Bobby Fischer GM was he the best ambassador for chess or not

"Yeah, there are too many Jews in chess. They seem to have taken away the class of the game. They don't seem to dress so nicely, you know. That's what I don't like."

"What is going on is I am being persecuted night and day by the Jews, for telling it like it is. They want to put me in jail, they're robbing me of everything I have, they're continuously lying about me. I've had enough of this shit. The latest thing they've done is I had some stuff in storage back in Pasadena for 12 years, spent a fortune on storage fees, a fortune on safes... and these God-damn Jews in America have just gone and grabbed it all."

"No lie is too big for a Jew, no lie is too small... Jews live by lying, and die with coming in contact with the truth."

"They're lying bastards. Jews were always lying bastards throughout their history. They're a filthy, dirty, disgusting, vile, criminal people."

"My main interest right now is to expose the Jews. This is alot bigger than me. They're not just persecuting me. This is not just my struggle, I'm not just doing this for myself... This is life and death for the world. These God-damn Jews have to be stopped. They're a menace to the whole world."

"The Jews have been hardened against Christ, against decency for thousands of years... They're gonna have to be annihilated, Eugene."

"America is totally under control of the Jews, you know. I mean, look what they're doing in Yugoslavia... The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense are dirty Jews."

"They are subhuman. They are the scum of the Earth. When you talk about Jews, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel of humanity."

"Hopefully the Jews will get it in the neck soon. They have alot of enemies all over the world. These biological weapons are getting very cheap and easy to deliver. I'm optimistic, I'm hoping that Washington DC will be wiped out."

"I think that the Jews would like to eat me... I think they've got eating Fischer on their minds. They hate my guts. Or maybe they love my guts."

"I'm very concerned because I think the Jews want to drive the elephants to extinction because the trunk of an elephant reminds them of an uncircumcised penis. I'm absolutely serious about that... Jews are sick, they're mental cases."

-- Bobby Fischer.

By all means, "Rael". Let's discuss it. As adults. What do you think about this?

"I'm very concerned because I think the Jews want to drive the elephants to extinction because the trunk of an elephant reminds them of an uncircumcised penis. I'm absolutely serious about that... Jews are sick, they're mental cases."

Staff

LOCK this thread please!

Why?  Except for the one rant, it's a good discussion.  (And good discussions always attract ranters.)

One rant, and one entirely unnecessary reproduction of the worst of Fischer's racism on record -- the latter in particular is in my opinion the result of extremely poor judgement and should be removed but I agree: the thread doesn't need to be locked.

Those who constantly attack Fischer and cannot "let it rest" are the most vindictive people on the earth.

"Yeah, I guess we need to figure out a way to edit/ban/delete reality itself, right?"  Rael

Yeah, boy!  Let's go out back and stick our heads in the sand, if for nothing else, at least it will ensure we're not offending anybody...oh wait, what about the ostrich lobby?

Bobby was the most exciting chess genius ever.....and a RAVING LUNATIC in his later years. His radio broadcasts bordered on insanity. A shame, really. He represented the USA for one World Championship and then disowned us! He exiled himself from his own country and basically fell off the deep end mentally about the same time. So, great chess genius or paranoid schizophrenic ? Both.

Fischer's chess was good for chess, but as a person, no way he made a good ambassador for chess.  The above extensive quotes from Fischer, if not deleted, explain this very well and show the full extent of his mental illness.  I can understand if they are deleted because, in taste, they are like a nude photo.  I can understand if they are not deleted because much of this thread is about understanding Bobby Fischer.

For a more tasteful (yet still intimate) view of Fischer, see:

http://www.chessville.com/Editorials/Interviews/GMLarryEvansInterviewOnBobbyFischer.htm

Pay close attention to Parr's interview with Evans.  Evans was Fischer's friend for a long time and tried to "package" Fischer so that he appeared more socially acceptable (sorry if that sounds snobby).  Fischer eventually resented this and broke off their friendship.

I maintain my nomination of Evans as ambassador for chess.  He's a real gentleman.  I'm not sure whether he still writes his Evans on Chess column for Chess Life.  But he still gives presentations to chess players of all strengths at chess events.

I agree with you, Gramps.  They are no more offensive than a nude photo.

Well, Anthony, unlike Lance, Fischer didn't cheat at chess, so...

 Lance plays chess too ?!

Nope, he has an engine play for him!

Extremely poor judgement on my part?

Well, perhaps so. That's your judgement.

I disagree that it was unnecessary, though: I think a little reality needed to be injected into the discussion. "Rael" seemed to be complaining that reality is in some danger of being erased, due to some unnamed group of "audacious" people. I have no desire to erase reality. I'm willing to name those people.

For my part I consider it extremely poor judgement on "Rael's" part to have injected an off-topic antisemitic rant of his own into this particular thread.

What Fischer said should be faced fully by those who wish to call him an "ambassador" for chess. I think he could hardly be accused of being a diplomatic man, but that's a matter of my judgement.

As for attacking Fischer: that was the furthest thing from my mind. I admire him for his extreme skill, though I'm sure I'ld have found it very hard to be friends with him had I been a contemporary of his, and had I had the great luck ever to be in that position. He was, unquestionably, beyond any possible doubt, an extraordinarily great chess player. His fame, and he personally, did a very great deal for the game. No one could possibly deny that. His book "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess" is the first I remember ever reading about chess.

