"To Stick or Not to Stick" - That is Bobby Fischer's Question

Being legally able to throw a fit and the morality+maturity of it can be separated though.  Americans are sometimes criticized for frivolous litigation.  Yes, the courts allow you to seek money because the coffee that was served to you was too hot and burned you, but does that make it any less childish even if you are awarded money in the end?

IMO to quit the match was childish.

Quitting the match was not childish. Playing at the time the match was changed to was not convenient for him. Changing the time was childish since the reason given was nonsensical. Its sort of like if you have a job and you know that the job ends at 5 and you made a date for the evening and then your boss said you had to work overtime. If you don't want to break your date just because your boss wants to push you around is your privilege. In fact most union contracts say that you have the right to refuse overtime if you don't get enough notice in advance. What Fischer did was no different than that. 

Chess would not be what it is today if it weren't for Bobby Fischer. He stood up to the Soviet Machine and he stood up to the American Machine. If he was crazy then methinks there was method to his madness!

Date or work overtime?  Just depends on where you've set your priorities.  I don't buy into the evil boss making me work thing.  The date can be put off to another day, maybe at work there is a time crunch and they need the extra man hours right away.

Or maybe the work is unimportant, and you want to get to know your lady (or man) friend.

In Fischer's case it seems his priorities weren't very mature.  Yes he was within his rights.  And paulgottlieb's info of some of the motivating factors is illuminating for me.

So there were good reasons for him to do what he did, and his combative nature had some positive effects for current professionals, but the actions themselves were still childish IMO.  The world doesn't always go your way, and if you're too ridged to roll with the punches... well... you may end up just like Fischer

Since Fischer had a contract it was his choice whether to enforce it or not ( perhaps it was just the principle of being pushed around ). As for the very rich lady I would just say that she was working according to the REAL Golden Rule ( Them that have the Gold make the Rules ! ).  

why respect a person who "can't play with [a two hour time adjustment] hanging over his head"? Megalomania at its finest O_o

I am glad none of you is my mother!

From what I hear, Fischer had a long history of demanding his own way, with absolutely no compromise, so this news isn't surprising.

Divas do have a lot of lawyers!

...yes trysts, you are correct.

I really agree with Bobby.

Playing a match at that level requires even psychological preparation, and a mind at peace. Maybe he has a walk or does yoga before playing?

While I wouldn't care of playing a game of mine earlier or later, for a professional player a match is what he does for a living. Probably he was just afraid of playing with a disadvantage in case he played without his peace of mind/rituals/whatever, and in such a competitive event he couldn't afford to play not at his 100%.

When something went wrong for dear beloved Bobby he would just quit. He appeals to the quitter in all of us. They should replace the Statue of Liberty with one depicting lovely Bobby, with the moving words... "Give me my way or I'll quit!"

woman*

Unless you mean Bobby, he was a man (or a little girl if you listen to trysts).

Sunday morning? Bobby probably wanted to go to church, singing in the choir and stuff. Religious persecution, thats what it is....

He wasn't going to church on Sunday, however, he was apparently an apostate Jew when he was alive. He was born to a Jewish mother, meaning he was born a Jew, but he left the Jewish people and adopted Christianity, thus by Jewish law, he was an apostate Jew and no longer to be considered Jewish.

I think it was just a trick to make him lose concentration. Probably Bobby had anxiety problems and even this could throw him off.

There's no other explanation for wanting to reschedule for only 1 hour later, when the concert has to have been planned much in advance.

Actually, the organisers / Piatagorsky probably realised the schedule problem after the contract has been signed but long before they asked for a time change. The idea being (I suppose) that they knew Fischer would refuse if he was asked much in advance, and request other dates etc. so they wanted to force him to accept this on the spot. Too bad it didn't work...

Hoynck - In his book Fischer claimed he could have won by trading rooks on move 53. That would leave a 6-man endgame.

I read this article and I think Fischer was right! I believe everyone should have some principles in thier life. And that's one of reasons that I like great Ficher!