Definitely both.
Was Bobby Fischer brilliant? Or an idiot....
Sort:
Lol. I tend to agree
yes, a brillant idiot-savant.
Well I think both as well but more brilliant than crazy, because some of the things he said even after when he went crazy was true and accurate. Because of the fact that he was clearly brilliant and crazy I feel that this thread is more asking what his legacy is: his brilliance or his crazness, and sadly I believe that his craziness has become more famous than his brilliance. With that said I would love to see arguments for either extreme end of the spectrum.
He was an amazing chess player who will always be in the discussion of who was/is the best chess player.
he was a tad eccentric on occasion.
He was not an idiot...far from it
He was outspoken on occasion....same as the rest of us
He held opinions which some people found abhorent...everyone is entitled to an opinion
Everyone can be an idiot at times....To err is human, to forgive is divine
The world is a duller place without him
If chess is still being played in a thousand years from now, people will still marvel at his chess games
*check flag*
*quit topic*
Feb 9, 2015
0
#8
Psychologically disturbed to the hilt. But we value him for his chess, not his personality.
He wasn't spoiled if you look how his childhood played out in the early years. Also, I do believe Fischer suffered from mental health issues which shouldn't be poked fun at for.
As Fisher said himself, "All I want to do, ever, is play chess." The man's life was chess. He was a brilliant chess player who helped create lines in the very popular Najdorf Sicilian Variation. He was a bit crazy towards the end but aren't most brilliant or game changers always, even if only a little crazy, in many cases? (Elvis Presely, Michael Jackson, Mikhail Tal, Albert Einstein, Julius Caeser, only a few) All of these names had a problem of one or another that made them way differnt than most.
Feb 9, 2015
0
#11
After reading Brady's Profile of a Prodigy, I went to think that Fischer was not at all odd; whenever he did something "unusual", it was for a very good reason....I think that a bit of Fischer is inside everyone today.
Fischer's results speak for themselves; he was most certainly a genius.
All very good points. I think that there is no question to his otb brilliance. I think the main focal point of the op was directed toward his personality more than a question of his chess prowess
Feb 10, 2015
0
#13
no matter how much Bobby Fischer tried to alienate us with his anti semitism .chess players love him
Why ?cos of his chess ,he reminds us all of that moment when we understood the value of the game
Chess allows one on lowly means (a pauper) to beat the greatest rulers of the world
and this guy did it not rich not with the benefit of elite education went and took on the Soviet Chess Machine and we all know how that went
Bobby Fischer great player/
an idiot ?well no i dont think so ,i dont agree with his politics ,however he walked the path he choose in that regard
Emory university has a website which shows what they consider to be IQ's of various geniuses. Their definition of genius and intelligence is, "that they are unique talents or capacities that an individual excels in. Genius is not limited to specific fields and every field produces geniuses. These individuals may share a title, but their differences are vast."
I admit that it is hard to believe a chess player would have an IQ higher than Einstein.
http://www.cse.emory.edu/sciencenet/mismeasure/genius/research04.html
Adult IQ's of Famous Geniuses:
| Bobby Fischer (Chess Player) | 187 |
| Galileo Galilei (Astronomer/Philosopher/Physicist) | 185 |
| Rene Descartes (Philosopher/Mathematician) | 180 |
| Immanuel Kant (Philosopher) | 175 |
| Charles Darwin (Naturalist) | 165 |
| Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer) | 165 |
| Albert Einstein (Physicist) | 160 |
| George Eliot (Writer) | 160 |
| Nicolaus Copernicus (Astronomer) | 160 |
| Rembrandt van Rijn (Painter) |
155 |
I marvel at the geniuses who both measured the IQs of Rembrandt, Copernicus, Galilei, Darwin, Einstein, Kant etc, and also deduced that Fischer had a higher IQ than all of them :-)
fabelhaft wrote:
I marvel at the geniuses who both measured the IQs of Rembrandt, Copernicus, Galilei, Darwin, Einstein, Kant etc, and also deduced that Fischer had a higher IQ than all of them :-)
It may be based on what he achieved? Learning chess on his own and taking down the Soviets on his own. His ability to remember games in detail years after they were played is well known.
Gunz-N-Guitarz wrote:
I'm curious of everyone's opinion of the late great Bobby Fischer. Was he a spoiled, self-absorbed moron? Or was he pure genius? What's your opinion? Go!
If he had been a "moron", he could not have played or understood chess. I wonder how many times this subject has been raised in these forums and how many more times it will be in future. I do not believe that it is being raised repeatedly in the genuine hope of the question being resolved, but rather to cause argument. As for one contributer's description of Michael Jackson and Elvis Presley as "brilliant" - I'd urge him, with respect, to try not to be ridiculous.
Definitely not spoiled. He didn't come from privledge.
I'm curious of everyone's opinion of the late great Bobby Fischer. Was he a spoiled, self-absorbed moron? Or was he pure genius? What's your opinion? Go!