I think he was deeply mentally disturbed by the time he made the comments I've reproduced.

But I don't think any good purpose is served by pretending that his mental illness didn't exist or by averting one's eyes from the full extent and what evidence there is of the precise nature of it. I think it can be faced without fear and without diminishing the man, certainly not as a chess player, but also not as a human being. He never hurt a fly, though he uttered extremely hurtful words in his sickness.

I do think he was badly  mistreated by the US government later in life. His passport should never have been pulled. He should not have been made a criminal.

I'm with you, except for the part where you saw fit to reproduce his hateful words here.

i believe the question-or topic- at hand is whether or not Fischer was the greatest ambassador of chess ever...right i love words so lets define ambassador

Fischer might fall into #2 and #4 if your liberal in your interpretations.  was he authorized by our government?  nixon and his addministration (kissinger especially) informally backed Bobby as the ambassador of the USA with him representing this great capitalistic nation against the evil communist russians.  however i dont think Fischer saw himself as representing the USA in some cold war battle on the 64 squares.  he was there as an individual, he was there for the WC crown, he was there to prove that he was the best player in the world and the the USSR, with there prearranged games and heavy handed political espionage, couldnt maintain their dominance over the chess world forever.  did his success promote chess in american- you bet it did.  did his play inspire generations of people- absolutly.  did his odd character, special set of ethics and unusual sportsmanship baffle even the ones closest to him- sure.  has he left this world with more questions than answers- yes.  was he a good representative internationally for the USA- maybe in '71-'73, but after his "decline" he was the opposite of a representative. was he the best ambassador? no.  was he even a good one?  i would say no to that as well.  I stand by my opinion that Max Euwe has been and may always will be the best FIDE president and international ambassador the chess world has ever seen.  ill touch on Fischer's personality briefly by saying that no matter what he did in his personal life, no matter what his opinions were, no matter how much parinoia and hate he had inside, his games were beautiful.  he was head and shoulders above his contemporaries and without his contributions to our game, it (chess) wouldnt be the same.  i value fischer's carreer contributions and abilities right alongside of people like Steinitz, Lasker, Tarrasch, Philidor, Nimzowitsch, Capablanca, and Kasparov.  do i like racist people- no.  do i think Bobby had mental issuses that were unrecognized or treated, yes.  can one forgive someone with a mental illness for "crazy" thinking, yes.  do we have to like what he said, no.  can we let sleeping (or dead) dogs lie, sometimes...lets let this dog sleep for now... 

Bobby Fischer was a great ambassador for chess. Anyone who has watched the movie "Searching For Bobby Fischer" probably thinks so. The way the film portrayed him was mysterious and fascinating. In the opening, the main character describes him as follows:

"IF HE WON, HE'D BE THE FIRST AMERICAN WORLD CHAMPION IN HISTORY. IF HE LOST, HE'D JUST BE ANOTHER PATZER FROM BROOKLYN."

Fischer did something thrilling and incredibly special. It's not like there aren't hundreds of great players around the world, but THERE CAN ONLY BE ONE KASPAROV. There can maybe be only one Anand. Karpov was a brilliant and beyond incredible master of the game. But because Garry was born, a large majority of the general public doesn't even know the name Anatoly Karpov! Be proud of Fischer for his accomplishment, for what he did for the game, and for what he did for his country.

POINT #2 From what I understand, A LOT OF WHAT FISCHER DID THAT WAS DISTASTEFUL, HE DID DURING HIS SELF-IMPOSED EXILE FROM THE GAME.

I know he had an incredible ego, and he said some stupid and arrogant things when he was the champ, but it's not like other sports greats didn't talk trash when they were #1.

I don't approve of all of his methods. And there are some things about his games I don't think are healthy to emulate:

Kingsley as Pandolfini speaking to his student:

Do you know what the word contempt means?
                It's to think of others as being beneath you,
                to be unworthy of being in the same room with you.
                I don't feel that.
                Well, you better start.
                Because if you don't think it's a part of winning,
                you're wrong.
                You have to have contempt for your opponents.
                You have to hate them.
                But I don't.
                They hate you.
                They hate you, Josh.
                I don't hate them.
                Bobby Fischer held the world in contempt.
                I'm not him.
                You're telling me.

I also think you can win without hating your opponents.

Fischer hated them, and that's fine. But that's not part of my personal game.

I agree with Catalyst_Kh and others on this thread.

Fischer was great and great for the game.

And I don't understand why people want to hate him so much.

Yes what he did away from the board and away from the game was nasty.

But it is clearly and well-documented that he was mentally ill.

How many heros in history have done some unsavory things apart from their

careers? More than you'd like to think!

Let the man rest in peace. He was a champion.

He was the best player in his era.

He changed the way how all future generations think about and play chess.

The measure of a man is how he treats others, and there Fischer fell short. 

Hate speech isn't nice, but Fischer didn't murder somebody. "What Fischer did" is have ugly opinions, and speak them aloud on the radio. That's not even illegal, so I don't know why you would compare him to a murderer.

There are many very sane people who have a much more coherent way of saying some of the "hateful" things that fischer said, and when they do they are put in jail in Germany and other countries ...   hmmm

I think I lost my sanity just for a second ... Oh well ... 

loser