Robert James Fischer was an American chess grandmaster. The eleventh world chess champion and the greatest player of all time. The incredible skill he displayed while playing chess is indisputable – he is the king of them all. Bobby, born March 9, 1943, started playing chess at an early age of 13. He was a professional from the start. He didn’t need any training to prove himself. Imagine becoming the youngest grandmaster at the age of 15. Barely two years after debuting in the game. Yes! He was so good. Besides his chess prowess, there are other interesting details you might not know about Bobby Fischer. Let’s dig together.
Interesting facts you need to know about Bobby Fischer
1. He was very controversial
If there was a man who had something to say about everything, his name would be Bobby Fischer. Bobby was extremely opinionated and had strangely strong beliefs. Regardless of his mother’s practice of the Jewish religion, Bobby never failed to express his hatred for Jews. He shared anti-Semitic views and even applauded Nazism. He had this strange belief that everything in the world was controlled by the hidden hand of the satanic world secret government. Bobby even desecrated the economic action that US President George Bush imposed on Yugoslavia. He stubbornly broke the rules by embarking on a business venture. He even spat on a letter from the US Treasury Department at a press conference. Yes! He was a little excited. He was later charged by the US government in December 1992. He got the message this time and went to Europe to cool off. He was a hell of a man.
Bobby’s beliefs were as numerous as his fears. He feared that the Russian government would kill him. He feared that Soviet agents could beam harmful rays into his brain through a metal implant in his teeth. So, he replaced his dental fillings.
2. He may have had Asperger’s Syndrome
First, some basic facts. Asperger’s Syndrome is a neurodevelopmental disorder that affects an individual’s perception and interaction with the world. Carriers of this syndrome are downright intelligent and often tend to be obsessed with a particular topic, skill, or activity. They could do it again and again without getting tired. They also tend to be social misfits. We thought Bobby had the disorder. Well he was too smart for his own good and how do you explain that with chess?
Based on the results of a Stanford test – BinetBobby took at the age of 15; he has an IQ of over 180 – 187 and that’s way above average. At the time, he was a student at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn. He had a photographic memory. Here is something that may intrigue you. The first time Bobby Fischer visited Iceland, he listened to a telephone conversation in pure Icelandic. Interestingly, he had never heard or learned the language before, but he understood and even recited everything that was said. He was also known to be eccentric, an extremely strange and unpredictable type. He seemed to have been sitting on a fence between genius and madness. At least he had to play chess.
3. Fisher dropped out of school
Bobby was not a fan of education. He thought school was a waste of time and he certainly didn’t waste his time. Bobby dropped out of school at the age of 16. Subsequently, he was self-taught. He learned to speak several foreign languages due to his desire to read foreign publications. It must have been easy with the help of his high IQ. He even published his own chess textbook called “Bobby Fisher Teaches Chess”. The book contained 275 checkmate exercises that readers could solve on their own. Over 1,000,000 copies of the book were sold within a few months.
4. Bobby Fisher had a run-in with the law
This should surprise you. The chess lord still had trouble up his sleeves. His FBI dossier is a long read at over 900 pages. What could he have done to have such a long criminal record? Bobby was arrested for an alleged bank robbery at the age of 38. He was later released on $1,000 bail. Mostly a fugitive in his thirties, he hid in California, Pasadena and San Francisco. What had he done this time? He refused to pay taxes on his chess winnings to the US government. He felt they didn’t deserve to taste a single drop of his money. He received an arrest warrant. At one point, Bobby Fischer spent 6 months in a Japanese prison for allegedly using an invalid passport.
5. His kidneys failed him
Bobby fell with poor health in his final days. He was diagnosed with kidney failure and advised to seek treatment immediately. Stubborn, Bobby wouldn’t hear of this. It was more his stubbornness than the frozen kidneys that cost him his life. Bobby had no faith in doctors and drugs. He was extremely suspicious of them and as such refused to receive the medical help he badly needed. He died at the age of 64, which coincidentally is the same number of squares on a chessboard. The Life of Bobby Fischer was a classic telenovela.