Death of an Icon

Bobby Fischer has passed away. As one of the few subjects of my admiration, I felt compelled to write something about this titan of a man. He was one of the greatest chess minds that ever lived and he was as uncompromising in his principles as he was in his chess game. What made him so great was not just his talent, which alone could have made him an elite player, but his drive for perfection. He studied chess harder than anyone else, he practiced harder than anyone else, and with those two ingredients mixed in with his prodigious talents- he was nigh unbeatable.

I found this quote about him:

“It was Bobby Fischer who had, single-handedly, made the world recognize that chess on its highest level was as competitive as football, as thrilling as a duel to the death, as esthetically satisfying as a fine work of art, as intellectually demanding as any form of human activity,” wrote Harold C. Schonberg, who reported on the Reykjavik match for The New York Times, in his 1973 book, “Grandmasters of Chess.”

Reading that, it saddens me to have not immersed myself deep enough into the game of chess to truly appreciate the genius of his games. My dabblings were just enough for me to note brilliance only when they were laid out for me in game notes. Unfortunately that small sampling has only made me want more. At this point in life I can only imagine the beauty of his moves.

Hopefully one day when I have the time, I will be able to dedicate my attention to this art and maybe, just maybe, I’ll be privvy to a whole new world of aesthetics. Unfortunately, I have also questioned my mind’s ability to grasp the beauty of truly great chess moves. The thought of me dying without being able to achieve that level of comprehension terrifies me. Sometimes, I guess, ignorance is bliss.

RIP Bobby.