Remembering Bobby Fischer
Reminiscence
By Sofia Polgar
Wed. Feb 13, 2008
Unquestionably the most famous chess player in the history of the royal game, Bobby Fischer died last month at the age of 64 — the exact number of squares on the chessboard. His lively games will be remembered for as long as the game is played.
“Chess is life,” Fischer used to say. But, alas, after he became world champion, his life and his chess diverged. And while his games were beautiful, his life away from the chessboard was often ugly. The chess genius harbored a delusional side whose antisemitic and anti-American rants brought shame on not only the speaker but also the game.
Many of today’s players — from amateurs to grandmasters — call Fischer a factor in their decision to take up the game. His triumphs even inspired some outside the chess realm. Fischer was the first modern chess player to break down the wall of Soviet chess domination. During the Cold War, as the Iron Curtain divided Europe, he became a hero.
“A man without frontiers,” grandmaster Ljubomir Ljubojevic said of Fischer. “He didn’t divide the East and the West, he brought them together in their admiration for him.”
In the 1960s, as he headed toward his 1972 world championship, he demolished some of the best players in the game. His road to the top was brutal; he didn’t allow his opponents the mercy of even a single draw. Never before or since were such defeats handed to world-champion-caliber players.
In 1972, the world waited with bated breath as the young American meteor faced off against reigning world champion Boris Spassky. The drama made headlines around the globe. Though he already had a reputation for eccentricity, Fischer outdid himself. Because some of his conditions weren’t met, he didn’t arrive in Reykjavik, Iceland, for the showdown’s first game. Only after getting a phone call from then secretary of state Henry Kissinger was he persuaded to get on the plane. “This is one of the worst chess players in the world speaking to the best,” Kissinger allegedly said. “America wants you to go over there and beat the Russians.” Fischer lost the first point by forfeit, but two months later, America could celebrate its new champion.
The same year that Bobby became world champion, my elder sister, Susan, then 3 years old, found a chess set. Years later, Susan, my younger sister, Judit, and I led the Hungarian team to victory in the international chess Olympiad. Today, Judit is rated among the top 20 players in the world. When she became a grandmaster at age 15, she broke Fischer’s record as the youngest player to reach the mark. This was especially sweet, as Fischer’s opinion of a woman’s abilities was not terribly high. “They’re like beginners,” he once said. “They lose every single game against a man. There isn’t a woman player in the world I can’t give knight-odds to and still beat.”
Here is the full article.
Sofia,
Thank you for your story. I found inspiration in both Fisher’s victory over Spassky & the Polgar Sisters victory over the Soviet women’s team. Those were the main reasons I became interested in chess.
GTKCPA
Sara Blask, in an article about Fischer in Reykjavik, claims (among other things) that “Fischer didn’t have many close friends, but he was loyal to those he did have.”
http://www.thesmartset.com/article/article01210802.aspx
But I doubt this is true – that is, I don’t think that Fischer was generally loyal to his friends. I wonder what the Polgar sisters would say about this statement.
— Lambent
It was interesting to hear Sofia’s thoughts about Fischer’s playing strength at the time that he and the Polgar sisters analyzed together. Thank you to Sofia for clearly stating these opinions.
I know that Fischer was prone to making irrational rants but that doesn’t mean that he was wrong about Soviet collusion in chess. The results at 1962 Curacao is a case in point (although I am skeptical of his other charges that Korchnoi also colluded). A review of Jan Timman’s book about 1962 Curacao can be found here which discusses Fischer’s charges.
Very nice article.
“Fischer lost the first point by forfeit”… I thought it was the second game that he forfeited? He lost the first legitimately.
Sofia to bring up the fact that “it was sweet”, that Judit broke Bobbys record of becoming the youngest GM is classless. Bobby made those statements about women chess players 35 years ago! He praised you Polgar sisters for your chess skills and wanted to meet Susan. I know he got mad at you for playing a simul in an American club but you need to get over old superficial wounds and not hang onto them for life!
Nice to have Sofia’s impressions on Fischer.
Anonym 2:30 pm I think you are the classless one, as I think the article represents an objective view of Fischer.
In brief, Fischer as a person could not measure up to Ficher as a genius chess player and that led to his downfall.
To anonymous 5:58:00 Why did Sofi write an article on Fischer if only to denegrate him? She states Kasparov would crush Bobby. Well Lajos Portisch a fine GM called Bobby The Greatest chess player of all time as did Mikhail Tal, further more Fischer didnt have pentium processors calculating his games to move 30!! Sofia goes on to report more faults and ugliness than anything good, never considering that deep mental illness was most certainly the cause of his paranoia, bi-polar like rants, and pyschotic fears of conspiracies. I wonder if she had the courage to say any of this to his face when he was studying with her and her sisters? Its easy when someones dead! One gets the impression that the paper which was written to a Jewish newspaper had a conformity to it and an agenda to villify a very sick man. Maybe she wants to sell that painting she did of Fischer.
“Maybe she wants to sell that painting she did of Fischer.”
It is a good painting. I would like to buy it.
I’d like to buy it also for 5 bucks, I could use a good frame.