Bobby Fischer Against The World - HBO Documentary [*Extremely long post]
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Bumvinnik wrote:
You forgot the part where he ran away from Karpov 🤔
@Bumvinnik ohh no 😄, I absolutely did not forget about that part, especially the comments from Karpov after he had been decalred champion. This post was getting long enough though, so.. just figured wait to see if others would share any thoughts before getting more into it.
but you really feel he was running away? i guess it's possible considering Karpov was much younger and the possibility of losing was too much; maybe. Bobby, once again, did have some requirements for the match that weren't fulfilled though. Like I remember he wanted something like no draws.. a few other things. The no draws part really stood out because it just seemed so like him to want an absolute winner.
You could be right though Bumvinnik, there was definitely a lot going on at the time, or so it seemed. After watching I tried looking around a bit for those so-called 'secret' matchs held between them both but couldn't find much.
May 20, 2021
0
#5
Thank for the detailed post!
I look forward to exploring it myself.
(Have you watched the 'dramatization' "Pawn Sacrifice"? (I quite liked the movie -- well acted!)
:tup :tup
@KMRc4e6 hmm... no I didn't see it, but just finished the trailer and it looks pretty good. Of course it's Hollywood and all that.. but it'll make for a great Friday night watch. Thanks for sharing 😄
@RichColorado perfect 👉🏼
I think your admiration of Fischer's chess is blinding you to the fact that his behavior was unacceptable. He certainly had mental illness and was playing a game that became politically charged which would have made anyone act strangely. But two things can be true at the same time: Fischer is one of the greatest chess players of all time and also a tragic and troubled figure.
Finally got around to watching this and I gotta say, man.. they really did him wrong on this one. Before I go into detail on why I feel this way, here's a link for reference:
https://youtu.be/V14gXuzRdp4
To be clear - there were some very good moments, and for the most part it was a decent documentary that gave a subtle glimpse inside the life of Bobby Fischer. But, I won’t be focusing on any highlights. Instead, it’s the manner in which they covertly throw little jabs at his legacy throughout.
14:00 - On one hand you have Anthony Saidy, an International Chess Master, talk about how he and Bobby met at an early age and were peers - Bobby's mother entrusted Saidy in convincing Bobby to pursue TV interviews an what not; they were obviously very close.
32:00 - Short clip of Bobby being asked about his family. It seemed that Bobby was, for more obvious reasons stated later on, offended by this question. His demeanor expressed displeasure and irritation.
From this point they dive into a bunch of ‘Top Secret’ FBI information about his family and possible unknowns they were hiding. * I guess that's fine, but in some ways it seems as though they're already starting to paint a picture for the reasons of Bobby's so-called madness. Also, what family doesn’t have things they rather not talk about? 😑
FFWD to 41:40 - You have Harry Benson, Life Magazine Photographer, speak on how Bobby's childhood was a difficult subject for him to discuss - some of which was attributed to being left alone all day with his sister.
* This was a very sincere account of what he was told personally by Bobby. He took some really great images that captured Bobby’s preparation outside of chess. That shot of him underwater is amazing. Kudos to you Mr. Benson 🥂
41:57 - Clea Benson, a very educated and successful editor, confirms that Bobby's mother was, ‘not traditional’ but then goes on to say that Bobby didn't like to have his mother around while playing and would only allow his sister to be with him.
* no surprise there 😐
Following this comment, which isn't all that bad btw, Clea says how Regina.. ‘moved out of the apartment.’ This was more than likely from opposing views and typical family clashes. But then you have Saidy saying that Bobby ‘actually’ told his mom to leave.
This seems like two contrasting viewpoints on what really happened. Saidy was a close friend of Bobby, so it would probably make more sense to take his word on how things panned out. Idk.. this topic is bit sensitive, and I just believe they could have treated it with a little more care. I'm betting this had less to do with Saidy and Clea though, and more to do with the documentary editors. At 43:42, there's a short clip of Regina, and I'm not sure when that was taken but, to me.. it seemed like - yes, she did love and respect her son very much.
"I don't play chess and I don't pretend to speak for Bobby." - Regina Fischer
Let me backtrack a little here to Game 1 between Fischer and Spassky -
35:00 - Game 1: Bobby's first move was Nf3. Later on there’s many comments on Game 6 of how it was "so surprising" Bobby didn't start by playing e4, which he most often always does - but wait, he just played Nf3 in Game 1. 🤔 alright fine...
