Bobby Fischer, RIP

I was never any good at chess, but of all chess manuals I read in my brief, early-adolescence attempt to become a grandmaster, Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess was far and away the best. Presumably the royalties went to fund Fischer's Hungarian-Japanese-Icelandic exile (with stints on Filipino radio thrown in for good measure), where he can't have grown any more comfortable, or less insane, since Rene Chun's fine profile, "Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame," ran in the December 2002 Atlantic.

Comments

What, you're too high and mighty to go with the "Checkmate" pun for a title?

Posted by Jason C. | January 18, 2008 4:06 PM

What's weird is that I posted this at MY's site before I read Ross's bit:

"I learned to play in the Fischer hysteria days of 1972 when I was a kid, and got to be a fairly good player, occasionally beating people with rankings in the 1700-1800 range, if that means anything these days. (I'm not sure what the ranking system is now.) To get really good you have to develop an obsession and perhaps be a little insane. Fischer was impossibly good and very insane, and I'm sorry he's gone.

Anyone looking to pick up the game or help teach a kid how to play could do worse than to find a copy of Fischer's book called "Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess." You can get it for a penny on Amazon - just don't get one that's already had the answers pencilled in."

Fischer's book isn't really a "chess manual" but it sure is a good primer for interested beginners.

Posted by MoeLarryAndJesus | January 18, 2008 4:33 PM

Mr. Fischer always seemed reasonable, and insightful in his analysis of world affairs to me.

Posted by LarryMoeandJesus | January 18, 2008 4:33 PM

I've tried to teach Ross about en passant captures but have found him unyielding in his resistance.

I am
Ross Douthat's Hair

Posted by Ross Douthat's Hair | January 18, 2008 5:31 PM