Bobby Fischer 1943-2008

64 years, 64 squares...R.I.P The King of them All

Rest in peace.

TWIC says he died from kidney failure, while the other sources say there was no word on cause of death.

Sad news indeed. Wikipedia mentions kidney failure as the cause, though most sites don't specify the cause of his death.

Fisher was certainly the most remarkable person I knew about. I always chose to admire Fischer the chessplayer and not be obsessed with Fisher the person. He certainly had set standards about what can be accomplished by sheer determination and grit and undying dedication. I am deeply saddened by this news. An era has ended. The chessplayer Fisher has always inspired me when I have found going tough in my life. I am sure many will be able to carry forward the positives from his examples and that will be the best tribute to him.

vkj

1963-2008 doesn't make 64.

Bobby's year of birth is 1943.

Pretty shocking... way to young to go. btw 1963 is not his birth year.

Translated from icelandic news site:

"I had just finished putting aside books for him when I heard the news" says Bragi Kristjónsson book-store owner, but Bobby Fischer was a regular guest at his store on the Klapparstígur. "He most enjoyed old american comics and laughed alot when he read them." Bragi says he also read stories of men who had been chased away from their countries but you could say Bobby himself was in the same position.

"He also thought alot about chess even though he wouldn't admit it and when I got russian books on chess he was quick to purchase them." says Bragi and adds that Fischer spoke and read fluid Russian.

"He didn't show any icelandic any interested because everyone here speaks english anyway. He often talked to kids outside the store and they had no problem understanding him." According to Bragi did Bobby even occasionally play chess with the kids outside the store.

Soon after he came to Iceland he started coming to the store. "He saw the book-store as a certain shield from the enviroment. Particulalry first after he arrived there were foreign news sttations with a camera crew outside looking for him. I remember for a example a russian news station that came here with 5 cameramen. They had heard he was a frequent guest at the store and they waited here for days hoping for him to show!"

According to Bragi Fischer felt comfartable within the stacks of books. "He was so calm in here that some times he fell asleep over the books and slept for hours. He also sometimes helped me organize the book stacks that are all over the place. Fischer was of course not like other people" says Bragi. "He was a little obsessed with the fact that he was an outlaw and prosecuted by Americans, but of course the treatement americans gave him was a complete disgrace."

Bobby was exceptionally good despite his eccentrics according to Bragi. "There were many here that came with books for Fischer to sign and he took always took them well and signed them with a smile."

exact cause of death is not published yet just says he died from "serious illness". He stayed at a hospital in Reykjavik in October and November but at his home in Reykjavik, where he died, the last two months.

The first book my father ever gave me was "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess". I hope, at the end, that he experienced some peace and perhaps clarity.

RIP

"Einar S. Einarsson, chairman of the RJF support group says his the cause of death was kidney failure. "He didn't much like medical treatments. He didn't believe in western medical science", says Einar"

Fischer was born Robert James Fischer in Chicago on March 9, 1943

Indeed a tragic day for chess. I feel so sad ...

The King is dead, long live the King!

Hmmm, 1963 IS the year of birth of another chess genius, one currently retired from chess and involved in Russian politics. Maybe it was a Freudian slip :)

What sad news. Despite his rantings and ravings, many of us loved Bobby and learned from his games.
In the final analysis, that is what remains: his sparkling, clear, games, and the legions of people who started playing chess because of him.
He gave us more pleasure than pain; and in the sorrow of his later years the gap that yawned in our hearts was a testament to what he was for us.
He never fixed a game, never played for a draw, and gave us a legacy of total devotion to an art. He was, simply, for his brief shining moment, the best that ever was.

EVANS ON FISCHER IN MARCH CHESS LIFE

I was told that GM Larry Evans has cracked the mystery of who wrote Fischer's MY 61 MEMORABLE GAMES.

Rest in peace.
America does not understand what we lost with his departure.

Thanks for posting that bookstore piece, brad. When I heard the news of his death, I was wondering if Fischer ever had a single happy moment in his life, unlike other great champions who manage to have a normal existence outside of chess.

So I was happy to read that in his last year or two he was making human connections and still enjoying Russian chess literature, like when he was a kid, running around with a copy of "64" rolled up in the back pocket of his jeans.

In addition to 64 years = 64 squares, it's tempting to take the metaphor one step further:

32 light squares = 32 years of ascendancy to success, culminating in the World Championship title

32 dark squares = the descent beginning from 1975, when Fischer forfeited the title shortly after his 32nd birthday

Or to put it differently, 32 years, or literally half of a man's life, spent building towards and holding the World Championship title; then, 32 more years spent rather differently -- though, I hope, not without moments of happiness.

R.I.P. Bobby. You were, I think we all can agree, one of a kind.

Farewell Bobby,
May your soul finally find some rest.
I'll replay many of your finest moments this evening, starting out with:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1008361

Sports Illus says kidney failure; also quotes Kasparov, Spassky, Kirsan

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2008/more/01/18/fischer.obit.ap/

Very well said Brenan Nierman. He straddled the Chess world and toyed with its greatest exponents in his prime. RIP Bobby, you made your mark in this world.

I hope the Fischer haters post somewhere else, but if they want to spew their vile here, one thing's for sure: he was better at chess than you'll ever be .

RIP Bobby

Is the Atlantic Monthly story on Fischer available online? At the time it illumined several unresolved issues round his life and persona. Together with the Homeric SI story in the 80's, it leaves us a shotglass or two of rational explanation for a genius' purposive and horrifying tailspin.

Hmm,

Fischer was born in '43 Mig. It was US sanctions against former Yugoslavia and not International sanctions. Anyone from any other part of the world could travel there.

I was one of those kids who learned chess during that 1972 match. He was and is my chess hero (obviously not the rest of his life). I just regret he never played Kasparov or Karpov in a match. That would have really been something to see.

Larry Evans right now is fast at work typing out the opening lines to his upcoming book...

First of all, it's true - 2008-1943=65; but Fischer had not yet reached his 65th birthday, thus Fischer died at 64.

It's hard to imagine a more fitting application of the words "Rest In Peace". In time, history will put aside the darker moments of Bobby's later years and only his glorious games will remain. I know chess professionals will always be indebted to him. Goodbye, RJF.

I would have thought that the health care system in Iceland would have had enough in the way of quality and resources to save Fischer's life. Even if kidneys fail, there is usually the option of having a dialysis machine perform the kidney's functions. Maybe Fischer refused treatment?

I hope that some enlightened President in the future will grant Fischer a posthumous pardon...

"32 light squares = 32 years of ascendancy to success, culminating in the World Championship title

32 dark squares = the descent beginning from 1975, when Fischer forfeited the title shortly after his 32nd birthday"

Fischer's 32 years of "ascendancy" was filled with plenty of darkness, but your observation is essentially correct.

Ironically, if Fischer had opted to defect to, say, Cuba, the 2nd half of his life would not be as grim.

His life ended on a grace note, as he did manage a last triumph by escaping from the clutches of the Bush administration.

The bookseller's story on him still reading the latest Russian chess magazines - it was as if his life suffered a curious reversion, retreating to his glory days of the 50s and 60s.

I wonder who gets white in the first game... Lucifer or Fischer?

It's pretty obvious he was poisoned. Maybe his conspiracy theories where not far off after all. Of course in the end he got mated by them. They finally took him out. The world globalism government can wait a long time before they strike!

RIP Fischer

Go away, Eddy. We just lost the best chessplayer that America ever had, and no matter what he did with his later life, he deserves respect.

Hey Eddy,
Why don't you have yourself another bagel and relax. Show some respect for your superior (player).

eddy,

Fischer. He threatened to walk out of the match otherwise and then accused Lucifer of being a Jew.

Bobby will play 1.e4 and Lucifer will resign - realizing that in this position, against this opponent, none of his tricks will work.

Respectfully
bondegnasker

Is someone with a command of Icelandic able to give a rough gist of what these Icelandic websites are saying (the only web translator I could find spat out gibberish not English) and what Saemi Paalson is saying in the TV interview (my understanding was they had fallen out the last few years over this TV documentary project). They all look to give info I think the people here would find interesting.

http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2008/01/18/fisher_anaegdur_her_a_landi/

http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2008/01/18/sagan_mun_daema_bandarikjamenn/

http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2008/01/18/kvedur_fischer_med_soknudi/

I have been influenced by many great players of this game I love so much, but Bobby was my only true chess idol. A flawed genius whose life it seems was always in turmoil. I too was angered by his remarks of a second day that will "live in infamy" in this country. So much so, that hearing of his passing would have little affect on me. I was wrong! I sit here at home and ponder the chess genius of this man and am awed. This is a sad day.

Huh, I thought Fischer died in 1975?

Does this mean I can start playing the Kings Gambit again?

I wonder who gets white in the first game... Lucifer or Fischer?

-- Posted by: Eddy at January 18, 2008 13:05

How classless. Can't even wait one day before speaking ill of the dead.

RIP Bobby

After people heard Bobby's ugly rants against Jews, and after 9/11, it is no surprise that so many decided Bobby was a vile person to be ridiculed and shunned.

But like many others, I will always believe that Bobby suffered from some kind of mental illness. There was as much illogic in his rants as there was hatred, yet Bobby had a sharp mind. Humans are wet machines (is "free will" even an empirically meaningful concept?).

