I have many wonderful memories of Bobby. We played a good number of games (Fischer Random). We discussed a lot about chess history. He shared many of his chess stories, memories, and views about the game he loved with me.
In spite of his obvious flaws, he will be remembered as “The King of Chess”, a genius on the board and the man who broke through the iron curtain chess.
RIP Bobby. You will be missed by many.
Spokesman: Bobby Fischer Has Died
By GUDJON HELGASON – 49 minutes ago
REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.
Fischer died Thursday in a Reykjavik hospital, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.
Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, Robert James Fischer was a U.S. chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15. He beat Spassky in a series of games in Reykjavik to claim America’s first world chess championship in more than a century.
The event was given tremendous symbolic importance, pitting the intensely individualistic young American against a product of the grim and soulless Soviet Union.
It also was marked by Fischer’s odd behavior — possibly calculated psychological warfare against Spassky — that ranged from arriving two days late to complaining about the lighting, TV cameras, the spectators, even the shine on the table.
Spassky said in a brief phone call from France, where he lives, that he was “very sorry” to hear of Fischer’s death.
Here is the full story.
just saw it on cnn. sad indeed.
May he enjoy the peace, that he was never able to find in life. Rest in peace.
Sad day indeed. Susan, I believe you promised to remain silent about the results of your Fischer Random games with Bobby while he was alive. Will those results see the light of day now that Fischer has passed?
RIP Bobby. Thanks for the great moves.
I do not think that announcing the rsults is going to be a high priority for Susan at this time. Have a little perspective.
A very very sad day! RIP and thank you GM Robert James Fischer for the influence you had on my life!
A truly great loss to the chess community. I only wish he had been able to remain active after the WC in 1972.
RIP Bobby. And thank you for the games.
The chess world has lost it’s greatest legend. He was the sole reason that many of us first moved a chess piece.
You will be greatly missed Bobby. Rest in peace.
Ironic that he died at age 64. He finally reached the last square of the chess board. RIP Bobby, the greatest chessplayer ever!
I have been crying all morning. Bobby Fischer was my chess hero and reason I play chess. So Long Champ.
Bobby-
Thanks for conquering the Russian communists
Thanks for introducing me to chess (I think)
I feel sad 🙁
Rest in Peace Bobby …a really black Thursday !
Fischer had a passion for chess unlike any player alive. That is why today he is remembered as one of the greats among the royal game. He will be missed from all fronts.
It’s very strange for a “friend” to comment on his flaws literally hours after his death. Of course Bobby is the only chess player with them.I hope there is a serious investigation into the cause of The Champ’s death.
Eternal Love, CHAMP!
The world has lost a genius. RIP. Your games will live forever.
Bobby Fisher will never die.
his chess was very exciting
I wonder if the world will ever know when his last “unofficial” (even friendly game with a local acqaintance) might have been played? Surely he played some games with his closest confidants….maybe against computers….maybe none at all.
He was a mystery, an enigma…a very flawed genius.
Remember his chess.
Remember his terrible racism…they are also a part of his legacy.
And, I hope, he RIP.
You will be missed, Bobby. In the area of chess, you were loved.
RIP Bobby.
Now it is official: he will remain a chess legend forever.
His name will live as long as the game of chess is played. He died under mysterious circumstances, much like another great world champion, Alexander Alekhine, who was shot in the back while studying on his chess board. Both detested Zionism which has a terroristic unit that assassinates prominate individuals worldwide who oppose them.
Morphy and Fischer….the two greatest native born chess players. Both left the game and left the world wondering….”what if…”
Morphy lived throught he Civil War. Fischer, the Cold War. Perhaps Elton John’s words…”The Candle burned out long before…the Legend ever will” is quite appropriate at this moment.
Thanks for the games.
“Both detested Zionism which has a terroristic unit that assassinates prominate individuals worldwide who oppose them.”
I find this offensive.
Bobby was a fantastic chess player, and his play on the board will be missed. His behaviour away from the board shall not.
As I look at the picture of your 1972 match with Boris Spassky pasted on my office wall, i realise a star is gone, please do rest in the chessic heaven. We will truly miss you but your games will forever remain in our hearts. Adieu
His games will be always memorable to all chess players!
