Bobby Fischer, Dead at 64

Brilliant Chess player, ranting anti-semite, and master shit-talker Bobby Fischer died yesterday at the age of 64.

The greatest American chess player of all time, and one of the most important figures in chess history, he was most famous for defeating Russian Grandmaster Boris Spassky in Rejkavik at the height of the Cold War, Brooklyn-bred Fischer's eccentricities--he almost lost that match before forcing Spassky to play him in a back room away from television cameras--soon got the better of him, and he refused to defend his title against Karpov in 1975, after his extensive list of demands were refused by FIDE.

Fischer did not play in any tournaments after that, and his behavior became more and more erratic. After he was detained by police because of mistaken identity, he briefly changed his name to Bobby James. He also petitioned the Encyclopedia Judaica to remove his name from their roles, claiming that he was not Jewish. Both his mother and his presumptive biological father were Jewish.

Fischer emerged back on to the chess scene in 1992 when he played a rematch with Spassky. Although he wasn't the player he once was, he won the match 10-5. Since the match was played in Yugoslavia, however, he was in violation of a US trade embargo. Before the game, Fischer famously tore up and spit on the document ordering him not to play. During the 90s he also began giving radio interviews where he frequently referred to a Jewish conspiracy that he believed was responsible for everything from his own problems to the Holocaust. His most infamous interview came hours after the events of 9-11where he celebrated the news of the attacks, hoped for a coup d'etat to overthrow the government, and urged Americans to kill Jewish leaders.

After Fischer was arrested in Japan for traveling with an expired passport, he renounced his American citizenship and found asylum in Iceland, the scene of his greatest triumph.

this makes me very sad.

Today I will play several games of chess in his honor.

Is it funny to say "check mate"?

He was a brilliant chess player, and I wish that he would have renounced his anti-Semitic views before he died so that I wouldn't have to say that he was a dick.

no. It's checkMATE for full funny.

Die, evolution, die!

Seriously, though, I have mixed emotions about this. It's a bit painful to see genius pass out of this world, but when it's accompanied by crackpottery, it's significantly lessened.

why can't people separate a person's achievements from their personal life? yes, hating people for their heritage is bad and frowned upon. but dammit, he was a goddamn genius.


Renfro, Fischer...who's next?

Because people aren't obliged to compartmentalize like that.

I think you only get a pass on a heinous personal life if you are a genius at something useful.

well that's stupid.

Why? How does being good at a game outweigh being a giant douche bag? If he was a genius at curing a disease, or feeding the hungry, I might be willing to look the other way. But all he did was play chess. Good for him and all, but it doesn't make up for anything.

Heh.

Heh. Heh.

Maybe you're not clear on what an obituary is.

How exactly is the Jewish conspiracy responsible for the Holocaust? That's a real "What the Darwin" moment.

He might've been a chess whiz, but how is he a genius? He had a gift that barely even benefited him, much less society.

I feel (and others too, I'm sure) he made a contribution to culture with his gifts. Now you and everyone else can rant and rave on the validity of that, but I feel that it is true. There was a similar discussion on the Music Board, I believe, about Ike Turner. He had a lot of achievements in music, but that was all overshadowed and invalidated by events from his personal life. I think that's the wrong way to look at things.

You mentioned that if he cured a disease, you'd rethink yr position. That is to say, if Bobby Fischer was still a raging anti-Semite...but he cured cancer, you'd forgive him. But since he didn't, fuck him. That's a double standard, and I think it's wrong.

As wildswan described my actions, you can compartmentalize. Yes, you're not obliged to do so, but at least try it. It helps and it makes things easier.

Why are we under an obligation to make things easier? I'd prefer knowing the truth about a person to the easy version.

You're not obligated to do anything. All I'm saying is that I think people ought to separate things out in these cases, compartmentalize. Yes, it is not an easy thing to do for most, but at least give it a sporting chance.

Bobby Fischer: Genius at chess. Also an anti-Semite. One has nothing to do with the other.

Ike Turner: Amazing musician and producer. Also beat his wife. Again, one has nothing to do with the other.

/my 2 cents

One year for each square on the board.

I didn't say I'd forgive him, I said I'd look the other way. Which doesn't really mean much, but wasn't very clear. I'd still think he was an asshole, I just probably wouldn't point it out quite so often.

Him being an asshole doesn't diminish his contributions to the world of chess culture, it just diminishes his worth as a human being.

Good catch.

Oh thats freaky. Coincidence? I think not. WAKE UP AMERICA!

It may show up on YouTube someday; Jeremy Schaap did a great piece on Fischer on today's SportsCenter.

That's a re-run, he did that a while ago.

Fischer expressed anti-semite views, but he also expressed a whole hell of a lot of other crazy stuff. I think it's pretty clear he suffered from serious mental problems. Doesn't excuse his hatred, but I'd imagine if he'd have been of sound mind he might of felt differently, especially since he was good friends with Dick Schaap, a Jewish reporter who wrote Fischer didn't have "a sane bone left in his body".

Edit: Crap, I totally missed the 2 posts preceding mine. Sorry.

I'm not sure what you're talking about here. No obit I've ever read on Fischer (and certainly not this one) has confused the two.