So in my view, blaming Bobby for the manifestations of his mental illness made no more sense than blaming a cancer victum for his tumor. Attitudes toward mental illness should not still be so primitive in this technologically advanced era.
Bobby's mental illness unfairly robbed him of the deeper joys he had earned for the instead-wasted second half of his life.

Except for the unknown fellow who invented chess circa 1475, nobody has ever had as much effect on chess world-wide as did Bobby Fischer (though honorable mentions to Philidor, Staunton, Morphy, Steinitz; and to that Soviet guy who convinced Lenin & Stalin to fund chess).

Even after he retired, Bobby introduced ideas that have had major impacts on chess. One such idea is the delay clock that is now nearly standard. Bobby's ideas had an intensive positive effect on my life for a couple of years.

RIP

I sent this to my friend I guess I'll share with all of you. Hope its not too corny because I feel this way.

Bobby Fischer died today, the tragedy is now complete. I’ve told you before that I was not like most kids. Most kids did not grow up with hero tales of chess players. Most kids were told about Mickey Mantle and Willie Mays. I did too but add Bobby to the list. I’ve told you before that how crushed I was when his came out of hiding in 1997 and said all those horrible things. Because deep down I always liked to believe that, he was just in hiding getting stronger and would rise like to phoenix to show the world something more special again. When I was a child that is what I believed, heart and soul. When I was an adult I was disappointed that this myth of a man was nothing than a very sick wonderer no different than any crazy on the street, that made angry and unable to forgive. I sent a letter to the young man who was portrayed by as the bad guy or bad kid in “Searching for Bobby Fischer” the Film. In that letter I told him about this myth I believed when I was a child, I scoffed at it, how silly I was, how silly we where as children to believe that. When I found out he died I learned I had not totally let that dream go, and I thought I had. The first thing I thought was I will never see him be champion again. Strange how the mind works when you think you’re so sure of something. They say Chess is sport for the mind, if that is true, than Bobby had a cold for the mind and there is no cure that we know of. When Bobby Died his took a lot of things with him, He took chess and what it could have been, he took his myth and his mystic with him and he took a small part of my childhood with him. I forgive him.

TC

Oh man, can't help getting sad..."and time must have a stop".

RIP up there Bobby...however that's not granted since you may be assigned by default to the Jewish quarter of Heavens.

I came to chess long after the first Spassky-Fischer match, but I read about Fischer's match antics and I ended up disliking him so much I refused to read any books he had written, or play through his games. Now, though, I feel inexplicably saddened by his death...I think I'll play through a few of his games after all, and raise a glass to his memory and contributions to chess. May you rest in peace, Mr. Fischer.

Rest in peace, BEST EVER!

Let God kill all who hate you!
Let God bless all who bless you!

How absurd that the statist BBC begins Fischer's obituary with "he was a fierce critic of the US government."

He just wanted to be left alone by the US government, in fact.

ChessVibes has some great stuff. The site is so busy, however, that I haven't been able to check it for a while.

There is the actual recording of the moment of silence in honour of Fischer at Wijk aan Zee. Reactions are available, so far, from GM Ljubomir Ljubojevic, GM Nigel Short, GM Michael Adams, GM Teimur Rajabov, GM Jan Timman, and GM Veselin Topalov.

I particulary like what Topalov said: "He really loved chess and his ideas ... still live."

"let God kill all who hate you", bobo? good grief. what a bizarre elegy.

Good bye Bobby..

Statement from Garry Kasparov:

***********

With the death of Bobby Fischer chess has lost one of its greatest figures. Fischer’s status as world champion and celebrity came from a charismatic and combative personality matched with unstoppable play. I recall thrilling to the games of his 1972 Reykjavik world championship match against Boris Spassky when I was nine years old. The American had his share of supporters in the USSR even then, and not only for his chess prowess. His outspokenness and individuality also earned him the quiet respect of many of my compatriots.

Fischer’s beautiful chess and his immortal games will stand forever as a central pillar in the history of our game. And the story of the Brooklynite iconoclast’s rise from prodigy to world champion has few peers for drama. Apart from a brief and peculiar reappearance in 1992, Bobby Fischer’s chess career ended in 1972. After conquering the chess Olympus he was unable to find a new target for his power and passion.

Fischer’s relentless energy exhausted everything it touched – the resources of the game itself, his opponents on and off the board, and, sadly, his own mind and body. While we can never entirely separate the deeds from the man, I would prefer to speak of his global achievements instead of his inner tragedies. It is with justice that he spent his final days in Iceland, the site of his greatest triumph. There he has always been loved and seen in the best possible way: as a chessplayer.

Garry Kasparov
Moscow – January 18, 2008

****************

Why are tears rolling down my face. I guess I love the man and the chess player.

Yes I am Tommy. I have not posted for a long time. Did not intend to post. But tears are flowing and I love Bobby Fischer as a Chess Player. America has lost an individual who could be his own man.

When Bobby sits down and plays a chess game with God, I am putting my money on Bobby winning.

Lucifer can go to H^ll because Bobby is going to the Happy Playground in the Sky.

What a great statement by Kasparov! I guess Mig had a hand in shaping it, as it is in English. Bravo!

Oops, sorry about the 1963 typo, guys. Too much Kasparov on the brain these days. (His birth year.) I always remember Fischer's because that's the birth year of my mother, but brainfarted in a hurry to post that before Corus started.

Garry is doing a long piece on Fischer for Time magazine for next week's edition. We just did the outline, should be good. Some nice personal tidbits about Fischer and his effect in on chess and in the USSR.

When I was a kid, my father took me to visit relatives in Cleveland, Ohio. While there, we saw a)the nearby (American) Football Hall of Fame, and b) the famous John G. White Collection of chess books at the Cleveland Public Library.

It's not open stacks--you have to request an item if you want to look at it. In the card catalog, I naturally went straight to "Fischer," and saw that they owned scoresheets of his. I requested one, and sure enough they brought it to me! I can't remember what tournament it was from. But what a thrill, to hold one of Fischer's scoresheets, with that broad, loose, demented scrawl of his.

That was probably in 1971, when I was all of eleven years old. Such innocence then! Fischer was still a pure hero, untainted by the sadness of later years.

Bobby, you were so alone.

A lot of people griped about Bobby Fischer when he was alive, because a lot of people don't like people who have opinions different from the common herd. I think everyone has a right to express what is on their mind, even if it offends other people. That's how great ideas are born.

Bobby Fischer was an amazing chess player. A player, born in the USA, who managed to overcome a whole Soviet system- nobody else has done something that big really.

Bobby Fischer fought for rights that a lot of chessplayers enjoy today- the right for better conditions in touranments, and more prize money. Fischer inspired many people to become chessplayers. Rest in Peace.

He had the gift to create beauty in the little world that we all love: chess. For today, at least, I want to remember him for that alone.

Goodbye, Bobby. And thank you.

-Steve W.

Gary's statement is beautifully versed -- particularly, speaking of the "inner tragedies".

The US State Department blundered phenomenally in the handling of the Fischer case. One of the people who had done more for the American image than most political appointees will ever do, was reduced to a stateless tramp. His "inner tragedies" were not taken into account. Moreover, they illuminated just how cruel, suffocating and senseless political correctness has become.

D.

Dr. Frank Brady -- interviewed this morning.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/reacting-to-bobby-fischers-death/index.html?ref=obituaries

Brady says that one of Fischer's people approached Brady about helping with "My 61 Memorable Games".

Brady also says Fischer was not mentally ill, that Fischer was just ...

My first chess memory is watching Shelby Lyman discuss the merits of BxRP in 1972 as a seven year old. Thanks to Bobby I was hooked for the next quarter century.

Yes, that is a nice statement by Kasparov and I applaud its cadence. I look forward to the article in Time, which I hope will be a fitting memorial to one of the great figures of civilisation.

What I do not like are comments about Fischer such as those by Kasparov's manager below.

http://thelede.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/more-reflections-on-bobby-fischer/

I know they are false, everyone who knows anything about Fischer must surely know they are false, Kasparov and Mig must surely know they are false (it is such a joke that even the interview with Kasparov above it contradicts it).

I invite Mig and Kasparov to ask that they be retracted. It benefits no-one for Kasparov's manager to go around lying about Bobby less than 24 hours after he died, and discredits any article Kasparov may write for Time magazine.

Wait, it's suddenly hit me: Fischer achieved everything in his chess career before the age of 30? That's astonishing! While I've always known the dates of the key points of his career, I don't think I've ever thought through them from his point of view, rather than that of the chess community.

I have just one thing to say:

11...Na4

I have another, mrwideman:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cd 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6
6. Bc4!

21...Qd7! 0-1

I haven't spoken to Owen about it but can't imagine him lying about such things. Dylan doesn't say when the conversation took place ("earlier" this day or this century?). I was aware of such overtures but always assumed they took place from people near Fischer (literally, since I don't believe he had any such handlers or inner circle anymore) trying to make a buck by pimping Bobby's name around. There are no shortage of such con men, for whom Bobby's problems and reclusiveness were an advantage. (See Howard Hughes) It's hard for me to imagine Fischer wanting to play Garry even at shuffle chess, although he didn't rule such things out 11 years ago when he presented Fischerrandom. The actual call or calls from Fischer himself I had never heard about, which is why I wonder when it/they took place. I'll ask Owen about it.

...Na4 and ...Qd7. Eloquent memorials. Bobby burned the Byrnes.

I like Rf6 against Benko's Pirc defense.