“In spite of his obvious flaws” – yes it is a strange “friend” that should say this literally hours after his death. Rest in peace Bobby, you were the best.
RIP Robert.J.Fischer. Your contributions to the Chess world are priceless. Thanks.
I think you are being a little judgmental, and so unfair, on Susan.
Susan – when was the above photograph taken? Just curious.
I’m eager to hear your wonderful recollections of him. please share with us at your convenience…
Pawned!
http://n8ux.wordpress.com
On ICC Bobby Fisher is the most talked about chess player, and reading some of these comments you can see why…from the age of fourteen to yet years to come not a day will pass were Bobby Fisher is not discussed
I hope Bobby finds the peace in the afterlife that so eluded him in this one. It was because of him that I took up chess as a hobby back in the 60s, and his games are still a marvel. It’s a shame that mental illness wrecked his career, but Bobby the player will be among the true elites of the game forever.
Your contribution to the chess world will be remembered forever.
Now the torch must be passed on to another! Chess will be saved by GM Polgar! Support har let us be free of people who wish to harm chess.
With all of Bobby’s flaws, he never attacked chess.
The USCF EB has members who wish to destroy chess for selfish reasons.
Bobby never did these things. GM Fischer was guilty of having an opinion. It wasn’t a popular opinion, but this is a free country right?
What is genius without eccentricity?
Let’s forgive Bobby for his transgressions and remember the better side of the man.
“I hope Bobby finds the peace in the afterlife that so eluded him in this one.”
Do you think that’s likely? Can anyone live a life totally devoted to self service and hope for that? I hope you’re right, but I’ve got reservations.
It is sad to see him pass for I must say he was my chess hero. He was truly the pride and sorrow of chess and his place in history may never be truly understood.
I think it’s fair to assume that Susan is the only person who has so far posted here who knew him personally. The rest of us get the person created in the press. So none of us can really say how anguished, tormented, insane, or whatever he was, as eccentricities may have been blown out of proportion.
However, there is the expression about walking the fine line between genius and insanity, and Fischer may have not just walked the line, but straddled it. In that way, it may be hard to have one without the other…
Thanks Susan for posting the picture, and for having this blog. It’s nice, even today, to be just one degree of separation from him.
It was on CNN, strangely late in the broadcast. They considered that the editor of a golf magazine being fired was bigger news.
No other chess player grabbed the world’s imagination like Bobby Fischer. I don’t think chess will ever have such a superstar again.
Such is the condition of chess in America. It lost one of its greatests icons today. If we do not support our “Chess Superstars” then American chess will be going the way of the dinosaur! We need to get our Champions on TV and the Silverscreen now!
We need real chess promotion in America.
No more petty politics for chess! Goichberg, if you are reading this, do us all a favor and quit. You are a cancer to American chess.
I will miss Robert Fischer, both the player and the man. The way he lived his life inspired me. He was a true American, always courteous, never seeking an unfair advantage. His ideas on politics, love for people of all countries, and respect for authority inspired me to be the man I am. Thanks Bobby.
All the chess players who are playing in Corus Chess should stop playing for few minutes for the remembrance and mourning to Him
“Anonymous said…
All the chess players who are playing in Corus Chess should stop playing for few minutes for the remembrance and mourning to Him”
Actually, Bobby would prefer that they continue. He has a bet with St. Peter and Moses that Magnus will win Corus with 7 1/2.
Susan,
In your picture with Bobby, I could not help but admire your beautiful brown hair! You must have been a real heartbreaker growing up!
Sad news for any player or aficionado of the game.
R.I.P. Bobby!! You were the Tiger Woods of chess!!
judge not that you may be judged
R.I.P. Bobby!! You were the Tiger Woods of chess!!
No, Magnus is!
Fischer wasn’t the “Tiger Woods of Chess”, but Tiger Woods is the Bobby Fischer of golf.
Fischer was a disgusting rascist. There is more to this life than chess. Take that away from him…what did he accomplish?
Nothing.
He embrarrased his nation, the sport, and I must ask:
If a famous former Nazi leader just so happened to be a chess genius had just died, what would be his legacy?
No one can take away what Mr. Fischer earned over the board. However, he comments did much more harm to the world than good…again, there is more to life than chess.
