I remember the huge press coverage over his match with Boris Spassky.

Over the years, he degenerated into very eccentric behavior. I think I recall reading somewhere that Gary Kasparov challenged him to a match anywhere Fischer chose, at any time. Fischer refused to meet with him, and his anti-Semitic statements over the years served to severely tarnish his reputation:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080118/ap_on_re_eu/obit_fischer

Bobby was a great player, probably one of the ten best of all time. His run up to the world championship, against the elite players of his day, may never be equaled. 6-0 against Taimanov, 6-0 against Larsen, 6½-2½ against the former champion Petrosian. Then he beat Spassky 12½-8½ while giving up one point by forfeit. Simply amazing.

Sadly, his mental instabilitly tarnished an otherwise brilliant career -- he never defended his title. Instead, he fell in with the likes of Herbert Armstrong and the Worldwide Church of God, perhaps craving the security a cult provides. It was during this period of his life that he published a bizarre pamphlet entitled "I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!" (http://bobbyfischer.net/bobby13.html). No way of telling how much of it is true but it certainly is an interesting read.

Bobby will rank as one of the tragic figures in the history of Chess, second only to Alekhin IMO.

Poor Bobby, my father made me read all his books on chess. Good on him though, I can beat 95% of people out there because of Bobby, lol. Don't play near as much anymore as I used to though.

I have always wondered if the some of the brilliance of chess masters (and other strategists) was somehow related to the fact that they were somewhat "imbalanced" mentally.

Of course, I'm mentally imbalanced and I suck at chess (maybe I'm the wrong "kind" of imbalanced).

"Check Mate" for Bobby Fischer. Sad story.

I suck at chess too... And balanced isn't a word anyone would use to describe me.

I have always wondered if the some of the brilliance of chess masters (and other strategists) was somehow related to the fact that they were somewhat "imbalanced" mentally.

Of course, I'm mentally imbalanced and I suck at chess (maybe I'm the wrong "kind" of imbalanced).
the imbalanced types are a little closer to God...Mr Fischer is now a lot closer to God.

My father started teaching me Chess when I was 5 years old. I played from then until I was about 18 with regularity. I only beat my father twice in the 1000 games we probably played though. He was a big fan of Fischers.

My father started teaching me Chess when I was 5 years old. I played from then until I was about 18 with regularity. I only beat my father twice in the 1000 games we probably played though. He was a big fan of Fischers.
i stopped when i was about 18.

My father started teaching me Chess when I was 5 years old. I played from then until I was about 18 with regularity. I only beat my father twice in the 1000 games we probably played though. He was a big fan of Fischers.My dad played a lot of Chess when he was in jail and became a fairly good player. I beat him for the first (and only) time when I was thirteen -- he's refused to play me ever since!!

I beat him for the first (and only) time when I was thirteen -- he's refused to play me ever since!!
Happened to me too. Lazy ass.

My dad played a lot of Chess when he was in jail and became a fairly good player. I beat him for the first (and only) time when I was thirteen -- he's refused to play me ever since!!
My "gifted education" teacher taught me to play when I was in 1st grade. She said I was shaping up to be really good, but I never liked it, and I couldn't be good at it unless I worked really hard at it.

I'm not all that great at chess, but I still love playing it. I have my own set too: a marble-top board with hand-crafted marble pieces. I'd play it more often if I had the set with me...but it's at home.

I'm not a very good player, either, SB. I do have a pretty set, tho. It's made of ivory and ebony and was given to me by my Dad, who in turn recieved it from a Russian friend of his he knew from long ago.

Several years ago I read about 2 pretty girls who were also the chess champions for their age group. They were twins and very pretty girls. They were from Hungary, and their parents were also champions and had raised the girls to play from a very young age. They'd frequently play grown men and beat them regularly. One girl was challenged by a mean- looking guy who said she was a strange girl because she liked playing chess instead of with dolls. He laughed at her when they sat down together at the chess board.

The girl later said, "When he started to lose, he started to suck his thumb."

Several years ago I read about 2 pretty girls who were also the chess champions for their age group. They were twins and very pretty girls. They were from Hungary, and their parents were also champions and had raised the girls to play from a very young age. They'd frequently play grown men and beat them regularly.You are probably thinking of the Polgar sisters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polgar).

Judit Polgar is far and away the best woman player of all time.

http://hetilap.hetek.hu/images/06.030/interju/sakk.JPG

I listened to one of his later interviews after I heard he died. Pretty anti-semitic...He described someone as a "typical jewish snake"

still, he was pretty good at that chess thing.

You are probably thinking of the Polgar sisters (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judit_Polgar).

Judit Polgar is far and away the best woman player of all time.

http://hetilap.hetek.hu/images/06.030/interju/sakk.JPG

Thanks for that link, sedan. It's good to see a few women can play as well as the men in this game, and also interesting how the girls were raised by their parents and their philosophy that geniuses are made, not born.

An interesting take on Fischer from Dick Cavett, with video:

http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/

An interesting take on Fischer from Dick Cavett, with video:

http://cavett.blogs.nytimes.com/

I know this sounds rather coincidental,But I did buy an expensive
Chess set at Harrods when I visited London.Their Food halls are
amazing,also.Some of the Pieces got chipped over the years.It is a
Marble chess set.I also bought one of the first electronic Chess
players from Radio Shack when they came out,like 20 + years ago.