If it was not for Bobby, I would not be a chess player. Thank you

My father bought me my first chess board and he let me stay up late as we sat together watching Shelby Lyman on Ch 13 in NYC and followed the games of the 1972 Reykjavik world championship. Bobby is gone, but I still have that first chess set and happy memories.

Life is just a chess board of nights and days
Where destiny, with men for pieces, plays.
Each in turn they mate and slay
And one by one in the box they lay.

Like many on the board, my first exposure to Chess was that summer of 1972. I learned, joined a club and was a regular player for three years. When Fischer-Karpov didn't happen, I was crushed and lost my enthusiasm for the game for many years.

Until by accident really, happening upon the US Championship in San Diego, CA in Dec 2004 - "...see that guy there, Kamsky?! He actually played Karpov for the World Title. You know Fischer would've CRUSHED Karpov...See the Asian kid over there, he's LEADING...") My interest was reborn.

I get a little misty thinking about the games that will NEVER happen now: Fischer against Karpov, Kasparov, Kramnik, Topalov, etc... But then I realize that the beauty of chess is that the games played and actually recorded belong to us FOREVER. We can always (and I think I will tonight) replay Bobby against the Byrnes, stealing Reshevsky's Queen, his miniature against Benko in the 63-64 US Championships, Game 1 against Larsen in the Candidates and finally, greeting Spassky with 1. c4.

But then I think about where Bobby is now, finally getting a chance to play against the guys he might've been compared to but never faced across the board: Morphy, Staunton, Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca, Alekhine,...and just know he's in a better place.

The image that carries me through today is that he's probably walked into that place in the afterlife and found Mikhail Tal waiting for him, with a chessboard and clock, ready for lots of blitz games to catch up on.

Was going to work out tonight, but think I'll just go home and drink instead and raise a toast to Bobby!

Also, since Bobby lived with the Polgars in Hungary back in the 1990s, if they have ANY written games between Susan, Judit, Sofia (or Laszlo) and Bobby - now would be the appropriate time to share with his fans. I don't think he would mind...

17.) ... Be6!

Let me add to the log of memorable moves---maybe we can even reach 60:

11...Nh5!!? from Reykjavik game 3.

I think someone has already given 29...Bxh2?!?, which could stand as the dictionary definition of "chutzpah".

Alas "Bobby the man" keeps me from comparing this to the day Babe Ruth died---but one can relive "Bobby the player" on the board in a sense one can't with any baseball player.

For my own personal reminiscences, I was invited to write a piece on Bobby by the signature blog in my field, and it's here: http://weblog.fortnow.com/2008/01/bobby-fischer-guest-post-by-ken-regan.html

Anyone think that Fischer's life would make for an epic Hollywood biopic?

I remember years ago I bought the Gligoric book on the Fischer-Spassky match. It was my first book on Fischer and I stayed up all night and played through all the games in one sitting. What a match! What a player! R.I.P Bobby...

How about Fisher-Petrosian, gm. 7, 1971? That was the game famous for Najdorf's "[Fischer is] an idiot!" comment when Bobby played Nc5xd7. The resulting play brought the astonished comment from Petrosian's second, Suetin: "My God, he plays so simply."

The Pele of Chess. A tormented genius whose soul
resides forever in his immortal games.

Like many I idolized Bobby growing up, and wouldn't be playing chess today if he hadn't been my hero. I'm grateful for all the great games he gave us, and the chance I had to follow them.

RIP Bobby, I hope you're happier where you are now.

Meanwhile...

"Why are tears rolling down my face. I guess I love the man and the chess player.

Yes I am Tommy. I have not posted for a long time. Did not intend to post. But tears are flowing and I love Bobby Fischer as a Chess Player. America has lost an individual who could be his own man.

When Bobby sits down and plays a chess game with God, I am putting my money on Bobby winning.

Lucifer can go to H^ll because Bobby is going to the Happy Playground in the Sky.

Posted by: Tommy at January 18, 2008 16:22"

...shouldn't you be working on a court case or something?

"How about Fisher-Petrosian, gm. 7, 1971?"-Ricardo

Yes! This is my favorite Fischer game. I was a beginning chess player and had trouble understanding GM games.Kasparov, Tal... forget about it. But, This game seemed so clear. Kinda like Karpov's games. I thought "hey, I can do that". Of course, I can't but it still feels like with enough hard work I could:)

Long live Bobby regards

Bobby Fisher accomplished, being from Brooklyn, what Bronstein could not dare.
Bobby Fisher, in the Epic Tradition, called out that, all their skill and technique aside, they were cheaters, crooks, world class politicians... would take them on and win, and then did. Of course there would be a personal Achille's Heel to lay such low!

His personal collapse/tragedy speaks to how shamefully miserly America cares for its children of less than even moderately healthy circumstances and then what comes home to roost collectively as it does individually.

And while others may trumpet 1. e4 I will always recall following up the no-show forfeit of game one with 1. c4 when the moment called for it.
(As well as the more routine, for RJF, many "heart atatck kid" defenses).

And mourn the loss to America that he couldn't find a way to to defend and be a people's champion in 1975, for what chess in schools could have done for critical thinking skills in our culture the past thirty years.

I hope the people who have B's memorabilia from the Bekins storage will search their souls and found a Fischer Museum open to the public with all the stuff they have.
He had lots of tapes in there with his thoughts recorded. Wonder if they could ever be researched by historiographers, or what they're called.

Translation from an article in the biggest newspaper in Iceland, this morning:

"Last year Bobby Fischer wanted to play a match against Vishy Anand, the present World Champion in chess, and he was also willing to play against Gary Kasparov. GM Helgi Olafsson was in contact with them and Anand showed interest in playing. Fishcer wanted to play 'Fischerrandom', otherwise known as 'Chess 960' which he invented. In Fishcerrandom the pieces are set-up randomly at the beginnig of the game to make it more difficult. According to Helgi Olafsson Fischerrandom is getting increasingly popular, most notably in Germany and Anand has played in a lot of tournaments with this format. According to e-mail messages between Helgi Olafsson and Anand it appears that Fishcer had very concrete ideas about this match. He put forward, with Helgi Olafsson, 18 conditions for the proposed match. He wanted the match to take place in India and be financed locally. It would be broadcast on the internet with pay per view.
Helgi Olafsson says that it was impossible for Kasparov to accept the invitation to play since he was already very busy in Russian politics. Anand blamed lack of time since he was already booked for many tournaments. Anand also said that it would be an honour to play against Fischer but that he could not guarantee that all conditions could be met.
Fischer and Anand knew each other and was Fishcer displeased with how slow the negotiations were going. Fischer said to Helgi Olafsson: "I must get one more competition". (end of article)

I ran into Mr. Fischer a few time here in Reykjavik but was always to shy to speak to him. Many of my friends met him at bars or in bookstores and he was always willing to talk about chess. From what I hear from people that associated with him the last few years it looks like he had a good time here. So sad that he had to be difficult even when it came to his physical health since I am sure that his life could have been prolonged considerably if he had been more willing to get treatment.

Here is the link to the article abowe:

http://www.mbl.is/mm/frettir/innlent/2008/01/19/vildi_tefla_einvigi_vid_anand_2/

WILL FISCHER WIN THE ENDGAME OF HIS LIFE?

My interview with GM Larry Evans in 2004 about Bobby took place before Iceland rescued him from a Japanese jail.

http://tinyurl.com/354gcb

Another article from Iceland (in English)

http://www.icelandreview.com/icelandreview/daily_news/?cat_id=16568&ew_0_a_id=299003

From the snooker anecdote, it seems Warren Buffett got it wrong when he said:

"How do you beat Bobby Fischer? Play him at any game but chess"

4.Bxc6

Ricardo, thanks for the wonderful story about Fisher-Petrosian, gm. 7, 1971--Najdorf and Suetin's comments. Brilliant.

How about 3. exd5! and again (in USSR vs. World match) you're beating Petrosian like nobody's business.

I feel so sad, cant shake it off. Surfed all the internet links, read up most every article, cant help it man, I feel down. For those who like a video link, try this for the coverage on BBC newsnight yesterday. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/video/default.stm
The link is titled latest programme on the tope left.

Like many others, I learned to play chess during the 1972 Fischer-Spassky World Chess Championship match. He had a profound influence on my play. My opening repertoire is modeled after his (although I don't play anywhere near his level) and developed a love for the Najdorf variation after playing over his games. The fact that he never wrote a second volume of memorable games covering the 1970 to 1972 period is a great loss for all chess players. He will be greatly missed, but always be remembered as one of the greatest players ever.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/01/19/fischer.game.ap/index.html

Thanks Larry Parr for the reprint link tot he interviews.

While is dimentia was already blooming, I still wonder how it served the psychological warfare purposes in 1972 (forfeiting a game - my apologies on the numeration mistake).

I also wonder what witnessing RJF's delusional descent says about the risk of youth with unstable or unbalanced family origins allowed to obsess as a route to a sense of self(what chinks it could create in someone)., and our society's choice to let 'em rot then exploit their tragedy as entertainment fodder.

Our graveyards, prisons and high school dropout rolls are loaded with everyday everyman parallel stories of youth seeking empowerment and self esteem our society just washes its hands of, labelling their manipulation andabandonment their own fault.

ironically, chess in the schools could help.

Kind and generous words from Garry Kasparov on the death of one of the very few players who ever dominated the world of chess as he did.
Thank you.

