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Bobby Fischer, 1943-2008
by Joe Face, Account Processor
With the passing of chess-prodigy-turned-defector Bobby Fischer, a chapter in the lengthy history of chess concludes itself. Unfinished, however, is the question over how Robert James Fischer will be remembered in our national consciousness. If chess is a game of mental prowess, is Fischer to be viewed as a Cold War fighter against Russian intellectual dominance, a sort of mad genius, one who proved to the world our competitive edge? Or is he an anti-Semitic, anti-American expatriate, prone to insufferable rants, who also happened to be one of the greatest chess players we had ever seen?
Fischer was born March 9, 1943, and discovered the game which would come to define him at age four. By the time he was fifteen, he had already defeated several of the nation's top Grand Masters (the highest ranking one can achieve in Chess, similar to what a Black Belt means to karate). Not only did Fischer win, but he won often, and usually quite handily-he ran a string of 20-straight victories over Grand Masters in the '60s and '70s, the second-longest streak in competitive chess history. Furthermore, he defeated his opponents with such ease and rapidity that one opponent exclaimed "he was too good. I was getting beaten, and it wasn't clear to me why. It wasn't like I made this mistake or that mistake. It was like I was being gradually out-played, from the start…I wasn't even getting out of the middle game to an endgame ." No small wonder; his IQ, placed around 187, puts him above such notables as Albert Einstein (160) Galileo (185), and Charles Darwin (165).
Fischer achieved great fame when he played and defeated Russian Grand Master Boris Spassky for the World Championship. In a match rivaling the famous Miracle on Ice Olympic hockey game in 1980 (where the Russians faced the upstart Americans), the contest between Fischer Spassky was less about championships and more about defeating the opponent as a form of national tribute. Bobby Fischer, however, was not an ideal role model. He demanded precise playing conditions, larger victory sums, and even a specific chair before he would agree to play. After playing a few matches, Fischer refused to continue unless they could move the match into a back closet, away from the bright lights he claimed were distracting him.
After winning the title, he was scheduled to defend it against another Russian Grand Master, Anatoly Karpov. He refused, setting a list of 64 conditions that would have to be met before he would consider a challenge. Though most of these were met, the Chess Federation would not change its rules for nine of them. Fischer, as promised, refused to compete, and he was stripped of his title.
He disappeared then. For twenty years, Fischer was a legendary recluse, refusing interviews and growing increasing intolerable in his views on Jews and women. He also grew incredibly paranoid, believing that "the Commies were out to get him."
At the time of his death on January 17, 2008, Mr. Fischer was living in Iceland, seeking asylum from American officials who wished to charge him with breaking an embargo. In 1992, in his final competitive match, Fischer had challenged and won a series of matches against Spassky in Yugoslavia. Because it was held in a country which was under an economic embargo order, officials had threatened to arrest him if he participated in the match. Afterwards, Fischer fled to Iceland and requested Icelandic citizenship, which was granted. On September 12, 2001, Fischer applauded the terrorist attacks that had occurred the day before, calling it a statement about American foreign policy.
Although he was not a perfect citizen, it can't be denied that Fischer's affect on the game of chess, particularly in America, has been largely positive. In the 1980s, in the midst of his obscurity, chess became extremely popular as a tool for mental training. The game flourished in both private and inner-city schools, as chess clubs were formed in the search for the next Bobby Fischer. Additionally, his contributions to chess theory runs the gamut from variations on standard opening moves, to the "Fischer ending" (where Fischer, nearing the end of a contest, controls a rook and a bishop versus an opponent's rook and knight, among various pawns), and the Fischer chess clock, which he patented in 1988, which allowed each player a finite amount of time to start each game but added minor increments after every move. Furthermore, his effect on the professional level of chess competition is seen in the increased salaries the competitors received. "He made chess popular, briefly, and he made us all rich men." Boris Spassky said of Fischer, referring to both the higher salaries and to the "Fischer boom," a phase when membership in the United States Chess Federation doubled.
So, sadly or not, the prima donna of chess has passed away, and we must now determine how we are to view the legacy of Bobby Fischer: is he the world's greatest chess player? Or is he simply another misguided, angry genius?
Stalemate.
Below is a list of titles about Bobby Fischer. For your convenience, this list is also available in a MS Excel spreadsheet. click here.
BOBBY FISCHER GOES TO WAR: THE TRUE STORY OF HOW THE SOVIETS LOST THE MOST EXTRAORDINARY CHESS MATCH OF ALL TIME
• AUTHOR: EDMONDS, DAVID, 1964-
• PUBLISHER: FABER AND FABER
• LC CLASS: GV1455
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• CLOTH 302 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
CHESS AND MACHINE INTUITION
• AUTHOR: ATKINSON, GEORGE W.
• PUBLISHER: ABLEX
• LC CLASS: GV1449
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $39.50 CLOTH 175 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
CHESS ARTIST: GENIUS, OBSESSION, AND THE WORLD'S OLDEST GAME
• AUTHOR: HALLMAN, J.C.
• PUBLISHER: ST. MARTIN'S PRESS
• LC CLASS: GV1449
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $25.95 CLOTH 334 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
CHESS BITCH: WOMEN IN THE ULTIMATE INTELLECTUAL SPORT
• AUTHOR: SHAHADE, JENNIFER.
• PUBLISHER: SILES PRESS
• LC CLASS: GV1438
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $24.00 CLOTH 320 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
CHESS ENCYCLOPEDIA
• AUTHOR: DIVINSKY, NATHAN J., 1925-
• PUBLISHER: FACTS ON FILE
• LC CLASS: GV1314
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $35.00 CLOTH 247 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
CHESS FACTS AND FABLES
• AUTHOR: WINTER, EDWARD (EDWARD G.)
• PUBLISHER: MCFARLAND
• LC CLASS: GV1452
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $45.00 PAPER 385 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
CHESS PERSONALIA: A BIOBIBLIOGRAPHY
• AUTHOR: GAIGE, JEREMY.
• PUBLISHER: MCFARLAND
• LC CLASS: GV1438
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $45.00 PAPER 505 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
IMMORTAL GAME: A HISTORY OF CHESS: OR HOW 32 CARVED PIECES ON A BOARD ILLUMINATED OUR UNDERSTANDING OF WAR, ART, SCIENCE, AND THE HUMAN BRAIN
• AUTHOR: SHENK, DAVID, 1966-
• PUBLISHER: DOUBLEDAY
• LC CLASS: GV1317
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $26.00 CLOTH 327 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
WHITE KING AND RED QUEEN: HOW THE COLD WAR WAS FOUGHT ON THE CHESSBOARD
• AUTHOR: JOHNSON, DANIEL.
• PUBLISHER: ATLANTIC
• LC CLASS: GV1330
• CONTENT LEVEL: GEN-AC
• $45.99 CLOTH 383 P.
• ISBN: 0425174468
• ISBN-13: 9780425174463
• B&T YBP
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