The truth about Dr. Frank Brady and Fischer

Oh dear, if its not an integral part of what is to follow then he might as well have named it, 'how to herd Yakks in outer Mongolia!' Lets put your proposition to the test, lets choose any other book, for example My sixty memorable games, for according to you the title is merely a blurb and bears a very tenuous relationship with what we might expect to follow inside.  In fact we might expect to find seventy games that were not memorable at all, but instantly forgettable! according to you.  Is that really what you are saying? If so then may i suggest to you that you get someone to feel your bum and bring you back to reality for you seem to me to be wired to the moon and incapable of rational thought.  Did I mention that your opinions are meaningless to anyone but you? no? well now you know.  Neeeext!

Thats the best you have, Fischer ranting against the Jews as evidence of his descent to the 'edge of madness'?  Try as I might i cannot find any medical symptoms termed 'anti Jewishness' Is it a rare medical illness? Perhaps a tropical disease?  Thats strange I can find nothing indicating that 'ranting', is a medical condition either. Can you cite the source of your research indicating that these are known medical conditions symptomatic of mental illness and insanity?

Mersaphe: The story I read was that Larry Evans decided to get Fischer laid with a local girl in Buenos Aires and the involvement seriously disturbed his tournament.

However, I doubt  Fischer's difficulty with women was at the root of his parnoid delusions. As far as I can tell, Fischer grew up in such a bizarre, chaotic situation, he came by his psychological problems -- especially paranoia -- honestly.

Fischer was raised fatherless and in near-poverty. His mother was an intelligent, ex-medical student, who studied in Moscow but returned to the US then moved her family around the country trying to make ends meet. She was also a communist and a political activist. The FBI investigated both Fischer and his mother as possible communist agents. Interestingly, she was disgnosed with a paranoid personality disorder after a court-ordered psychiatric exam.

Although Fischer's mother was cleared by the FBI -- after accumulating a 750 page file -- I wouldn't be surprised if she did work for the Soviets in some capacity. Somehow she completed her medical training in East Berlin in the sixties.

Fischer dropped out of school and broke up with his mother while a teenager. After that it was just Fischer and chess plus a handful of supporters. As he grew to be one of the strongest players in the world, the Soviet chess establishment was indeed conspiring against him.

After he won the world championship, he became a world famous celebrity with all the hassles and manipulations that go with fame and for which Fischer had no defenses except to retreat into seclusion. Many people have been broken by fame.

Fischer had almost no personal resources beyond what he could achieve over a chess board. As world champion, he had nowhere to go but down.

Rightly or wrongly, I think of mad people as people with broken brains. Just as your pancreas can stop working properly and you become diabetic, your brain can stop working and you become schizophrenic or something else.

In that sense, I don't believe Fischer was mad. The stress of his childhood, the struggle to single-handedly defeat the Soviet chess machine, and the challenges of fame, broke this young man into a sad, bitter, paranoid person.

Yes, a title may give some indication as to the contents of the book, however it is not an integral part of the contents. You're being intentionally thick and ignoring the point. You make the mistake of looking at a title/subtitle and deciding that's all you need to know about the book. Perhaps you'll see Cormac McCarthy's 'The Road' and decide it's about someone driving cross-country in their car.

I have made two claims regarding Dr. Brady and his portrayal of Fischer, you may make references to those. I am sick of repeating them and will not do so again.

Here is what your evidence amounts to and I quote, 'Was Fischer mad?  Probably yes.  So what?' and not a shred, not a jot, nothing, nada, the centre of the worlds largest doughnut!  Do you seriously think that because you assert something that it might be true? ? Next you will expect us to believe you were a submarine commander on the mere basis that if you say its true, it must be true.

This thread is not about me its about Dr Bradys portrayal of Robert Fischer, if you cannot get that correct then there is not much hope for you. All personal references to me will be simply ignored as unworthy of serious comment. Ad hominem much? oh dear, how predictable and how banal.  Neeext!

