Bobby Fischer on Film



ChessBase points us to two trailers on YouTube for new films about the late Bobby Fischer: Me and Bobby Fischer (see above) and Bobby Fischer Live (embedding disabled). The first is a disturbing but very interesting documentary focused on Fischer's life after his arrest in Japan and extradition to Iceland. The second is an even more disturbing -- for chessplayers anyway -- docudrama about Fischer's life that focuses on the roots of his dementia in childhood. Each tries to extend the story of the 1972 World Championship match in different directions, forward and back in time, to the endgame and the opening. My impression is that the documentary "Me and Bobby Fischer" holds some promise of adding new dimensions to the Fischer saga by depicting his time in Iceland, which is not captured by previous documentaries that I know. But I think that the morbidly melodramatic "Bobby Fischer Live" will simply drive chessplayers bonkers with inaccuracies and chessic blunders. Any chess player will see several problems in the trailer alone, beginning with the scene showing a teenage Fischer (already a rising master cum IM) reading Tarrasch's The Game of Chess -- while having to use a board no less!

Ultimately, I don't think the rather chaotic and incomprehensible story of Fischer's opening days and sad endgame can ever be as interesting as the perfectly structured real-life story of Fischer's middlegame full of miraculous triumph and mystery -- his rise to 1972 stardom and Garbo-like disappearance -- a story that is beautifully, mythicaly, and touchingly narrated in young Josh's voice in the black and white archival vignettes of Searching for Bobby Fischer (much of which is on YouTube), so that one wishes someone would just string those moments together as a stand-alone video. That's why I had been excited to hear that the book Bobby Fischer Goes to War, which offers a very well dramatized and well researched account of the events surrounding the 1972 match, was optioned by Universal Pictures, and that they had hired director Kevin MacDonald (Last King of Scotland) to film it. But the latest reports suggest that the project has been shelved due to the economic crisis.

Among the best Fischer films I have seen are "The Mad Genius of Bobby Fischer" (portions of which can be viewed on YouTube) and the excellent British documentary "Fischer vs. Spassky" (all of which appears to be available on YouTube). Both do a fairly good job of telling the story of the 1972 match through archival footage and interviews with figures of the time, including the very likable Boris Spassky. But it would be nice to see Fischer's story get the full Hollywood treatment.

There is some hope that Madman Genius: Bobby Fischer Found, to be directed by Liz Garbus for HBO, will offer something along these lines. According to the website:

Madman Genius will chronicle the bizarre and tragic life of an American hero turned outlaw, chess champion Bobby Fischer. Fischer's rise and fall echoed the demise of the Cold War World Order; without the black and white of the chessboard reflected in the 'real' world, Fischer, arguably the greatest chess player of all time, went insane. Novelistic in its story-telling, the film will chronicle the spectacular rise and fall of an American icon.

Fischer's story continues to fascinate us and I am sure that there will be a string of future films about him. However, it appears we will still have to wait for this incredible true story to receive the cinematic rendering that it deserves.

Fischer Photos

Fischer visits Tal in hospital (Curacao 1962).

Fabrice Wantiez has posted a wonderful collection of Bobby Fischer photographs at his website, many of which (like the one above) are completely new to me.

Fischer Birthday Remembrances

Several celebrations of Fischer's legacy were held on March 9th to coincide with the former champion's 65th birthday. At the Marshall Chess Club, site of "The Game of the Century," Fischer was remembered by biographer Frank Brady and talk show host Dick Cavett, who has commented on his blog about his regret over not having reached out to Fischer (see "Was It Only a Game?" and "Bobby and You"). Caroline Jackson's article "Cavett and chess buffs replay Bobby Fischer story" (The Villager, March 12-18) describes the memorial and captures many of the basic contradictions in Fischer's life represented there. For example, why did a man so obsessed with making money from chess forego millions of dollars to be had after he won the championship?

The memorial was held on what would have been Fischer’s 65th birthday. Brady recalled when he and Fischer’s friends tried to throw him a party for his 20th birthday but the often-reclusive Fischer was reluctant.

“Finally, he said, ‘I’ll come to my birthday but you’ll have to pay me,’” Brady said. “That’s really, truly what Bobby was about; he knew chess players should be paid for what they do.”

Asa Hoffman, Fischer’s friend and a prominent chess champion himself, said Fischer dreamed big, talking about buying a big house with a spiral staircase in the shape of a rook, but his demanding nature inhibited him.

“He said he wanted the money, but he would turn down these big tournaments,” said Hoffman. “He could have lived the fantasy but he changed his mind.”

At another Fischer memorial service at the 2008 Reykjavik Open, Boris Spassky was among those to visit Fischer's grave. After the service, the former Fischer rival turned friend and supporter was heard to ask, "Do you think the spot next to him is available?"

Dick Cavett Remembers Bobby

The great American talk show host Dick Cavett today describes the Bobby Fischer he got to know through several interviews in his touching and fond remembrance "Was It Only a Game?" (The New York Times, February 9, 2008 -- also at his blog). As he suggests, there were many sides to Bobby Fischer (as many as you can see on YouTube), but Cavett's famously friendly interview style brought out the very best in the man, as we see in the charming clip he includes. Add it to the list of warmer remembrances of Bobby, which include Kasparov's "The Chessman" and Hans Ree's "At the Kibbutz with Bobby" (temporary HTML version here). If we see a few more pieces like this, it may well be the Fischer of '72 that lives longest in our cultural memory.

Bobby Fischer R.I.P.

ChessBase reports that Bobby Fischer has been buried in Iceland and includes a statement by Kasparov, who notes in part that "Fischer’s relentless energy exhausted everything it touched – the resources of the game itself, his opponents on and off the board, and, sadly, his own mind and body." Those looking for a touching way to remember Fischer should re-read Ralph Ginzburg's classic "Portrait of a Genius As a Young Chess Master." ChessBase includes a link to Leonard Barden's equally sad personal remembrance and obituary in The Guardian. Fischer's story was always very sad, but most chessplayers preferred to ignore that. Hat tip: The 64 Square Jungle.

Bobby Fischer Dies

Bobby Fischer has died at age 64. Chess was his life, and his years were numbered to match that 8x8 world. As a "Bobby Boomer," I have mixed feelings about his passing. It was Fischer who helped draw me into chess; but the chess world may have been better off if he had died 35 years ago -- shortly after winning the title. I was alerted to his passing by a sudden spike in traffic to all things Fischer-related that I've posted. Web traffic was coming in so quickly that it overwhelmed our site (until I upgraded our account). Maybe that traffic is a sign that Fischer's passing will release a flood of chess nostalgia in fellow boomers, who will come streaming into the club over the coming weeks. If Bobby's rise to the throne helped Americans discover chess, perhaps his death can do as much to renew it, much as "the Fisher King" must die for his kingdom to see a rebirth...

Obituaries at AFP, AP, BBC, CNN, New York Times, Reuters, Telegraph, and Times Online.