The five weirdest chess masters
5. Aron NimzowitschNimzowitsch was a weird one on a few different levels. He once yelled “How could I lose to this idiot?!” at an opponent during a tournament, just for starters. He was once ordered by his doctor to get more exercise and decided to take the advice by working out between and sometimes during matches. What’s weirder, perhaps, is the fact he earnestly believed the chefs at restaurants gave him less food than anyone else at the table. We’ve heard the old joke before from goofy uncles, but he actually, rather seriously, thought his plate was less full.
4. Alexander Alekhine
Alexander Alekhine is one of the most celebrated and famous chess masters, which might have been the reason he reportedly pissed himself during games pretty often. We’d like to note one thing here: if we were playing chess with someone and they pissed all over the floor, we’d probably lose too. Perhaps that was his ultimate strategy? It’s probably also clear he happened to play most of his games drunk, which has led some to argue that his genius was stifled by his alcoholism. We still think he only won the games because his opponents couldn’t handle the smell of urine, though — a theory we might try out at simultaneous chess this weekend.
3. Carlos Torre
Carlos Torre was three things: a chess grandmaster, a nudist and a lover of pineapple sundaes. The rumor is he would eat up to ten pineapple sundaes a day — and as for the nudist thing, he was arrested for running nude and for taking his clothes off on a bus. Perhaps he was the first (and possibly last) to ever play “strip chess.”
2.Wilhelm Steinitz
Wilhelm Steinitz, who was the first undisputed world chess champion, was also crazy as a loon. In his later years, he claimed he could telephone anyone in the world without using a wire — not too much of a stretch now, but this was in the 19th century. As the stories go, he would walk around his yard having imaginary conversations with people, including once when he supposedly phoned God to challenge him to a chess match. He eventually died in an insane asylum. He did happen to have the best beard in chess, though.
1. Bobby Fischer
Where do we even start with Fischer? Perhaps we should mention the fact he was anti-Semitic from the get-go, but over the years he became increasingly anti-American as well. After retiring from chess he once denied the Holocaust and claimed bringing that “fact” to light was his new life goal. That wasn’t really enough for him though; the crazy bastard went on a foreign talk radio after 9/11 and stated, “what goes around comes around for the United States,” after which he publically called for the death of President Bush.
Source: http://blogs.westword.com
You can add more names to this.
the question is who do you prefer as a person? George W. Bush or Robert J. Fischer ?
I don’t find this list convincing.
My opinion of George Bush is scarcely less blistering than Robert J. Fisher’s, yet it was too bad that Fisher never learned this advice from the weird “mad” Hamlet:
“Use every man after his desert, and who shall ‘scape whipping? Use
them after your own honour and dignity. The less they deserve, the more merit is in your bounty.”
Regarding Steinitz, I am quite sure that he could have beaten God in a chess match, blindfold.
And I enjoy nude bathing and pineapple sundaes. It’s too bad that these aren’t genetically linked to being a grandmaster in chess. Then my game would be a lot stronger. I can’t tell you how many times I almost gave voice to the expression “How could I lose to this idiot?”
And I’m quite convinced that I’m served smaller portions at cafeteria-style restaurants than at least half of the other customers, namely male customers.
The only really weird person on this list is Alekhine, and not because he pissed himself in public, but because of his weird relations and approach to women.
Alekhine and Nimzowitsch weirder than Morphy? I don’t think so.
I think there are stranger chess players located in space ships getting probed anally and in taxi cabs probing something young immodestly.
The list is to premature to be final…
Raymond Weinstein and Claude Bloodgood.
Unnecessary and stupid article.
Especially the words about Alekhine are nonsensical.
You can also add Michael Moore.
Fahrenheit 9/11
Bowling for Columbine etc.
Michael Moore does not play chess but is definitely insane.
The anti-US sentiment is more common than you think. Caution, not against the American people but against the American policy.
Best regards.
Stef
Pathetic! Writer must be a moron.
Frederick Rhine said…
Alekhine and Nimzowitsch weirder than Morphy? I don’t think so.
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I’m happy to NOT seeing Morphy on the list, simply because the rumor about his insanity is pure nonsense based on newspaper articles which did not tell the fact that he just got tired of chess. He was never mentally ill.
It had been better to put Korchnoi on the list. He among other things claims to have played a game vs a dead person.
See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fB1d5GGooFY&feature=related
I do not believe in such silly stories as these anymore. If people want to find out about these players, I suggest they look objectively at them all and try to spot any embellishments or exaggerations done on their characters to try to dramatize them.
I like this article on Alekhine much better for many reasons:
http://www.chessthecat.com/articles/alekhine.htm