• Quick note - the problem with Youtube videos not embedding on the forum appears to have been fixed, thanks to ZiprHead. If you do still see problems let me know.

Bobby Fischer Dead

.....

So if Bobby Fischer was a vile anti-Semite, why would being good at chess make up for it?
It wouldn't ... I never said it would..

Can I get some extra straw for you ?

You said chess was ' only a game ' , as if making a living from it, was somehow less worthwhile than making a living from something else .. ( by default )

I disagree with that contention ...
 
Fischer will ( ultimately ) be remembered, by those who remember him, for his chess skills.
His bigoted opinions and rantings will be a side note in historical records.. ( .... Oh, by the way etc.. )

In the chess community, his chess accomplishments are always overshadowed by his failure to live up to his potential .. His rantings are more of an embarrassment than a cause for condemnation..

Fischer's personal views and politics brought down no one, except himself and those who chose to remain close to him ..

Most of us learned early in life about the sticks & stones thing ...
 
It wouldn't ... I never said it would..

Can I get some extra straw for you ?

I don't need any straw. I wasn't attributing that argument to you, I was just restating my point - it seems like, in this thread and elsewhere, Fischer is remembered as a chess player first and a bigot second. This leads me to believe that, for many, the chess genius makes up for the bigotry. I wasn't attributing that to you specifically.
You said chess was ' only a game ' , as if making a living from it, was somehow less worthwhile than making a living from something else .. ( by default )
The "making a living" part has nothing to do with what I'm talking about. I don't care if Bobby Fischer made a living selling appliances and was one of the world's greatest chess minds for free in his spare time. My point is merely this: If someone's going to try to say that being good at x makes up for being a rabid anti-Semite, then it is helpful if x is something more worthwhile than playing a game. I'm not criticizing him for playing a game, I'm just saying that it's not as redeeming as, say, feeding starving children would be.
 
Last edited:
Bobby Fischer was a cold war hero that Americans have seemed to have forgotten. Fischer had a positive affect on my life as well as thousands of others. I'm a darn good chess player who takes pride in playing chess well. I'm proud that the best chess player of all time is an American every bit as well that any person who believes in their country of origin is a fine place and their heroes/beliefs shouldn't be spoken poorly of.
 
How is he an American? He may have been at one point, but he renounced his citizenship. I would say that makes him NOT an American.
 
How is he an American? He may have been at one point, but he renounced his citizenship. I would say that makes him NOT an American.

Bobby Fisher is the best prototype of an American. Born and raised in American and a self-made success. Fischer was self-taught. He only renounced his citizenship when persecuted by a country that should have applauded him instead of critizing him. If Americans backed him he would have gone on to crush Kasporov instead of being on the lamb. A brilliant man with problems. Look past his problems and see what he accomplished. Who cares what his personal political beliefs were. What is his chess game? Do you care what my political beliefs are? If I could make your car get better gas mileage you wouldn't give a crap. Bobby Fischer metaphorically made my car get better mileage.

People like you screwed Fischer.
 
Fischer is remembered as a chess player first and a bigot second.

Perhaps that's because he was an excellent chess player but a very poor bigot?

When it comes to intolerance, he didn't picket funerals like Fred Phelps, he didn't write an influential alternate history like William Pierce and he didn't attempt to exterminate those he didn't like, as did Hitler. He couldn't even defend his rantings like the folk on Stormfront - as has been said previously, when challenged he stammered and mumbled about having read books.

So what we're left with is a guy who reached the very top in chess, taking on all-comers and overcoming Soviet dominance of the sport at the height of the cold war, but went on to say some offensive things later in life. Which should he be remembered for?
 
it seems like, in this thread and elsewhere, Fischer is remembered as a chess player first and a bigot second. This leads me to believe that, for many, the chess genius makes up for the bigotry.

Fischer made his name as a chess player. It doesn't excuse the fact that he was a bigot, as it is obvious he was a very troubled individual. But we should recognize that the reason we care about his bigoted views is because of the fame he garnered when he was the best chess player in the world. If he had been an anti-Semite from nowhereville, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
 
Last edited:
If Americans backed him he would have gone on to crush Kasporov instead of being on the lamb.

