Fischer won his first US Championship at age 14 , not 15.
NEW FILM: Bobby Fischer Against The World
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Hey NM your right he won it two months shy of his 15th birthday. Thanks for that.
Well, living through the whole saga, I just wish that Bobby would have defended his title and skipped all the bullcrap.
Win, lose or draw...he would have given the world at least 20-30 more years of chess brilliancy.
He would certainly have done a lot more winning. But, I think, part of his paranoia was a deeply embedded fear of losing.
Just my opinion. Not condemning him...he had to be who he was. Just disappointed.
I have always wondered if Fischer ever had any intention of defending. After winning, he basically quit playing competitively. He then makes demands until the challenge is aborted. Was it a fear of failure? Or just a loss of the desire? The allure of the Fischer legacy is that he left us always wondering. Unless some unknown diary is discovered he will always remain the supreme enigma.
Oh yes, I'd love to see the film.
Was it a fear of failure? Or just a loss of the desire?
We can speculate...he did get tired of chess...bored, even.
But there is little doubt in my mind from comments he made that he thought winning the title was, for him, essentially a permanent fixture. He thought he owned the title...to the day he died.
My personal opinion is that when he saw Karpov and his army of assistants he just saw another era of chess coming where there was just no place for chess players like himself. He knew chess player alone will never be able to compete with chess factory. He had always been loner and never wanted more than 1 assistant (he called for second one only after things for him started going bad in match with Spassky) and he never wanted to play chess as team.
Chess actually can be divided to chess before Bobby (GM plays game but does research of opponents alone + 1 or max 2 assistants for championship matches and high ranking tournaments) and chess after Bobby (team effort from the early beginning of life as successfull GM - today GMs are just teams with GM as brand name).
He just never wanted to be part of that new chess so he did choose a way to fade away of new chess that was coming. By doing so he could see himself as permanent king of chess he played and not one that was coming but he did not want to be part of.
Just my thinking - guy was just too complex for anyone to figure him out.
Your writing is terrible dude. I'm not even sure I know what you're trying to communicate.
wwwpirate wrote:
My personal opinion is that when he saw Karpov and his army of assistants he just saw another era of chess coming where there was just no place for chess players like himself. He knew chess player alone will never be able to compete with chess factory. He had always been loner and never wanted more than 1 assistant (he called for second one only after things for him started going bad in match with Spassky) and he never wanted to play chess as team.
Chess actually can be divided to chess before Bobby (GM plays game but does research of opponents alone + 1 or max 2 assistants for championship matches and high ranking tournaments) and chess after Bobby (team effort from the early beginning of life as successfull GM - today GMs are just teams with GM as brand name).
He just never wanted to be part of that new chess so he did choose a way to fade away of new chess that was coming. By doing so he could see himself as permanent king of chess he played and not one that was coming but he did not want to be part of.
Just my thinking - guy was just too complex for anyone to figure him out.
Fischer was a loner, Thats the way he learned chess and thats the way he played chess. He only brought one second to Iceland ---Lombardy---. He was used as a gopher and a bowling buddy. Fischer felt comfortable with Lombardy, he was a childhood friend. But Fischer did all the chess work.
Fischer knew he could beat Spassky and all the Russians---he never sweated it.
That was my point.
I can write you about Fisher a novel here.
2 things:
a-
Yes he knew he was much better player but Spassky was same old school as Fisher - just 2 assistants. But Fisher did choose just one at the beginning - guy probably you write about. I remember analyst saying on TV how that was his buddy and Bobby chooses only buddies as assistants because he simply does not trust people. Problem was Bobby went down 2:0 and then he phoned to another guy to come - I remember analyst talking about how Fisher called him by phone to come with first available flight. I can also remember analyst talking how Bobby did not trust any of them so he checked just everything. One more thing I remember once analyst said: "Fisher looks tired he will go to sleep and it will be up to his guys to find the way how to continue". Judging by those words I still remember I always assumed both guys were involved in game analysis but that analyst might not be simply properly informed who first guy was.
b-
Karpov was just new completely different type of player - new generation. He had like 10 assistants, secretary, cook and doctor or psychologist always travelling with him for any matches. He lived in mansion with maid and private driver all paid by Soviet Union State. That is whole chess factory. I think that Fisher saw that is the future of chess - you just as loner can't compete with such machine. He was loner so he never wanted a team or machine or factory and he did choose just to fade away.