Anyone want to explain why Spassky was so curt in his response to Fischer's death. According to news stories, this was his reaction:

"It's bad luck for you. Bobby Fischer is dead,"

The late Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel wrote a wonderful book that attempts to explain the connections between certain reductive political ideologies and the development of the ego.

Janine Chasseguet-Smirgel and Béla Grunberger. Freud or Reich? Psychoanalysis and Illusion. Trans. Claire Pajaczkowska. New Haven: Yale UP, 1986.

Highly recommended, and perhaps even useful in better understanding the life of RJF.

Somehow I think Regina Wender's life would make a better movie....

Can someone independently confirm Le Monde's claim that Fischer died because he refused medical care?

http://www.lemonde.fr/web/article/0,1-0,36-1001388,0.html

"Jeudi 17 janvier, plus paranoïaque que jamais, il succombe à une insuffisance rénale, étant trop méfiant pour accepter le secours de la médecine. On ne gagne jamais à jouer aux échecs contre soi-même."

I don't have anything that I would count as real confirmation, Bill. But that is what I was told from a good Icelandic chess contact when I wrote about his hospitalization a while back. She's been a constant supporter of Fischer's and helped bring him to Iceland and can't imagine she'd make it up. It was along the lines of his wanting to get out of the hospital and wanting to go home, and not wanting the doctors to get near him. She also said that earlier he'd stopped going out for walks and had put on a lot of weight when he was seen.

Been busy today, any actual comments from the doctors in the various news reports?

'Anyone want to explain why Spassky was so curt in his response to Fischer's death. According to news stories, this was his reaction:

"It's bad luck for you. Bobby Fischer is dead,"'
-Posted by: rs at January 19, 2008 15:18

Sounds like a shot at the media and anyone else who tried to exploit Fischer.

Bobby Fischer was the Glenn Gould of chess, totally brilliant, & so unable to deal with most members of the human race. Is all that success worth the loss of so much happiness?

FISCHER'S LEGACY

"Bobby was truly a great person with tragic flaws. He'll probably be remembered like Morphy -- another crazy chess genius." -- GM Larry Evans

Quoting from memory: "the Marilyn Monroe of chess"--Anand interview on chessvibes.com

"Posted by: eponymous_coward at January 18, 2008 11:48
I hope the Fischer haters post somewhere else, but if they want to spew their vile here, one thing's for sure: he was better at chess than you'll ever be ."

LOL, at the idea of anybody who likes Fischer decrying anyone elses hatred. Thanks for the laugh.

There seemed to be news of Fischers funeral in the Icelandic online press today. Anyone based in Iceland/Icelandic readers able to fill us in?

Thanks

"Last year Bobby Fischer wanted to play a match against Vishy Anand, the present World Champion in chess, and he was also willing to play against Gary Kasparov. GM Helgi Olafsson was in contact with them and Anand showed interest in playing."
Posted by: Siggi at January 19, 2008 06:19

This is interesting. In a video interview -- Europe-Eschecs I think -- Anand mentions spending an evening with Fischer in Iceland about 2 years back. (The meeting was arranged by Helgi Olafsson.) When asked by the interviewer if he would have liked to play Fischer, Anand's response was curious; after a slight hesitation, he said "I would not have minded it. It would have been fun." I was surprised by the Anand's ambivalence because I thought any chess player would have jumped at the chance of playing Fischer.

It would indeed have been an interesting match up but, true to form, Fischer had his conditions!

During WW2 Iceland refused to admit Jewish refugees from Hitler's Europe. In 2005 it rolled a carpet for Bobby Fischer. They are a cowardly jealous US-hating nation.

It is interesting that in Fischer's accounts of his detention in Japan, he bitterly complains of the harsh treatment by the Japanese prison guards. specifically, he claimed to have received serious physical abuse, including brutal beatings. Such treatment of prisoners is not unusual in Asian countries, especially when the prisoner is regarded as behaving poorly, or being uncooperative. In addition, the US State Department's request that he be detained probably exaggerated Fischer's threat (he was innocuous, really). Before he was jailed, Fischer seemed to be in decent shape. When he was released he was clearly in poor health already.

Question: Did the beatings and other forms of abuse that he suffered in Japanese detention end up injuring his kidneys, and impairing their function?

In the broadest sense, it looks like the US Government--at least during the reigns of the Bushes--took it upon itself to hound Fischer for the last 15 years of his life. Almost like Les Miserable for the 21st Century.

yz - there are like half a million people in iceland, total. The last immigration wave they had to deal with was the Vikings a thousand years ago. I can understand why they'd be a bit hesitant to accept refugees.

On the other hand, the only international fame they've ever had has been from two people: Bobby Fischer, and Bjork. I can understand why they'd let Fischer in.

Neither of those situations has anything whatsoever to do with hating the US, or being jealous or cowardly in any way. Wipe off the foam from your hydrophobic jowls.

and DOug - The Japanese guards brutally beat Fischer as part of a Bush-led conspiracy to recreate a French novel? Lay off whatever you're smoking.

Fischer was buried this morning in a private funeral in Iceland, in accordance to his wishes. His wife Miyoko Watai who flew in from Japan yesterday was present at the funeral.

http://www.mbl.is/frimg/4/49/449889A.jpg <- Bobby Fischers grave.

Magnús Skúlason a good friend of Bobby who was with him the end says Bobby's last words were "nothing eases suffering like a human touch".

"On the other hand, the only international fame they've ever had has been from two people"

hey, we're also the best country in the world!(according to the UN)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Human_Development_Index

My condolences to all of Bobby's friends and fans -- may he finally be free from all his
demons!

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/01/18/fischer.memories.irpt/

Mark Howitt posts:

"A lot of people griped about Bobby Fischer when he was alive, because a lot of people don't like people who have opinions different from the common herd. I think everyone has a right to express what is on their mind, even if it offends other people. That's how great ideas are born."

These comments defend Fischer's anti-Semitism. I ask Mig to delete them.

Ed Yetman, III

"The US State Department blundered phenomenally in the handling of the Fischer case. One of the people who had done more for the American image than most political appointees will ever do, was reduced to a stateless tramp. His "inner tragedies" were not taken into account. Moreover, they illuminated just how cruel, suffocating and senseless political correctness has become.

D.
Posted by: Dimi at January 18, 2008 17:01 "

LOL at the idea that the State Department should just give a pass to any criminal who MIGHT be mentally ill, whether diagnosed as such or not. Ironically, it's people like you helped destroy him. Fischer grew up with people in the chess world telling him what you're saying; that the rules didn't apply to him because of his talent. He naturally thought the real world worked that way too. But it doesn't.

THE FISCHER INDICTMENT

By GM Larry Evans and Larry Parr

http://www.geocities.jp/bobbby_a/list/p_67/67_0.htm

FISCHER vs SPASSKY 1992

Is Bobby Fischer a criminal? In December 1992
the following article in the Ft. Lauderdale Sun
Sentinel won an award from the Chess Journalists
of America.

Like many chess players, I was delighted by the kind-hearted words from former World Champion Garry Kasparov for one of his great predecessors. This sort of kindness seems to be contagious; not long ago, former World Champion Anatoli Karpov put aside any political differences he had with Kasparov and attempted to visit the latter in his prison cell in Moscow to show simple support for Kasparov in his plight.

Other chess players don't lend nearly the same dignity to the game when they squabble over handshakes.

In response to the choleric attack on Iceland by the U.S. newspaper "The Washington Post" following Bobby Fischer's arrival in Iceland the "Morgunbladid" in Reykjavik, Iceland noted in an Editorial dated 29 March 2005:

"Bobby Fischer has not come to Iceland because of his opinions. They are his, and he is responsible for his words just as any other Icelander is.

When Mr. Fischer became World Champion, Americans were eager to cloak themselves in this eccentric chess genius’ victory over the Soviet chess dynasty, but since 1992 their intransigence toward him has been unalloyed."

The Icelandic paper went on to note that:

"The original intent was not to grant Mr. Fischer Icelandic citizenship, but when it became clear that the Japanese would not release him, the decision was made to take this step. Althingi (the Icelandic Parliament) did not bring Iceland to shame with this decision; instead, it saved the United States the shame of having imprisoned Robert James Fischer for the sole crime of not having behaved in harmony with American foreign policy."

One shame Iceland could not save the United States of America from, however, was that the greatest chess player the U.S.A. has ever produced was not buried on his native soil. And that shame will sting forever.

A lot of people griped about Bobby Fischer when he was alive, because a lot of people don't like people who have opinions different from the common herd.
IN a SANE SOCIETY everyone has a right to express what is on their mind, even if it offends other people. That's how great ideas are born.

Charles got it exactly right, about 10 posts up from here.

Why then are the last couple of posts going on with that tired old "America shamed itself" the way it dealt with Fischer, and "anything goes" sort of tripe?

Well, people will see, read and understand only what they want to hear - which is to say, only what they are emotionally (and maybe intellectually) capable of absorbing. Especially the kind of people who march to the same drummer all the time and find comfort only in sheer numbers (i.e., all those sheep marching alongside them bleating in usison, "America is always wrong"). Hmm, I can quote Costa-Gavras here - certainly no America-lover - skewering his fellow leftists with that classic quote in Z, "Always blame the Americans. Then even when you're wrong, you're right."

And let's not overlook Doug: he contributed what is probably the funniest take of all on the Fischer sage. "Ironically, if Fischer had opted to defect to, say, Cuba, the 2nd half of his life would not be as grim," Doug wrote. Positively side-splitting.

