CW: mental illness, anti-semitism An amazing, tragic figure. Possibly the most politically important sportsman in history. Chess in the Cold War was huge obviously and Fischers world championship match with Spassky was comparable to Ali vs. Frazier but with an added political dimension. It was incredibly dramatic and almost didnt happen because Fischer was such a diva. He never defended his title, basically retired, and went off the rails. He became obsessed with nuclear policy and some anti-semitic philosophies among other things and showed clear signs of paranoid psychosis. He played a revenge match in 92 in (what was then Yugoslavia) violating a UN embargo and was subsequently arrested and faced 10 years in prison. He was granted Icelandic citizenship (the world championship match was held there) and he died in 2008 having refused treatment for a urinary tract blockage. He had a pretty bad childhood and, remarkably, was entirely self-taught at chess (in stark contrast to the Soviet Union chess academy culture). en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobby_Fischer
Posted on: Mon, 06 Oct 2014 21:49:22 +0000
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