Why do Americans like Bobby Fischer?

Batgirl; you have done a wonderful thing. Morphy has always been an inspiration to me, and I will visit your site often. I look forward to discussing your sources and insights. Thank you.  Jack

Well, here is the bulk of my sources:

Paul Morphy: The Pride and Sorrow of Chess  by David Lawson
Morphy's Games of Chess  byPhilip Walsingham Sergeant
Morphy Gleaning  byPhilip W. Sergeant
The Exploits and Triumphs in Europe of Paul Morphy  by Frederick Edge
The Chess Players  byFrances Parkinson Keyes
Paul Morphy and the Golden Age of Chess  byWilliam Ewert Napier
Royal Street  byW. Adolphe Roberts
Lake Pontchartrain  byW. Adolphe Roberts
Life of Paul Morphy in the Vieux Carré of New-Orleans and Abroad   byRegina Morphy-Voitier
The Chess and Genius of Paul Morphy (translation and further notes by Ernst Falkbeer)  by Max Lange
The Creoles of Louisiana (1884)  by George W. Cable
Morphy's Games of Chess  by Johann Löwenthal
New Orleans: an Illustrated History  by John Kemp
American Chess Heritage by Walter Corn
Howard Staunton 1810-74 by D. N. L. Levy
The United States Chess Championship: 1845-1991 by Andy Soltis
The First American Chess Congress, New York 1857 by Daniel. W. Fiske
The End of an Era: New Orleans 1850-1860  by Robert Reinders
Twice Remembered: Moments in the History of Spring Hill College by Michael Kenny, S.J.
Sportsmen and Gamesmen (1981) by John Dizikes
First and Last Days of Paul Morphy by Léona Queyrouze, writing as Constant Beauvais
Poems and prose sketches, with a biographical memoir of Paul Charles Morphy (1921) by Louis Albert Morphy
Paul Morphy: His Later Life (1900) by Charles A. Buck
Psychology of the Chess Player (1967) by Reuben Fine
The Problem of Paul Morphy (1931) by Ernest Jones

Definitely an inspiration to all us shoe fetishists.

BECAUSE HE BEAT THOSE EVIL COMMIES BUT HE SAY STUPID THINGS ABOUT 9/11. GLAD THE TRAITOR IS DEAD, NO REAL AMERICAN SHOULD BE A FISHER FAN.

**Hmmm....rethinks position**

Why would fishers need fans anyway?  Plenty of breeze out on the lake/on the sea.

FISHER KNEW ABOUT THE ZIONIST CONSPIRACY SO THAT IS HIS BEST QUALITY, BUT TO TALK ABOUT 911 LIKE HE DID WAS WRONG.

Yeah, he whooped Tal the Evil in blitz.

the Stare of Satan:

bump, very interesting conversations.. keep it up!

The timing and language of his comments made it worse - I think he said it within 48 hours of it happening and the words he used were far from diplomatic. But Bobby was not one to conform to societal norms and niceties that are common sense or ingrained in most people.

HE WAS UNDEATED IN ALL OF HIS GAMES

He may have been undeated in all of his games, but he wasn't undefeated. Tal beat him 4-0 in one tournament!

Love the Fischer art and caption. Fischer was a great - arguably the greatest - chess player but that doesn't mean he didn't have his flaws, like we all do. Fischer's chess playing was the best in his era and his flaws far from the worst. People who hate Fischer have had limited exposure to the evil people can do and aren't taking into consideration that his anger resulted from slights - not all of which were imaginary or deserved

Fischer was 16 during the 1959 candidates tournament. Tal, in his prime, would go on to win the WC.  Tal never won another game from Fischer after that.   Fischer didn't lose much, but he did lose.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_people_who_have_beaten_Bobby_Fischer_in_chess

http://chessreview.co.uk/tournaments/1950-59/1959-candidates/

Wasn't aware Fischer didn't lose to Tal after that. That is impressive! What's most interesting about Fischer (to me) is how multi-faceted he was. Despite Tal making fun of Fischer, when Tal became ill at a tournament, the only player who visited Tal in the hospital was Fischer.

Ironically, I think Keres was the first GM Fischer beat in an international tournament