1) I am an American.
2) I didn't like Bobby Fischer from the time he failed to defend his title in 1975.
3) I didn't care much, though, during the years he dropped out of sight.
4) I was so disgusted by his behavior during his final years, however, that I gave away my copy of "60 Memorable Games," which had been one of my favorite chess books.
5) Now I devote my time to Alekhine.
1) I am an American.
2) I didn't like Bobby Fischer from the time he failed to defend his title in 1975.
3) I didn't care much, though, during the years he dropped out of sight.
4) I was so disgusted by his behavior during his final years, however, that I gave away my copy of "60 Memorable Games," which had been one of my favorite chess books.
5) Now I devote my time to Alekhine.
Alekhine had a lot of baggage too my friend. In fact, it may have cost him his life.
I am well aware of Alekhine's faults: his drunkeness, his collaboration with the Nazis, etc. Next to Fischer, however, he was a model of civility.
In his time, nationalism crap made him a hero.
In my time, it's still a good story of perseverance and beating the odds.
No one likes the crazy belligerent side of it.
Fischer the chessplayer is a hero to many people, not just Americans. Fischer the person is of course a different matter. It was funny how he called all Soviet players Russians when he was often playing Tal (Latvian) Petrosian (Armenian) Bronstein, Taimanov Stein & Geller (Ukrainian), really only Spassky, Smyslov, Botvinnik and Korchnoi were actually 'Russian'.
The reason his winning the World Championship was seen as 'Heroic' was because the Soviet players were supported by the state from their earliest days (through specialist schools and coaching) and basically paid to do nothing but play chess. I know Botvinnik was an Engineer (and Taimanov was a concert pianist - what size of brain must HE have had?) but most of the top players had 'journalism' as their profession..All they wrote about was Chess of course. So the idea that by sheer hard work, perseverance and talent a western player could single handedly overcome the might of a whole state apparatus seemed to be triumph of the individual will. Of course only a sociopath with absolutely no outside interests like Fischer could willingly devote themselves in such a single minded way. N
Nowadays the whole Soviet coaching/training system has been taken on by the major chess playing nations so if you are a promising junior almost anywhere in the world you will be spotted and given the support you need to give every chance of becoming a good/great player. Only Le Quang Liem of modern great players seems to have followed the Fischer route, seeing as how the chess infrastructure of Vietnam is probably not state of the art!
A theoretical novelty in a forum discussion! This is so cool!
A theoretical novelty in a forum discussion! This is so cool!
LOL!! (N)
I had a friend who was an American and a Jew, and he had no hard feelings toward Fischer. His reasoning was that Fischer became mentally ill.
(I personally believe Fischer got his hands on some old Nazi propoganda books.)
From some previous posts, I would like to say Fischer did play excellent, and would play excellent to this day (if he was younger of course).
He studied so hard with books.. imagine a computer.
His moves wouldnt be bad to this day, it would still be excellent, according to chessmetrics.
I'm getting tired of these racist "American" references on chess.com. Get a life!
Personally, I'm not a big Fischer fan. I prefer Lasker, Alekhine, Petrosian, Karpov...etc
However, I am quickly becoming a fan of Magnus Carlsen. He's great.
I liked Frittles comment the best, he impresses me to be a smart individual, has to be a great chess player
The few comments you may read here will not give any conclusive feeling of how Americans feel about Bobby Fischer. Unless you knew and been around the person, alot of news may have been prejudiced against him, I do not know and you do not know either, just what you read? As you may or may not know is seems our news media can be ???????????? I do not believe every thing I read!! Oh, I liked and respected Booby Fischer!
I'm getting tired of these racist "American" references on chess.com. Get a life!
Since when have Americans been a "race"?
most non-chess playing americans don't like bobby fischer
most non-chess playing americans under the age of 50 have never heard of bobby fischer
FYP
I mean, he hated Americans, even though he was American.
What are Americans thoughts on this?
I dont understand the "He hates me so i need to hate him" mentality?
Fischer the chess player was an incredible player, and one of the best ever. Fischer the man...well that is another story.
However, now a days his play/tactical shots don't really work at the highest level.redchessman
OH really? Is there some citation for this bit of preposterous hogwash besides your sayso?
As for Fischer, I admired him as a GM but as a human being he was a stupid, selfish, sociopathic asshole - euphemestically known as "mentally ill."
I ignored that comment...But i would like to see the posters rationale for why he thinks this.
I mean, he hated Americans, even though he was American.
What are Americans thoughts on this?
The Holy Roman Empire was neither Holy, Roman, nor an Empire. Think about that before you ask stupid questions.
Americans took to Bobby Fischer because he was an underdog, who won. He largely disappeared after failing to defend the championship. The general public has never heard his Anti-Semetic and Anti-American rants. If the true Fischer were known, I doubt the public would embrace him now.
I agree.
Why do Americans like Bobby Fischer?
Because:
1) first american to be a world champion in chess;
2) beating the Russians at their own game during the cold war.
and that is where it stops. I think if he lived in another country, at another time, there would have been much less euphoria surrounding him.
also if he tried his tricks now, less people would have had symphathy with him.
I just hope that the Fischer movies will come to an end. It is time for something new.