Game 3 - After Bobby’s demands were finally met, he plays an opening he’s never played before - The Benoni, which means: Son of Sorrow. Did Fischer not do this on purpose, amongst other reasons like maybe Boris not being prepared for it? This should be quite obvious.
Now, it’s already been established that Bobby was very demanding with his requirements for matches. In Game 1, after his very first move... you can see Bobby going and asking about the camera's that he more than likely requested to not have present. * What, you guys didn’t know he would have an issue with this?? It seems like they were the ones trying to play psychological games with Bobby and not the other way around like which was stated before.
What I'm saying is - Bobby was on the verge of not even showing up… you finally coerce him to get over there by increasing the prize winnings, but still don't follow through with what you know… he would be comfortable with, and most likely was discussed, beforehand, along with the increased prize. He stands up at the very beginning of the match, after move one…move one…. stands up, and asks about the cameras. He doesn't "protest" like they said he did. Although the word protest could technically be used it further reinforces the image that's being painted of Bobby being a drama queen.
The Chief Arbiter himself, Lothar Schmid, quoted Bobby saying he feels disturbed and also said please when asking to remove the cameras. This sounds much different from demanding and protesting. To no surprise, at the end of the match the cameras still remain. It's my guess that Bobby threw the first match.. just going off the type of person he seemed to be. There's no way in ___ that he simply missed that last minute blunder at the end, during Game 1..unless he was ticked off. My opinion, he was like - “You know what, whatever.. I didn't even wanna show up anyway, and you guys are here still giving me the run around. I'm playing for me, not for everyone else watching. Here's to your camera's that I asked to be removed. Now let me sit here and pretend that I just totally blew it."
35:50 - “Spassky remains serene and imperturbable throughout all this.” Cut to a quick shot of Spassky jotting down some notes while Fisher asks about the cameras. I almost stopped watching here when the commentator said this. Who the heck uses words like imperturbable anyway?
37:20 - “Bobby saw 6 moves ahead when he made the move… he just didn’t see 7 moves ahead. White can play…”
Omg you guys, just stop.
Next game, Bobby doesn’t even show up - it’s a forfeit. He’s now down 2 games, which is pretty serious.
He probably doesn’t care though, and is confident enough that he’ll wipe the floor with Spassky if he does decide to play. That’s exactly what he does too.
38:18 - “He ‘claimed’ that the noise, from the machines, was so high that he couldn’t think or concentrate.”
Uhh no, they actually did bother him. Everyone’s different… and those types of things obviously took him out of his game, and for what it’s worth, again, you guys knew this beforehand, as well as talked about his demands and the type of person he was, constantly. Later on, when Boris is over there.. talking about how he felt ‘radiation’ under his chair during Game 3.. you didn’t see anybody calling him out on that. In fact, they actually broke the chair to see if Bobby was cheating, and found 2 dead flies…. wow. And no Boris, that wasn’t radiation, those were nerves from gettin a beatdown. So after the match Boris stands up and applauds Fisher. Well what the heck is he supposed to do?? He just looked like a bozo talking about how there was radiation under his seat.
But one more thing I’d like to add about Fischer’s later interviews where he seemed to rant about different things.. yea, idk about all that, but it was obvious he was in complete disgust of everything media, everything America, everything chess related. Did he ‘hate’ chess? No, I don’t believe a person who dedicates himself to something for so long could one day just decide to hate something based on an external factor. Yes, he was over-the-top in a lot of his comments, but what would you expect after having been gone for so long? He trained himself in small apartment and had an uncommon childhood. Y’all should have accepted him more for who he was - and stop painting the picture of him, on one hand, being the savior of the USA vs Russia match, then on the other hand, portraying him like he’s a paranoid schizophrenic maniac. It’s no wonder he left.
This took me 2 hours to type. If you read it through, thank you very much. Watch it and decide for yourself. Fischer's my new hero, and on a personal level, he's the Greatest Chess Player of All-Time. Maybe not the best, but the greatest. Lastly, for everyone out there making little videos..laughin and giggling for your fans at the expense of Fischer, shame on you.