His remarks about 9/11…he didn’t have a daughter and friend die. He was a disgusting man…
And the world is better without him.
Yes…study his games…let that be his fame…but to say that chess is the only thing to be remembered for, is sad.
Chess is but one part…and a vry small part…of human existence. I feel no pity nor praise for him. He was a traitor to his nation…a man that hated Jews…and other minorities…and not fit to do anything but play chess.
His legacy: A chess genius. A racist, insane, insulting, mean individual with no redeeming qualities other than chess.
People die every day in this world. Do not deify this man. He is no better than any other person…he just happened to be a genius at chess…
His antics hurt the image of chess.
Oh, Mr. Bobby…RIP…for those that weep for you…he should have spent his last years in prison. He was a fugitiv from justice.
Chess, in the overall scheme of life, is not more important than the hateful, spiteful words Fischer said.
His legacy will always, always be tarnished by his racism.
Anon, 1044 … is that actually Susan in the picture. It looks much more like someone else.
Rest in peace Bobby Fischer and thank you.
Commento in Italiano,da un ospedale Italiano.Uso la mia lingua madre sperando che Susan possa comprendere ugualmente
Robert James Fischer(Chicago 9 Marzo 1943 Rekijavik 18 Gennaio 2008) ha rappresentato un qualcosa di irripetibile nella storia degli Scacchi.Oggi tutto il mondo degli Scacchi è triste per la sua morte.
Niente da eccepire riguardo lo Scacchista,geniale ed eccentrico come pochissimi altri(Non pero’ il migliore in assoluto in senso globale a mio avviso),il Profondo analista,preciso calcolatore di varianti e geniale esecutore di combinazioni d’elevata raffinatezza ,ma vi sono tante cose che disapprovo in lui come uomo.
Secondo me egli non è riuscito a realizzare nulla in nessun campo ad eccezione dello specifico campo scacchistico.
Non era il mio modello di uomo ideale,anzi Non vorrei mai essere come Fischer.Egli ha dato alla gente comune un immagine negativa del giocatore di scacchi,che viene considerato anche per colpa sua,mezzo matto o malato.
Ha contribuito a creare un immagine negativa della Nosra comunità scacchistica mondiale.
Lo scacchista dev’essere un tipo di persona completa,aperto al mondo che lo circonda ed aperto alla cultura.
Se si privilegia solo il lato economico e sportivo degli scacchi rispetto al lato creativo gli Scacchi morranno.Fischer ha rappresentato un modello negativo.
I Suoi commenti sull’11 settembre sono stati infelici ed inappropriati.Anch’io come Fischer disapprovo la politica estera degli Stati Uniti e del presidente Bush,e mi considero pienamente Eurussista,ma esultare per la morte di 3000 persone mi sembra francamente disgustoso.
Gli scacchi vanno connessi con la cultura la scienza e la medicina per portare progresso alla Società e cercare di vincere le sofferenze della gente.Fischer invece ha rappresentato un idea opposta e contraria a questa,per questo pur ammirandolo come scacchista lo disapprovo.
Mi dispiace sinceramente per l’uomo e lo Scacchista e per il dolore che prova tutta la nostra comunita’,ma una persona dev’essere completa sotto tutti gli aspetti Fischer non lo era.
Spero in Un Eurussia Unita dalle Azzorre a Bering.
Lunga vita agli Scacchi
La cultura il sapere e la saggezza sono la vera forza!
Antonio Cerina
Presidente dell’Associazione Culturale Eurussia
RIP Bobby
Finally Kasparov can lay claim to the chess title of the G.O.A.T alive. RIP BOBBY
I am saddened by the loss of Bobby Fischer. It was during the 1972 World Championship Match that I learned to play chess. He was always my chess hero and to this day I remain a 1 e4 player and always play the Sicilian (Najdorf if allowed) against 1 e4.
Do you have any of your games recorded from your time with Fischer?
“Anonymous said…
Anon, 1044 … is that actually Susan in the picture. It looks much more like someone else.”
Yes, that is actually her! She was a cutie when she was a teenager! And I mean that in a nice way!
She reminds me of my highschool sweetheart!
