Wasn't it Bobby Fischer who said: "Don't get mad - get even!"

If it was him, then I guess it must have been in his early ages..;)

If I go crazy than yippdy do. You only live one life might as well experience it all :)

No really though. I would like to call it eccentric, and eccentric people can be very interesting.

Vibovit wrote:

TheAOD wrote:

Being ostricized or isolating yourself from society destoys a persons grasp on reality.  Of course I'm no doctor or socioligist so this could be way off.  It just seems to be true for all great talents.  Elvis, Michael Jackson, Madona, OJ Simpson, Britany Spears, Phil Spector, Kurt Cobain, Nietzche, Henry VIII, Hitler, & Stalin  are a few arguably great people either for their acievments or their public appeal.  These people are all eccentric and are arguably insane.

What indicates that Madonna or OJ Simpson are insane?

That's why I say arguably....  OJ may not have been convicted of the crime of killing his ex-wife and her lover; however, he was planning to write a book called, "How I did it."  According to the news report I heard Nicole Brown's family filed an injunction stopping him from releasing this book.  In addition he was recently involved in some incident involving a gun and sports memorabilia because he apparently makes his money selling the stuff he steals.  If none of that stuff is true then I guess you're right.  If any of it is, then he's really weird and at least edging towards crazy. Keep in mind that although he was not convicted of murder he did lose his case in civil court.   If he killed that woman he's crazy in my mind.  As for Madonna maybe she's not crazy.  Maybe she's just weird.  I think publishing a book of nude pictures of yourself, which might destroy your career, is eccentric.  Once again I'm no expert so this is all debatable.

Anthony

I can't even begin to imagine what Korchnoi will be like if he ever retires from chess. 

What's wrong with him?

I think we're missing a link. The point is that briliant people oftenly are "crazy" or eccentric. And to play chess on such a level you'd have to be briliant.
So they couldn't get "insane" by their level of chess inflating, more like their intelligence increasing. Or maybe that they'd have to become a bit crazy to become more intelligent.
I don't know why people are "crazy" on such high intelligence levels. But I think it has more to do with people being "normal". Normal is just a barrier, keeping you from developing the way you (or your brain) wants to, or at least restricting it. You can hardly be briliant and normal at the same time. I've read some things about the greatest discoveries being made by insane people, in the most insane ways.

TheAOD wrote:

Vibovit wrote:

TheAOD wrote:

Elvis, Michael Jackson, Madona, OJ Simpson [...] These people are all eccentric and are arguably insane.

What indicates that Madonna or OJ Simpson are insane?

That's why I say arguably....  OJ may not have been convicted of the crime of killing his ex-wife and her lover; however, he was planning to write a book called, "How I did it."  According to the news report I heard Nicole Brown's family filed an injunction stopping him from releasing this book.

It doesn't indicate insanity in my opinion at all, but "let's agree we disagree" :)

TheMoonwalker wrote:

What's wrong with him?

Korchnoi hasn't aged well. He is a grumpy old man with hardly a kind word for anybody. He talks down at his opponents and gets cantankerous when he loses. Not a pleasant person at all. He still has a sharp mind and his game hasn't lost much, if anything, he just has a really miserable outlook and attitude. If he didn't have chess to occupy his mind all these years, he'd probably be even more bonkers than Fischer.

Watch this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M9k5oBgaZGI

Korchnoi loses to Sofia Polgar in a blitz game. She tries to engage him in friendly conversation after the game, but all Korchnoi says repeatedly is "This is first and last time you win me", and he's not saying it in a friendly, joking way, either. 

From what I read elsewhere, they'd had some history of personal conflict before.

The catalogue of "insanities" seems to extend further and further, come to think of it I guess Karpov is on the brink of madness; after all, he's collecting stamps (obviously an irrational activity, perhaps obsessive compulsory disorder).

There are actually a lot of GMs who hate each other.

Like Topalov and Kramnik...

yeah, and Kasparov - Karpov

I think chess (like mathematics and other similar activities) if done obsessively can do some damage in the perception of reality.

It's as simple as that: while ordinary kids and teenager spend most of their times learning how to interact with others, social skills, approacing girls, facing rejection , overcome the little big fears that every kid has (and seem incredibly silly to you when you grow up) Fischer (just to use him as example) was studying and playing chess.