You can divide chess into two stages:
1.- Chess before and during Bobby Fisher
Mostly loners + 1 or 2 assistants for high ranking tournaments or championship games
2.- Chess after Bobby Fisher
Form big powerful team as soon as you become successfull GM. Today GMs are just teams with GM as brand name.Without team there is just no chance for any top level GM to be competitive.
wwwpirate wrote:
That was my point.
I can write you about Fisher novel here.
2 things:
a-
Yes he knew he was much better player but Spassky was same old school as Fisher - just 2 assistants. But Fisher did choose just one at the beginning - guy probably you write about. I remember analyst saying on TV how that was his buddy and Bobby chooses only buddies as assistants because he simply does not trust people. Problem was Bobby went down 2:0 and then he phoned to another guy to come - I remember analyst talking about how Fisher called him by phone to come with first available flight. I can also remember analyst talking how Bobby did not trust any of them so he checked just everything. One more thing I remember once analyst said: "Fisher looks tired he will go to sleep and it will be up to his guys to find the way how to continue". Judging by those words I still remember I always assumed both guys were involved in game analysis but that analyst might not be simply properly informed who first guy Fisher took was.
b-
Karpov was just new completely different type of player - new generation. He had like 10 assistants, secretary, cook and doctor or psychologist always travelling with him for any matches. He lived in mansion with maid and private driver all paid by Soviet Union State. That is whole chess factory. I think that Fisher saw that is the future of chess - you just as loner can't compete with such machine. He was loner so he never wanted a team or machine or factory and he did choose just to fade away.
You can divide chess into two stages:
1.- Chess before and during Bobby Fisher
Mostly loners + 1 or 2 assistants for high ranking tournaments or championship games
2.- Chess after Bobby Fisher
Form big powerful team as soon as you become successfull GM. Today GMs are just teams with GM as brand name.Without team there is just no chance for any top level GM to be competitive.
Hey pal, its obvious you dont know much about Fischer so I'm going to make this short---Fischer had one second---Lombardy, a Catholic priest. This is a typical conversation they might have.
Lombardy---Bobby, you want to analyze that adjourned position with Spassky?
Bobby---Analyze, are you kidding---that guys a fish! Let's go bowling.
I kid you not
PS---the guys name is Fischer
Dude with that attitude he would not beat in top chess neither IM.
I just checked the Internet and at that time Spassky had 3 not 2 assistants as I thought so go figure it out.
The film just premiered in St. Louis a few hours ago, and I have to agree with the OP that it is a great documentary. It nicely portrays him as both a chess genius, and a terribly troubled man. Liz Garbus definitely did her research, as there is a lot of rarely (never?) seen archival video and photography of Fischer throughout his life, and we are given a real glimpse into the human side of this man. I especially enjoyed watching Bobby exercise to Jack Lalanne in front of the television set. Though his life was ultimately tragic, there is a definite uplifting feel to the film.
The HBO reps were there to tell us that it will premiere on HBO on June 6th, and I also highly recommend it.
I wonder if all that game footage from 1972 is ever going to be made available someday?
Still tied up in a legal battle!?
Liz Garbus told us that she spent over one year working with ABC to get their "Wide World of Sports" coverage of this match. Obviously the 1972 match plays center stage in the film.
goldendog wrote:
I wonder if all that game footage from 1972 is ever going to be made available someday?
Still tied up in a legal battle!?
What have you been smoking man! What game footage---the first game was all they got. Fischer forfeited the second game in protest of the camera. They got game one and thats it. Thats all f-f-f-f folks.
raul72 wrote:
goldendog wrote:
I wonder if all that game footage from 1972 is ever going to be made available someday?
