Bobby Fischer -- is he a cunt?

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when i wz at college (late 70s) i had a chess-playing friend who idolised fischer in a "punk-as-fuck" kinda way - his whereabouts at that time were unknown and his ahem "views" too

actually i always felt sorry for boris spassky, who seemed like this buttoned-down well-meaning but hapless foe who tried REAL HARD to get with the rhythm but ended every episode with paint on his suit, gum in his hair, his eyes and mouth agape and his top lip quivering

(also being called "boris spassky" wz like he was out of a marvel comic or something: the scripted COMEDY RUSSIAN CHESS PLAYER, HAPLESS TYPE)

mark s (mark s), Friday, 25 March 2005 11:45 (nineteen years ago) link

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cunt

amon (eman), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:52 (nineteen years ago) link

Everyone I know who has ever met Fischer has said that he was a jerk.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:54 (nineteen years ago) link

This is only two or three people, but still.

Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 25 March 2005 18:54 (nineteen years ago) link

oh come on mark if it was really a marvel comic he would've been a maniacal cyborg soviet supervillain type!

there was some fun kgb cia stuff that i may be misremembering or making up or may be completely false but i think they were both heavily involved in the matches, neither scheming but each paranoid of the other, chemically analyzing each player's coffee & donuts etc. yeah that's probably not true but it should be.

jose raoul capacabana, Friday, 25 March 2005 18:58 (nineteen years ago) link

the toilet seat thing was great.

Stormy Davis (diamond), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:03 (nineteen years ago) link

This make me like him, at least a little:

including a desire to build and live in a house shaped like a rook.

mitch dub (ano ano), Friday, 25 March 2005 19:03 (nineteen years ago) link

he's sort of a fascinating cunt, though, so i can't really bring myself to actually hate him. one of my favorite books is "bobby fischer vs the rest of the world" by brad darrach, which ranks with anything by wolfe or thompson or whoever when it comes to new journalism. there's nothing about chess, just nonstop black comedy. sample scene: bobby refuses to play unless all children are banned from the audience - except those who know how to play chess! "do you know what the ruy lopez is? sorry, you can't come in."
-- J.D.

Ha! I've read that one too. I agree with all your comments - great book. Either it's slightly fictionalised or both Bobby and all Icelanders are insane.

moley, Friday, 25 March 2005 21:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Bobby Fischer's homepage (yes, to the question, btw)

Girolamo Savonarola, Sunday, 27 March 2005 02:40 (nineteen years ago) link

Oh, so now I'm the cunt?

Bobby Fischer, Sunday, 27 March 2005 09:25 (nineteen years ago) link

two years pass...

bobby fischer is a great man, 1000x jello biafra

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:30 (sixteen years ago) link

anyone who thinks he's an anti-semite should be shuffled into a gas chamber

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:31 (sixteen years ago) link

his boredom with chess is so sensible-- he knows the corrupt russian game inside and out.

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:42 (sixteen years ago) link

his clarity and nondeviation from the truth in his symbol it's beautiful. his conversation is like a chess game.

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:43 (sixteen years ago) link

the guys he's talking to aint charlie rose either

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:47 (sixteen years ago) link

his view of the world is so clear

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:48 (sixteen years ago) link

and so close to the top

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 12:50 (sixteen years ago) link

they stole his life work seemingly seemingly because he wouldn't put up with any fascist bullshit

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 13:00 (sixteen years ago) link

Oh fuck, the bastard keeled over.

The Reverend, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 13:47 (sixteen years ago) link

The musical Chess, with lyrics by Tim Rice and music by Björn Ulvaeus and Benny Andersson, tells the story of two chess champions. Although they are known in the musical only as "The American" and "The Russian", their personalities are loosely based on Bobby Fischer and the Soviet (and later Swiss) grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi. (In later versions of the show, "The American" is named "Freddy Trumper".)

The Reverend, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 13:51 (sixteen years ago) link

Thankfully Sam Sloan makes Bobby Fischer seem less odd/angry.

Mr. Goodman, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 14:08 (sixteen years ago) link

why? u should be raged. FISCHER/DEAR LEADER '08.

Arms, Tuesday, 22 January 2008 16:37 (sixteen years ago) link

Yo, you may catch me in a pair of Polo Skipperys, matching cap
Razor blades in my gums (BOBBY!)
You may catch me in yellow Havana Joe's goose jumper
And my phaser off stun (BOBBY!)
Y'all might just catch me in the park playin chess, studyin math
Signin 7 and a sun (BOBBY!)
But you won't catch me without the ratchet, in the joint
Smoked out, dead broke or off point (BOBBY!)

The Reverend, Wednesday, 23 January 2008 17:09 (sixteen years ago) link

twelve years pass...

In later versions of the show, "The American" is named "Freddy Trumper".

Dinglebarista (Neanderthal), Saturday, 17 October 2020 03:52 (three years ago) link


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