how good was fischer

what has his rating in 1972 and how come he was able to beat 20 GMs with straight wins.  I don't understand why the 2600 player would not be able to figure out Fischer was doing on a chess board and stop him.  I can't imagine that it would be too difficult to figure it out for a 2600 GM. 

from what I have read, seems that many of his opponents were intimidated by his presence.   

Even as a youngster -- he was once playing in a New York chess tournament and his opponent offered him a Draw in an equal ending.   Fischer immediately loudly said "you got to be kidding".   His opponent was so flustered, he soon made a blunder and lost.    You can think of Fischer as the John McEnroe of Chess !

It should be noted that the 20 in a row that Fischer won was not merely against any Grandmaster.    The streak started in a round robin tournament of the best players in the world to determine which would advance to play in elimination matches.    He then proceeded to shut out  2 top notch players by 6-0 scores and then continued by winning the first game of the Tigran Petrosian match.  Streak ended when he lost Game 2 of that match.

During part of the 20 game win streak were 6 games in a row  he beat Grandmaster Mark Taimanov  ( who is no slouch -- having variations of the Sicilian named after him ! ).    Taimanov was so down on himself, that he offered to resign one adjournment against Fischer if Fischer would agree to a Draw in the other.   Fischer refused and beat him in both.

Taimanov had a lot of pressure to not be embarassed by Fischer ( in an elimination match to ultimately determine a challenger to World Champion Spassky).    When he returned back to Soviet Union, they would not let him out of the country to play in tournaments for a few years.

When the last obstacle in Bobby Fischer's path, former World Champion, TIgran Petrosian was decisively beaten in each of the last 4 games of their match, Petrosian's stature back home was also in jeopardy.    He was head editor of the Soviet Union Chess Magazine, "Shakmatny Bulletin".   However when he returned, he no longer had an office there !

Tough to have an accurate Rating for Fischer, as no one was in his class back then.   I believe the USCF had him as the first player over 2800.   One year, when he played in the US Invitational Championship he won every game ( no Draws).   That has never been repeated.

he was really good.

i don't know why he decided to quit playing after winning the title.

also he turned down endorsement deals or opportunities to get paid a lot of money to star in shampoo commericials

Bobby wasn't the most rational of thinkers away from the board. And as far as turning down all the endorsements, he hated the idea that someone else might make money off him. I believe it was Larry Evans who said something along the lines of "if Bobby could get $50 an autograph, and you could get $5 for introducing the autograph seeker to him, Bobby would want that $5 as well or he'd forfeit the $50".

Everything in life is give and take

Fisher was good enough to become World Champion. That is about all the positive I can say about him.

 robert fischer was known to never play for a draw or accept them. however way back in the 60,s he played a guy named tony kapanny in philadelphia who drew him. after trading off some pieces tony still had his queen fischer did not. TONY was in a position to keep checking bobby all over the board. TO eveyones surprise fischer offered tony a draw. I looked over the game it was interesting to say the least. IT also showed tony was able to play over his rating often. HE later went on to be one of the directors of the philadelphia merchentile chess club in center city for 40 years. HE was still winning at the age of 90 at the north penn chess club in landsdale pa. SO this was one of those rare occasions when bobby offered a draw or took one however you look at it. I did not look at his games until this year in a serious way. I now realize what gary kasparov was talking about he was probably the best ever. I saw a few games where he sacked pieces and played two or three pieces down and pulled off a hidden mate about 12 deep. yes he was incredable! 

Fischer was great because once gained a slight edge he never made a mistake and displayed almost flawless technique to convert that edge to an advantage and a win. If you go through his games there's really nothing special or brilliant about most of his moves. But it was always just  the right move to make.