Bobby Fischer is dead

[ZombieHorde]

Remembering chess master Bobby Fischer

The greatest American chess player, Bobby Fischer, is dead.

In recent years, however, Fischer had been perhaps more famous for his run-ins with U.S. federal authorities, and he had been living outside the United States to avoid arrest on charges stemming from his having played a re-match with Spassky in 1992 in Yugoslavia, despite a federal ban on doing business in that country, which was then deep in the middle of war.

In other countries, such as Russia, where chess is revered as a game of intellectual giants, it is not unusual that the leading players are viewed with reverence and admiration. For example, Russian grandmaster Garry Kasparov is such a hero in his country that he ran for president in 2007 against the incumbent, Vladimir Putin. Though Kasparov never had a chance at winning, his candidacy was viewed with respect by many in his country and abroad because of his fame and his insistence on human rights and democracy.

But in the U.S., a country much more consumed with admiration for basketball, football, baseball, and, to a lesser extent, sports like hockey, tennis and track, chess barely appears on the national radar. That's why Fischer's fame--stemming from his victory over Spassky in 1972 at the height of the Cold War, a precursor to American excitement at the 1980 Olympic hockey victory over the Soviet Union--was so unusual.

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He will be missed:
http://www.news.com/8301-13772_3-9853665-52.html?tag=nefd.only

[stevebreeze]

1. Bobby Fisher along with several sports people of the time

personified that winning is everything. He took great lengths to use un-sportsman like conduct to gain advantage. I was embarrassed at the time of his antic's. He is not someone anyone should aspire too.

[ZombieHorde]

2. He toke great lengths to use un-sportsman like conduct to gain advantage

Such as....? Do you have a link?

[stevebreeze]

3. I have a memory...not much of a speller though

He came late too matches, walked out of some complained about the size and shape of the table the game was to be played on. That he whined and complained as a strategy was not exactly a secret.

[ZombieHorde]

8. Even if your claims are true

Even if your claims are true, being a whiner is nothing compared to the advancements in chess theory he developed.

[rfranklin]

4. Here's some info on Fischer's match with Spaasky...

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601082&sid=aBftikyOgdr4&refer=canada

-snip-

Match Point

What became known as the ``match of the century'' almost didn't happen because of Fischer's demands about the prize money and playing conditions. The possibility of Fischer refusing to play was so troubling to U.S. officials that President Richard Nixon directed Secretary of State Henry Kissinger to place a call to Fischer.

Fischer arrived in Iceland just hours before the match was to begin on July 11, 1972, and made uncharacteristic mistakes that led to a Spassky victory in the first game.

Fischer resumed his complaints: now he was bothered by the cameras in the competition hall. Match organizers called his bluff when he refused to play, and Spassky was awarded the second game by forfeit.

At Fischer's insistence, the third game was moved to a small room and broadcast to the live audience via closed-circuit television. Fischer won that game and never looked back, even after the match returned to the main stage.

Piling up Wins

As Fischer piled up wins, he complained about the shininess of the chess board and the proximity of the audience, while Spassky's Soviet advisers accused Fischer of wearing a concealed electronic device. -snip-

[ZombieHorde]

9. So what? nt

[zulchzulu]

5. I'm betting he was popped by the KGB

He was very vocal about his disgust with Putin. I'm sure he got tailed and was snuffed out.

Bad move on the KGB's part.

RIP Bobby.

[cobalt1999]

6. To be fair, he was an equal opportunity critic of just about everyone.

He was very vocal in his disgust with the U.S, England, France, Russia, Israel, Arab countries, Jews, Minorities.

If he was murdered, the list of suspects would fill the New York Phone Book.

[DemIdeals]

7. Good riddance to bad rubbish

He personified the self-hating Jew. Two Jewish parents and went on for decades about international jewish conspiracies and their criminal elements.

[Onlooker]

10. Fischer was a nut ...

... but he was a great chess player who was daring and creative in a way not seen since the Cuban world champion Capablanca in the 1920s. I think Fischer's mind was so focused on chess that he was otherwise intellectually and emotionally terribly undeveloped. My ex-sister-in-law said Fischer was a classmate of hers when she was in 7th grade. All she remembers about him is that in class and out of class, he was always playing chess.

[ZombieHorde]

11. That seems to happen to some chess masters.

Their obsession seems to turn them into a new and weird form of idiot savant.

[AlertLurker]

12. Shit. Shhhiiittt. Shit.

He was one of my greatest heroes and inspirations growing up...

http://www.bobby-fischer.net/bobby_fischer_video_1.htm

[Fire Walk With Me]

13. I'll bet Deep Blue had something to do with it. Kasparov is next.

:scared:

Cheap joke aside, my respects to a genuine master.