One of the benefits of A Tribute to Bobby Fischer is that one does not need to be in front of the computer or sitting at the chessboard. The DVD plays on your TV (or DVD drive), and you can kick back, relax, and have a 2700 GM demonstrate a number of games for you in the comfort of your home.
Roman’s introductory tribute to Fischer is narrated over a background of file footage and photos of Fischer, similar to what one could find on YouTube. But at one point the background switches to Ron Henley and Anatoly Karpov exhibiting one of Fischer’s games. This is distracting because one is inclined to try and follow the game that is being demonstrated and thus tune out the commentary. It is difficult to follow the game and Roman’s narration at the same time.
Dzindzi skips the 1972 Word Championship games and indicates that he chose his “most favorite” Fischer games, “according to the originality of Fischer’s play ... and his amazing preciseness.” The DVD cover claims that “these games are Fantastic and rarely analyzed.” Interestingly, we never see Dzindzi on screen. His voice is just an ethereal presence as the games are played over a computerized demonstration board. We even get to watch as the pieces are reset in between games and colors are swapped from the top of the board to the bottom.
For the bonus content, we see an excerpt from the DVD, Karpov on Fischer, Vol. 2, where Karpov and Henley review Game 3 of the 1972 World Championship. As for the “rare footage” (called “extremely rare footage” on the DVD cover) from the 1992 match, this is simply an excerpt from ChessDVDs own Grandmaster Magazine Series #8.
There are those who will look at the publisher’s overblown hyperbole, the less-than-polished production, and the not-so-fluent presentation and be dissatisfied with this product. Yet there are also those who will focus on the chess-specific content and realize that they purchased an evening or two of entertainment at a reasonable price.