@ Observer/Mark Howitt, or whatever you're calling yourself this time): What great ideas? People griped about Bobby Fischer because his ideas about Jews (and women, I might add) were abhorrent. I'm not sure how you equate anti-Semitism and misogyny with "great ideas"...unless your idea of a good time is running around with a shaved head and painting swastikas around town while keeping the 'wimmin-folk' at home where they belong.

And many people didn't like Bobby simply because he could be rather nasty. There is a big difference between being disliked for your ideas versus being disliked because you are mean.

You must be just trolling (either that or you're as thick as 6 posts), so probably best just to ignore you like I did the first time you posted.

The U.S. State Dept did blunder phenomenally in handling the Fischer case, but not for the reasons Dimi had written down. They blundered through inconsistency, and through not following their own rules/protocols. There were other prominent Americans also doing various types of business in Yugoslavia and other countries and nothing was done to them (technically, Fischer wasn't even doing business with Yugo itself, was he? If true, the state dept screwed up the Fischer case back in 92 then as the ruling didn't apply him).

They also let Fischer renew his passport, then cancelled it without notifying him, tried to get him extradited for using a cancelled passport (which seemed to be a trumped up charge), messed up with the procedures while he was in jail, and the litany of errors goes on. It seems it was a ham-handed, bungled mess run by incompetents from start to finish. Perhaps they were hoping for a quiet extradition and didn't think bending/breaking a few rules would be noticed. Oops.

Has anyone heard about Bobby calling in to an Icelandic TV program with analysis of a chess game before he died? I heard a GM resigned a winning position and Bobby was the first one to notice.

Describing the conduct of the U.S. State Department in relation to Fischer as "a blunder" is far too generous. The nearest chess term would be "unsportsmanlike conduct". Mean-spirited, not to say malicious, would be more appropriate terms.

As best as I can figure out, Fischer was hounded by the U.S. government for violating a Presidential Executive order. He was the only person to be indicted in regard to this. That's the definition of special and unusual treatment; when a law is passed and you're the only one ever prosecuted under that law. All sorts of people, including other Americans, despite doing business with "the former Yugoslavia" didn't find themselves the subject of such a manhunt as Fischer did. And this was a law about "trading" with a country that no longer exists - trade being defined in this case as playing a chess match for which you are paid.

To borrow an expression ... just because Fischer was paranoid doesn't mean they weren't out to get him. And all of this is in addition to the passport shenanigans which Daniel Andrews has outlined.

You have it wrong observer of shenanigans. Executive order 12810 section h applied to Fischer: Any transaction in the United States or by a United States person related to participation in sporting events in the United States by persons or groups representing the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro); sections b and d also applied but are too long to put here. Those sections dealt with travel to the former Yugoslavia. If Fischer would have had himself a good lawyer he probably would have beaten the charges, but he decided to run.

According to John Bosnitch, the U.S. government tried to retroactively cancel Fischer's passport during the course of their nefarious activities against him. I suspect that if Fischer "beat the charges" then new ones, more fiendish and sinister than the last, would have been invented.

As Bosnitch pointed out in a recent ChessBase article, the Japanese authorities, no doubt following the "advice" of the U.S. government, used this illegal appropriation of Fischer's passport to deny him the right to marry. Since Japan does not recognize the "offense" of unauthorized chess playing, once Fischer was married to a Japanese national they would be violating their own laws to allow the legal kidnapping of Fischer by the U.S.A.

The absurd maliciousness of this kind of conduct is self-evident; the Japanese government authorities claimed they couldn't allow Fischer to marry because they couldn't confirm who he was ... yet they were holding him "in prison because it was already certain of his identity as confirmed by the U.S. government in its request for his extradition."

Bosnitch writes: "The U.S. government and U.S. embassy personnel treated their own Constitution as if it were a worthless piece of paper in Japan. In defending his own constitutional rights, Fischer defended true American values against numerous violations by the U.S. authorities and Japanese officials acting under U.S. direction."

Observer, you are an ignoramus. U.S. Passports are the property of the U.S. Government and can be cancelled at any time. This only makes sense: if the U.S. Government could cancel a passport only after a hearing, then any criminal could run forever by simply avoiding the hearing.

If Bosnitch is a lawyer he is the worst lawyer in the world. Go read the U.S. Constitution for yourself. If you can find a single word in there that assures Americans the right to a passport, then Bosnitch would have a case. Such a right is not guaranteed; for that matter, even rights such as assembly and free speech are not fully guaranteed, not to mention habeus corpus. If you ever get in a jam, observer, don't hire Bosnitch.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

Passports may be the property of the issuing government but I was not aware that the U.S. government was within its authority to retroactively cancel Fischer's passport. This is Bosnitch's claim which you haven't bothered to address, Ed Y the 3rd.

In any case, Fischer WAS released and lived out his days in Iceland instead of in a U.S. dungeon. It seems that Bosnitch and the other members of Fischer's legal team weren't such lousy lawyers after all. Or perhaps you'd like to ascribe Fischer's freedom to some other cause? Do tell. But try to keep your venom to yourself. Fischer and those who hounded him produced enough of that.

The U.S. government, like any other government, may revoke a passport at any time. If a government lacked that power then criminals could run for very long periods of time. Bosnitch simply doesn't know what he is talking about. It is the sovereign right of any state to restrict the travel of its citizens. This is blackletter law.

As for Fischer's release, that was a sovereign act of the Japanese government. Two governments advanced claims: the United States and Iceland. Japan chose to release him to Iceland. Japan's position all along was that Japan was not detaining him against a U.S. criminal complaint, but on the technical ground of not possessing a valid passport; if Japan had announced at the beginning that Fischer was being held on a criminal charge he would have been returned to the U.S. Those are the facts.

Very likely this whole matter came to such a sorry pass because of a pissing contest between lower level actors at the U.S. Department of State and the U.S. Department of Justice. Once the scandal broke the U.S. Department of State may have quietly dropped hints to Iceland. That's a more likely probablity.

In the future please do not distort the facts. Fischer's lackwit defenders and the softcore anti-Semites do enough of that.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

By the bye, it was reported in the New York Post that the situation in Japan arose from a struggle between Justice and State.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

That doesn't seem to make sense, Ed. Are you saying the U.S. can revoke a passport but are then under no obligation to tell the person they revoked the passport? That could land a U.S. citizen in a foreign jail they'd rather not be in.

And what was all this business about retroactively cancelling it? It is one thing to cancel it so a person cannot enter a new country, but quite another to retroactively cancel it. For example, on May 1 you enter a foreign country with your passport. On May 14 the U.S. government cancels your passport retroactively back to April 1. Therefore, any travel you've done since April 1 is on an illegal passport so soon as you try and leave the country (or enter a new country) you are jailed for travelling on an illegal passport (or jailed for entering a country illegally) despite the fact the passport was not cancelled on the day (May 1) you entered the country.

With that type of rational, the U.S. government could cancel anyone's passport today and then charge them for any travel they did overseas last year.

If this is not true, then where are my misconceptions? Thanks.

Yz wrote:

"During WW2 Iceland refused to admit Jewish refugees from Hitler's Europe. In 2005 it rolled a carpet for Bobby Fischer. They are a cowardly jealous US-hating nation."

Yz, you do realize that USA did not declare war on Nazi Germany until more than 2 years after WW2 started?

You do realize that USA also refused to admit Jewish refugees during this time?

You do realize that some US consuls eg vice-consul Bingham in Nazi-occupied France did disobey orders and issued many thousands of forged travel documents to Jewish & non-Jewish refugees to help them get to USA?

You do realize that Bingham's superiors in the State Dept repeatedly warned him not to help these
refugees but he continued to secretly do this?

Your criticism of Iceland is hypocritical.

Ed Yetman, III: "These comments defend Fischer's anti-Semitism. I ask Mig to delete them."

Ed, From what I remember of Fischer's live interviews he was always careful to deny any anti-Semitism.
Of course he was a ranting bigot and vehemently anti-Jewish but he also claimed to have Semitic friends.

There is a difference....the majority of Semites in the world are NOT Jewish tho some people seem abysmally ignorant of this.

See eg Penguin English Dictionary:

Semite / noun / a member of any of a group of peoples of SW Asia chiefly represented now by the Jews and Arabs.

Check your sums re relative numbers, I suspect the Arabs are by far the majority of the Semites.

BTW,the Semitic languages include: Hebrew, Aramaic, Arabic and Amharic.

Hello Mr. Andrews,

According to State Department regulations, they are supposed to notify someone that his passport is pending revocation. They cannot very well do that with a fugitive from justice, since they cannot contact that person. Fischer's defenders would have us believe that the revocation of his passport was illegal since procedures were not formally followed. This would of course create a situation where the fugitive benefits from breaking the law, something that Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence does not permit.

Further, if the State Department knew that Fischer was in Japan, and if they wanted him in custody, they could simply ask the Japanese government to hand him over to U.S. Marshals for extradition. As Fischer was legally and properly indicted by a Federal Grand Jury, the request would have been in order and the Japanese government would have quickly complied. Extradition today is not as it was in 1950's when Ronald Biggers hid out in Brazil after the Great Train Robbery. It is commonplace today to hand over wanted men, even when two states do not have extradition treaties. No state wants to become a haven for criminals. When the Guantanamo prison opened the Cuban government made a formal public annoucement that any persons escaping from that prison into Cuba would be promptly returned to the prison. The U.S., of course, does not have an extradition treaty with Cuba; the Cuban policy dates back to the 1960's when Cuba sought to end the skyjackings that ended in Cuba.

