Biographies: Bobby Fischer (United States, 1943-2008)

Bobby Fischer
Figure 1.--The October 12, 1958 wire service photo caption read, 'Young Bobby Fishcher, hailed as a budding chess genius, is caught in a characteristic pose during a tournament match at the Manhattan Chess Club: nail-bitten fingers to lips, coatless and tieless, a study in deep concentration. This 15-year old Brooklyn boy has already won international fame for his chess play, but remains virtually unknown, outside of chess circles, in his own country.' When this photgrph was taken he ws the yiungest ever Junior US. Ch,pio, wihin in a short period he would be the yungest ever U.S. champion. "

"When you play Bobby, it is not a question of whether you win or lose. It is a question of whether you survive.

-- Boris Spassky

Robert James 'Bobby' Fischer was born in Chicago (1943). His father Gerhardth Fischer was born in Berlin, Germany (1909) and emigrated to America. He was a biophysicist. Some speculate that his real father was a Hungarian Jew named Nemenyi. His mother was Regina Wender, an American citizen of Polish Jewish descent. She was born in Switzerland and raised in St. Louis, Missouri. Bobby renounced Judaism and became upset if anyone called him Jewish. His parents separated when Bobby was only 2 years old. His father took no further interest in him. Regina had custody of Bobby and his older sister Joan who was 7 years old at the time. She raised both by herself, but struggled financilly. She was a qualified registered Nurse and wanted to take a Master's Degree at New York University in Nursing Education. She decided to move to Brooklyn. It is there that Bobby began to play chess after his mother as a surprise bought him a set (1949). There was no tradition of chess in the famikly. All they had to go on was instructions that came with the set. Bobby as a 6-year-old was instantly fascinated with the game and his abilitity to deal with the complexities. His mother became worried about his obsession with the game. She is quoted as saying, "Bobby isn't interested in anybody unless they play chess and there just aren't many children who like it." She took him to a psychiatrist. Fischer was basically uneducated, despite being enormously intelligent, he did not even earn a high school diploma. He refused to make any effort in school and would bring his pocket chess set to play in class. He had all the social graces of a rinoserous. A clasmate writes, "... he had no friends in school and he chose to withdraw from any personal contacts with any of his classmates." 【Gangel】 Bobby had one interest in life and one interest only--chess. His taste in literature when on the rare occassion that he ventured beyond chess books were comic books. he became know for making astonishing demands n the people settingb up chess tournaments and nmatches, although he was always wel behaved duruing matches, never trying to upst his oponent. He won the World Chess Championship in a celebrated Cold War match with Boris Spassky (1972). This ended sevrl decades of Russian dinminati9onn of chess. In many ways he was the perfect choice for a Cold War match--he hated the Soviet Union. We are not sure to what extent this mirrored the American attitude toward the Soviets. It seems to be more the result of Soviet tactics at international chess events. Apparently Soviet authorities would decide who was to win. So Soviet players would go easyb on the cosen one which would boost their competitive scores. He also envied all the support Soviet players got from their government. He declined to defend it (1975). He is widely considered to be one of the most talented chess players of all time. Desspite disappearing from competitive play, he continued to be one of the world's best known chess players.

Sources

Gangel, Richard. Internet post (April 29, 2015).







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Created: 8:07 AM 1/24/2011
Last updated: 6:37 AM 2/27/2024