Bobby Fischer body to be Exhumed

"Just because a bunch of people at Chess.com say he was mentally ill doesn't make it so, as he was never diagnosed."

"...if Bobby Fischer was mentally ill you people should feel
compassion for him, not mock him."

You're all over the place, man! If he had a mental illness, at least I can understand his outrageousness a little better.  But it doesn't not change the fact that I do not respect him.  Do you respect Hitler?  What if you found out that he had a mental illness? What if you found out that Bobby Fischer's words were responsible for 1 death?  Perhaps because his words encouraged a single individual to want to attack the US.  What would you say then?

I love these Fischer stories, because the comments sections bring out those people who have the same problems as Fischer, only without the talent.

Everybody: He was a chessplayer.  He was the best chessplayer of the 20th century.  He had opinions.  Some I agree with, some I don't.  But because he said some nasty things about the US after the US tried to prosecute him for doing what the media and politicians were doing at the same time in the same place, he gets reviled and hated.  No charges were ever pressed against anybody else about the match.

How many times has he been compared to Hitler?  What can a chessplayer possibly do to compare to the industrial death machine that Hitler commanded?  Enough, already; nothing could be so insulting to Hitler's victims.  No, Bobby never killed anybody, and unless someone here has access to information I do not possess, his words did not encourage or otherwise persuade anyone to kill, either.  Enough of that, too.

I do not believe that Fischer was mentally ill.  I believe that he was severely insulted by the G.H.W. Bush regime, and spoke out about it.  It didn't help him.  When 9/11 occurred, he just took advantage of the stage, to rage.  It was only words.  He doesn't seem to have funded terrorists (like some US corporations have), and he never engaged in terrorist activites himself.  He never put his money where mouth was, as far as that goes.

So, to you Fischer-haters, other that hurting your feelings, what did Bobby ever do that causes such hate?  I would like to see you have your life, from age 12 on, exposed to public view and comment, and see how YOU do.  My bet is that you would come off A LOT worse than Bobby.

And don't get the idea that I think Fischer was god-like; I only save that for Morphy.  My take--he was a great player.  He set some records that will never be broken.  He had an abrasive personality that offended many people close to him (aside from his family, ask the Saidy's, for example).  He single-handedly put US chess on the front page of every newspaper in the world, then crushed the budding chess boom in the US by refusing to participate in public play anymore.  He was, at his core, a man--no better or worse that most of us who read these posts. 

Excellent addition to the conversation, Dash!  Thank you for sharing!  I suppose my ultimate goal here was to make clear that people do not NEED to respect him.  At the same time, others are free to respect him, and it does not require that I resepct him.  Just a few notes/thoughts/clarifications.

"I love these Fischer stories, because the comments sections bring out those people who have the same problems as Fischer, only without the talent."

This surely is not the best way to make your point to those you, I imagine, wish to make your point to. It personally made me feel warm and fuzzy!

"How many times has he been compared to Hitler?  What can a chessplayer possibly do to compare to the industrial death machine that Hitler commanded?  Enough, already; nothing could be so insulting to Hitler's victims."

It is a statement of the origins of such extremes. Where is the problem in that?  How is that an insult? Please elaborate. 

"No, Bobby never killed anybody, and unless someone here has access to information I do not possess, his words did not encourage or otherwise persuade anyone to kill, either.  Enough of that, too."

Neither you nor I can validate claims either way, given available information, I'm guessing.  But that was not the point.  It was a question about the bounds of respect... a thought experiment of sorts!  Hence, the form "what if... what would you say," rather than "it is the case that..."

"So, to you Fischer-haters, other that hurting your feelings, what did Bobby ever do that causes such hate?  I would like to see you have your life, from age 12 on, exposed to public view and comment, and see how YOU do. "

This makes his  behavior ok?  Are you kidding me?

I am, of course, a social psychologist, so my immediate tendency is to consider socio-cultural issues, both in terms of causes of behaviors and implications of behaviors.  I suppose I can provide some references if you would like to read up on what social scientific research and analysis suggest on such issues.

Fischer actually said the jews should be rounded up and murdered. He didn't make it easy to merely think he had an eccentric point of view, or a point of view that is misunderstood. He said to round them up and murder them.

...and he was half Jewish himself. Boy had some issues.

Once again a completely out of whack response to people simply questioning whether or not Fischer was either mentally disturbed (whatever the cause) or just sort of an obnoxious self hating (since he was jewish himself) miscreant.  He was a bitter man, clearly.  Mentioning that is not the same as comparing him to Hitler. I for one am a huge fan of RJFs chess and even have an original hard copy of 60 memorable games.  I'm always looking for more chessic material about RJF. But I think it's time to admit that for alot of americans part of the fascination with Fischer and fischerlore is that he was such a walking contradiction.  The most sublime and sutble of chess players  while at the same time the single most difficult person for the chess community to deal with during his own lifetime.  

Regarding how nobody else got indicted (or whatever) for Fischer V spassky II, clearly the simple reason for that is that he was violating OUR American laws at the time.  So he fell under that jurisdiction. Spassky as French, I think, citizen at the time was not accoutable to the laws of the USA. 

frump

A gun costs about $900. Fischer had $2M. If he wanted to be a violent criminal, he had the power. I guess he didn't want to.

From what I understand, electricpawn, he was a christian. I guess that's half jewish as in judeo-christian, But I remain unconvinced of a jewish race, so to speak.

 huh?

One certainly cannot be "half-Jewish"- that status is "inherited" through your mother only.

You're getting ripped off Ivandh! A gun should only put you back 2-3 hundred dollars. {Disclaimer- I don't recommend them for people killing anyone other than themselves}

I don't recommend them for people who are trying to kill themselves. There are so many creative ways to die!

Lots of mushrooms and an aeroplane jump should do it.

"huh?" is unlike you, electricpawn Is there a question in there I can use?

He converted to some weird evangelical religion as an adult. I read that his father was Jewish. You say you doubt that there's a Jewish race, which is true in the sense that there are three races and Jewish isn't one of the three. Arabs and Jews are both Semitic peoples, but they don't seem to have much trouble identifying which is which.

Actually, I have much trouble in identifying descendants of a speculative existant named Abraham. I may as well say I'm a descendant of Aphroditie. You keep forgetting how ridiculous the world is.

Regardless of their ancestry, would you acknowlege that there is a group of people who have for thousands of years had a religion and culture and called themselves Jews?

I would acknowledge that there are texts which date back, perhaps thousands of years ago. Not a group of people. I also acknowledge that these texts have been claimed to be some type of basis for unifying various individuals. These are claims that are left unsubstantiated for my tastes, and in the end are used for some political agenda. I don't know what to make of "religions", do you? The jewish culture? I suspect it to be a rather recent occurrence. What do you think?