Bobby Fischer Is Dead At 64

A number of readers wrote in to make sure we know that former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has died in Reykjavik, Iceland, where he had lived since 2005. No cause of death was given.

Why such hate?

[Shivetya]

On Sept. 11, 2001, he told a radio talk-show host in Baguio, the Philippines, that the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon were "wonderful news," adding he was wishing for a scenario "where the country will be taken over by the military, they'll close down all the synagogues, arrest all the Jews and secure hundreds of thousands of Jewish ringleaders."

That and a few other choice comments attributed to him make me want to say, good riddance. It is such a travesty to see such greatness overshadowed by blantant and raving bigotry. I don't care how good at chess he was anymore, the world doesn't need to celebrate assholes like this just because "they were once great"

It really sounds like he succumbed to hate and had to disappear at times simply because he knew he couldn't exist in the real world

Truly Unfortunate

[eldavojohn]

I am by no means an expert or historian on Bobby Fischer's life. I once admired him. Sadly, for Mr. Fischer, I always wished that his past caught up with him and he would forget his new found convictions.

From an admirable chess player early on, he showed signs of mental instability. But really, who hasn't from time to time? He made absurd demands to move Moscow closer to the ocean or make the sun set sooner for his convenience when he appeared at the famous game. I've read accounts that make him sound borderline autistic. Although he seemed to have much more cognitive powers ... usually.

I wish I could erase the last half of Bobby Fischer's life from history. I wish he never touched a radio station's microphone. His proclamation that the September 11th attacks were "wonderful news [wikipedia.org]" and calling for the US to be destroyed, his several radio aired remarks against Jewish peoples and other disparaging remarks. Was this for attention? Was this really what he believed? I'm not sure what personally made him feel this way but living in Iceland under political asylum was not the way I wanted to see it end.

Unfortunate that he died. Even more unfortunate that he never came around to apologize and promote chess in schools and everywhere. We'll miss the young Bobby Fischer and always be a little confused about what happened to make him cross that fine line between ingenuity and insanity. Rest in peace, Bobby Fischer.

Checkmate Indeed

[RailGunSally]

The latter day Fischer was a raving lunatic. His "politics" do not merit rebuttal or even serious consideration. I choose to remember the Fischer of my youth -- which was quite pleasantly misspent in the 70s. No single player has ever so completely dominated chess like Fischer. His play is a model of simplicity, logic, creativity, and elegance. I would say that he will be missed, but, in truth, we in the international chess community have already missed the real Bobby Fisher for many years.

"Checkmate", from the Persian "shah mat" meaning, "the king is dead".

Bobby Fischer

[C_Kode]

Fischer's ability to analyze quickly and precisely the complexities of chess in all its applicable levels at any given type made him very special and gave him so much to offer the world. The defunct psychosis that he suffered from rendered him completely useless for the greater good that his abilities offered.

Bobby Fischer was a great man of nothing.

Re:Why such hate?

[east coast]

It really sounds like he succumbed to hate and had to disappear at times simply because he knew he couldn't exist in the real world

Actually, the man succumbed to mental illness. Hopefully you're never in a position to pass any meaningful judgement on people who have these kinds of issues.

Or what would you tell the readers on this site that lay claims to having Asperger's syndrome or a close relative of such? Would you tell them that it serves them right and that they're just a bunch of misfits?

If anything Fischer's legacy outside of chess should be to show people that extreme talent and insight in a small area gives no one any special insight into anything else. Maybe actors and singers should take note of that.

Re:Why such hate?

[Vellmont]

That and a few other choice comments attributed to him make me want to say, good riddance.

He was certainly a huge dick, and a bigot to boot. But AFAIK all he ever did was rant and talk. Not exactly someone you wish dead. In a word, "Mostly Harmless".

I have to say, the world is a slightly less interesting place with Bobby Fischer not in it.

Re:Why such hate?

[COMON$]

Maybe actors and singers should take note of that.
And PHDs, Pastors, MDs or anyone else highly educated speaking of fields like an expert where they aren't.

Re:Why such hate?

[Anonymous Coward]

he was still a damn good chess player...

And OJ was a damn fine football player

Re:Why such hate?

[BenoitRen]

Or what would you tell the readers on this site that lay claims to having Asperger's syndrome or a close relative of such?

Except that Asperger's Syndrome is not a mental illness.

Re:Good Riddance

[dave420]

Just because you don't like someone doesn't mean you should be happy they died. Some folks might think you're an asshole, but would that stop people you love from being hurt when you died? Of course not. Just be glad he's at peace, that his hatred has left the building.

Re:Why such hate?

[palegray.net]

That's not what Wikipedia [wikipedia.org] has to say about it. Or this page [aspergers.com], or this one here [udel.edu], or even this one at Yale [yale.edu]. But hey, what do they know anyways...

Re:Why such hate?

