Bobby Fischer : Dead

limerickman

(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.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.

Cycler6n

that stinks. lot of famous people dying latly

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“(Training) doesn't get easier; you just get faster”
-Greg Lemond

Powerful Pete

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

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De Rosa Planet
Campagnolo Per Sempre!
PAOLO BETTINI CAMPIONE DEL MONDO x 2!

Crankyfeet

Bobby...

Lim...You really don't like America either...do you...

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Originally posted by Frigo's Luggage...

"[Calling him] 'dickcheese' is the insult of a master. Some people work in oil, some people work in clay. He [thoughtforfood] works in profanity. Open your mind and enjoy its beauty."

Pendejo

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

Bro Deal

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.

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"You are like the wind and I like the lion. You form the tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours." -- Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates

nns1400

Fear of mercury? That's a big seller these days....

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If the shoe fits, buy it.

TheDarkLord

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).

Crankyfeet

Otherwise you're screwed...

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Originally posted by Frigo's Luggage...

"[Calling him] 'dickcheese' is the insult of a master. Some people work in oil, some people work in clay. He [thoughtforfood] works in profanity. Open your mind and enjoy its beauty."

TheDarkLord

You're so flattering! But I'm enough of a realist to assume that I'm perfectly safe.

Pendejo

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.

Crankyfeet

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...

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Originally posted by Frigo's Luggage...

"[Calling him] 'dickcheese' is the insult of a master. Some people work in oil, some people work in clay. He [thoughtforfood] works in profanity. Open your mind and enjoy its beauty."

p38lightning

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

limerickman

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.

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.."But finally the last thing I’ll say to the people who don’t believe in cycling, the cynics and the sceptics. I'm sorry for you. I’m sorry that you can’t dream big. [I]I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles. You should believe in these athletes, and you should believe in these people. I'll be a fan of the Tour de France for as long as I live. And there are no secrets" - this is a hard sporting event and hard work wins it - Armstrong 2005 TDF
morelike hypocrisy.