Bobby Fischer's Personality
It seems the topic that people want to discuss most is Bobby Fischer's personality. Well - here it is, a topic to discuss the man, the myth, the chess player. Praise him, hate him, glorify him, or bash him. I never delete messages unless they are SPAM trying to promote some non-chess topic or link.
Post your thoughts...
posted by Chuck Ayoub at 8:24 AM
18 Comments:
Dear Chuck,
Please take a look at this online magazine.
http://www.heyokamagazine.com/heyoka1-BobbyFISHER.htm.
A very interesting article about Bobby Fischer and his personality.
Best,
JL
Definately interesting. Information there I haven't seen before.
Chuck,
Do you know if it's true if Bobby played chess with the artist Marcel Duchamp in the 60s?
JL
Not in any documented games I've ever come across. Considering Bobby Fischer was an "on again, off again" recluse in the 1960's and the fact that Duchamp would have been at or over 80 years of age by 1968, it's doubtful they ever would have played each other. But I'm just an outsider looking in - who knows.
Chuck,
I also read he played with Castro.
I spoke with the writer Calvin Tompkins last year about this. He met with Marcel Duchamp many times and wrote a great book about him.
Duchamp had this to say: "If Bobby Fischer came to me for advice, I certainly would not discourage him - as if anyone could - but I would try to make it positively clear that he will never have any money from chess, live a monk-like existence and know more rejection than any artist ever has, struggling to be known and accepted."
From an "outsiders" perspective, Do you think this prediction came true in Bobbys case?
Also what do you belive is the root cause of Bobbys illusive and "eccentric" pesonality (for lack of a better term)
Best,
JL
PS. Would you mind if I publish this coversation in heyoka magazine. volume 4.
Chuck, I would like to formaly introduce myself. Very nice to meet you.
Duchamp's comments are kind of amusing because Fischer actually did make millions of dollars playing chess and became world famous. But he does seem to live a monk like existence, but purly by choice - not because he was forced into it because of the game.
I'm not a psychologist - so I couldn't begin to understand his ecentric behavior. But there are a couple of interesting things - 1. His chess idol was Paul Morphy - an American who went mad at the end of his life. 2. Anatoly Karpov (the one who inherited Fischer's title by forfeit in 1975) once said Fischer may have cracked under the pressure of being World Champion and that "...Fischer may have been afraid of himself, believing the World Champion has no right to make mistakes - but nobody can avoid mistakes...". That kind of pressure he placed upon himself may have driven him away from everybody.
I have seen a picture of Castro and Fischer together - so what you read about the two of them playing chess is probably very true.
I don't mind if you'd like to publish this on your site. Let me know where - I'd like to see it.
By the way, pleased to meet you too.
Chuck,
Interesting how Duchamp was wrong in some respects and that Bobbby has made an tremendous amount of money. I think Duchmamp underestimated his abilities. Most chess players do not have the intution of an artist, a mathamatical and scientific mind like Einstien or the IQ of 190.
I am not a psychologist either but I am an artist. I can understand that the pressure at the top of any game is probably not an easy thing to cope with at best of times. How it maybe easier for some people to wish to escape, disapear, to self sabotage, than face a self imposed high standard or external expectations that are unatainable. Arthur Rimbaud, Vincent Van Gough also suffered this way I belive.
Fame,the spotlight is an unnatural demon to have to live with and comes with a ugly price.
Especially if one has a competitive nature, or beliefs about perfection, achieving greatness and certain dependencies on these ideals.
That sounds like a no win situation in my opinion and a recipe for tremendous suffering.
I can't imagine the internal or external pressues in those chess tornamants. It must be excruciating at times. Then to be in a position like Bobby was, during the cold war.
Yes I read about Paul Morphys unfortunate problems and the famous chess moves in the dark.
Do you know if there is any news on Bobby and Vesselin Topalov. What do you think are the chances this game will ever take place?
PS.
I will let you know when it's ready, by email, It will probably not be for a week or so. It will need editing of course and will not publish anything with out your approval.
Thanks
J
Interesting you mention van Gogh - just a couple days ago I saw the movie "Vincent - The life and death of Vincent van Gogh". I highly recommend it (made in 1987).
Vincent van Gogh was certainly an interesting person but I wonder if he ever really thought of himself as being a genious or at the top of his game. He only sold one painting during his lifetime and he was even critical of his own Starry Night. He had demons for sure, but considering himself to be at the top might not have been one of them. Being an artist yourself (and from looking at your last message - a very good writer), your opinion here would count for more than mine, but I still can't put chess in the same class as art. In the end for me, chess is just a game. I would compare it more to military tactics than art - and I don't consider army generals to be artists. So sorry Mr. Fischer, if your reading this - you are no Vincent van Gogh :-) But I know, many chess players would disagree with me on chess not being art, but probably only chess players.
