Originally posted by David TebbYup, he taught himself Russian so he could read the Russian chess mags.
Bobby Fischer read every chess book and magazine that he could get hold of, including many in foreign languages and studied chess day and night. He had a phenomenol memory which enabling him to absorb enormous chunks of opening theory and memorise thousands of games. So although he did have a natural talent, it was probably more to do with hard work.
In regards to Fischer. He put in an enormous amount of work and research into the game while he was still young. He was an expert on archaic variations which he examined at home. For example, exhuming Nh3 in two knights defence. He played thousands and thousands of blitz games, seing what worked and what didn't. Now, i'm not sure what you mean by "intuition." I suppose the dictionary would say something like "arriving at knowledge without rational thought." I don't think this applies to him. Fischer is very rational, direct, forceful, whatever you want to call it. Maybe Tal would be closer to the "intuition" type, where he might "feel" a combination would work even though he couldn't see it through to the end. Fischer wasn't that sort of speculator. I think the best word to describe his play would be "accurate." He simply played more accurate moves than his opponent. It's not magic.
As a young child, I would watch my father play. I eventually learned the game and played my father quite a bit. His adage was 'to learn the game, you have to lose many times'. Over a short span of months I was able to walk away with two or three wins (out of three) everytime we'd sit down to play.
I have done little study of theory and can not generally name but a handful of openings, relying mostly on experience.
Once, while playing a tournament at Ft. Lewis WA, I was matched against an eight or 10 year old who knew a couple of openings, but after the first 6 moves or so I was able to dismantle his position and mate him (felt bad doing it, but I drew him as my opponent).
Without the little study I have done, my opening game would be much worse than it currently is. I have found that my experience has greatly helped me in both the opening and the mid-game.
Originally posted by buddy2And was a top notch table tennis player who could give the US champion a decent game. He played the game for fitness so he was extremely dedicated.
In regards to Fischer. He put in an enormous amount of work and research into the game while he was still young.
Anyway, I agree with previous posters that Capa must have been the most naturally gifted of all. Read one book on endgames and became one of the best - then started reading others.