The term you are floundering for is, disingenuous , which i reject!  the title is indicative of Dr. Bradys and/or his publishers projection of Fischer as someone who according to them, descended to and i quote, 'the edge of madness'.  I don't need to read the content to understand what they are portraying, the same as i don't need to read the content of the Origin of the species to know what its about, do I. So enough of the pretense, you have been caught red handed trying to extricate the scurrilous Brady away from the work that bears his name and it portrayal of Robert James Fischer as being mentally ill and for which neither you, nor Brady nor anyone else here can produce a ragged vestige of credible medical evidence.

Seeing that no one so far has proffered any evidence for Bradys portrayal of Fischer as descending to, 'the edge of madness' and seeing that there are certain elements intent on making this thread personal, i will say no more unless evidence is produced and I shall continue to assert that Brady and his publishers have engaged in a grotesque and hideous portrayal of Robert Fischer, a man of honour and integrity.

If this thread is about Dr. Brady's portrayal of Bobby Fischer, anyone who would wish to contribute should really read the book first.  or have read this book first...

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/11/books/review/McInerney-t.html

Nope. I'm simply saying read the book, rather than the title, before you pass judgment on its contents.

The evidence is in the book which you pig-headedly refuse to read. Read it. You'll find that Brady's portrayal of Fischer is not at all what you're claiming (a claim you have no basis for since you have not read the book) it is.

^^Still think you dont need to read the content to know what they are portraying??

You appear to want someone to write you a critical review of Brady's work.  Sorry, not happening from me unless you are paying me or grading me.  Google it.  Someone has likely already written one. 

My opinion of Fischer is only my opinion and is shared by more than a few others.  But it's not an election so feel free to make up your own mind.  I'm not hanging my self-esteem on his sanity.  He was brilliant at the chess board and an otherwise altogether tragic person who singlehandedly changed the game at the international level.

Did Brady provide evidence of Madness?  No, and if he touches on it at all it was in the form of quotes from those he interviewed who knew Fischer best.  As I and others have taken the time to both read the books and reply to your question have said, Brady very much leaves it up to the reader to draw their own conclusions. 

Is that tabloid Journalism?  I don't know but I don't think it is.  Neither book is particularly riveting unless you are very interested in Chess History and RJF. 

You are arguing against a book or books you have not even read on the basis of a subtitle.  Do you realise how inane that is?  I took the time to offer you a brief review and why they may be worth about 10 hours of your time to read.  Take it or leave it.  I've read them, so I really owe you nothing more.

Classic!  Sums up about 90% of forums.

Still not a shred of evidence, how disappointing.  If anyone does produce any let me know and I will retract any assertions which are erroneous after evaluating its soundness.

Some books I have in front of me at present, The Javascript pocket guide, gee I wonder what thats about, anyone hazard a guess, perhaps i had better read the contents to find out!  What about this one, The rise and fall of Thomas Cromwell, Henry the eighths most faithful servant, gee i wonder what that's about? Sunk without a trace 30 dramatic accounts of yachts lost at see, gee I wonder what that's about, anyone like to hazard a guess, phone a friend?

Thanks for that.  From you list of titles I now know everything I need to know about coding Javascript, Thomas Cromwell and sailing.  Do you have a title of a good French grammar book.  I feel like learning a second language tonight.

Are you really this obtuse or are you just playing at it? Certainly a title might give some indication as to the subject of the book. It will not, however, give any indication as to the quality of its contents. 

Robbie & Ipcress have very valid points. Childhood actors/actresses, I dare say, Mike Tyson, have much commonness with the topic. I think most can name other examples. Point is, medical/clinical assessments have changed over the course of 30 yrs, wouldn't anyone say? And Media scrutiny has escalated at least an 1000 fold since the advent of the internet!

Frank Brady's book will always be an mainstay in my library. Has been so for 30+ yrs. Certainly some unsubtantiated claims will not change that. Move forward. Write your oen book. Play chess.

Peace guys.

You are too magnanimous. Brady deserves censure and to be called out for his distorted portrayal of probably the greatest chess player ever to have graced this earth.  He could have acted with honour and integrity towards Fischer instead of grovelling to the dictates of publishers and public opinion.  Sure Brady says some pleasing things about Fischer but it does not justify his portrayal of Fischer as mentally ill and for that he should not be forgiven.

I have read Brady's earlier book on Fischer : Profile of a Prodigy and enjoyed it but I don't intend to read his most recent .