This entire mess was almost certainly a 'cover your ass' reaction at State. Someone in Switzerland stupidly renewed Fischer's passport instead of arresting him; when he went into the consulate he was on U.S. soil, so no extradition request would need be filed with the Swiss. I suspect that someone in Justice was making a power play, so the bungler or bunglers at State immediately cancelled Fischer's passport, and the Japanese simply arrested him as a matter of course. I suspect that after this some higher-ranking person at State worked out the deal with Iceland behind the scenes.

Contrary to the tinfoil-hat brigade's most cherished beliefs, Fischer was not a priority for the Clinton or Bush II administrations; this was almost certainly a screw-up, just like the Mohammed Atta/Hani Hanjour vise extensions.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

dysgraphia,

Fischer's defenders drag out this all the time. It is a fallacy of ambiguity. The primary meaning of "anti-Semitism" in common English usage means "to hate Jews."

However you slice it, Mr. Howitt's comments are clearly defending Fischer's Hitler-like rantings. No dictionary hair-splitting disguises that fact.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

Thank you 'Mr. Yetman' (call me Dan or DJ or nitwit if you want :-> ) We're certainly agreed the whole thing was bungled. And I don't think Fischer was a high priority either since they'd have had him any number of times he travelled back and forth between countries.

You still haven't addressed the retroactive cancellation of the passport though. This makes a legal act (entry into a country) an illegal one after you've already entered legally. If the U.S. can do this, then the repercussions are scary.

From the Washington Post, "U.S. authorities, acting on the outstanding warrant, recently canceled [sic] Fischer's U.S. passport after discovering that he had a 90-day visa to visit Japan. Authorities there detained him at the airport for failing to possess valid travel documents, U.S. authorities said."

However, from Vattuonne's letter. "After legally entering Japan, his passport was revoked. The Japanese Government, at the request of the U.S. State Department, arrested Fischer and charged him, ex post facto, with entering Japan illegally, even though his passport had not been revoked when he entered Japan."

And is breaking a U.S. executive order actually a crime? Japan didn't think so and from what I've googled, it seems there is healthy debate on that in the U.S. as well. Were any of the other people involved in Yugoslavia charged, reprimanded or fined, and why not? Was the executive order actually written just for Fischer, which would be a misuse of power if it were true?

Fischer's 61 Memorable Games

FISCHER’S ROSEBUD

“You were much more than Jedediah, my friend.” -- Bobby’s last words to GM Larry Evans, who explores this cryptic sentence and unravels the mystery of Fischer’s role in updating My 60 Memorable Games, one of the greatest books in chess literature.

http://tinyurl.com/2noyxp

Daniel Andrews asked: "Were any of the other people involved in Yugoslavia charged, reprimanded or fined, and why not?"

It's my understanding that the USCF continued to do business with "the former Yugoslavia" in the form of quite a bit of business with Chess Informant. This would have been easy to confirm by U.S. Government authorities. The US Chess Federation was not, however, prosecuted under the Executive Order that almost saw the 11th World Chess Champion spend his last days in a U.S. dungeon.

It's a fair conclusion that Fischer was singled out. In fact, former World Champion Boris Spassky even made a public statement to the effect that since he, too, "traded" with TFY by participating in an "unauthorized" chess match, then he should also be imprisoned along with Fischer. He only asked that the two be provided with a chess board. Heheh. Right on, Boris.

Since Ed Yetman III found it necessary to mention the Guantanamo "detention" (and torture) camp of the U.S. in a favorable light it seems only fair to also mention that the U.S. government is also in the habit of "rendering" its victims to other countries based on spurious national security "evidence". Canadian Maher Arar was one such victim whose torture was "contracted out" to Syria.

Depicting the hounding of Fischer as a dispute or "screw-up" between "State" and "Justice" trivializes the horrors that the U.S. government, and its proxy, the Japanese government, imposed on Fischer. Those horrors were no accident. Fischer even spent time in solitary confinement for seeking an extra egg for breakfast while imprisoned in Japan.

Ed Yetman,III wrote:

"Fischer's defenders drag out this all the time. It is a fallacy of ambiguity. The primary meaning of "anti-Semitism" in common English usage means "to hate Jews."

However you slice it, Mr. Howitt's comments are clearly defending Fischer's Hitler-like rantings. No dictionary hair-splitting disguises that fact.
"

Ed, I have no quibble with most of what you write. Regarding your comments re Mr. Howitt: I think are best left to him to answer.

New Penguin English Dictionary:
anti-Semitism /noun/ hostility towards or discrimination against Jewish people.

Generalizations are useful but not always helpful to clarify a particular case.

Fischer was manifestly hostile to Jews, full of hatred for Jews and was a holocaust-denier, yet it seems also a Jew himself.

Therefore his need to make the separation in his own mind between Jew and Semite.

In the specific case of Fischer his mother was Jewish and his father may or may not have been Jewish. Recent info suggests Paul Nemenyi, a Hungarian Jew, was paying child support for Fischer and may have been his father despite what the birth certificate shows.

{Aside: An interesting DNA project here for somebody's Masters degree?]

In another thread I mentioned comments re Bill Lombardy and Fischer's long-standing neo-nazi beliefs. It seems in his youth Fischer fell under the heavy influence of Forry Laucks, a wealthy neo-nazi and chess patron in NY State.

I was never a big fan of Fischer as a chessplayer in his heyday PRECISELY because I could never stomach the obnoxious taint of the neo-nazi from him as a chess genius. Others seemed to turn a blind eye to this side of RJF, including many Jews sad to say, and then claimed shock-horror-look-oh-dear-me-what-has-he-turned-into!.

No doubt if Stalin had been world chess champion a similar collection of moral flabbees would have excused his other "idiosyncracies"!

Some people never learn. If Hitler had been a chess luminary before and during his rise to power would that have excused his rantings?

BTW, Overwhelmingly, German Jews actually voted to give Hitler dictatorial powers in the 1933 plebiscite.....it seems the threat of Bolshevism seemed even worse than Hitler. His little "idiosyncracies" and published intentions were overlooked.

What dismayed me in the rise of the tin-pot wannabe little nazi Fischer was that so many people, Jewish and non-Jewish alike "overlooked" his little idiosyncacies for so long and gave him material and moral support. RJF was very clever at using these people repeatedly and at the same time abusing them.

Some people never learn!

I think it was Larry Wall who published an interesting time-line of Fischer's career....the bit about him becoming financially broke after winning the WCC, drained of money by religious cultists, and living of his mother's welfare cheques.......indeed what a great man!!

Ed Yetman, III wrote:

"Extradition today is not as it was in 1950's when Ronald Biggers hid out in Brazil after the Great Train Robbery."

Lest the Biggers family rise up in high dudgeon I think it was Ronald Biggs you were after.....

Those media reptiles who idolized this "great train robber" overlooked the train guard who he battered and left brain-damaged in a wheel chair....

I would worry about Ed Yetman III's casual acceptance of a Soviet style:

"It is the sovereign right of any state to restrict the travel of its citizens. "

Surely this needs to be balanced with some rationale and legal process?

Wikipedia has this:

"Freedom of movement, mobility rights or the right to travel is a human rights concept which is respected in the constitutions of numerous states. It asserts that a citizen of a state, in which that citizen is present, generally has the right to leave that state, travel wherever the citizen is welcome, and, with proper documentation, return to that state at any time; and also (of equal or greater importance) to travel to, reside in, and/or work in, any part of the state the citizen wishes without interference from the state."

The Australian (for example) constitution has this:

"All Australians are entitled to freedom of speech, association, assembly, religion, and movement.

Freedom of movement
We can move freely to and from all states and territories. We can leave and return to Australia at any time. "

Ed may be right in that it is the sovereign right of any state to restrict someones' travel if they are a known danger or criminal. And the U.S. may legally have been right to cancel Fischer's passport.

What does appear to be illegal is the retroactive cancellation of the passport so that Fischer was held for illegally entering a country when he clearly did no such thing. If the U.S. did whisper to Iceland to take Fischer off their hands, it would have been because they didn't want the general public to learn about the illegality of their actions (also means the lawyers did do a decent job in getting Fischer off despite Ed's thought they weren't responsible). I wonder if the actions of the Bush government over the past few years will, in retrospect, be seen with the same shame we view Senator McCarthy's communist witch-hunts in the 50s? Guess some of us will find out.

Hello DJ,
Please call me Ed. Regarding Fischer's 'retroactive' cancellation of his passport, this is not a matter of ex post facto as covered by the U.S. Constitution. That document forbids the passing, by Congress, of laws that would criminalize past acts. Thus if you fly the U.S. Flag sideways on Monday, and the Congress passes a law on the following Friday that such an act is illegal, you cannot then be prosecuted under that law for your act on Monday.

If Fischer was detained in Japan for travelling on a cancelled U.S. Passport then that is a matter for the Japanese. As I recall, Fischer was detained pending deportation under Japanese law. In other words, Fischer was not detained for entering Japan on a cancelled passport, but for staying in Japan after the passport was cancelled. The Fischer Defenders have made a big deal about this, but it is the common practice of all nations. If they did charge him as Vattuone suggests, this is just shows how little Vattuone knows about "ex post facto" law.

As for the scariness of it, I wouldn't worry about it. If this happened to you the worst that would happen would be that you would be sent back to the U.S.--which Fischer fought, naturally, since he was under indictment.

