Long lost Mr. Fischer

You know, I really don't even know that much about Bobby Fischer beyond the major bullet points of his life:

- Youngest international grandmaster of chess
- First American-born world champion.. and Cold War hero
- Erratic and often anti-American or anti-semitic behavior
- Arrest in Japan + amnesty in Iceland

And, now, he is dead:

Bobby Fischer, Chess Master, Dies at 64
By Bruce Weber
Published: January 18, 2008

Man, I haven't really thought about chess in a while, but when I was a wee lad, I used to play quite a bit, at home and at school (pretty cool, huh?). haha. Even then, you knew the name Bobby Fischer, a chess icon always more legend than man.. and even moreso now, in death.

In any case, the NYTimes obituary (not to mention the wikipedia article I linked to at the top) provides a brief, but eloquent, version of his life, and gives a feel for the conditions under which he invigorated the "sport" of chess back in the 70's. Every cause, of course, needs a large personality - ideally, a handsome and charismatic icon - to spark the imagination of players old and new. For chess, Bobby Fischer was it (as far as I can tell; I certainly do not roll with any chess circles anymore). And maybe he will be again..

We'll see if his, um, grand accomplishments on the chess board overshadow his (many) transgressions in the "real world". I assume that they will; history is usually very forgiving in that way.

In the meantime, I have it in mind now to read / listen / watch more about this enigmatic genius, and, perhaps more interesting, about the political backdrop around many of his most high-profile matches. To that end, the book "Bobby Fischer Goes to War" and the movie "Searching for Bobby Fischer" come to mind, and since the SF Public Library seems to have both, I can satisfy these intellectual cravings fairly easily and on the cheap.

But you know I'm a fan of "doing", so let me throw out there that I have a couple of chessboards here at my apartment, so if I can round up a player - any takers? - we can dust those off and have ourselves a go. Bring over a 40, and we'll pour a lil' out in honor of the great minds that came before us. And then, of course, I'll break out The Abyss, allowing us to continue our match into tastier territory..