Bobby Fischer was a Russian...any difference?

In my readings I came across a great many Bobby Fischer Fans who insisted that Mr. Fischer must have been "mentally ill", to do and say the things which he did...

...so it begs the question, if Bobby Fischer was Russian rather than American, and did and said exactly the same things he did, would we still be as sympathetic towards him?

...feel free to share your thoughts...

Fischer was and still the only honor in chess for Americans so no surprise to see the amount of overpraising of Fischer here.

...so "Kinan", from your post you seem to feel that Mr. Fischer did not deserve all the praise heeped on him? Was it because he was American? If Fischer was Russian and said those things he did after 9/11 what would have been the reaction then?

(what he said then?...he was happy for the attack, and he wished they were destroyed...he felt they brought this on themselves...)

Fischer was great player no doubt in that but he is being praised every single day in silly way, happy birthday fischer and fischer revisited etc..his reign was short after all.

Americans are very sensitive over anti-sematic comments but they forgive that in Fischer cos like I said, he is their only hero.

I get what you're saying "Kinan"...but what do you think the difference would have been if Fischer was say Russian? Do you think he would have been rained down with brimstone and fire? Would he still be forgiven for being "mentally ill"?...or would he have been branded as despicable?

Hard to say, but we are more or less living in a world from American point of view, so yeah maybe then Fischer would be despised had he been Russian for example.

Kinan, you said---

"Americans are very sensitive over anti-sematic comments but they forgive that in Fischer cos like I said, he is their only hero."

Well, at least we have Fischer---what have yot got? I'll bet you a dollar to a donut hole you cant name a single Syrian chess player anyone has ever heard of

Yasser Seirawan

Well, first of all, I am not hysterical about lacking a Syrian GM, and I won't even mention Seirawan cos after all he grew up in USA anyway.

Secondly, I am half Russian soooo...

 Yankees had also Morphy and Pillsbury. And ppl are sympathetic towards Fischer despite what he said because he was a chess genius, important icon during th cold world when chessworld was dominated by players from SovietUnion. If people forgive Fischer more then others it's because of that and because he was mad so nobody was taking him seriously.

I heard most of the anti- American rants by Fischer and I wouldn't say I looked past what he said... actually caused me to cringe a lil. But that never took away from his game. He single handedly took down the Soviet Chess Machine. Would it had mattered if Fischer was a Russian?..... yes. He would have been just another cog in the Russian chess machine... a player, along with all the other great Russian players, that most Americans would have never heard of..or cared.  

 Yasser moved to Seattle when he was seven and didnt start playing chess until he was 12. I dont think you could really claim Yasser. Steinitz moved to America and lived his remaining years here. Lasker moved to America and died here. Ditto Capablanca. Marshall moved to America. Fine, Kashdan, Reshevsky, Dake consistently took home the gold in the 30's. Look at all the Russians that moved to America---stop throwing darts at us, America is a good place for chess players. 

I am pretty sure that Beethoven and Darwin didn't take IQ tests, and I doubt that Einstein did either.

I guess I'm sympathetic to Fischer because he was obviously a nutcase, but in case he wasn't then screw him. I don't like Anti-Semites and I'm no mindless flag waver but playing that 1992 match in Bosnia and spitting on the cablegram from the US State Dept isn't my idea of making friends and influencing people (favorably that is).

He's still my favorite chessplayer of all time but as a person he was either crazy or a scumbag. BTW he died because he refused to have kidney dialysis as he didn't trust "conventional medicine" so if nothing else, he did get to bet his life on his stupid and/or crazy beliefs, unlike most of us.

You can have a high IQ and be mentally ill, one doesn't exclude the other.

So I guess the "Western World" is more sympathetic because he was American, and or he was "mentally ill"...but I gather the "mentally ill" part is all speculation...maybe the rationale created to forgive the prodical son?

It is an interesting argument that foreign chess players coming to America (especially very young) are considered American...the truth is that most immigrants stay within their social clan and culture, a subclave if you will...they do not become American because they have moved physically...they continue to eat, socialise and live as if "back home"...

...I'm not sure there is a correlation between IQ and mental stability...but Bobby was never tested for "mental illness" either...

...on the topic of "mental illness", was Hitler only mentally ill also? (and therefore we should forgive him for his actions? (he wanted to take over the world and create the perfect race- who is more crazy than that?) ...and what about Gaddafi? ( he also may be classified as "mentally ill"?)

The bigger question is what qualifies one as "mentally ill"? Is it what someone says? What someone does? Heck, then most of us are "mentally ill"...

"Topics Which Involve 'what if' Bobby Fischer Questions"

also,

"Topics Which are Annoying Questions/Complaints Which Have Already Been Asked"

Wasn't Fischer an Icelander?

@Crazychessplaya

Fischer gained Icelandic citizenship in 2004, well after he stopped playing professionally. By that time, he was already generally considered to be a nutcase.