Why do Americans like Bobby Fischer?

oops :)

Why do Englishmen call wheat corn?

Because nobody is going to shell out two bucks for a box of Kellog's Maize Flakes.

How about for Kellogg's Amaizing Flakes?

That maize not be a terrible idea, Batgirl.

hmmmmm.....

Was Bobby Fischer particularly fond of corn?

skullskullskull wrote:

Not fond enough of it to play it against Karpov... guess he was too scared.

Well, we said we was fond of 1.e4.

We didn't say he wanted to marry it!

Fischer did nothing to 'expand its appeal'.  There was a BRIEF 'boom' in chess popularity when he won the WC but that quickly died out and now when most americans think of chess they think of this reclusive racist moron who ranted about 9 11 supporting the terrorists. Yeah thats a GREAT image for chess... a nutbar racist.  FAR more harm than the brief good he had.

I would take a russian with class over that racist idiot anyday.... well at least the russian WC's had the balls to actually defend their titles... not run and hide.  Can't be considered 'the greatest' when too scared to defend the title.

You're maybe more nuts than he was if you fail to recognise how much he done (and changed) worldwide-chess.

Nobody posting in the forums about him embraces or condones his racism but shouldn't use that as excuse to twist historical-facts either?

http://blog.chess.com/ttiot/the-bobby-fischer-that-we-loved

I think people are delusional if they think he did anything good for chess.  The popularity of chess boomed BRIEFLY after he won but quickly died back to pre Fischer numbers a couple of years later.  Now a common question asked by reporters to a budding  chess player is if they are worried that they will 'go insane like Fischer' if they study too much chess.   Don't remember anyone saying that about any of the russian champions.  If anyone thinks this is 'good for chess' then I guess there is no reasoning with some people.

This thread is now the property of Monsanto Corporation. You owe $1 for every post you make here. Failure to promptly pay will result in a $50 fine, along with a $25 surcharge, and processing fee of $3.99. Additional collection charges may apply.

That is right!!

And before you ask, the Monsanto Corporation is now the property of Varelse1.

Yah, much as I try to redeem Fischer's image, the fact of the matter is that he is an embarassment to the chess community. That's why he was kicked out of the USCF. I've cringed at some of things he has said, although I do believe he has been treated unfairly. I'm gonna take a really wild guess here and say that at some point Fischer probably started doing drugs, that would explain an awful lot.

Revisionist histories and wild, unfounded libelous speculation. He may not have been a great role model, especially in this later years, but it doesn't change past events nor does it warrant a wild accusation Ike the one above.

Wrong.  Dead wrong.  Fischer was in love with himself.  Some Japanese woman, too, I believe.

This sounds like complete BS, but, as someone born and raised in the US, I know that such nonsense is 100% possible.

So how would you explain his paranoia and mood swings? Was he simply mentally ill? Maybe, but considering he came 'of age' in the 60s and 70s, drugs are pretty plausible. Its absurd for you to characterize this as libelous. Lots of people do drugs, there is nothing extreme or abnormal about it.

Are you trying to portray Fischer as a saintly teetoller? Come on now, ask  yourself seriously, "Did Fischer ever get drunk?" Surely, yes. Now, ask yourself, did he ever get drunk a party, where he was a celebrity? Um, yah, I rather suspect so. Now, pretend for a moment that he lived in the United States during an era of rampant drug abuse, and he got drunk, at a party, where other people surely did drugs.

Yah, I think its pretty likely that Fischer started getting blazed on a daily basis, smoking pot instead of playing chess. Nothing other than mental illness serves to explain his erratic behavior.