Regarding Fischer's violation of the Presidential Executive Order, this just shows how little Fischer's defenders understand U.S. law. The Executive order put into effect a U.S. law. I have the exact U.S. Code around here somewhere; I'll post it when I find it.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

Mr. Howitt, ou continue to spew lies.

First, the USCF did business with Chess Informant. Chess Informant, however, had shifted to Nicosia, Cyprus, during the war--a fact you may verify by checking inside Informants published during the war.

Spassky was not arrested because he was not a U.S. Citizen and thus not subject to U.S. law. As Spassky has recently been unmasked as an anti-Semite, you no doubt support his views as well.

Fischer was not detained for "asking for an extra egg." He was detained for grabbing a guard by the collar and shouting at him. That will get you solitary anywhere in the world.

As for the Guantanamo business and extraordinary rendition, save your red herrings for the next fishing trip. You are off topic. Stick to the matter at hand, even if you must continue to lie.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

dysgraphia, I am glad we have no disagreement. My point is this: people who hate Jews are anti-Semites in English usage. Fischer's distinction is an attempt to hide the ugliness of his hate.

Thanks also for catching my error about Ronald Biggs, and for providing a wider moral context by including the case of the man he brain-damaged. Sad, sad, sad. Last I heard, though, Biggs surrendered himself to the Crown; don't take that for gospel, it may be just a rumor.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

gg, I take issue with your characterization of my statements as 'casual acceptance of a Soviet style." Soviet style of what?

It is the sovereign right of all states to restrict the travel of their nationals. You may see that in the Wikipedia quote about "any country where they are welcome" and "with proper documentation." The U.S. is now requiring U.S. citizens to be in possession of a valid U.S. passport before reentering the U.S. What is so Soviet about that?

If they did not, then they could be held responsible for the acts of their citizens, subjects, or nationals in other countries. Should Mexico be blamed for crimes committed in the U.S. by Mexicans here illegally? If they enter the U.S. they not only violate U.S. law, they violate Mexican law by leaving the country without a passport.

All the words of Australia are fine, but if an Australian leaves the country without a passport then he will find it difficult to go anywhere legally without it. Other nations do not allow 'stateless' persons to travel freely. Have you seen the Tom Hanks movie "The Terminal"? It is based on the real case of a French African national who was stripped of his citizenship. He fled to France, only to discover he lacked the documents to enter the country. The French can't deport back to his own country because he is no longer a citizen; if France admits him, then it sets precedent whereby anyone could show up in France without legal documents and demand admittance. So this poor fellow has been living in Orly Airport ever since, something like seventeen years as I recall.

I would appreciate it if you would pay closer attention to what you say before you accuse me of being pro-Soviet.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

dysgraphia, where is your proof of German Jews voting for Hitler? Which plebiscite do you refer to? As I recall the Nuremberg Laws stripped them of this right.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

"In other words, Fischer was not detained for entering Japan on a cancelled passport, but for staying in Japan after the passport was cancelled."

A crucial difference then. That makes matters clearer, Ed. Thank you. I'm still not convinced that the U.S./Japan were legally within their rights to arrest him for being in Japan on a cancelled passport considering Fischer didn't know the passport was cancelled, but I could easily be wrong on that count. My main thoughts were on retroactive cancellation of the passport, and you've provided a plausible alternative interpretation.

Does make me wonder though why they needed to make it a retroactive cancellation. If the plan was to arrest Fischer for being in Japan on a cancelled passport then there was no need to cancel it retroactively. Fodder for conspiracy theories, but for me, I'm far too old to get that worked up about it. Bad for the blood pressure, been told. Been a pleasure, Ed.

Hello DJ,

You may always contact me through the Message Boards. I'm pretty busy over there.

As for Japan's actions, even if his passport and visa were in order the Japanese were still within their legal rights to expel Fischer. Yusuf Islam, aka Cat Stevens, flew from the UK to the U.S. As soon as his plane landed INS put him on the next plane back to the UK. Alas for Mr. Yusuf his name was identical to that of a terror inciter in UK. Mr. Yusuf got no trial or even a hearing. It is the sovereign right of any nation to refuse admission to foreign nationals, regardless of paperwork. This principle is rigorously overlooked by the Fischer Defenders.

Regarding the retroactive cancellation, I doubt there was any plan at all. If, after all, the U.S. had a plan, then the criminal indictment would have been sufficient, even if his passport was in order. This is also rigorously overlooked by Fischer's Defenders.

If there's anything more I can clarify, please feel free to contact me.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

Thank you, Ed. My questions have been answered to my satisfaction. Why ascribe to maliciousness what can be adequately explained by stupidity, and all that.

I don't post on the message boards. There is a fanatical spam-posting unintelligent troll on the loose that I wish to avoid: Bad for blood pressure and what not. It explains why I seldom post here too. [;->] Cheers, dj.

Ed Yetman #3,

A western democratic state does not have right to arbitrarily restrict the freedom of travel of its citizens. To accept the primacy of the right of a state to restrict, rather than the right of a citizen not to be restricted, would indeed be Soviet-style thinking.

Hi DJ,

You can always send me a Private message through the message board if you wish.

Cheers, Ed Y.

gg, you still do not understand. THERE IS NO RIGHT HERE, only a privilege. A country, like Australia, may not restrict the travel of its citizens to come and go, but they won't go far without a passport proving their identities as other states will not admit them. NO STATE IS OBLIGATED TO ADMIT ANYONE.

Further, Fischer's passport was revoked in an irregular manner. But he was running from a criminal indictment; by his own actions he made regular revocation procedures impossible. To say that his passport should not have been revoked is to say that criminals should benefit from their actions.

Finally, go back and read your latest post. The key word there is "arbitrarily." Please define that term.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

Ed Yetman, III wrote:

"Last I heard, though, Biggs surrendered himself to the Crown; don't take that for gospel, it may be just a rumor."

Correct, a deal brokered by a relative IIRC. He had to complete his sentence but there was an ulterior motive. Biggs was not wracked by contrition but by terminal illness and wanted to take advantage of the health system: I seem to remember he needed a liver transplant or some such.

Hi DG,

Jeremiah was right, the leopard cannot change his spots.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

Ed Yetman, III wrote:

"dysgraphia, where is your proof of German Jews voting for Hitler? Which plebiscite do you refer to? As I recall the Nuremberg Laws stripped them of this right."

I refer to the 1933 plebiscite that effectively allowed Hitler to rule by decree.

The plebiscite was widely covered by journalists from USA and elsewhere. Some voting irregularities were observed but only minor.

The voting breakdown by district was reported, hence it is known how Jewish districts voted.

My source was the front page of the New York Times published in 1933 the day or so after the plebiscite results were known.

I get the on-line version of NYT and each day they feature a front page from the past for that particular day. The front page from 1933 with the material in question has been featured several times. NYT will sell you a copy.

Of course, as soon as Herr Hitler was voted the absolute powers he wanted by the German people we all know what happened.

Thanks for the update, DG. If I recall "Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" by Shirer reported that the Gestapo secretly surveilled the votes, so that may account for the Jewish votes for Hitler. That, or vote fraud.

Ed Yetman, III
YetmanBrothers.com

This ol-cowboy, will always remember, the best Chess Player to have ever played the Game. Though his life spiraled out of control like an Oklahoma Tornado, when watching him play or even playing over his games, one stood in the same Awe! as when you see one of those tornadoes. His game was so wild, and yet so natural. Now that the Man has been laid to rest, Perhaps the Chess Player can raise to his place of prominence. Just a dumb ol-cowboy's take.

This world has seen many greatness and Bobby Fischer is one of them. Somewhere far away from Brooklyn he has been burried, somewhere far away he made his journey and somewhere farway perhaps all of us will meet him someday, but still he is with us. This world, a memorable part of it at least, will remember him for a long days to come. Perhaps forever.

1. 11...Na4!!, 17...Be6!!

2. 18.Nxh7!!

3. 10.Bxf7!!, 11.Ne6!

4. 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 a6 6.Bc4!

5. 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6!

6. 23...Qxf4!!

7. 24...Nxe3!

8. 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bc4 Bc5 4.b4!

9. 21....Qd7!!

10. 1.c4!

It's strange, I've followed so little of chess these past 20 years, and even in the '70s I didn't follow every major event the way many Dirt (and ICC and Chessbase) fans seem to....So I wouldn't have expected I'd know off the top of my head all of Fischer's best over-the-board moments. But the contexts for almost all the moves posted above come right to mind.

Final one is from first Spassky match (Game 6, I think, the one that put Bobby ahead for good).

Ninth is from the R. Byrne brilliancy, early '60s. I think it's the move upon which Byrne resigned even though it's said that all the GMs watching in the press room were convinced he was winning!

As for No. 8, I don't know when Fischer ever played the Evans, and don't recall No. 7 either. Six is Letelier-Fischer, Majorca Interzonal maybe. I've pooh-poohed that particular combo because the queen sac is based on a rather obvious two-move mate. Five is the start of Bobby's (not-quite-) "bust" to the KG, and of course four is his pet line against the Najdorf.

Three is from a game with Reshevsky, a Dragon where Black erred with ...Na5? without ...d6 having been played; resulting in a brutal yet elegant lesson about development, piece activity and central influence - or as Rowson might put it, in how potential eneregy gets converted into kinetic energy.

