Do you play chess? I do but very badly. So a lot of my time I spend playing through the games of the masters.
Does that make me some sort of a geek? No. It is no different to my listening to the sounds of bassist Charles Mingus and to the Chopin Etudes being played by Vladimir Ashkenazy or looking in awe at a painting by Whistler or Manet.
All these, including the great chess games, are beautiful expressions of inspirational brilliance and of almost a type of mathematical perfection. They represent consummate artistry. With none of the skills, I am able only to admire and to learn and I am grateful for being able to do so.
Which brings me to Bobby Fischer, one of the greatest chess geniuses of all time.
To you, he may be a racist Jew hater, a traitor who traded with the Soviets, a mentally sick avoider of income tax, a man who wished soon after the 9/11 attacks for your country to be wiped off the face of the earth.
Or he may appear to you to be just one of the world’s greatest chess players with a flawed personality that let loose an uncontrollable and incoherent anger in widely publicised radio interviews on obscure Philipino and Budapest radio stations.
I cannot condone what he has said. I cannot justify the rightness of his source of anger. The singer is undoubtedly flawed; but, ah, I cannot but love the quality of songs played on the one instrument that he truly knows how to play.
This Chicago born, Brooklyn bred son of a divorced mother became a World Champion saying from the age of six “All I want to do, ever, is play chess.”
If only that is all he had done. It is all that I can applaud him for; but it is of such greatness that for me it over-rides all else.
Let us be clear, Fischer fled the US after pocketing $3million from supposedly breaking the law by playing chess in Sveti Stefan in 1992.
Except there was no law against doing what he did. All that existed was a presidential order by George Bush sen. asking all Americans not to trade with the Yugos. To many, this is another case of a Bush believing he can rule and influence the lives of 250 million people or more, not by law but by simple decree.
Continually at odds with FIDE, the governing world chess federation, and with his home country that wanted to prosecute him, his anger grew and ate into his brittle mind. Hence his anger at what he saw as a Jewish chess conspiracy and a corrupt and evil government. A sick anger leading to sick thoughts.
There were many ways to deal with it. The US chose to continue to seek to prosecute him and put pressure on Japan not to allow him to exit that country. Only tiny Iceland was brave enough to stand up to the US and make Fischer an Icelandic citizen. Now he is to go to his new home as this Boston news story explains:
“The formal procedure is finished,” Iceland’s ambassador to Japan, Thordur Oskarsson, told Reuters on Wednesday.
“Mr Fischer is a true Icelander now.”
So is Fischer a racist traitor or is he, as some believe, or “a revolutionary in that he refutes the concept of Soviet-style government in the US.”?
I honestly don’t care. To me he was a chess player who wrote the music of some great games that I love to replay. You can do so as well. Go to this site and replay one of his games there or download 879 of them.
If Fischer is the flawed genius of this whole story, then to me the heroes are the Icelandic people.
Posted a few minutes ago on DKos, but reposted here to get used to this great site – and because such posts have a 15 minute life on DKos!
Nice to be here with you all!
Especially with the World Diaries feature.
RE: Bobby Fischer. To me one of the more blatant excessive displays of power is when my government goes after individuals for petty reasons. The restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba is one of these infuriating meddling-into-private-lives-for-political-reasons power plays that drives me nuts. These exercises of power yield virtually nothing to the government except the ability to state “We are in charge. See what we can do.” It’s not about law, it’s about power and the abuse of it.
I’m not a fan of Fischer’s and never got into chess. I thoroughly enjoyed the movie Searching For Bobby Fischer, buts that’s as far as my interest goes. However, I do find the government salivating over “making him pay” for his, in my opinion, trivial “transgressions” against his country (being an ass is not illegal – if it were Bush would be sentenced to life) such a waste of time and energy unbefitting a supposed world power.
Good on Iceland–a place where common sense seems to prevail. Hope they don’t have oil there. Rove might need another distraction soon.
Well, I appreciate Fischer’s chess-playing ability (I am a really shitty chess player, but I still enjoy it), but I simply cannot get beyond his politics and serious mental illness. Perhaps it’s because I’m a woman, and have serious problems with any virulent misogynist?
It’s not that he just made intemperate remarks – it’s that he’s made many of them over the course of many years. He is, simply, a very hateful man. Let Iceland have him – less chance I’ll ever need to put a fist in his sneering mug.
I can understand how the professor in Colorado or BF could think we had 9/11 coming in some abstract sense.
But as someone who had to deal with the grief of co-workers who lost their brothers or nephews, who grew up in North/Central Jersey, who had Flight 175 fly directly over my head…
I wanna kill these people. Not all the time. But some of the time. I don’t know if Europeans understand the inner rage many Americans have about 9/11. Our reaction to it is an entirely seperate matter.
As an aside, one of the most surprising things for this (former) NY Metro was the outpouring of sympathy for NY from the rest of the country. I had been accustomed only to their contempt and derision. It was comforting and discomforting at the same time. And has time has gone on, my discomfort has grown.
