A special chess colum

In my special February 2008 column for ChessCafe.com, I wrote about my experience with Bobby. I also discussed Magnus Carlsen, Levon Aronian, Fabiano Caruana, Hikaru Nakamura and Irina Krush, etc.

I Remember Bobby

I cannot begin this month’s column without discussing the passing of Bobby Fischer, 64, on January 17, 2008 because of kidney failure. He was one of the greatest world champions and he lived one year for each square of the chessboard. He was buried Monday, January 21, 2008, in a private ceremony at a churchyard in southern Iceland.

Fischer gained global fame in 1972 when he defeated Boris Spassky in Reykjavik to become the first officially recognized world champion born in the United States. This sparked a subsequent chess boom in America.

I have wonderful memories of Bobby. We played many Fischer-Random games, during which we discussed chess history and he shared his stories and views about the game he loved. We also analyzed a number of games, including those from Kasparov, Karpov and others. His knowledge of the game was evident and his analysis was very sharp.

In spite of his obvious flaws, he will be remembered as “The King of Chess,” a genius at the board and the man who broke through the iron curtain of chess. He also revolutionized chess by raising the financial standard for professional chess players, introducing the Fischer clock and promoting Fischer-Random chess. He will be missed by many.

I analyzed some of Fischer’s best games on my DVD, Winning Chess the Easy Way, Volume 05. Also, here is what I wrote about Fischer in my best-selling book Breaking Through:

Here is my full column.