In that sense chess is dangerous, and you have to be careful.

But for an adult who play only for fun I don't think there is any risk of getting crazy :)

Human's by nature are social, and the desire to belong to a group usually prevails. Individuals who wish to dominate or control, rather than merely lead, have emotional disorders. It is not that chess playing creates the madness. The madness is attracted to various opportunities to dominate and control. Chess merely provides a culture in which these individuals find attractive. It does not create the problem, only feeds it.

THOSE ECCENTRIC CHESSPLAYERS by Bill Wall

Many chessplayers live in a world of their own. The game of chess has touched off some very bizarre behavioral patterns among chessplayers. Here are some examples of the eccentrics of chess.

Alekhine was famous for his eccentrics. He drank very heavily and was nicknamed "Ale-and-Wine." In a few tournaments he was found in a field drunk. He would urinate on the floor in other events. He married four times to women 20 to 30 years older than he.

Nimzovich stood on his head during chess events or did exercises in the tournament room. After losing a game, he once jumped up on the table and yelled, "Why must I lose to this idiot."

The Mexican master, Carlos Torre, was found running down Fifth Avenue in New York in the nude.

Tartakower lost 5 games in a row and was asked why. He replied, "I had a toothache during the first game. In the second game I had a headache. In the third game it was an attack of rheumatism. In the fourth game, I wasn't feeling well. And in the fifth game? Well, must one have to win every game?"

Steinitz had delusions of telephoning people without any phone. He thought he could emit electrical currents and move chess pieces at will. He even claimed to be in direct contact with God and occasionally beating Him at chess with pawn odds.

Morphy imagined himself persecuted by his relatives and went into a state of seclusion. He thought his food had been poisoned or that someone was trying to kill him. He had a fetish with women's shoes.

Rubinstein was so paranoid that if a stranger came into his room, he would run or even jump out of a window. In chess tournaments he would make a move then stand as far away as possible from the board until his next move. During World War I, he invested all his money in German War Bonds.

Emanuel Lasker was a successful chessplayer but a failure as a farmer. He once tried to breed pigeons and enter them in poultry shows. He tried for many months and failed. The pigeons were all male.

Blackburne hated to lose at chess so badly that he once threw an opponent out the window after losing a game.

Capablanca refused to pose with a film star, saying, "Why should I give her publicity?"

Henrique Mecking lost his match with Petrosian and made a formal protest. He accused Petrosian of kicking the table, shaking the chessboard, stirring the coffee too loudly, and rolling a coin on the table. He went to the referee twice to complain that Petrosian was breathing too loudly. Mecking kicked back at the table and started making noises of his own. Petrosian responded by turning his hearing aid off.

William Russ was the leading American compiler of chess problems in the 19th Century. He adopted an 11-year old girl and proposed to her when she turned 21. When she rejected him, he shot her 4 times in the head, then shot himself twice. She survived, he did not. His chess book, published posthumously, was entitled AMERICAN CHESS NUTS.

David Janowski was a great chessplayer and an addicted gambler. In one tournament in Monte Carlo, he gave all his money to a friend and made him promise not to return the money until after the event. However, the lure of gambling was too much and he begged his friend to return his money. His friend refused, so Janowski sued his friend.

Bobby Fischer could have played Boris Spassky anywhere in the world for millions of dollars in their 1992 re-match. Instead, he agreed to play in Yugoslavia against US and UN sanctions. He spit on the U.S. Department of Treasury warning not to play in Yugoslavia, played anyway, and is now facing 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine. In 1999 he gave radio interviews denying the holocaust of the Nazis and accusing the Jewish community of conspiring against him (Fischer is half Jewish). After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the U.S., Fischer applauded the attacks and said America deserved it. In 2002, he made a radio interview encouraging the Icelandic government to kick out the U.S. military from Iceland. He encouraged the Icelandic government to send anthrax to the U.S. government if the U.S. failed to leave Iceland

Vibovit wrote:

Karpov is on the brink of madness; after all, he's collecting stamps (obviously an irrational activity, perhaps obsessive compulsory disorder).

They made him do it !!

to be or not to be crazy?

who is ,, crazy,, from chess ? yes there are many ,,crazy ,, men!right,no?

im not scared anyways id be mad if i lost  the world championships