I’m tired of people that live safely in rural or southern/midwestern America telling me what makes NYC and Philly and DC safe. I know, you don’t. And our policies are not making our major coastal cities safer. </rant>
I too love chess, but I’m afraid to play you Welshman. Maybe Backgammon š
Hullo Welshman,
Thanks for your excellent piece. Yes, Fischer is indeed quite a character. He is even more f’ed up than most of us, which is no mean achievement. I’ll go as far as to say that he is probably batshit crazy.
However, unlike certain other batshit crazy individuals we know, he is only harming himself and nobody else. I think it is great that Iceland accepts him into its growing collection of assorted celebrated nutballs. (Recent acquisitions also include my former compatriot, the aptly named painter Odd Nerdrum, among others.) Hopefully the good people of the saga island will be looking after him.
While I shan’t not pretend to be a fan of the man, his legendary games really are something else. Here is one of the most famous, and breathtaking, of his career. If memory serves me, he was only 13 at the time. Look out for the stunning queen sacrifice in move 17 – this, as you write, is consummate artistry.
Byrne D. – Fischer R. [D92]
ch/USA 1956
1. Nf3 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. d4 O-O 5. Bf4 d5 6. Qb3 dxc4 7. Qxc4 c6 8. e4 Nbd7 9. Rd1 Nb6 10. Qc5 Bg4 11. Bg5 Na4 12. Qa3 Nxc3 13. bxc3 Nxe4 14. Bxe7 Qb6 15. Bc4 Nxc3 16. Bc5 Rfe8+ 17. Kf1 Be6 18. Bxb6 Bxc4+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Nxd4+ 21. Kg1 Ne2+ 22. Kf1 Nc3+ 23. Kg1 axb6 24. Qb4 Ra4 25. Qxb6 Nxd1 26. h3 Rxa2 27. Kh2 Nxf2 28. Re1 Rxe1 29. Qd8+ Bf8 30. Nxe1 Bd5 31. Nf3 Ne4 32. Qb8 b5 33. h4 h5 34. Ne5 Kg7 35. Kg1 Bc5+ 36. Kf1 Ng3+ 37. Ke1 Bb4+ 38. Kd1 Bb3+ 39. Kc1 Ne2+ 40. Kb1 Nc3+ 41. Kc1 Rc2+ 0-1
It is strange. When I wrote this piece I never realised what passions it would arouse. After the reaction on DKos, I must say that I wish now I had never written it.
I think that what I misunderstood was the seriousness with which his incoherent and sick ramblings are taken in the US. To me, they are just the rather sad rages of a mind that cannot cope with certain issues.
Certainly, to those who took deep offence at his Twin Towers comments or his Anti-Semitic comments, I apologise for awakening painful issues. I made no excuses for him in my diary for these, nor do I now.
I think that we in Europe see him as some sort of joke when ranting in the way that he did and are able to separate this from his genius. Rest easy, folks. If we are asked by you, we will accept that these words of his have a more biting meaning for the States.
you wrote it. It was an excellent read.
I can’t speak for all Americans, and I haven’t seen the reaction on dKos, but if the reaction suprises you, that is not a surprise to me.
9/11 killed something fundamental in the American spirit, something that would have been lost no matter who was President at the time, and how they reacted.
Our grief is for what we lost. For our old way of life, or old zeitgeist that we can never have back. I don’t know how well it is even possible to understand for those who didn’t grow up here.
Welshman – no need to apologize. You feel one way, why not say it?
Some Americans don’t like Herr Fischer specifically because of his 9/11 comments. For me, they’re in context with all the other hate-speech (and it’s hate-speech, through and through) that guy generates against women, against homosexuals, against Jews. You could take many of Fischer’s statements out of context (and unattributed), and people would ask “Is that Hitler? David Duke? Farrakhan?” We slam those people for hate-speech – some pointy-headed chess-player doesn’t get a free pass just because he’s at the sympathetic end of a fight with the US State Department.
Lovely, interesting piece, Welshman. Reminds me of the quirky fun article in The New Yorker about iceland’s Bjork, who I like very much.
P.S. My physician recently went endurance horse riding in Iceland … they have a great breed of horses for such adventures.
I don’t want to step on your diary Welshman, only thank you for writing it.
I did a full-length investigation into this man and his current legal limbo situation, his persecution by the American government, his increasingly incoherent commentary, etc.
If anyone’s interested, they can read it here.
I too got a lot of hateful comments simply because this man is no longer a very likeable figure. That’s understandable, but my concern was for his CASE, not writing a defense of his hateful speech.
Technically, George Bush’s presidential directive IS law. But I think the US government purposefully did some illegal trickery to get him held in passport violation charges in an effort to get him deported to the US.
Anyway, wanted to drop a positive comment at you since this is an important case.
“Takk, Íslendingar, verði ykkur Fischer að góðu!”
Pax
whoa, you speak Icelandic? Gott hjá þér!
Chess play was dominated by the Soviet Union. It was part of the Communist propaganda in their play for world domination. The nations chess pieces were moved on the globe in South-east Asia, Central & South-America and the African continent with Cuban troops in Angola.
