As would I.
Morphy is the subject of my favorite chess story of all time. This was before time limits on games.
Morphy and his opponent sat across from each other, neither speaking, for eight solid hours. At the end of it, Morphy blinked, looked up, and said, “Oh - is it my move?”
Regards,
Shodan
What about my homeboy Harry Pillsbury? He’d have been the best in the world if he hadn’t gotten syphilis and died at 34.
That’s what happens when you’re homeboys are dawgs. 
And Shodan: 
I dunno. How good is Mel Gibson at chess?
But, in seriousness, yes, I do. Judge the art, not the artist. Whatever his personal failings, Bobby Fischer was a giant in the field of chess, and now that he’s gone, he’s never again going to contribute to the game, and that’s a terrible loss. The world has plenty of assholes, the loss of one more doesn’t change things much, one way or the other. But there are damned few people throughout history who could play chess the way Fischer did, and it’s sad that there’s one fewer today.
I agree it’s sad, but for a somewhat different reason. I just think it’s sad when such an exceptional person goes off the deep end, and I find myself not really holding his comments and views against him as I find it hard to take them seriously, and I find myself now genuinely saddened both at what eventually became of him and that he has now died at such a relatively young age.
I didn’t play him, no. And I was ranked, but at a very minor level. I was my state’s Class A champion for one year in the mid 1980s. Class A sounds impressive, but it is below both Expert and Master.
I was, however, an officer in my state’s USCF affliate as treasurer, and I was the editor of our state’s official chess newsletter. That is to say that, while I did play competitively in tournaments and did win some money, most of my practical participation was political and administrative in nature.
My personal involvement was through Steven Doyle, president of the US Chess Federation at the time, and officers of our and other states convening in Florida nearly a decade after the Karpov fiasco. It was moved by our group that a letter I drafted be mailed to Fischer in care of Claudia Mokarow in Pasadena. The gist of the letter was these main points:
[ul]
[li]The USCF would officially and unconditionally apologize to Fischer for failing to support him during his battles with the Soviet chess machine at the time of his scheduled match with Karpov, and would promise unwavering support of him in the future.[/li]
[li]The USCF would offer Fischer a permanent and generous stipend to do anything in any official capacity that he pleased, whether it was playing simuls, touring, or tutoring grandmasters.[/li]
[li]The USCF would offer Fischer generous life insurance and health insurance coverage for the rest of his natural life.[/li]
[li]The USCF would officially recognize Fischer as holding the title of Undefeated World Chess Champion, and his status as such would be used to fight for his right to play as a bye in the next world championship qualifying rounds.[/li][/ul]
It seemed like forever before we got a response, and when we did, it was a postcard from Claudia, saying that Fischer wanted $10,000 to open the letter. When Stephen Doyle heard about this, he hit the roof, and declared in a rage that he would not shove that kind of money into a hole just to see what would happen.
And thus were broken the ties forever between the USCF and its greatest player, all because of the myopic engorged ego of a man whose incompetent administration of the USCF almost brought it to its knees. It was a very sad day for us, and Doyle refused to hear our pleas for reconsideration.
Just think. All it would have taken was a measly ten grand — less than Doyle would have spent on the US Open Championship — to have a shot at bringing back the greatest player in US history. By the time competent leadership took over, it was too late, and Fischer was too fargone and too mistrusting for anyone in the USCF ever to reach out to him again.
I stopped playing and participating shortly thereafter. My heart wasn’t in it anymore. I was on course to make Expert (about 20 points shy), but I just said fuck it instead. It was a terrible time for US chess.
Thanks for the…ahem…elucidation, Lib.
Thanks, Lib - very nicely put. I have vague memories of that time, I was in Highschool in the mid-80’s and was a voracious family chess player. I kept a small eye on what was going on in the USCF but nothing really substancial, I’d read the occasional news article in school…but that background you give is interesting and to be honest adds a bit of mystery to the game and the man. What if…
…up there in Iceland or elsewhere? Which game(s) did you find most appealing?
If you watched on TV like most of us, what did you think of the analysis?
So Fischer wanted $10,000 to open a friggin’ letter and Doyle is the one with the myopic engorged ego?
Yeah, no kidding… (I actually had to re-read the sentence several times until it dawned on me that Doyle was being referenced as the one with the engorged ego.)
Yes, I realize how that must sound, but it is important to understand that Fischer was completely, thoroughly, and categorically abandoned by the USCF when the Soviets were pushing FIDE (the International Chess Federation) to adopt rules favorable to Karpov. The wimps in New York, when they didn’t remain silent, attempted to rationalize and justify the Soviet demands simply because they feared the Soviets could damage USCF relations with FIDE in some way that might have monetary consequences.
It was a political mess, and their spinelessness was the whole reason Fischer dropped out. He belt betrayed. He felt like he was owed an apology (hence the first promise of the letter). For all he knew, it was a letter chastising him in some way or making some unreasonable demand of him. He was the great artist, and Doyle was the museum curator. The deference must go from the latter to the former.
I watched on TV like everyone else. I was only a C Class player at the time, and hadn’t really gotten involved in the political and administrative aspects yet. But I’d say my favorite game was 6, not just because of the beautiful combination, but because of the the fact that Fischer played a Queen’s Gambit. I’ve heard it said that Spassky joined the applause at the end of that game, and that that gesture endeared him to Fischer for life. As for the analysis, I took it with a grain of salt. A mere grandmaster commenting on Fischer at his prime is like a local golf pro commenting on the play of Tiger Woods. That said, I thought it was adequate.
That’s all fine and good, but seriously, $10,000 (which works out to about $50,000 today)to open a letter. And the USCF has never been flush with cash either.
And let’s not paint Fischer as saintly during the Championship match negotiations either.
The money would have been a show of good faith. The first show of good faith from Doyle’s administration. Our group thought it was eminently reasonable. The return the USCF might have had from a resurgent Fischer could have helped considerably with their financial woes (which mostly were due to mismanagement and waste anyway). As for Fischer’s part in the negotiations, who could expect him to be a saint when he was fighting not only the Soviets but his own frigging people?
Fischer was the one trying to change the rules to ones more favorable to him, not Karpov. The USCF was right to not back Fischer, and FIDE was right to strip him of his title.
Seems to me he was playing chess. The $10K was his opening gambit, and USCF (or Doyle) tipped over his king. I can’t honestly say that anyone won the match, though. 
I couldn’t agree more. It was all loss and no gain. It is especially disheartening to see the revisionism that it was Fischer, and not the Soviets, who were unreasonably demanding. He demanded nothing more than he deserved and had earned. Karpov was the challenger, not the champion. But the USCF folded like a cheap suit, and the world lost an artist. Fischer’s death was announced today, but his spirit was murdered decades ago.
I’m not familiar with the details of the dispute. What changes did the Soviets want to make? Why were the changes unreasonable?