Bobby Fischer : Dead

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(REYKJAVIK, Iceland) — Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.

Fischer died Thursday in a Reykjavik hospital, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.

Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, Fischer was a U.S. chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15. He beat Spassky in a series of games in Reykjavik to claim America's first world chess championship in more than a century.

But his reputation as a genius of chess soon was eclipsed by his idiosyncrasies.

A few years after the Spassky match, he forfeited the title to another Soviet, Anatoly Karpov, when he refused to defend it.

He dropped out of competitive chess and largely out of view, emerging occasionally to make erratic and often anti-Semitic comments.

Fischer, whose mother was Jewish, once accused "the Jew-controlled U.S. government" of ruining his life.

He fell into obscurity before resurfacing to win a 1992 exhibition rematch against Spassky on the Yugoslav resort island of Sveti Stefan in violation of sanctions imposed to punish then-President Slobodan Milosevic.

A fierce critic of his homeland, Fischer became wanted in the United States for violating the sanctions.

He renounced his American citizenship and moved to Iceland in 2005.

Fischer told reporters that year that he was finished with a chess world he regarded as corrupt, and sparred with U.S. journalists who asked about his anti-American tirades.

"The United States is evil. There's this axis of evil. What about the allies of evil — the United States, England, Japan, Australia? These are the evildoers," Fischer said.

that stinks. lot of famous people dying latly

He had gone a bit off the deep end, but heck of chess player... RIP. :(

(REYKJAVIK, Iceland) — Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when...Bobby...http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/symbolic/tombstone.gif

Lim...You really don't like America either...do you...http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking/winking0073.gif (http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking-smilies/5/#)

It definitely seems that if you live long enough you die.

It definitely seems that if you live long enough you die.
Especially if you are a fruitcake. I heard that when he was living in Japan he had all the fillings in his teeth removed because of some sort of paranoia.

When I was into chess, I studied a bunch of his games. He was brilliant until he went crazy.

Especially if you are a fruitcake. I heard that when he was living in Japan he had all the fillings in his teeth removed because of some sort of paranoia.

When I was into chess, I studied a bunch of his games. He was brilliant until he went crazy.
Fear of mercury? That's a big seller these days....

Especially if you are a fruitcake. I heard that when he was living in Japan he had all the fillings in his teeth removed because of some sort of paranoia.

When I was into chess, I studied a bunch of his games. He was brilliant until he went crazy.John Nash was also extremely brilliant until he went crazy (fortunately, he recovered). I hope this is not a generic pattern (extreme brilliance vs schizophrenia).

John Nash was also extremely brilliant until he went crazy (fortunately, he recovered). I hope this is not a generic pattern (extreme brilliance vs schizophrenia).Otherwise you're screwed...http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking/winking0018.gif (http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking-smilies/#)

Otherwise you're screwed...http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking/winking0018.gif (http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking-smilies/#)http://www.mysmiley.net/imgs/smile/happy/happy0204.gif You're so flattering! But I'm enough of a realist to assume that I'm perfectly safe. ;)

Most true geniuses are crazy, neurotic, or extremely eccentric. It's like the human brain has an upper limit to available firepower, and if most of it is used up in one narrow area then all the other areas (physical intelligence, social intelligence, common sense, etc.) get short-changed. Rarely a genius comes along who seems pretty "normal" and well-rounded. Leonardo DaVinci, Richard Feynman, Bertrand Russell, Wynton Marsalis are some who come immediately to mind.

I, too, am screwed up.

Most true geniuses are crazy, neurotic, or extremely eccentric. It's like the human brain has an upper limit to available firepower, and if most of it is used up in one narrow area then all the other areas (physical intelligence, social intelligence, common sense, etc.) get short-changed. Rarely a genius comes along who seems pretty "normal" and well-rounded. Leonardo DaVinci, Richard Feynman, Bertrand Russell, Wynton Marsalis are some who come immediately to mind.

I, too, am screwed up.Well...you can't be a genius then...cause if you were psychotic...you wouldn't think you were crazy...

I really have no idea what I am talking about...http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/confused/confused0050.gif (http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/confused-smilies/3/#)

In terms of his personal life he was rather more disposed to rook than be a knight.

Bobby...http://www.thesmilies.com/smilies/symbolic/tombstone.gif

Lim...You really don't like America either...do you...http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking/winking0073.gif (http://www.planetsmilies.com/smilies/winking-smilies/5/#)


Fischer was a superb player - I can just about remember 1972 and the match against Boris Spassky.
That match encouraged me to learn the game and I played at provinical school level.

Boris Spassky did a lecture at Trinity College 12 years ago - fascinating to hear him speak.
Spassky is himself a genius - he can speak 6 languages, is a brilliant piano player and was world chess champion from 1969-1972 and was listed by Fischer as one of the 10 greatest players ever, long before they played in 1972.

Fischer was one of the greatest players ever. There is no doubt about that. He was also a racist, and he hated the United States. He basically blamed his lot in life on the fact that he became a cold war hero and felt he was going to be killed by the USSR. He was paranoid due to his likely mental illness. Watch the news conferance from the day he moved to Iceland about 5 years ago. It is like watching Charles Manson. Very creepy, very disturbing.

(REYKJAVIK, Iceland) — Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.

Fischer died Thursday in a Reykjavik hospital, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.

Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, Fischer was a U.S. chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15. He beat Spassky in a series of games in Reykjavik to claim America's first world chess championship in more than a century.

But his reputation as a genius of chess soon was eclipsed by his idiosyncrasies.

A few years after the Spassky match, he forfeited the title to another Soviet, Anatoly Karpov, when he refused to defend it.

He dropped out of competitive chess and largely out of view, emerging occasionally to make erratic and often anti-Semitic comments.

Fischer, whose mother was Jewish, once accused "the Jew-controlled U.S. government" of ruining his life.

He fell into obscurity before resurfacing to win a 1992 exhibition rematch against Spassky on the Yugoslav resort island of Sveti Stefan in violation of sanctions imposed to punish then-President Slobodan Milosevic.

A fierce critic of his homeland, Fischer became wanted in the United States for violating the sanctions.

He renounced his American citizenship and moved to Iceland in 2005.

Fischer told reporters that year that he was finished with a chess world he regarded as corrupt, and sparred with U.S. journalists who asked about his anti-American tirades.

"The United States is evil. There's this axis of evil. What about the allies of evil — the United States, England, Japan, Australia? These are the evildoers," Fischer said.

Check out www.findagrave.com for his memorial.