A Method to His Madness
2011-02-26 22:57:09.04513+01 by petronius 1 comments
In the early 70's there was no stranger celebrity on the world scene than Bobby Fischer, the chess genius. We saw him for a bit as a triumph of the US over the hated Reds, but shortly therafter public sentiment derided him as a nutcase, perhaps driven to madness by the board itself. His eventual descent into rabid anti-semitism, weird crankiness, and business deals with shady Serbian arms dealers only confirmed our suspicions. However, chess encourages cool analysis of the reality before us, and Fischer's strange life deserves at least that much. Retired world champion and political activist Garry Kasparov offers such in a review of a new biography of Fischer. This elegantly written piece refuses to "diagnose" Bobby from afar, and brings an interesting perspective to Fischer's life. In particular he suggests that chess didn't drive the man mad, but may have kept Fischer's mind stable for longer than his life might have suggested.