Review of HBO Documentary "Bobby Fischer Against the World"
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Bobby Fischer's Obsessive Personality Disorder
That's what I would call this documentary if I was in charge. One of us chess obsessed nerds here in Colorado Springs even ordered HBO to see the documentary--so we can relate. To chess obsession that is. The documentary tells a rather heartbreaking story. It is well worth watching even if you are not a chess player. This is not just a story about chess, it is about madness, loneliness, schizophrenia, the torment of a bad childhood, paranoia, the cold war, and above all Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, which he most assuredly had, documented or not. Bobby Fischer became world champion in 1972 when he beat Boris Spassky. The lead up to the match was exciting and the tension of this lead-up was something that I had never seen presented before. I was 8 years old when the Fischer Spassky match was happening, and just learning to play chess, so I missed it the first time. And though we all watched the Fischer story play out over the course of his life, I certainly enjoyed the recap. But I thought more than a recap this film highlighted in a unique way something that hadn't really occurred to me before. That when Fischer quit chess he never stopped doing the thing that made his chess great--being a Paranoid, Obsessive Compulsive
with an extremely high IQ and plenty of creativity. Only now he just applied it to his theories of anti-U.S. and anti-semetic conspiricies.
Regina Fischer, Bobby Fischer's Mother
Bobby's Childhood
His childhood seemed to be repeating itself throughout his life. When he was a small boy sitting out on his front steps in Brooklyn he was instructed by his mother to answer any questions that anyone should ask him with the words, "I don't know anything." That's because his mother was actually being spied upon by the F.B.I and the C.I.A. They considered her a communist, and you know how popular that was in 1950's America. It was the time of McCarthyism and hearings and so forth. And Regina Fischer, a brilliant woman herself, was certainly a revolutionary radical. She protested the Vietnam war quite actively, as well as other things she didn't approve of that the U.S. was involved in.
But as similar as Fischer seems to his mother, especially in his feelings toward the United States during his later years, the two didn't get along. His mother worried about his chess obsession as a young child. She took him to a psychiatrist. The psychiatrist told her there were worse things to be obsessed about.
You know what? I think he was right. And he should have stuck to chess. Because the things he became obsessed with after he left chess were worse. They did nothing for him, they did nothing for the world, they just drove him further and further into isolation. Watching this documentary I found myself feeling extremely sorry for chess genius, chess legend Bobby Fischer.
The Fischer Spassky Match
One of the main features of Fischer's life was the Fischer Spassky match, of course, which gave him the title "World Champion." We chess players were waiting to hear the analysis of the games in detail, but because HBO is aware of a wider audience they were described fairly well but not so much that everyone else tuned out. The world really tuned in when that match took place, and Fischer brought a great deal of excitement, and money to the world of chess. The match took place in Reykjavik, Iceland, the country that later gave him safe harbor in his old age and his severly deteriorated psychological state, and his refugee status.
The atmosphere and tension surrounding the Fischer Spassky match was due mainly to Fischer's eccentric personality and idiocyncratic needs which in retrospect were clearly early evidence of his mental illness. His paranoia, his sensitivity to the cameras which came apparently from another condition that involved high noise and sound sensitivity and what must have been either extreme fear of losing to Spassky or some other struggle he was having with his inner demons-- or as was said in the film, "when it comes to Fischer, nobody knows."
The match did take place, and as we all know, Fischer won. But Spassky could have walked away the winner by simply refusing to go along with the nonsense (Fischer not showing up for the second match, his incessant demands, the last of which was that the game be moved to the ping-pong room) any further and the tournament directors certainly wouldn't have ruled against him. But perhaps the world would have always wondered who really would have won that match, maybe that's why Spassky played anyway. Fischer was willing to walk away from the match. Spassky wasn't. Maybe that's why Spassky lost.
Fischer became the world champion and then the question was posed to him, "what will you do next?" That was a haunting moment. He really didn't seem to know. He had accomplished his goal. That seemed like the beginning of the end. From there the world watched as he drifted slowly into madness. But as was pointed out in this documentary, this was certainly not the world's first chess champion to go insane. In fact it almost seems to be a hazard of the job. I certainly learned quite a few things I didn't know before from this documentary about Fischer, Spassky, and even about what happened to other chess legends, whose grip on reality was no better than his. In fact maybe not as tight.
This was an excellent documentary and well worth watching. Even worth hooking up HBO for.
More Fischer Stuff
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Chess Links
- HBO
HBO's official website contains schedule information, original video content, episode guides, polls, bulletin boards, and more! - The Troubled Genius of Bobby Fischer : NPR
Bobby Fischer might have been the greatest chess player who ever lived, but he was a deeply troubled man who descended into paranoia and hatred. Author Frank Brady, who knew Fischer, charts his rise and fall in a new biography. - The chess games of Robert James Fischer
Chess games of Robert James Fischer, career statistics, most famous victories, chess opening analysis, PGN download, discussion forums, and more. - Tactics Time
Chess Tactics problems designed to help chess players improve their ratings, skill and win more games. Large database of chess tactics problems for chess improvement.
