Friday, January 18, 2008

Chase him no longer..

Bobby Fischer has died.
The enigmatic, and well downright weird chess world champion died in Iceland (the site of his great triumph over Boris Spassky). Fischer was both the pride of the free world, and a headstrong prima-donna, the arguably the greatest player to sit at a chess board, and an embarrassment to the game. I cant say he'll be missed, but the idea that he could regain his grip on reality, and make chess relevant will be.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Didn't TIME mag run an editorial using him as an example to prove that chess made you go barmy or something? Daft pile of bollox!

J.B. said...

I didn't see that article, but it wouldn't surprise me if they did. Western media has such a need to label someone as "good" or "bad." People aren't that simple. Fischer by all accounts was a jerk, but he was also one of the most influential chess players ever. Bad person, good chess player. No reason for one and the other, just both existing within one guy.