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The conclusion of the movie Pawn Sacrifice dramatizes the events of game 6 from the 1972 World Championship match featuring Bobby Fischer (portrayed by Tobey Maguire) vs. Boris Spassky (portrayed by Liev Schreiber) match played in Iceland.

In a title displayed near the end of the film, the film claims that "Game 6 is still considered the greatest game of chess ever played"

While many chess enthusiasts claim that game 6 is the best game of the match, there are many other games that are considered greater games by chess enthusiasts. The following are a few examples:

The Game of the Century refers to a chess game played between Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956, which Fischer won.

Kasparov's Immortal: 1st a Rook, then a Knight, and then another Rook! Garry Kasparov sacrificed all of these pieces and still managed to get the win against Veselin Topalov in Netherlands, 1999. Immortal? Yes...

What basis does the film have to claim that game 6 is considered the greatest game of chess ever played?

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  • Artistic license? Anything beyond that seems a matter of opinion or argument (and only chess enthusiasts could be bothered with either).
    – Andrew Thompson
    Commented Sep 27, 2015 at 10:04
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    OK. Great. I am looking for sources on why the movie is making this claim. If a source from the movie credits artistic license, question answered.
    – steelersquirrel
    Commented Sep 27, 2015 at 10:24

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I tried to provide you all the valid informations but i will say that's not 100% correct in terms of what you want but if it helps a little it will be great.

Source:Slate

In a title displayed near film’s end, the film claims that “Game 6 is still considered the greatest game of chess ever played.” By whom, you might ask. “One of the greatest”? Sure. Game 6 was a highly elegant positional squeeze punctuated with a clinical kingside attack. It’s generally considered the best game of this match. But it wasn’t the best game of all time. It wasn’t even Fischer’s greatest game—that honor goes to a spectacular queen sacrifice played against Donald Byrne in 1956. It’s been dubbed “The Game of the Century,” and is especially impressive since Fischer was just 13 when he played it. And many games played by others, both before and since Fischer-Spassky, could reasonably lay claim to being the greatest of all time, such as this amazing 1999 display from Garry Kasparov.

However, when it comes to Game 6—considered one of the best chess games ever played—Zwick's insistence on keeping things moving along undercuts the drama of the moment, one that saw Spassky lead the round of applause celebrating Fischer's historic and astounding victory, and his marvelous play.

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    The link you provided at the end of the answer was great! +1
    – steelersquirrel
    Commented Sep 27, 2015 at 12:36
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In game 6, Spassky had no defense and no attack. It was amazing that a player of Spassky's caliber, be dominated like that.

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    If Spassky had been that bad in the game, it would have been over very quickly - and not a great game.
    – Chenmunka
    Commented Dec 23, 2015 at 15:36

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