Bobby Fischer
I woke up this morning to find in my email inbox this one-liner from my friend Brian of Gangwon-do:
I don’t know what time it is in BC but hurry up and start blogging about Bobby Fischer!
I subsequently went to the news sites, and discovered that Bobby Fischer has died. I don’t really have much to say about Fischer, a chess genius who clearly exhibited some anti-social tendencies. His insistence that chess is nothing more than an attempt to break the spirit of the other player lowered the game, even if his wresting the chess crown from the dominant USSR was an event worth celebrating. Nor do I think him the greatest chessplayer of all time: that honour I reserve for Garry Kasparov, or, possibly, Kramnik, who shut out the former in a great match some years ago. Fischer was no sportsman, either, and he lost his crown by default after refusing to play the challenger. I do not even think Fischer an entirely sane man, spouting off, as he did, crazy conspiracy theories about “Jews,” the US, and 9/11 (Fischer’s own mother is Jewish.)
It is much more heartening for me to see that, after a break from the top tournament cycle, Teimour Radjabov has launched a stunning comeback. He is currently tied with Kramnik for second in the Wijk aan Zee tournament, has zero losses, and has chalked up another win against a World Champion: Anand.
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January 18th, 2008 @ 6:42 pm
I have to say I knew more about his eccentricities (is that a euphemism?) than about his chess history. Oh, and I think there was a movie about some child chess prodigy with his name in it.
January 19th, 2008 @ 12:48 pm
I think that movie was about a different child chess prodigy whose name escapes me at the moment–Josh something or other, I think. Anyway, thanks for dropping by!
January 19th, 2008 @ 12:56 pm
Can’t say RIP for the man who was probably to chess what Ty Cobb was to baseball– for a time, the best there was.
But also a miserable, tortured human being.
We can’t help who impacts our lives, and when those that did pass on, I guess it’s reasonable to reflect.
I had a lot of fun that summer of ’72; a lot of Americans did. It opened a new world to many of us, and it loomed large as a bloodless Cold War victory until it was surpassed by the “Miracle On Ice” in 1980.
I thought the tone of “Searching For Bobby Fischer”, a really nice movie, hit it about right– Fischer after 1972 was so despicable, but so clearly mentally ill, that it was just….sad.
January 20th, 2008 @ 9:38 am
Thanks for your comment, Tony. I think you hit the nail on the head with regards to Fischer. As for the movie, I can’t comment on it, since I haven’t seen it. On the other hand, I can say that for those in Canada, 1972 came a lot earlier than 1980(!) Cheers!