Re: RIP Bobby Fischer

If Chris Benoit was a raving anti-Semite, he'd be Bobby Fischer. The guy
was explosive and there will probably never be another player who could
finish games as well as him. Fischer thrived on it, but then went off the
deep end when he realized that he was just waiting for the finish. For
Fischer - the middle and start portions of the game were too easy - he
regarded them as collar and elbow tie-ups and headlocks of chess, just
nonsense to be tolerated while the end came and he could move in for a kill
using some new nasty submission. Against Spassky, a guy who had no patience
either, he did incredibly well. Spassky wanted to get to the finish as fast
as possible too and so they worked against each other as often as Macho and
Hogan, Flair and Steamboat, Kane and 'Taker.

Yet, when forced to confront technicians and mat-wrestlers of chess, guys
like Petrosyan (Larry Zbysko of chess), who did nothing aggressive
throughout the entire game and used suffocating defense in the middle of the
board, tying up piece after piece in some of the ugliest chess done on
international level, Fischer strained (so did Spassky, who ran out of
patience and started making errors).

Stylistically, when confronted with the reality of fighting Karpov, a guy
who played chess like Randy Orton wrestles, Fischer walked away. He
despised safe games. He hated the chinlock in the middle of the ring style
of modern chess. Other men did so as well, but they were able to deal it
with a variety of different ways - Alekhine drank himself to death after
realizing that his aggressive style was going out of favor and that he was
pissing away his legacy by cooperating with Nazis, Mikhail Tal decided the
only solution was not to take chess seriously and ended up losing games by
prefering to experiment with new strange combinations rather than try to
actually win, and Kasparov decided to split away from chess federation and
then get involved in national politics.

Fischer's way out was...well, well documented. Paranoia. Anti-Semitism.
Intense self-hatred.


.

Relevant Pages

  • Fischer Obituary in Economist (excellent read)
    ... PEOPLE were always coming to get Bobby Fischer. ... They tried to disrupt his chess games, ... moving rook or a sidling bishop, or with both in his favourite Ruy ...
    (rec.games.chess.misc)
  • In Memoriam: Robert J. "Bobby" Fischer
    ... I began playing professional chess on Labor Day Weekend, September, 1965, a week after Bobby Fischer returned from his first 2 1/2 year absence from international chess, that he took to protest the Soviet way of throwing games to ensure that their top players always won major tournaments. ...
    (rec.arts.mystery)
  • Re: RIP Bobby Fischer
    ... finish games as well as him. ... Fischer - the middle and start portions of the game were too easy - he ... Spassky wanted to get to the finish as fast ... Yet, when forced to confront technicians and mat-wrestlers of chess, guys ...
    (rec.sport.pro-wrestling)
  • Re: What you wont read in Chess Life
    ... Chess Life, ... Can you tell me again why Bobby Fischer ... until one player won 10 games (with the champion ... Instead FIDE ...
    (rec.games.chess.politics)
  • Chess Master Bobby Fischer Dies at 64
    ... I enjoyed chess a lot in the 1960s and was a fan of Fischer. ... Spassky in Yugoslavia in defiance of international sanctions. ... As a champion, he used his eccentricities to unsettle opponents, but ...
    (soc.retirement)
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