Bobby Fischer - Genius and Madman

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yes this is quite brilliantly insightful, however, what of his time away from competitive
chess, had he reached the zenith of the chess mountain had thus could gain no higher
status than that of world champion, the money therefore became of little importance.

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I dont think his paranoia was essentially unwarranted all the time, he felt betrayed
many times, not least in his infamous match with Revshevsky and Frank Bradys
portrayal of him in his first book and by the American government. The Russians also
conspired against him, both lawfully and unlawfully.

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well i dunno, either you were in or you were out. Fischer had to fight for his belongings
which were eventually auctioned off. Changes were made to the text of his book
(erroneous ones at that without his permission). He had affection for a young lady half
his age which was not reciprocated which floored him, His church embezzled him out of
thousands, there was law suits over copyrights etc etc Such events cannot be
conducive to building trust.

After having watched the opening credits I think I can safely say that only a madman would wear a shirt with a collar like that.

Originally posted by thaughbaer
After having watched the opening credits I think I can safely say that only a madman would wear a shirt with a collar like that.

Bobby was a disco King, like me! 😛

Anyhow the presentation was quite well done, my only grievance was with Asa
Hoffman who stated that Fischer walked out of tournaments on trivialities, which is
simply not true.

Originally posted by TimmyBx
Nice! Hadn't heard about that! Hope it is available in the US at some point!

You can get this program through the BBC iPlayer via the BBC website (http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b017srys/Storyville_20112012_Bobby_Fischer_Genius_and_Madman/)

Not sure about country filters etc, but there is always a way around that stuff.

Out of interest, it was a brilliant program - no sensationalistic journalism, just the views and opinions of those who knew Fischer.

It is indeed only available in the UK. So, bad luck for me...

A great insight into the rise and fall of a troubled genius. A must watch.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
Bobby was a disco King, like me! 😛

Anyhow the presentation was quite well done, my only grievance was with Asa
Hoffman who stated that Fischer walked out of tournaments on trivialities, which is
simply not true.

Hi - can you add anything to this. I was under this impression that he did mess organisers about and pulled out of tournaments. I may be wrong.

Originally posted by greenerpawn
Hi - can you add anything to this. I was under this impression that he did mess organisers about and pulled out of tournaments. I may be wrong.

on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Fischer states that he looked up his
tournament record and to his knowledge he only dropped out of two tournaments,
having played sixty.

The one that i know of was his match with Revshevsky in which the organisers
changed the contractual details because one of their wives wanted to visit the opera
trying to make Fischer play on another day upon which he held a Sabbath. Fischer
rightfully refused and walked out forfeiting the match. It is in my opinion, one of the
reasons why he became anti-jewish, for the organisers, or rather those who were
putting up the money were Jewish and tried to force Fischer to play against not only
the contractual remit, but against his religious convictions.

Originally posted by robbie carrobie
on The Dick Cavett Show in the summer of 1971, Fischer states that he looked up his
tournament record and to his knowledge he only dropped out of two tournaments,
having played sixty.

The one that i know of was his match with Revshevsky in which the organisers
changed the contractual details because one of their wives wanted to visit the o ...[text shortened]... Fischer to play against not only
the contractual remit, but against his religious convictions.

He did the same thing at Sousse earlier on in 1967. He stated that he was given an unfair disadvantage (he may have had a point) that he would be missing rest days due to his recognition of the sabbath.

As for yanking the chains of organizers. He is absolutely guilty. Yet again - he may have had a point.

ADD: Also Robbie...he was distinguishably anti-semetic, not just anti-judaism. They are not completely equal terms. Though most often they can be interchanged - in this case they should not be.

Q