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Bobby Fischer Is Dead At 64
A number of readers wrote in to make sure we know that former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has died in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he had lived since 2005. No cause of death was given.
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Regardless where ever he went in his after life, I hope he's forced to play checkers. Or at reincarnated as a marble in a Chinese Checkers game. :D
That and a few other choice comments attributed to him make me want to say, good riddance. It is such a travesty to see such greatness overshadowed by blantant and raving bigotry. I don't care how good at chess he was anymore, the world doesn't need to celebrate assholes like this just because "they were once great"
It really sounds like he succumbed to hate and had to disappear at times simply because he knew he couldn't exist in the real world
* Winners compare their achievements to their goals, losers compare theirs to that of others.
Checkmate!
I am by no means an expert or historian on Bobby Fischer's life. I once admired him. Sadly, for Mr. Fischer, I always wished that his past caught up with him and he would forget his new found convictions.
... usually.
From an admirable chess player early on, he showed signs of mental instability. But really, who hasn't from time to time? He made absurd demands to move Moscow closer to the ocean or make the sun set sooner for his convenience when he appeared at the famous game. I've read accounts that make him sound borderline autistic. Although he seemed to have much more cognitive powers
I wish I could erase the last half of Bobby Fischer's life from history. I wish he never touched a radio station's microphone. His proclamation that the September 11th attacks were "wonderful news" and calling for the US to be destroyed, his several radio aired remarks against Jewish peoples and other disparaging remarks. Was this for attention? Was this really what he believed? I'm not sure what personally made him feel this way but living in Iceland under political asylum was not the way I wanted to see it end.
Unfortunate that he died. Even more unfortunate that he never came around to apologize and promote chess in schools and everywhere. We'll miss the young Bobby Fischer and always be a little confused about what happened to make him cross that fine line between ingenuity and insanity. Rest in peace, Bobby Fischer.
My work here is dung.
So as a Go player, he would've lived for 297 more years?
He died from complications to his kidneys. He'd been ill for some time.
-THE END-
http://home.att.ne.jp/moon/fischer/
mental illness is sad. 1 beer a day will not cure dementia.
Fischer was truly epic in his takedown of the Russian "machine". Then the American politicians screwed him for playing the immortal game during a temporal war.
In chess you don't have to die young to leave a good looking corpse you just have to get out of the spotlight while you're ahead. (Britney Spears take note.)
Well we have his radio rants happy about 11-9 but at least no bad chess games out of his prime.
If you need text styles to communicate then you don't have a message.
The latter day Fischer was a raving lunatic. His "politics" do not merit rebuttal or even serious consideration. I choose to remember the Fischer of my youth -- which was quite pleasantly misspent in the 70s. No single player has ever so completely dominated chess like Fischer. His play is a model of simplicity, logic, creativity, and elegance. I would say that he will be missed, but, in truth, we in the international chess community have already missed the real Bobby Fisher for many years.
"Checkmate", from the Persian "shah mat" meaning, "the king is dead".
Fischer's ability to analyze quickly and precisely the complexities of chess in all its applicable levels at any given type made him very special and gave him so much to offer the world. The defunct psychosis that he suffered from rendered him completely useless for the greater good that his abilities offered.
Bobby Fischer was a great man of nothing.
He died last Knight and apparently a Bishop gave him last-rites
He was just a Pawn in the struggle between Kings and Queens
thomasdz
Seems appropriate somehow.
MHNATY.
Mourn the passing of his younger self, and feel free to despise his older self.
Fans of the Highlander series are especially adept at selective memory such as this.
"If you think you have things under control, you're not going fast enough." --Mario Andretti
anybody else glad that fischer can't write his own press release re: his death? b/c you know he'd blame this fictional jewish conspiracy for it...
ed
Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean you should be happy they died. Some folks might think you're an asshole, but would that stop people you love from being hurt when you died? Of course not. Just be glad he's at peace, that his hatred has left the building.
and then the rest of the dominoes will fall like a house of cards.. CHECKMATE!