In 1972, Fischer went into a 20 year seclusion where virtually nobody heard from him. Now he seems to have vanished again in Iceland. I have a feeling we may be in for a very long stretch of not hearing anything from Fischer - so I think the Topalov match will never happen. I'm not holding my breath.
I'm actually surprised nobody else has snuck in a message between our conversation here - considering the type of messages I've seen on my previous posts.
chuck,
Yes that's a great film. I agree, Vincent was a humble person, but I believe from reading his letters, many many times that he was aware of his greatness, but not the Mohamed Ali type. Kay Jamison, PHD also thinks he was bi polar and vacillated between states of depression and mania/psychosis. Unfortunately he did not make millions like Fischer and receive the kind of attention or praise Fischer has. I do see similarities in terms of social behavior, but again I am not a shrink or play one on tv.
I also agree that art and chess are similar and dissimilar. Art these day is not the art of Vincent's time and much of it I'm afraid to say is not even as interesting as a mediocre chess game.
I do think that there is a mysterious visual beauty in mathematics, a high order, a creativity, intuition and logic which some chess players utilize. What intrigues me is not necessarily the game, but the mind playing it. The photographic memory, the ability to see many moves ahead, Also the psychology of understanding ones opponent. Like you said military tactics is not art, but Napoleon thought he was an artist, Hitler did too. Caligula thought he was poet. Sadly people in power are often grandiose and delusional. Just think of our current president and others before him, Absolute power corrupts absolutely, to borrow a cliché
Like anything else there are two sides. Creativity also has an ugly destructive side and so does beauty.
Have you heard of the psych profile test known as Myers Briggs based on Jungian typology. There is a online version anyone can take here.
http://www.humanmetrics.com/cgi-win/JTypes1.htm
I would venture to say the Bobby is an INTP.or an INXP
F and T combo.
www.typelogic.com/intp.html
A rare type . A low percentage of the population is this type. Howard Hughes, Einstein was also this type and many other brilliant minds. This type is know as the Architect.
It would be nice if Bobby joined our conversation. Curious to know what he would have to say about Duchamp, art, mathamatics, genius and more from an insiders perspective.
J
Hi John, I haven't seen those interesting links before. Thanks for passing them on. I haven't tried before but we are able to make the links active in these messages instead of having to copy them into the browser address bar - look like this does support HTML tags.
If Fischer ever did join this conversation, would either of us really believe it was him?
Hi Chuck,
Thats great about the html tags.
I also see what you mean about him joining in. Would be very surprising and hard to believe.
Have you ever felt a suspicion that he has left a response as an anonymous person. Or using a pseudonym.
Look into a mirror and place your hand in front of your face. Peer through your fingers at yourself. How strange the feeling is. Both safe and suffocating. INTJ
This post has been removed by a blog administrator.
do you realistically think Bobby will return to America..where he belongs? signed: ivorywoman64@yahoo.com
here is a write up from cuban "press" (state controlled) about fischer and castro
Cubanow.- Making a comeback to headlines these days, American Robert Bobby Fischer is remembered –disregarding all criticism- as one of the most brilliant, rebellious and at the same time eccentric players in the history of chess. There are a thousand stories about him, ranging from brilliant games to demands impossible to meet.
Among the lesser-known Fischer stories, there’s the casual chess game he played in 1966 against Cuban President Fidel Castro.
The world champ’s relationship with Cuba was very special. It began with his admiration for Cuban expert Jose Raul Capablanca. A reporter once asked Fischer who the three best all-time chess players were. His answer was categorical: Capablanca, Fischer, and Fischer.
Fischer visited Cuba for the first time in March, 1956, with the Log Cabin Chess Club and gave a simultaneous exhibition in Havana City.
Many years later, in 1965, he accepted Cuba’s invitation to take part in Havana’s Fourth International Chess Tournament, which paid homage to Capablanca. The world’s best players, among them Soviets Smislov and Gueller, and Yugoslavian Ivkov, took part.
But the US State Department denied Fischer permission to make the Havana trip. It was then (as it is now) a usual practice to prevent contact between sportsmen from both countries.
It looked as if the American genius was going to have to miss the tournament, but by mutual agreement, the Organizing Committee announced that Fischer would play “by a teletype machine.” It was the first time in history anyone played an entire tournament from a distance.
A misunderstanding almost frustrated this second contact between Fischer and Cuba, but it was quickly solved and, on August 25, 1965, at 3:00 pm, the championship began –although technical difficulties delayed five hours the main match between Heinz Lechman (Germany) and Bobby Fischer.
The Great German Master made his play with whites, which was transmitted to Marshall Chess Club in New York, where it was received by Fischer. He replied a few minutes later. The blacks took a Najdorf Variant Sicilian Defense. Fischer won the match, which ended near 3:00 am the following day.
That’s how, night after night, Fischer played against 21 rivals. The games lasted from five to seven hours. The tournament lasted thirty days until September 25, and Bobby Fischer totalized 15 points with 12 wins, 6 draws and 3 losses, ending up fourth due to the tiebreaker system. He achieved his most spectacular victory against the Soviet Vassily Smislov, then world champion.
