Bobby Fischer: 1943 - 2008

I had my nose (and mind) in a chess book this morning. After a night of windy conditions combined with blowing snow the radio was turned on and tuned to one of the nearest radio stations - about one hundred miles away - for weather updates, road conditions, etc.

Suddenly I was brought back to reality and looked up from the book when I heard the name 'Bobby Fischer' mentioned on the radio. Apparently the former World Champion chessplayer had died.

I started playing chess before I had ever heard of Bobby Fischer. I was a university student in Missoula when Fischer played his matches with Taimanov, Larsen, Petrosian, and Spassky. Fischer had managed to move chess from the obscure recesses of the underworld to the larger world of television and newspapers. Bobby Fischer made chess exciting, exciting even for non-chessplayers in the early 1970s.

Often I've heard or read about Fischer's "natural" talent for the game of chess. Evidently few people realize that Fischer had to work very hard prior to reaching the top of the chess world. World-class chessplayers are not born. As with expertise in any other discipline, talent is the result of dedication and hard work.

Fischer worked harder at chess than his contemporaries and paid a very high price for his extraordinary skills at the chessboard. He sacrificed a normal life in his efforts to become the world's best chessplayer. He succeeded in his goal. Unfortunately, after achieving that goal Fischer appeared to have difficulty re-directing his life in a positive manner.

Away from the chessboard, life can be far more complicated. Genius has difficulty understanding the non-genius and vice-versa. Such is life. Who would have imagined in the 1960s and 70s that an American chessplayer would one day be labeled a criminal as a direct result of playing a chess match in another country? I can understand some of Fischer's anger and contempt, but his generalizations appear to be a bit extreme.

Bobby Fischer has left behind a treasury of hard fought chess battles. Unlike many grandmasters, Fischer was not satisfied with a draw. He strived to win every game. He was fortunate to have reached his peak prior to the day when computer chessplayers would become stronger than their human counterparts. No one can claim that Fischer used a computer to cheat at chess!