goldendog
My bad. You see when I got to the thread, it was already on page 2, but you were the first post on page 2, hence I thought I was reading page 1 and was like, "Um I don't remember who this guy is". It makes more sense now. That kid was a complete tool!
i hate "searching for bobby fischer"...just to throw that out there...it should be called "watching josh watskin" or "being bored by bruce pandolfini being played by bing kingsley" or "searching for bobby fischer in this movie, oh there he is! now hes gone... and were back to watching little kids play fake chess..." marketing the movie with Bobby's name in the title is kinda low i think...they should make a movie about magnus carleson-hes much better than josh was- and call it something like "looking for garry kasparov"
goldendog
My bad. You see when I got to the thread, it was already on page 2, but you were the first post on page 2, hence I thought I was reading page 1 and was like, "Um I don't remember who this guy is". It makes more sense now. That kid was a complete tool!
NP, brandon.
Jeff seems like a nice kid but he was being socialized by papa in such a way that he was assured of rubbing people the wrong way. Pretty conceited and off the leash to act out his impulses, and pretty much say what he wished. It's like having a dog indoors that isn't trained to be indoors. The dog may be great but everyone has big problems living with him/her.
I don't know him ...
sorry
jpd303
It's highly unlikely that there will be an official search for Kasparov (partially because, uh, we know where to find him). But mostly because Russia has a lot of World Chess Champions. Botvinnik, Spassky, and Tal: you could argue that anyone of them is the greatest of all time. However, the United States only one guy to fall back on, hence all the hype and hoopla regarding Fischer.
All that being said, a movie about Magnus Carlsen would be awesome. His history and career so far does mirror that of the young Fischer. We could call it "Searching For Bent Larsen" except Carlsen doesn't really play like him.
i hate "searching for bobby fischer"...just to throw that out there...it should be called "watching josh watskin" or "being bored by bruce pandolfini being played by bing kingsley" or "searching for bobby fischer in this movie, oh there he is! now hes gone... and were back to watching little kids play fake chess..." marketing the movie with Bobby's name in the title is kinda low i think...they should make a movie about magnus carleson-hes much better than josh was- and call it something like "looking for garry kasparov"
Read the book and you'll understand the title. The elder Waitzkin is/was a journalist and really did search for Fischer at the time Josh was getting into chess. It's about a parent struggling to reconcile all the weird stuff in chess with all the good, and fighting the urge to try to protect your kid from hurt and disappointment in life. The movie doesn't always capture these subtleties very well.
Read the book but beware of big lies which are in it and thus as well as in the Searching for Bobby Fischer (Josh Waitzkin) Trivia by Bill Wall (which he himself put the link to in his post here) about Jeff Sarwer, since your discussion here is about him. The biggest lie is about Josh beating Jeff in a rematch in 1985. It makes one question the credibility of all Fred's information in his book if he would lie about such an important fact about Josh's greatest rivalry. Be assured that the Waitzkin's would have published the actual game if the win ever happened. Jeff also confirmed that they only played 2 tournament games one which Jeff won and the other which became the famous draw which SFBF was based on. In the movie of course the big lie is that Jeff didn't accept the draw and lost the game. In fact, as most of you probably know already, they (Jeff and Josh) drew and shared the title.
If you are interested in another point of view on Jeff Sarwer and Searching for Bobby Fischer (in my opinion more true) you should probably read this:
http://chessatknight.blogspot.com/
goldendog
My bad. You see when I got to the thread, it was already on page 2, but you were the first post on page 2, hence I thought I was reading page 1 and was like, "Um I don't remember who this guy is". It makes more sense now. That kid was a complete tool!
Complete tool? - last time I checked a "complete tool" meant an idiot. Can an idiot be a world chess champion? Is it possible to play simultanous chess with 40 opponents being 8 years old and a complete tool at the same time? Do you think GM Edmar Mednis would invite a complete tool to be a panelist during the World Chess Championship match Karpov-Kasparov? BTW BrandonQDSF, what kind of complete tool can't understand how a thread works? Oops I guess you.
I remember, on some site I saw a recent game of Sarwer's, so he is still playing.
I remember, on some site I saw a recent game of Sarwer's, so he is still playing.
As billwall indicated in post #19, looks like he plays poker now.
http://main.uschess.org/content/view/10007/571
Thats how most 8-year-olds are.. you ought to be angry at shelby lymann for having him on, imagine if they put you on a serious show at that age, i doubt you would have handled it as well as jeff did.
I completely agree with this. I think trying to denigrate an 8 year old boy with a rough childhood for being silly on TV is pretty silly in itself for an adult. A child has talked about Kasparov as if he were a patzer... OK, so what? Kasparov himself has been a huge jerk so many times in his adult life. Topalov has founded the Complete Jerk Foundation a few years back. He is still an active leader. Mamedyarov has shamelessly accused his opponent for cheating after losing a game.
The chess scene is full of jerks. The sad thing is, most of them are unfortunately not 8 year olds.
I think that kid has pulled himself together pretty well now.
You know, I don't know if anybody has done this, but the final position before white takes the knight is a draw. He just plays h5 instead of Kxe5.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9pFp6iRVM0
i heard that Jeff's dad got in trouble because he wanted Jeff and his sister to do nothing but play chess.
that is very hypocritical because the polgar sisters never got into any trouble
OK. But which boy was he in the movie. The one that Josh offered a draw to during the tourney ?
stwils
he was the josh's rival the one who refused the draw... and it was not a very accurate portrayal mind you.
I think the best way to put it would be to say that the movie scene was fictional although it had some resemblance to a scene near the end of the book, that was (I assume) real. In the book, Waitzkin was playing Sarwer and managed to achieve a draw after being at a disadvantage.
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1473029
I mainly remember him as that annoying kid who appeared on the Shelby Lyman World Championship show (if I remember right) and talked about Kasparov like he was a patz. He was an embarrassment...one of those 8-year-old egomaniacs unrestrained by any parental influence (you just kind of want to give them a kick when no one's looking, like some yapping little chihuahua).
Yeah... but he actually was unrestrained by any parental influence -- watch the first video... he comes from an extremely non-traditional unbringing... his Dad's an anarcho-hippie living off the grid ... and from what I could gather on his website, his childhood was really difficult... he talks about being glad childhood doesn't last very long, because it was so painful... and getting taken into protective childcare by Canada, and then escaping back to live with his dad because the Canadian shelter set up he felt was worse for him than living with his Dad. So, yeah he's an egotistical self-aggrandizing little freak... but that describes quite a few adult IMs and GMs coming from far less trying circumstances...
Sometime around 1985, I saw him and his sister give a simul. I suppose he could have been described as egotistical, but, as I remember it, everyone present seemed very charmed by the young fellow. I think it was the general perception that it was understandable if all the attention went to his head a bit. Indeed, he seemed to be the one who judged his own behavior most harshly. Someone had videotaped him, and while the result was played back, he seemed embarrassed.
goldendog,
Um who exactly is this Jeff and what character did he play in the movie?
C'mon...just try reading the thread Brandon.