According to the media of those times, Cuba paid more than 10 thousand dollars for the teletype transmission services.
But that wouldn’t be Bobby Fischer’s last meeting with Havana. The enigmatic American chess player visited the island’s capital a year later, in 1966, during the XVII World Chess Olympics as First Board for his country, and ended up in second place. He won the gold medal among all the first boards: winning 14, drawing two and losing one.
During this tournament, sheer chance made Fischer and Cuban President Fidel Castro play against each other in an unusual chess game. Mexican Master Filiberto Terrazas wrote in an article published in Jaque Mate magazine (Havana, 1966) that it all started when he and Fidel Castro sat down to play a match. Some minutes after the game began the Cuban leader received an important backup from Soviet chess player Tigran Petrosian. Then Terrazas asked Fischer, who was nearby, for help.
That’s how a game between the four began: Fidel Castro-Tigran Petrosian on one side (whites) and Filiberto Terrazas-Bobby Fischer on the other. In the end, whites won.
Testimonies of those times point out that Fischer talked for a while with the Cuban President and, before saying goodbye, gave him an autographed book.
Many things happened in Fischer’s life after his crowning as World Champion in Reykjavik in 1972. For years, much has been speculated about his whereabouts and his decisions. As a matter of fact, there is a 10 year confinement conviction awaiting him and a fine exceeding a quarter of a million dollars by the US Treasury Department, because he played a rematch against Boris Spasski in Yugoslavia when there were US-promoted United Nations sanctions against that country in 1992.
His controversial nature, however, has not spoiled his memory for Cubans. His decision to defy the State Department’s prohibition and take part –through teletype- in one of Cuba’s toughest chess tournaments, as well as his brilliant performance in Havana’s Olympiads, won him the affection of the island’s people
Fischer Is An Honorable Man.
It's Appalling What Evil Men Have Done To This Man,They Are Very Corrupt And Very Immorral!They Serve
There Only Master Mammon Wealth Not
God!And If Any Jew(Who I Have Strong
Spiritual Love Towards God's Chosen
People)Who Has Played Any Role In Doing Any Ungodly Acts Against Bobby Fischer Will Get There Reward From The God Of Isreal!Repent!Oh Wicked Ones Who Do Not Love Your God!How Dare You Do Wicked Deeds To Destroy Mr.Fischer's Life!Jesus Christ The Son Of God Who Rebuked The Hypocrites Of His Time And A Future Warning Against Men Who Do Such DFark Deeds!Woe!Onto The Servants Of The Dark One!What Those
Individuals And Institutions Have Done To Him Sickens Me!Fischer Needs To Be Pardoned By The President Of The United States And All His Possessions Returned To Him
Or Pay Him Restitution For Stealing
His Property They Should Be Fined 7X The Amount Of Everything They Stole From Ham As Well As Interest
Etc
Bobby Fischer, perhaps, by the grace of God, asked for forgiveness as the last hours of his life approached. And hopefully, by the mercies of Christ, we shall meet once again. May God redeem your soul, Bobby. You were the height of Chess, & the tragedy of the human condition, &, yet still much loved. Truly, I believe you were a kind man with a bitter exterior who had never experienced The Love of Christ Jesus. True, Chess is Life, but life is not chess, & I can now only regretfully desire that someone could have shown you, Life is LOVE & LOVE is Life. May you find peace, my friend & God be with you. To God Be The Glory Forever & Ever. Amen.
No single person I can think of, in any field, has done more harm to that field. To Fischer, chess was nothing but a means to and end, to wit, the annihilation of the opponent's ego. Oddly, those he faced often cooperated with him in this task. I find his games oddly stale - his endgame techniques was marvelous, but on the whole, his games are missing artistry - his brutal style depended to some extent on the opponent's weak will. Compare this to, say, Alekhine or Pillsbury - players who could also attack ferociously when the position called for it, but who stand out above all as supreme strategists. They were artists - they elevated a mere game into something that could inspire and delight. They were also cultured men - at home in company, world-wise. Fischer - a street tough, a bum, really, an idiot savant - a brutish churl. His games reek of intimidation. There isn't much more to be said about his behavior. He won't be missed. What I find sad is the way he changed not only the game, but the entire atmosphere that surrounds chess - the obsession with titles, ratings, the vacuous emphasis on speed chess.
I once loved chess - Fischer repelled me so much I lost interest in the game almost completely, and to this day, feel that the world of artistic, edifying chess ended sometime in the early 70s.
A very strange state of affairs. In an ideal world, I'd love to see Alekhine rub Fischer's nose in the mess he made out of chess. I'd love to see one of his strategic masterpieces, ending in a deep combination, with Fischer the worm squirming and wincing.
What can I say? I love chess. I despise Fischer. I hate his games. I'm ashamed to have called him a fellow American. He represented what was worst in us - power without discipline, victory without humility, technique without art. Good riddance.
-drl
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