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Bobby Fischer Is Dead At 64

Posted by kdawson on from the new-kind-of-chess dept.

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.

12 of 377 comments (clear)

  1. Why such hate? by Shivetya · · Score: 5, Insightful
    On Sept. 11, 2001, he told a radio talk-show host in Baguio, the Philippines, that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were "wonderful news," adding he was wishing for a scenario "where the country will be taken over by the military, they'll close down all the synagogues, arrest all the Jews and secure hundreds of thousands of Jewish ringleaders."



    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.
    1. Re:Why such hate? by east+coast · · Score: 5, Insightful

      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

      Actually, the man succumbed to mental illness. Hopefully you're never in a position to pass any meaningful judgement on people who have these kinds of issues.

      Or what would you tell the readers on this site that lay claims to having Asperger's syndrome or a close relative of such? Would you tell them that it serves them right and that they're just a bunch of misfits?

      If anything Fischer's legacy outside of chess should be to show people that extreme talent and insight in a small area gives no one any special insight into anything else. Maybe actors and singers should take note of that.

      --
      Dedicated Cthulhu Cultist since 4523 BC.
    2. Re:Why such hate? by Vellmont · · Score: 5, Insightful


      That and a few other choice comments attributed to him make me want to say, good riddance.

      He was certainly a huge dick, and a bigot to boot. But AFAIK all he ever did was rant and talk. Not exactly someone you wish dead. In a word, "Mostly Harmless".

      I have to say, the world is a slightly less interesting place with Bobby Fischer not in it.

      --
      AccountKiller
    3. Re:Why such hate? by COMON$ · · Score: 5, Insightful

      Maybe actors and singers should take note of that.
      And PHDs, Pastors, MDs or anyone else highly educated speaking of fields like an expert where they aren't.

      --
      CS: It is all sink or swim...oh and did I mention there are sharks in that water?
    4. Re:Why such hate? by Erwos · · Score: 5, Interesting

      When did "neurotic" come to mean "hateful and bigoted"? Stalin led the USSR to victory in WWII - that doesn't mean I'm going to start eulogizing the guy, because we all know what a total bastard he was in so many other ways.

      I never said anything bad about Bobby Fischer, but judging from the articles I'm seeing, he's said plenty bad about me as a Jewish-American. Why should I shed tears over the guy? Or is it somehow different when you spew rhetoric against groups rather than individuals?

      --
      Plausible conjecture should not be misrepresented as proof positive.
  2. Truly Unfortunate by eldavojohn · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    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 ... usually.

    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.
  3. He should've played Go. by the_other_chewey · · Score: 5, Funny

    So as a Go player, he would've lived for 297 more years?

  4. Cause of death - Kidney Related by ThisIsForReal · · Score: 5, Informative

    He died from complications to his kidneys. He'd been ill for some time.

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    -THE END-
  5. here's his real homepage by SaberTaylor · · Score: 5, Informative

    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.
  6. He had chess pains just before he died by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    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

  7. One year for every square. by rasman1978 · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Seems appropriate somehow.

    --
    MHNATY.
  8. dealing with mental issues by Simonetta · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.