Unpublished letters reveal Bobby Fischers hatred for his mother
January 28th, 2008 – 4:16 pm
London, Jan 28 (ANI): Bobby Fischer might have been a chess prodigy, but deep inside he was the most perplexing of human characters and a terribly heartless son, it has been revealed.
When Fischer, who died last month aged 64, went to Reykjavik, Iceland, in 1972 to play Russian grandmaster Boris Spassky for the world championship, he was everything an American hero was supposed to be, except for a caring son.
Unpublished letters have shed an unprecedented light on the genesis of Fischers shaky mental state and his obsession with beating Spassky at the so-called match of the century in Reykjavik in 1972.
The letters also reveal that he did not know who his real father was, and deeply hated his mother for being an active communist under continuous supervision by the FBI.
Fischers mother, Regina Fischer wrote to Joan Rodker, now a retired journalist, photographer and film-maker, on a regular basis revealing some of the anguish experienced by a mother disowned by an extraordinary son.
In a letter to Rodker in May 1959, Regina wrote: I have found I am not very necessary or useful to Bobby, and actually my presence is an irritant to him. Merely being there, or in the vicinity, is enough.
When Fischer became US champion at the tender age of 14, Regina confided in Rodker, describing her son as temperamental, unable to get along with others, without friends his age, and without any interests other than chess.
When Fischer was 16, Regina decided to pursue her training in medicine, which meant that her son would have to live without her.
Here is the full story.
He’s a mentally sick individual.
Judging a dead man is stupidity. Now that the judgement has started…i would like to ask how many people out there perfect. We all have imperfections which we wouldn’t like to disclose even for our lives. People like fishers n britney spears come into limelight bcos they r famous. Many people have hatred towards their parents…that doesn’t mean they are in-human. I believe the fact that all human beings are like animals and they can become more godly only by practice. So, i don’t blame fischer or hitler or spears for being completely idiotic or having hatred for others. Who knows what his mother did to him…isn’t it true that mothers expect things from their sons? I thought mothers love was unconditional…what does she mean when she says he was not caring?
She could live her own life by pusuing for medical degree n his son had to care for her?? what bs is this? if not utter selfishness ?
who r we to judge others? even jesus said don’t judge..just be a witness// isn’t this a lesson to stop judging people?
“So, i don’t blame hitler”
You need professional help, something’s terribly wrong with you.
“He’s a mentally sick individual.”
The one who posted below you? This page is sickening. Shame on you for provoking bloggers.
well, Parents screw children all the time, they either love them too much, or neglect them, possesive, liberal, conservative, capitalists, communists … well, nothing new. This is pretty much normal, can’t see what’s the fuss is really all about
Such a passionate subject and a testament to the human condition and Bobby’s own expression of humanity.
RIP Bobby.
“People like fishers n britney spears…” What kind of ****ery is this?
A more apt comparison (genius, love of R&B, and the other thing) would be “People like Fischer n Amy Winehouse…”
****ery ?
Bill, careful with those asterisks!
Yours in chess,
Lumpy Finklestein
anonymous ..u r obviously stupid. i said i don’t blame his hatred. keep hating people who have a lot of hatred n ull turn this world into hell…goodluck ignorento
Bobby probably had good reasons for his attitude towards his mother and others. Mothers can be quite wayward,possessive,jealous,dictatorial etc.I think I can understand Fischer quite a bit.God bless his soul.
“Reveals”. I like that. Anyone who didn’t already know that Fischer hated his mother hasn’t been following along too closely.
“Bobby probably had good reasons for his attitude towards his mother and others.”
LOL. And he probably had good reasons for everything else he said and did too, however insane int seemed. I mean it’s inconceivable that he could be wrong about something.
>>
harsha said…
anonymous ..u r obviously stupid. i said i don’t blame his hatred.
>>
He’s not stupid, you’re simply hypocritical. Just listen to what you wrote:
“Judging a dead man is stupidity.”
That was your excuse for absolving Fischer of anything and everything. But you have a completely different standard for other people. To wit:
“[Regina Fischer] could live her own life by pusuing for medical degree n his son had to care for her?? what bs is this? if not utter selfishness ?”
Although she’s dead also, you seem to have no trouble whatsoever judging her. We have a lot more facts about Hitler, whom you refused to judge than we do about Regina Fischer, who you judge freely. Maybe if she’d been a better chess player, you’d absolve her of everything too.
Sorry to say, I think Bobby was very mad at a lot of things.
But on the other side, I think he was the best chess player who ever lived.
Don’t blame Bobby! He was not to blame for his behavior! He was a victim of circumstance! Leave Bobby alone!
Fischer was definitely not mad… angry, bitter, stubborn… but not mad.
who at 16 years old gets along with there parents. nonody does. its absurd to think bobby was any different. in fact this makes him more human and like the rest of us. constantly fighting our parents when were young. on top of this he hated communism which is a good thing. this should show that in fact he was completly rational and could see how bad being controlled by the government is. further more the letters were from the mother which can’t be taken seriously. she could be just speaking from her own distorted perspective. apperantly his mother fought with everybody including her husbands, landlords , friends and anyone the crazy nutcase came in contact with. who could feel good about your own parent ranting and raving at rallies and having the fbi constantly watching you. should gata kamsky be joyful with the way his lunatic father behaves. absolutly not. why is bobby any different. your parents shouldn’t embarass you.
Hi Susan,
You wasnt lucky with this article I think. Trying to blame Bobby for something he did when he was 16, beeing raised by an exentric mother and withouth a father is suspect. When we also know his mother left him when he only was 16, and he just died a week or so ago I think it’s way under the punchline. Just my opinion.
Way under the punchline it is.
I don’t get it.
What punchline?
hated his mother. this explains alot. see freud.
Is there any possibility we could stop talking about this Fischer character.
Yes he was one of the best players ever. His exact place in the panthenon of World Champions is impossible to determine (was Rocky Marciano a better champion than Ali? or Lennox lewis? – this will never be known since they never met in the ring).
Apparently Fischer wasn’t fully confident that he could beat Karpov (according to Kasparov with good reason, it would have been very close) and so avoided him instead. Yeh! I know all the Fischer fans will claim it was all a Communist/Soviet conspiracy to try to get Fischer to quit but the fact remains that Fischer demanded a game where the Champ (i.e. him) would have have to be beaten by 2 CLEAR games in order to lose his title – And that folks is cheating!
Between fairly evenly matched opponents a game is often all that separates them – witness Karpov – Kasparov, Karpov – Korchnoi, Kramnik – Leko, Kramnik – Topalov.
Fischer wanted a game of “Bobby can’t lose” not a true test to find the strongest chess player in the world.
I’m sorry but this hero worship for a racist bigot who has contributed nothing (positive) to chess since he abdicated his title in 1972 (eh, 36 years ago) is sickening.
By all means study his games they are very instructional but don’t pretend he was a hero or a great person, frankly he was an a**(%^e who ended up reinforcing the image that all chess players are lunatics.
who des britney spears hate???
jb, that who is out of fault shall be the free one to critize another human being, im certainly not the one…