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That looks like a great documentary to check out...thanks for sharing the links and your hub....voted up.
Thanks Cogerson, Thanks James!
I heard there is some video footage of Brian Wall in Harvard Square playing chess in a purple shirt. Pretty cool. I didn't notice it but I'll have to keep my eye out for it next time. (Brian Wall is co-author of "How to Play Chess Like an Animal." and a local Colorado chess master.
Random Things I liked best about the movie:
Some of the great Fischer quotes like "I don't consider myself to be a chess genius. I consider myself to be a genius who happens to play chess", and actually seeing him say the famous quote "I don't believe in psychology, I believe in good moves" and what the context was (a reporter asking him if all the Iceland stalling was psychology tricks)
Actually seeing video of Fischer taking the "poison pawn" in game one of the match.
When they interviewed "Sammy" from Iceland saying how Fischer calls him from jail in Japan after not hearing from him in 22 years.
The famous people they had giving commentary - Malcolm Gladwell, Susan Polgar, Larry Evans, etc.
The pictures and video footage of Regina Fischer, who I had never seen before. She seemed like a real character.
Footage from Fischer as a kid on a gameshow. They ask if his accomplishments made other people happy, and he says "It made me happy".
I had no idea what a fitness fanatic Fischer was, or what good shape he was in.
The parallels between how chess makes you paranoid, because your opponent really is out to get you.
How even Spassky became paranoid about stuff like the chairs having radiation in them.
What a great sportsman Spassky was.
Can't wait to watch it again!
Great comment Tim. The comment about good moves certainly makes sense in context -- I mean, what was he supposed to say to that reporter. It showed how quick on his feet he was.
Pretty sure I don't have HBO, but would liked to have seen it.
I think that Fischer's victory was half-chess, half psyche-job. Not only did he give Spassky the feeling of not knowing what's coming next - the ping-pong room or the playing hall (this uncertainty alone would probably make Spassky half-paranoid, or feeling like a puppet of Bobby's). At some point paranoia could also be called 'manipulation and getting what one wants.' if it involves others, and with someone that large in chess stature (practically a "president" of chess) it does involve others.
The other half of the equation is that it seemed that Fischer was a "maximalist". I can't remember a World Championship match where a player varied their openings as much as Fischer did. He even won playing closed openings such as the Benoni which are generally thought to be too dicey to play in match-play. No doubt Spassky hadn't prepared for this, so basically Fischer outprepared them, playing Sicilian lines only once, etc.
Spassky, OTH (and this played out in both matches IMHO) became a "minimalist", sticking to the same opening lines which Fischer was probably boringly prepared for by the second or third time around. Perhaps this was because Spassky was a man of moods, and probably in the "freaked out" mood against Fischer. Spassky liked open positions with some risk involved, so naturally Fischer went for more closed positions, where strategy was a bigger component, to collect his wins. Fischer was a clear, strategic player, IMHO, sort of like Anand. Naturally, this is just my opinion of things.
Maybe things would have been different if there hadn't this USA vs. Russia political pressure injected into the scene, and would he have garnered the same level of importance in History if so? Probably not. His part in history will not be repeated, The Berlin Wall came down 20 years ago, he was the man-of-the-moment who understood his own place in history, just as we can't bring back the pre-computer age of chess, as much as some of us would like to. ;-)
In the movie they mention his opening choices - Benoni and English, and how amazing these were.
One of the funniest things in the movie was talking about how they were looking in the ceiling for suspicious devices, and all they found were two dead flies.
The headline in the paper said "Who Killed These Flies?? ...AND WHY!??"
lol
...and more importantly, whose side were they on!
:-)
Whose side were the flies on? Lol
I can only think what chess in America could have been if "the greatest player of all time" had played Karpov, who would not have been nearly as accommodating as Spassky, but the match, I am sure, would have produced some awesome chess. It's very possible "the greatest player of all time" would have lost to Karpov and felt like he had something to prove and continued to play....
unfortunately, i can't view this video because the uploader has not made this video available in my country.
http://tacticstime.com/?p=604 I wrote a review myself, and grabbed a screen shot of Brian Wall in the closing credits - pretty cool!!
Is interesting how always the "insanity" of chess champions is mentioned, not taking account of ALL the sane champions that have been and are here now, just take Vishy Anand and then think about this paranoia related sickness and chess, and he is not the only example, we have Lasker, Alekhine, Euwe, Tal, Karpov, Kasparov, Smyslov, Botvinnik just to mention some of the champions that were and are completely and extraordinary people! so think again! chess is not associated with sickness in the mind more than any other kind of obsseions anybody can develop, it even may hold up an mental illnes, as could be the case with Fischer
I think maybe it's just fun to say chess players are crazy
James Powers 11 months ago
Its odd, with all the proof of chess obsession leading to madness we who are obsesses with chess still do not fear this madness, perhaps even provoke it. ah, the first sign of this madness onset perhaps. :) Good job Anthea, i didn't know you were a great journalist as well.