling to the temptation to take a side pawn with his bishop, which was then trapped by Spassky's other pawns.

The American then complained about the TV cameras being too close. For the second game, he refused to leave his hotel room. Spassky sat by himself on stage for five minutes before leaving. Organizers waited an hour, according to international rules, before giving the win to Spassky.

With Fischer now trailing 2-0, Spassky agreed to concede to the American's demand that they play the third game in a back room away from cameras. Fischer won the game, his first ever victory against Spassky.

Fischer followed with more wins — in the fifth, sixth, eighth and 10th games — and never fell behind Spassky again.

In the last game, Spassky was losing and under increasing pressure from Fischer. With his pawns under attack, Spassky resigned after his 41st move. Fischer was world champion, winning 12Z\x points to 8½ points, in 21 games.

"Chess is war on a board," Fischer once said. "The object is to crush the other man's mind."