On Chess: Book, film stoke interest in Fischer
Saturday, February 5, 2011 02:50 AM
The Columbus Dispatch
In a 1974 Sports Illustrated article, Bill Lombardy characterized Bobby Fischer as a “mystery wrapped in an enigma.”
Thirty-seven years have passed, and the enigma remains unsolved.
A recently published chronicle of the chess nonpareil’s life, Endgame by Frank Brady, offers grist for those who adore him and those who despise him.
Blurbs provided by the publisher from reviews of the book reflect the negative penumbra that accompanies the public’s memory of Fischer, who died in 2008.
Kirkus Reviews refers to him as “the irascible anti-Semite”; Publishers Weekly calls him a “monster of paranoid egotism.”
His most famous opponent, Boris Spassky, provided a sympathetic but nuanced view in 2004.
“Bobby is a tragic personality,” Spassky said. “He is an honest and good-natured man, absolutely not social.
“He is not adaptable to everybody’s standards of life. He has a very high sense of justice and is unwilling to compromise with his conscience as well as with surrounding people.
“He is a person who is doing almost everything against himself.”
A documentary based on Fischer will be shown on HBO in the spring. It will be interesting to see what conclusions it offers on its controversial subject.
Source: http://www.dispatch.com
Fischer is best. Simple.
I always saw Spassky as a kind and classy man. After all that he went through in the 1972 match, for him to still be able to give a sympathetic analysis of Fischer’s personality provides evidence for this.
Brad H.
All that really matters is Fischer’s chess.
Why, after three years, is anyone still hashing about over his personality or motives. There are no definitive answers or excuses forthcoming.
At this point it’s a soap opera with a dead protagonist.
The man could probably have been world champion for decades. Instead, he threw it all away to live as a recluse. What a waste.
Bobby was smart. Running into the Polgar family he discovered that his reign was going to be short lived due to the young new chess players fueled by obsessive parents and computers. Bobby left on top instead of being humiliated by Kasparov or Judit.
Bobby saw the writing on the wall. He was last of a great old tradition in chess. The last of the classical masters.