Well, no. Fischer stopped playing chess the minute he won the world title. America was obsessed with him at the time. Fischer's self-imposed sudden obscurity had nothing to do with Americans "not backing him".

Who cares what his personal political beliefs were. What is his chess game? Do you care what my political beliefs are? If I could make your car get better gas mileage you wouldn't give a crap.

[insert obnoxious buzzer sound here]

It's obvious that's your attitude, but a lot of people don't share it.
 
So what we're left with is a guy who reached the very top in chess, taking on all-comers and overcoming Soviet dominance of the sport
Sport?
at the height of the cold war, but went on to say some offensive things later in life. Which should he be remembered for?
In my opinion, he should be remembered for the one that reflects more on his character.
Fischer made his name as a chess player. It doesn't excuse the fact that he was a bigot, as it is obvious he was a very troubled individual. But we should recognize that the reason we care about his bigoted views is because of the fame he garnered when he was the best chess player in the world. If he had been an anti-Semite from nowhereville, we wouldn't be having this discussion.
Fair enough, but since we are having the discussion, it's not unreasonable to suggest that his bad qualities (for which he was not famous) should overshadow his good qualities (for which he was).
 
[insert obnoxious buzzer sound here]

It's obvious that's your attitude, but a lot of people don't share it.

I'll give your commie leaning butt an attitude. Let's play a best out of three game chess tournament. I don't know where you live but I don't care if it takes ten years. At some point my Bobby Fischer loving ass will will beat your commie loving ass.

Agreed?
 
My point is merely this: If someone's going to try to say that being good at x makes up for being a rabid anti-Semite, then it is helpful if x is something more worthwhile than playing a game.
See my bold..

No one has said it makes up for it .. That is your and Checkmite's straw man ..

I'm not criticizing him for playing a game, I'm just saying that it's not as redeeming as, say, feeding starving children would be.
I doubt that studying law is either ..

Sure you don't need some more straw ?
 
Checkmite:

I assumed that your quote was fallacious because in my mind I remembered the awful commentary by Fischer "they should round up a hundred thousand of the biggest Jewish ringleaders and execute them." Later in the interview he mentions executing hundreds of thousands of Jews again, the part that you latched onto. It sounds much worse when you leave the "ringleader" part out.

As awful as this is, it is not advocating genocide. In his warped worldview, he imagined a conspiracy of gigantic proportions where millions of Jews were working to enslave mankind. He never advocated killing anybody for their genetic heritage, he believed that there really were criminals, deserving of capital punishment, that numbered in the hundreds of thousands.

I see now that we were both right, and both wrong: your misquotation was much more minor that I had imagined at first, and I see that the tiny error you committed is now corrected in your signature. Well, it's your signature, if you want to bandy that about, that's your business.

To help put this in perspective, let's examine Fischer's sanity in his later years. In one radio interview Fischer claimed that he believes that the Jews are behind the illicit ivory trade in Africa, because they want to intentionally make all elephants extinct. The reason? Because the trunk of the elephant reminds Jews of the uncircumcised penis. I don't think he was joking--he was dead serious.

You say he was perfectly sane, just a dick. Well, I disagree--he was genuinely mentally disturbed. I hope he has finally found peace.
 
Last edited:
I'll give your commie leaning butt an attitude. Let's play a best out of three game chess tournament. I don't know where you live but I don't care if it takes ten years. At some point my Bobby Fischer loving ass will will beat your commie loving ass.

Agreed?

You're serious, aren't you?
 
Another mis-staement from you with an anti-Fischer Bias .. I's not nice to make stuff up .. It taints any credibility you might have aspired to, with regard to this subject ..

http://www.chessgames.com/perl/ches...layercomp=either&pid=19233&player=&pid2=14380

4 wins - 4 losses -5 draws ....


I'm really curious about these vitriolic blinders you have on, with regard to Fischer's chess skills ..

It hints of the bigotry that Fischer demonstrated .. ( for whatever reason Fischer's bigotry stemmed from )


Tal's lifetime score with Fischer was +2, 4 wins and 2 losses. Fischer's two wins at Herceg Novi were blitz games--they don't count.
 

Back
Top Bottom