"Thank you for using Stop-n-Drop, America's favorite suicide booth since 2008"
The machines have turned! Deep Blue murdered him in his sleep! Checkmate.
This was a man of great genius, and like many of his talent was prone to highly idiosyncratic behavior, if not in some way pathological. It is sad that such a disturbed man was given a forum (esp. radio) to disgrace himself so thoroughly; however, due to his reclusiveness the public could never know the details of any mental issues he may have suffered from toward the end. Regardless this is a man who should be remembered for his talent, and his contributions to the game of chess.
To those many Americans who will dismiss him for his unfortunate and terrible comments: Give the guy a break - you should be proud of this man's accomplishments on behalf of the US, who inspired your children to learn the game and who's story captured the world.
RIP Bobby Fisher
When a mind possessed of analytic capacities such as Fischer's turns those powers on the world, the result is inevitability some kind of psychosis. The world simply requires a more synthetic approach. While the content of Fischer's diatribes is certainly controversial, let's be wise enough to see they likely stem from the fact that he was a man trapped in his mind, unable to escape the analytical powers of his mind and live more holistically in the world. Even if the content of his politics had changed, it wouldn't change the fact that they were based in a mental misappropriation of the world.
Lets not remember the man for his faults, which boil down to misapplied genius if not true biological mental illness. Instead, let's remember the man for the great intellect that he possessed, and let his later political endeavors serve as reminder to us all of what can happen when we analyze the world from too great a distance instead of simply living inside of it.
Vivere in pace, Mr. Fischer, wherever your soul now resides.
As for Fischerandom Chess, I had a similar idea years ago where each side arranged their first row into their own preferred order, which was then revealed to their opponent at the commencement of play. It was a combining of Chess with Stratego that I called Modern Chess. Of course, my idea never caught on since, unlike Bobby Fischer, I Am Not A Chess Grand Master.
I'm sorry that his views over the later years became so hard to justify, or even understand in any rational sense, but I'll always remember my first contact with his name.
"It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
In chess you don't have to die young to leave a good looking corpse you just have to get out of the spotlight while you're ahead. (Britney Spears take note.)
I think Britney Spears' chess career isn't over by a long shot. Remember that brilliant opening she made in her first game in last year's USCF championship?
Whatever else he was, he was probably the best chess player ever. I liked how he would come out of obscurity to beat whomever was the current Grandmaster, then disappear again.
This isn't correct. From 1963-68 for a variety of reasons (some of them relating to his religious beliefs at the time), he rarely played, but he played well when he did play. Then in 1969 he got serious about competing for the World Championship and returned to full time active play. After winning the championship in 1972 he essentially permanently retired from chess by simply refusing to play again, coming out of retirement only in 1992 to beat Spassky (the guy he defeated in 1972 for the championship) again in a rematch. Spassky at this time had long stopped being a top notch player and was probably at best in top 70 or so chess players, possibly even lower than that. So to say that Fischer "would come out of obscurity to beat whoever was the current Grandmaster" is completely inaccurate, but he certainly did disappear again.
By the way, there are many "Grandmasters" in chess. While compared to average guy on the street they are chess playing geniuses, there are at any time multi-hundreds of grandmasters in chess. I've known of US ones who were quite good on the US scene and absolutely nothing in terms of their international standing.
While many Americans would love to believe that Fischer was the greatest chess player ever, certainly it was really Garry Kasparov. If some thought that Anatoly Karpov (the man that Fischer lost his title to in 1975 by refusing to play) was better than Fischer, I wouldn't argue it. Karpov was a truly great player. Fischer was truly excellent, but he only played a very limited number of openings with both the white and black pieces. Kasparov and Karpov excelled at all openings with white and black. One of Fischer's favorite defenses with black, the Benoni, has been mostly discredited since his championship title in 1972. The Benoni basically is a losing defense for black if white plays what is called the "Four Pawns Attack" against it. This method of attack by white has never been successfully answered by the black pieces. In fact, this attack is so fearful that most Benoni players will transpose into the Benoni from other openings only after it becomes impossible for white to use this method. No grandmaster is brave enough to start the Benoni from the first move for fear of white adopting the Four Pawns Attack against it. Fischer was a specialist in a very limited repertoire of white and black moves and Karpov and Kasparov could play anything. I'd personally place him 2nd of all time behind Kasparov.
