No Compromises
Sunday, October 26, 2014
(Published in print: Sunday, October 26, 2014)
Most of us steer a course between independence and conformity.
Not so with Bobby Fischer, who defeated Boris Spassky in a now legendary 1972 world championship match in Iceland. Almost from birth, as few are able, he defined his own reality.
As a child, Fischer was “difficult,” we were told by Regina, his mother. In fact, adults found it easier to adapt to the child’s demands than impose their own.
When Fischer was 16 his mother left — to their mutual relief — to pursue her dream of becoming a physician.
Living in a low-rent Brooklyn apartment with adequate income from his burgeoning chess career, Fischer strove to transcend even larger boundaries. Embattled off the chessboard as well as on, he never ceased to generate excitement and controversy.
A 1992 contretemps, in which he defied the U.S. government to play a politically charged rematch with Spassky in war-torn Yugoslavia, led to his de facto exile from the U.S. and eventual asylum in Iceland.
For the remainder of his life, Fischer dared not leave the island in face of a worldwide Interpol alert to detain and extradite him to the U.S.
Before the 1972 match with Spassky, the British grandmaster C.H.O’D. Alexander offered an apt description of the often enigmatic American: “Fischer makes no compromises, accepts no second-bests and preserves a unity of purpose and personality.”
Source: http://www.vnews.com
All time great –
Taimanov – 6-0
Larsen – 6-0
Even God cannot beat Petrosian in 4 consecutive games – Bobby did .
And today, a wannabe says ” I am no fisher” as if somebody thinks he is. Yeah, he is yet to qualify even for a WC.. inspite of his tall talk
Who in his right mind would still care about that dead guy?
Apparently you still do because your still posting comments here… if you dont care you should have not posted here but you did… Guess it makes you look & sound like an idiot questioning yourself LOL
To Great Sage Pioni Almoni
All chess enthusiasts from amateur to pro ‘still care about that dead guy’. You are a silly exception.
Does that make them necrophiliac?
I concur, these repeated articles are plain silly. The chickenshit is dead, long live chess!