The Associated Press reports that former world chess champion, Bobby Fischer, died today at 64.
I started playing chess during the Fischer Boom in the mid-70s. My father taught me to play. During my junior high and high school years we would play in chess tournaments around Montana, Idaho, and Washington. We even took a couple of trips to California to catch some big tournaments.
All of us kids wanted to be the next Bobby Fischer. For my father and I, it was just fun. By the way, a great film is Searching For Bobby Fischer. Every parent who has a dream for their children should watch this with them.
I still play on occasion. I am no master or even an expert. You can check my rating and most recent tournament results on the USCF website. If you are in the neighborhood, I would love to play a game! I think chess is a great game. It is good for students and I think it should be taught in all schools.
Bobby Fischer was quite a character. He was larger than life and frankly had some kind of mental illness. He was not cuddly.
He was America's hero during the cold war. Here he is playing Boris Spassky for the world championship.
1823--not bad!
ReplyDeleteI was in the 8th grade during the chess match in Iceland with Boris Spassky. The local newspaper published all the games (since when does chess notation appear in newspapers?), and I definitely was following it.
Too bad he turned out to be such a wacko in so many ways. Maybe sometimes it is not always an entirely good thing to be a genius.