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or you can get all of History Daily plus other fantastic history podcasts at IntoHistory.com. It's July 11, 1972, inside an exhibition center in Reykjavik, Iceland, where the first match of the World Chess Championship is underway.

At least, it's supposed to be.

Boris Spaskey, the current chess world champion, is staring at an empty chair.

His challenger, Bobby Fisher, is nowhere to be seen.

A crowd of hundreds, reporters from all over the world, and dignitaries from Iceland and

beyond all wait nervously for something to happen.

With no other options available to him, Boris starts the game.

He plays his first move and hits start on the clock in front of him.

Murmurs reverberate through the usually silent halls as the crowd wonder what will happen next.

As it stands, Soviet player Boris Spaskey will win the game

if his American opponent Bobby Fisher fails to turn up within the next hour.

It would be a devastating loss for the Americans.

This match is about so much more than simply two men playing chess.

Thanks to a frenzied press and global televised coverage,

the narrative of East versus West during the Cold War

has the entire world hooked on this championship's outcome.

Even those who have never had an interest in chess before

are gripped by the game and by what it symbolizes.

But now, after weeks of buildup, Bobby's no-show is jeopardizing

...