If you do, of course.

Is it because he never defended his world title?

Just curious, as I am still relatively new to chess.

Because some people rate him at 2930 and he's 2880 tops

I think Bobby's overrated, not because he's not an amazing player ... he is.  He had an admittedly amazing streak of 19 wins over top-notch grandmasters.  But A lot of people talk about him as "the best ever." and seem to believe if he had come out of retirement he would've thrashed Kasparov.  I firmly believe that if Fischer had stayed in competition, we would have seen him for what he was ... an amazing player, who, like all other amazing players, has flaws, is a mortal, and will in time be fade against the following generations.  It happened to Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca ... I believe if any one of these men had stopped playing either when they took the title, or just a few years after ... they'd have had a mystique about them too.  If Lasker had stopped playing chess in 1905 or right after his big tournament victory of 1914, I suspect there would be the idea that Lasker would have been capable of beating anyone today.  Because he played on, and chess theory continued to develop, and he grew older, we recognize such a belief is ridiculous.  But when we are faced with players like Fischer and Morphy, who rose to the top and then voluntarily retired, without defending their legacy, we simply assume they would have been successful.

He was overrated after he went into seclusion.

He wasn't overated he was damn scary at his very best for the era he played in.

Dear Bobby is overrated because he is an American. The entire country is overrated.

Who is this Bobby Fischer?

 Only by Americans.

by trysts
? United States

Dear Bobby is overrated because he is an American. The entire country is overrated.

.......

Woohoo! 11111 points!

P.S. Fischer was great.

I think as an an American that grew up as a kid in the Fischer era, I was 10 yrs old when he defeated the great Boris Spassky for the World Championship title, Bobby Fischer will always be an icon.  As I got older I started to really like Kasparov and so he, probably more than Fischer, captured my attention because Fischer was long gone.  Bobby was more of a disappointment because his chess legacy could have been so great for so many years but that the substance of the man was so much less than his chess ability.  He did very little for the game as a whole.  What he did, he did for himself and he never looked back or apologized for it. Was Fischer the best ever?  He dominated the greatest players of his era ... and they were some of the greatest players ever.  We'll be debating this the rest of our lives.  Right now I'm very intersted in Nakamura and Carlsen ... 

Once, I played chess with a fellow named Bobby. But I think his last name was Schopenhauer.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer

philippines love bobby fischer,bobby has a daughter here in the phil. for his dna

people with that kind of talent and skill.. if in chess, or many areas and other fields, leave the masses in awe

 You've been drinking too much kool-aid amigo.

look at fischer's FiDE rating 2785 FIDE. The guy stopped playing in 1972....

now look at the rest of the list.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_for_comparing_top_chess_players_throughout_history#Elo_System

That right there should be a clue considering that the peak ratings keep going UP over time.

Fischer actually did a lot for chess just by being great. He attracted new players to the game. If he didn't do anything for chess then we probably wouldn't be talking about him.

Wikipedia:

"The U.S. Department of the Treasury had warned Fischer beforehand that his participation was illegal as it violated President George H. W. Bush's Executive Order 12810^[265] that implemented United Nations sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia.^[266] In response, Fischer called a conference and, in front of the international press, literally spat on the U.S. order forbidding him to play, announcing "This is my reply". Following the match, the Department obtained an arrest warrant against him. Fischer remained wanted by the United States government for the rest of his life and never returned to America."

Bravo for Fischer! He literally spat on the U.S. order. That definitely increases my respect for him. I might have done the same thing. The U.S. discusts me sometimes.

Well Bobby Fischer is one of the best or probably the greatest player in chess.  Maybe he reached to a point in his life that chess is not exciting anymore so he retired.