I'm guessing that No. 2 is from a famous game against Panno, a King's Indian Reversed that became a model of how to play this type of attack. I do recall that Nxh7! was one key sac in that game. But I think it probably came later than move 18, and also that same game featured an even more elegant sac on e4 (either Be4 or Re4, I forget which). So maybe the reference is to a game other than Fischer-Panno.

Of course No. 1 needs little introduction. The best comment I've seen is the one attributed to Botvinnik: "We must keep an eye on this boy from now on," the then-World Champion is reputed to have told associates in Moscow when he saw this game, played by a 14-year old who'd actually lost most of his games in the same tournament where he produced this mind-blowing masterpiece. (Does anyone know if Botvinnik actually said that?)

Hi, Jon. Fischer played the Evans against Fine in skittles! Can you believe it? It's in My 60 Memorable Games.

Isn't that seminal King's Indian Attack with the sac on e4 against the Mongolian player Myagmarsuren? (I had to do some Googling to be able to spell his name, which is immortal because of his loss to Fischer!). I seem to recall that Fischer annotated that game in his Boys Life column.

That Myagmarsuren game was one of the first Fischer games I ever saw. It was played in the Sousse 1967 Interzonal, which I think was after Fischer stopped writing the Boys Life column.

The seminal Kings Indian Attack game I mentioned above was definitely Fischer-Panno. That one I didn't go over 30 years ago, but only last year, I think in Kotronias' book, Beating the Flank Openings (or was it in Keene's Flank Openings?). I definitely recall Nxh7, but as I said, I think it came later than move 18.

Well, now you provoked me to go and look it up. I was right on all counts: Fischer-Panno, Buenos Aires 1970, in the Kotronias book. Nxh7! happens on move 29. And it was preceded by 28.Be4!! - which Kotronias hailed as "A move from the 21st century!" (Wonder if he meant it as a pale evocation of Tal's comment on the key move in the fantastic composed problem known as Mitrofanov's Deflection - "A move from another world.")

By the way on ICC a few years ago I played, and beat, someone named Myagmarsuren from Mongolia. I forget whether he had a title, but I think he did. I always wondered whether it might have been the same guy from the '60s.

But in the Myagmarsuren game, wasn't there also much ado on e4? Fischer put a bishop there that, when captured, was replaced by a rook that helped deliver mate after a queen sac? That is my vague recollection. And it's nice to entertain these memories, rather than actually looking the game up.

I could swear Fischer wrote up the Myagmarsuren game in Boys Life. I remember that the move he said was most difficult was the little pawn push to a3, to forestall black's queenside play.

I also remember a funky early computer game that Fischer annotated, as well as a game of the then bright young talent, Florin Gheorghiu.

Funny, you seem to be reading my mind (re Georghiu). I assume you're referring to a game he played and won against Fischer, at Havana 1966. It was important in the theory of the Nimzo-Indian (I forget which sub-variation - Saemisch, probably). I actually referred to that game in my "Trojan Horse Draw" article a few years back, because Georghiu had offered Fischer a draw around move 13 despite being clearly superior - and went on to win the game after Bobby spurned the offer of peace.

I also recall the computer game, actually played after Fischer's de facto retirment from chess. It happened in 1977 or thereabouts - Bobby played a very short match (just 1 or 2 games, I think) against the best program of that time. Of course the games were very one-sided - the one he published was a Kings Gambit which I think Bobby won in under 20 moves.

I didn't recall the denoument of the Myagmarsuren game, so you might well be correct that a sac on e4 figured in that game too. And I'll defer to you about the Boys Life matter. I do recall the important prophyllactic move, a3, though. (Inter alia, I didn't even know about the Boys Life columns until several years ago, when, checking out Kenneth Rogoff's academic Web site - I'm involved in economics myself - I saw that even though Rogoff left chess entirely around 1980 and never looked back, he does list his chess achievements on his Web site - including a .pdf of Fischer annotating one of Rogoff's victories, from the World Junior probably, in Boys Life.)

Hi, Jon. I just looked up the Myagmarsuren game. No sacs on e4, but that square was a routing point for white's knight, then rook in the kingside attack. And the bishop would have delivered mate from there if black had not resigned after Fischer's queen sac. (It was a sac in the Letelier sense, a forced mate starting with giving up the queen.)

I recall the Panno game as being one of those KIAs where white's pawns are on d4 and e5, with the c-file open? The Myagmarsuren game was one of those crotchety affairs with white's pawn remaining on d3 and black pushing queenside pawns like there's no tomorrow (which in this case, there wasn't for black).

By the way, in Boys Life Fischer did not annotate his loss to Gheorghiu (wasn't that when Fischer played b6, Ba6, d5, and dxc4 in a Nimzo, stubbornly holding on to a pawn at the cost of central control and eventually the game?).

In fact, now that I think back, in Boys Life Fischer may have annotated a Gheorghiu win with the KIA, inserting his own win against Myagmarsuren in the notes.

Sadly, I recall advertisements in Boy's Life for Schwinn bicycles and Ron Santo baseball mitts more clearly than I do Fischer's chess column.

The Georghiu game is the "of course not" refusal of the draw offer which cost Fischer the best board performance medal right?

Great story, d-tal!

He may have lost the medal, but Fischer had mettle.

If you guys havent already read it, "How Fischer Plays Chess" by David Levy is an interesting book! This is where I got that story. This is the first book on Fischer that I read, and I was so impressed as a kid by the "Fischer the Magician", "Fischer the Machine" terms he used to refer to the man after his returns from self imposed hibernation periods. I recently got a used copy of this book for a few bucks from Amazon. This was just before he died. I still feel down when I think of his sad end.

I hadn't heard about Fischer spurning a draw with "Of course not!", so I don't know if that's what he said to Gheorghiu.

It reminds me of something I once did - even worse, actually. I was either in college or still in high school, playing against Matthew Looks, who I'd beaten countless times. I'd been crushing him on this occasion, too, winning the Exchange for nothing early on. But after awhile my edge faded, and I was starting to slide into time pressure, so he astutely (?) offered a draw.

I became angry - a classic example of letting one's emotions override an objective assessment based on the CURRENT situation on the board (NOT the situtation that existed 5 or 10 moves previous). Viewed later from a calmer perspective, it was clear that I was no longer winning, and indeed the dynamic nature of the position combined with the clock situation called for extreme care - so accepting the draw was clearly the best course. I, however, was more swayed by the fact I HAD BEEN winning some time earlier.

"Go to hell!" were the exact words I used to reject Matthew's draw offer.

By the time my flag fell 5 or so moves later, I had a lost position on the board, as well.

This experience helped shape the concept that became "The Trojan Horse Draw Offer." In fact, I included it as a vignette in the manuscript I prepared for Chess Life, but ended up cutting it to stay within the assigned length.

Man, those years were so full of drama, interest and also such great players. Tal, Fischer, Spassky, Botvinnik, Petrosian, Smyslov, Keres, Bronstein, Geller, Gligoric! The mind boggles. And quite a few of them had some period in time when they were clearly the best. Some were just ahead of the pack, others were untouchable in their prime. One of my favourite stories is one recounted in Tal's best games book. He says he asked Fischer who he thought was the best in the world. Fischer looked at him so strangely that he changed the question to ask who was the best other than Fischer himself! Fischer replied "you're not so bad yourself". :-)

And both of them died far too young.

Hey Jon –

It seems that you have been active in chess for a long time. You must have been playing back when Fischer was on the road to the world championship -- an exciting time for chess. Several of the people mentioned in your various posts – Mark Diesen, Peter Winston, Daniel Shapiro, Paul Jacklyn -- also go back to the early 1970s. But over at chessgames.com, there are only a very few of your games. There are also a couple by John Jacobs, but he appears to be someone else. Why don’t you send some of your better games to that website?

Dave,

The other JJ (the one with the h in his first name) is also an FM. A native of Texas, where he still lives, he's been inactive for decades, except for teaching. He was active when I was first starting - in fact in some big tourney, National High School Champ. I think, I recall him being rated #1 on the wall chart and a clueless friend thinking it was somehow me (I was 1500 at the time). On another occasion, my results in a tournament (US Open, probably 1972) got rated for him by mistake. By the time the USCF fixed the error, the damage to his rating from my terrible tournament had cost him an invitation to an international event.

Regarding Chessgames.com, I have little inclination to post more games there. I've already published some of my favorite recent games of my own in various Chess Life articles (see for instance December 2007), and I see no benefit to posting a bunch of them on the Web. Games of non-professional players get minimal viewership anyway; about the only reason anyone would look up my games, would be to prepare against me in a future tournament...and I'm certainly not going out of my way to help anyone do that! (But if you happen to be in New York and are free tomorrow, I will be showing a few of my games from the recent USATE, at an informal get-together at Mark Kurtzman's chess club in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, starting around 1 p.m. Saturday Mar. 8)

Yes, the period of Fischer's ascent was a tremendously exciting time to be a chess player. I was only a teenager, so wasn't in much position to benefit economically. And bear in mind that just about everyone involved in chess at the time assumed the Fischer-fueled good times were only just beginning once he hit the top - rather than already ending, as later became clear. GM Larry Evans was just about unique in foreseeing that Fischer would self-destruct, even as early as 1972. (See the current March Chess Life cover story.) So it was too easy for me, along with everybody else, to be complacent in 1972.

One tangentially related memory was beating Shelby Lyman in a tournament game (round 1 of the Marshall Chess Club Championship, I think), only months before he became world-famous for narrating the Fischer-Spassky match on TV.