Just like the DDR and their dominance of athletics during the Olympic games in the Cold War era, use of doping par excellence. Many “ladies” records still stand today. Similar also to the previous decade of space exploration, race to the moon and the arms race: quantity of missiles, rocket thrust and nuclear heads.
Beyond the exquisite chess displayed in Reykjavik – beyond my comprehension – the remarkable chain of events during chess play, there was a REAL propaganda war ensuing. As I recall from memory, the positioning of Soviet “helpers” to Boris Spasski in the audience, mind games and fear of telepathy to cheat.
The coverage of this single match was a world event, much similar to Reagan having the mini-summit in Reykjavik with Soviet’s Gorbachev 14 years later.
Mikhail Gorbachev and Ronald Reagan
CNN – Historical Papers
The historical perspective of the year 1972 should not be forgotten: Bobby Fischer became a tool in the hands of world leaders in their chess play with nations. I can’t recall, but most likely Bobby received a citation from President Nixon and the White House. Although Dick must have been quite busy on the scene of Kissinger’s Chinese ping-pong diplomacy, ITT’s purge in Chilian democracy of President Allende, the tragedy at Munich airport and the killing of all Israeli hostages during the Olympics, and Dick’s own Watergate burglary.
Oui – Liberté – Égualité – Fraternité
Not much happens here, so the Bobby Fischer story has gotten major play every single day, so I’ve been following it very closely. Unfortunately, I’m inclined to disagree with some of the viewpoints expressed.
I belive the best expression of most peoples’ thoughts was when my uncle said “Wow, don’t we have enough crazies? Do we really need to start importing them?”
The reason I’ve found the whole thing kind of stupid is not because he’s wanted for the Yugoslavia thing. It’s idiotic trying to prosecute a man for playing chess in a country that doesn’t exist anymore. However, one fact remains: Mr. Fischer did break income tax laws and for that reason is wanted by the United States. Japan has an extradition treaty with the United States (just like Iceland), and our government is basically saying the US shouldn’t have the right to prosecute Mr. Fischer.
What basically happened is the following:
Mr. Fischer was arrested for being an illegal alien in Japan. A standard check found he was wanted in the US on the sanctions violation and tax-evasion, but American justice being the slow lumbering beast that it is, everything has been moving very slowly as far as his deportation from Japan. Enter Sæmundur Pálsson, the man who acted as Fischer’s bodyguard way back in ’72 when he won the World Championship in Reykjavík. Sæmundur felt the government had to step in and protect his close friend who, incidentally, he hadn’t seen in 33 years. This matter was debated to death in Parliament, like most things, and eventually it was voted that Fischer would be granted residency, although not citizenship.
This wasn’t good enough for the Japanese, who could only deport somebody to their country of citizenship, so Parliament reconvened on the matter and decided they would grant him citizenship after all. This, among other things, gives him access to the welfare system, which everyone believes he will immediately hop on until (if it happens) he is re-deported to the US.
My basic belief, which is consistent with the people I’ve spoken too is that Bobby Fischer will come for a small period of time. He is scheduled to arrive tomorrow, actually. But I think that, in the end, our extradition treaty with the United States needs to be honored. So I think in the end, Bobby will just be re-arrested and properly deported to the United States. This sideshow will just be a stepping stone on the way to that.
Now, if only Iceland could’ve stood up to the US on real issues, like being part of the Coalition of the Willing….
Know that here, on the Olympic Peninsula, so far from you, your lovely country has a mystique. You have a great culture, government, and creativity.
My daughter couldn’t wait to go to Seattle and see Sigur Ros perform. Superb music. And as I mentioned above, my doctor came to Iceland for vacation. My daughter dreams of visiting some day.
I’m glad you took in Bobby Fischer. Eccentricity and genius aren’t often tolerated in this world, and your country has done so. Bravo.
heh, believe it or not, the feeling’s mutual. Icelanders love Washington State! At some point in the early 20th Century, a bunch of Icelanders settled in Washington, many in the Seattle area, and many on that little isolated bit of land known as Point Roberts (we like isolated barren bits of land that no one else wants). I know I have a bunch of relatives out in Bremerton, even though I’ve never met them.. about half my grandma’s family moved out there in the ’50s and have stayed there ever since raising families.
Culture too. IIRC, Helgi Tomassen, who used to dance wih the New York City Ballet and is now Artistic Director of the San Francisco Ballet, is originally an Icelander.
like many things, is more palatable as a concept than a reality.
.
Not to condone his words, but does offer another perspective.
Sam Sloan Feb 11 2003
Bobby Fischer could master chess – if fact, there still isn’t a worthy
successor. But the world has proved more unsettling, much as it was
for his parents.
By Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson
On Sept. 11, 2001, if Americans had not been too shaken to notice, they would have found Bobby Fischer at last. The reclusive chess champion emerged to deliver a message, his voice crackling over the airwaves of an obscure Philippine radio station.
[…]
Here follows Bobby’s Life Story and of his parents. Explains much of his behavior. FBI files on his mother already during WWII.
Oui – Liberté – Égualité – Fraternité