[insertwackynamehere]

Yeah he had clearly gone off the deep end by that point. He wasn't just "neurotic". He probably just had personal daddy issues since he was a Jew, and by that point they spun out of control and he reflected his hate on himself through melodrama, reclusion and stupidity. So what if he could play a stupid game? It's just a nerdy version of sport hero worship. Sure not everyone can do it, but stop idolizing those who can if it means you have to look past who they are as people. Anyway Kasparov is a great chess player and his post-chess political career is much more respectable.

Re:Why such hate?

[insertwackynamehere]

? I don't think Kasparov is an anti-semite who's pro-terrorism. He's against his government and Putin but frankly it makes much more sense for him to be rebelling in Russia than it made for Fischer to be rebelling in America. Anyway, Kasparov is using civil disobedience to do what he thinks will make Russia a better place. Fischer snapped, renounced his citizenship and went to Iceland.

Re:Why such hate?

[metallic]

It should be noted that Bobby Fischer's mother is Jewish. The man was mentally ill, which while not excusing the things he said, at least makes it a little easier to understand.

dealing with mental issues

[Simonetta]

Actually, the man succumbed to mental illness. Hopefully you're never in a position to pass any meaningful judgment on people who have these kinds of issues.

    Every four years I vote in the American presidential election.

Re:Why such hate?

[gstoddart]

I never said anything bad about Bobby Fischer, but judging from the articles I'm seeing, he's said plenty bad about me as a Jewish-American. Why should I shed tears over the guy? Or is it somehow different when you spew rhetoric against groups rather than individuals?

I wouldn't want to defend his antisemitism (at all), but everything I've heard about the man suggests he might have been suffering from serious, and untreated mental illness.

In which case, I just try to have some empathy towards him and whatever was rattling around in his head. I have a cousin with Schizophrenia, and I wouldn't really judge him by "normal" rules for being accountable for his behaviour. In fact, his doctors have removed him from society mostly indefinitely, and have done so for almost 20 years.

It is entirely possible Bobby Fisher was somewhat delusional but still functioning high enough not to be under more direct care.

Sorry, this isn't from a Jewish perspective, so I don't mean to ask you to forgive what you cannot. Just trying to give a different perspective on the matter.

Cheers

Re:Mental Malfunction

[Philotechnia]

Could be. If you look at the brain from an evolutionary standpoint, it's an organ that serves as an information-processing device meant to ensure survival of the physical body. As most of the dangers to our existence come from natural forces, it seems intuitive that longer-term mental projects focused on an understanding of the world in an attempt to mitigate these dangers more effectively. Indeed, the whole of human history is filled with the rise and fall of these projects. Religion, at least initially and in its most organic form, is an attempt to save existence from the clutches of death. Religion loses its focus, and we see the rise of science as a better means of understanding dangers. Science, at least initially and in its most organic form, is an attempt to save physical existence from the dilemmas it faces.

Perhaps we live in a world where the scientific project is losing its focus, and some sort of project that would protect mental existence must become the new paradigm. Whatever the case, I think the mental breakdowns that you talk about aren't the result of an overclocked mind, but rather of a mind that is ahead of its time, that is searching, stumbling about, for a paradigm to rest in, but which it can not find. The mental breakdowns the great thinkers suffer should warn us of this need, of the insufficiency of science on its own.

As much of a genius as we regard Fischer, or Newton, or any other great thinker, perhaps even they were reaching for something beyond even them, and we should forgive their stumblings, and instead look towards that for which they may have been reaching, consciously or subconsciously...

Re:Why such hate?

[AshtangiMan]

I don't think "they" hanged Nazis for their ideas. Nazi war criminals were tried based on their actions. But it seems like there are a lot of people in the world who are willing to hang or persecute a person based on their ideas alone. This is what the Nazis (and others) did.

Re:Why such hate?

[Serge_Tomiko]

The antisemitism was just garden variety self-loathing, obviously ugly as well as bat-shit crazy, but not so incomprehensible.

I'm just curious, how can you possibly make such a statement? Self-loathing? crazy? You've obviously made many subjective defamatory statements against this dead man, but these particular ones I believe deserve some explanation.

We have a particular people who have never lived in peace with their neighbors in the entire history of their existence. Are we to believe that everyone who has hated these people since the days of Cyrus the Great were simply self loathing and crazy?

Tis a bit hard to believe, and shows your lack of thorough analysis of history and the current state of world politics.

Re:here's his real homepage

[wikinerd]

his real homepage

Was that really his own homepage, and was he its only webmaster? What is going to happen to his homepage now that its webmaster is dead? Will it just disappear like its webmaster after the server is left unpaid or unmaintained?

Just as we keep books published by dead poets and other authors, perhaps we (the Internet community) should have a way to preserve webpages of dead people. This is going to be of much more importance as more and more people get creative on the Internet (this is not to say that I agree with the ramblings of his homepage, I speak generally) rather than publishing paperbooks.