Still tied up in a legal battle!?
What have you been smoking man! What game footage---the first game was all they got. Fischer forfeited the second game in protest of the camera. They got game one and thats it. Thats all f-f-f-f folks.
Wrong, yak breath.
According to Brady the first game and part of the second game were filmed, as was the eighth game.
yeres30 wrote:
d4e4 wrote:
Well, living through the whole saga, I just wish that Bobby would have defended his title and skipped all the bullcrap.
Win, lose or draw...he would have given the world at least 20-30 more years of chess brilliancy.
He would certainly have done a lot more winning. But, I think, part of his paranoia was a deeply embedded fear of losing.
Just my opinion. Not condemning him...he had to be who he was. Just disappointed.
If "Fear of losing" a "paranoia" then almost, if not all GM's have it. Fischer pioneered the many amenities that all tournament players and championship chess enjoy today -
the standard non-glaring chess board and chess pieces, providing the kind of environment big-time chess have today. Revising the method of choosing the challenger to the world chaimpion and most of all huge prize fund in championship chess.
What is simply amazing is how Americans think that Fischer was "afraid" to play Karpov when in truth and in fact the reason for Fischer's refusal to play Karpov is the principle that an American champion did not deserve the common courtesy the world gave all Russian champions for almost a quarter century.
Why would for almost a quarter century all Russian champions were given the privilege of retaining their title when the score reached a 12-12 tie but rejected giving Fischer, the American world champion, that privilege when the score reached a 9-9 tie?
Why was the rematch clause restored when Karpov won the title? Fischer requested it but didnt get it. It was a tremendous advantage to get a rematch without having to fight your way through the candidates.
goldendog wrote:
raul72 wrote:
goldendog wrote:
I wonder if all that game footage from 1972 is ever going to be made available someday?
Still tied up in a legal battle!?
What have you been smoking man! What game footage---the first game was all they got. Fischer forfeited the second game in protest of the camera. They got game one and thats it. Thats all f-f-f-f folks.
Wrong, yak breath.
According to Brady the first game and part of the second game were filmed, as was the eighth game.
God, your stupid---Fischer didnt show up for the second game Yak brains! What did they film---his empty chair. I'm curious pal, do you take stupid pills?
As for game 8----give sources---book and page nbr! You got to be kidding me---Fischer went through all that trouble to get rid of cameras including a forfeit and then lets them film game 8.
Goldendog, did yo mama drop you on your head when you were a baby???
A new Bobby Fischer documentary just preimered at the Miami International Film Festival and will be playing at the Florida Film Festival in Orlando, FL.
Here's a summary of the film and the director from the Florida Film Festival website.
Arrogant genius? Brilliant eccentric? Delusional savant? The most heralded chess player of all time, Bobby Fischer declares, “Chess and me—it’s like an alter ego,” in this captivating bio-pic that inspires care about the man and the game in surprising ways. Under the tutelage of a mother who is by turns smothering, demanding, cold, and distant, he learned the game at the age of six and, at 15, earned the U.S. national championship. The Cold War of the early ‘70s thrust him into the limelight as a symbol of U.S. superiority, and his legendary match against U.S.S.R. chess champ Boris Spassky gripped the nation’s competitive imagination as compellingly as any Super Bowl. But as his fame grew, his grip on reality diminished, and his demons forced him into psychological and geographical exile. Award-winning director Liz Garbus (The Farm: Angola, USA; FFF 1998 Grand Jury Award for Best Doc Feature) plumbs the soul and psyche of this loneliest of American heroes.
It's a great film that I managed to see a sneak preview of it, so I recommend everyone in the area to try and watch it. There is going to be two screenings; one on Saturday April 9, at 9:00p.m. at the Enzian Theatre, the second one is Wednesday April 13, at 3:15 p.m. at the Regal Winter Park Village B.
Hope to see lots of you players that day!!!