Actually, the man succumbed to mental illness. Hopefully you're never in a position to pass any meaningful judgment on people who have these kinds of issues.
Every four years I vote in the American presidential election.
There are a number of books out there by and about Fischer. If you're looking just for a book involving his insights into chess My 60 Memorable Games is a great work by Fischer.
We warned, tho, it's not for the casual chess player. I read it at a point when I studied a lot of chess and considered myself (and was considered by others) to be a pretty good chess player. As far as chess books go it's a pretty hard read. Also note that according to one of the Amazon reviewers that there are several editions of this book. I have a 1st edition copy so YMMV by which edition you pick up.
Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
Fischer's greatest legacy was probably his amazing winning streak of 20 consecutive games, during the Interzonal tournament and Candidates matches leading up to the world championship match with Spassky. This may never be equalled at such a high level, especially in a game where draws are so common. Presumably Tom Brady will never wind up in a Japanese prison fighting extradition to the US for consorting with arms dealers in Yugoslavia.
Have you read my blog lately?
"Haaretz, this is Nevuah. Come in, Haaretz. The gambit has been played. Need to castle. Over."
You know, if Fischer knew he might die there, he could at least have had some fun by writing on his hand something like:
Fischer B
Was Hijacked
In Rekjavik ICL
16.1.08, 21:00
Came to ICL
by fly BA 504
"99 dead duelists of Dios on the wall. 99 dead duelists of Dios! Take one's ring, pass it around..."
There's a wonderful and somewhat tragic tale from Bobby's youth that I think explains so much. (I'm sorry I don't remember which book I read it in, so I can't give credit.)
Bobby was living in New York City as a teenager and playing chess at an amazingly high level. He was also, clearly, a mentally troubled young man, and many of his chess playing friends noticed the instability as well as the genius. A number of friends convened a meeting and discussed taking up a collection to try to get Bobby some professional psyciatric help, which it was clear he needed even then. The meeting is going along, and most agree to encourage Bobby to get help.
Towards the end of the meeting, someone asks "What if Bobby gets well and stops playing good chess?" The meeting then breaks up and nothing ever came of it.
In many ways, Chess is about black versus white. My former chess teacher always prefered that we use the terms "light" and "dark" squares, rather then black and white, and I think it makes a very apt metaphor for Bobby's life. He lived some of his life on the light squares, accomplishing one of the greatest mental-athletic endeavors of all time. For this, he is rightly lionized as one of the great geniuses of the 20th century. He also led many of his years on the dark side of the board as well. Homeless in Los Angeles. Travling around penniless and without recognition for over 20 years. Finally reaping considerable financial rewards in Yogoslovia at the cost of his freedom.
Finally, people note that Bobby in his later years was an anti-semite and said some truly disturbing things. Yet that's not how I see it. Rather than spiteful, his ramblings should be chalked up to the mental illness that clearly ravaged his brain throughout his later life. Just as the deranged homeless man on street should be pitied, so should Bobby. He lived in the largely Jewish chess community of New York for years, and while he may have had issues, his hatred of Jews only reached full blown proportions as his mental health declined. Clearly, he did not suffer fools. But I see no evidence that his dislike for stupid people was anything other than color/creed blind until later in life. Truly, these were the untreated manifestations of the illness that his chess colleagues recognized all those years ago in New York.
RIP Bobby, and I hope that you find the peace in the next world (whether that be in the big chess board in the sky or simply as worm food) that eluded you in this one.
You can see a version with commentary or an interactive chessboard version.