01/24/2008
SJU prof remembers chess genius Fischer
By Alex Christodoulides
The St. John’s University professor who wrote the first biography of chess champion Bobby Fischer in 1964 spoke about the polarizing genius who died last week in Reykjavik, Iceland, at the age of 64.
Frank Brady, whose book “Profile of a Prodigy” was published while Fischer was still a rising star in the American chess world but not yet the international champion he would become, last spoke about Fischer just a month ago, calling him “the pride and the sorrow of chess.”
In life, Brooklyn native Fischer inspired with his phenomenal chess talent and was equally off-putting with his arrogance and rudeness, said Brady, chairman of the Communications Department at St. John’s.
“In terms of chess, if you sat in his presence when he was at a board, it was almost like watching Mozart compose a score, just such a joy to behold,” Brady said. The two knew each other from the chess world, meeting for the first time when Fischer was 10 at a tournament on Manhattan’s Upper West Side and frequently crossing paths, thanks to Brady’s position as editor of Chess Life magazine and executive director of the United States Chess Federation.
“He could be a charming, certainly acceptable companion. He knew kings and rulers – when he went to Cuba he met with Fidel Castro, in Monaco he met Prince Rainier. He knew about politics and events and could talk about them,” Brady said.
“But he could be rude, arrogant, domineering, like a bull in a china shop, bowling over people.”
Fischer was outspokenly anti-Semitic and anti-American, traits Brady said dated back to his early days in chess.
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Thanks again Susan
You are giving a great tribute to this Champion. The dream is dead: to watch Bobby over the board again, in a true competition.
It remains words and memories.
What a strange and fascinating story.
People, whether chess players or not, should realize that Bobby fought and stood for the basic human rights.
Bobby fought for freedom, respect, recognition, equitable pay, better playing conditions.
Regardless of how Bobby did it, he did so with honest and open conviction without fear of retribution.
And I, as a chess lover and human, thank Bobby, from my heart.
I read the Profile of a Prodigy – both edition. Read the first one full because I could buy that one but only read about 100 pages of the second and newer edition from Google books.
Both of them are really good. But perhaps Frank can take an initiative of marging the games between the stories told and photographs of Brooklyn apartment, Michale Rese Hospital and so on in a greater volume so that it becomes complete. Not necessarily we want a computer based full analysis of the game but just some of the moves are being explained and so on. Moreover over the past two years I have been collecting photos and many articles or emails regarding the chess events of Fischer – that means a lot of material has surfaced after the books have published. So can frank take account of those too?