Joe said…
“In spite of his obvious flaws” – yes it is a strange “friend” that should say this literally hours after his death.
In the case of someone like Fischer, it’s impossible not to, I’m afraid.
I was 12 when Fischer won in 1972, and it was because of him I have had a lifelong passion for the game (not to mention one for the Ruy Lopez Exchange, the first opening I learned). But of course that’s true of a lot of us.
Rest in peace, Champ.
{Fischer’s odd behavior — possibly calculated psychological warfare against Spassky}
No, not psychological warfare against Spassky. Just part of his growing struggles with mental illness.
Fischer’s odd behavior started long before 1972. Remember he was leading the 1967 interzonal when he suddenly quit. To this day nobody knows why Bobby quit that very important tournament.
What a waste that none of the professional journalists in March 2005 had the qualifications to ask Bobby why he dropped out of the 1967 interzonal.
Now we will never know.
GeneM
FRC-chess960
RIP Bobby. And gratitude to Iceland’s government and its people, for giving Bobby a peaceful place to live out his days despite his worst behavior, brought on by his mental illness. That was a gesture of true friendship, to stick by Bobby in circumstances like that.
Bobby we miss you.
“Fischer was a disgusting rascist. There is more to this life than chess. Take that away from him…what did he accomplish?”
He was a CHESSPLAYER. That’s his legacy. That’s his accomplishment.
His job wasn’t as a statesman/diplomat.
What he said outside of chess doesn’t concern me.
The celebrity age wants to hear what, say, Brad Pitt’s opinion is on things outside films, …the age want to vote for / wants actors to get into politics thinking their on-screen persona is actually them.
Fischer was a chessplayer.
I don’t care about his views.
And so what if he was anti-american? Is that a crime? If he said anything anti-Israeli however, I can understand in this world, that’s a different matter?
If he’d just said anti-russian, anti-arab things, doubt anyone in US would care…
Listen to Wagner – and not worry about his views outside of music…
—-
“Chess, in the overall scheme of life, is not more important than the hateful, spiteful words Fischer said.”
What’s wrong with words? He didn’t kill anyone. He may/may not have been well.
How is chess not more important than his words?
How does one equate his words with life?
Thought the US as the one true democracy- the one spreading the ideal to the rest of the world, believed in freedom of speech?
🙂
Or only when it suits?
——————
Ostensibly, the thing they wanted him on was breaking the embargo re playing in part of former-Yugoslavia? Same place Spassy ex-russian/now french(?) did? Has Spassky had any problems since?
Or was it what he said – not did – in his phone interviews, after?
———
BTW, is Michael Moorer having probs still re breaking the embargo to make his film?
🙂
=====================
RIP Bobby Fischer.
You make a lot of sense – on and off the chessboard.
Your games were elegant, clear, beautiful works of art.
Read Golombek’s preface to the ’72 match and another’s comparison to a game and to Bach.
Great man.
RIP
Bobby was a great personality. He was deeply loved all over the world for his fantastic chess accomplishments.
Yet, back in his native USA, there are millions of people who bear grudge towards him, influenced by the distorting views and vicious propaganda by the US media.
Truth is: The majority of peaceful people in every corner of the earth, are strongly opposed to the war-mongers and hateful individuals who rule the US. Thus, these people totally share Bobby’s denouncements about the criminal US foreign policy…
One of Bobby’s Icelandic friends said he had 2 personalities. He
was a very paranoid, persnickety, egotistical man. He was also a very kind, gentle man who stayed loyal to his “true-blue” friends
and (successfully) worked hard to improve tournament conditions throughout the chess community. So I don’t think it would be fair to say that his life was completely self-serving.
Even towards the end of his life, he was working on ways to improve the game and make it more exciting for everybody. He championed Fischer Random chess and (unsuccessfully)tried to set up comeback matches with Vishy Anand, Boris Spassky, Veselin Topalov, and even Garry Kasparov. Those who knew him in his later years also
fondly recalled his love of children and nature, and the polite way in which he signed autographs for his fans in Iceland. Hopefully he’s resting in peace now, wherever he is!
I’d like to think he’s in God’s chess club now, playing with Paul Morphy, Jose Capablanca, Mikhail Tal et al. …finally free from all his demons!