Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness Kindle Edition

I have become interested in studying and playing the game of chess and in doing so became intrigued by the mysterious life of Bobby Fischer who is considered among the top three chess players of all time. Unlike the other two icons of chess (Magnus Carlsen & Garry Kasparov), Fischer's time at the top was short-lived as he disappeared from the game soon after overpowering the Soviet chess dynasty and fell into obscurity only to resurface for brief moments. It was very sad to learn more of how his great mind deteriorated as he became a pawn in world politics. The author, Frank Brady, went into significant detail examining his early life, rise to fame, and fall from grace, shedding more light on the phenom than has come out in all the written works of the past. Overall, the book was a page-turner that kept my rapt interest from start to finish.

Bobby Fischer was the greatest American chess player of all time (sorry Hikaru). Fischer did not have the extensive support network we see today, or access to computer databases of thousands of games and analyses. Fischer was, essentially, a one-man operation. The book was easy to read. Despite his later fall from grace, Fischer was, in his prime, the greatest chess master on the planet. His attacking style and ability to analyze a tactical position were unmatched, while he was at the top of his game. While his later years were a shame, we can appreciate his chessplaying.

In the history of chess, few names are as big as Bobby Fischer. Regardless of what you think of Fischer the man, he is always seen as one of the most excellent chess players in history.Fischer grew up in New York City where he learned to play chess at the age of six. He quickly became obsessed with it. He read as many chess books as he could get his hands on and studied the game sometimes for several hours a day. He became very adept at it and joined local chess clubs. This would culminate in what would later be called "The Game of the Century" when Fischer, then only 13 years-old, beat chess master Donald Byrne.Fischer's success in chess only continued. He entered tournaments and won many titles which was quite an accomplishment at his rather young age. He started to become a celebrity not only in the chess community, but to the general American public. He continued his way up through the 1960s and became a candidate for the World Championship.The World Championship he would eventually compete in happened in 1972. His opponent was Boris Spassky. Spassky, from the Soviet Union, and Fischer, from the United States, gave the match a Cold War overtone. Despite his numerous demands on how the match was to be played, people back in the United States wanted Fischer to play as an attempt to wrest the title from Soviet players. He even received a phone call from Henry Kissinger encouraging him to go through and play with the interests of the United States in mind. He would go on and beat Spassky thus becoming the World Chess Champion.The 1972 match against Spassky was probably the greatest point in his life. He returned from the match a hero and a celebrity. The popularity of chess skyrocketed in the United States, all thanks to Bobby Fischer. However, it seemed that Fischer almost fell off the face of the Earth after 1972. He stopped playing chess publicly. In 1975, a match was to be held between Fischer and Anatoly Karpov to defend his Champion title. Fischer had numerous, and often outrageous, objections as to how the match was to be played and the rules governing it. FIDE refused to comply with all of Fischer's demands. As such, Fischer refused to play and Karpov became World Champion by default.And thus began Fischer's long decline. He stayed out of the limelight for many years. During this period, he likely began to form his outrageous views that would lead to statements that he would become infamous of. He stopped paying his taxes. He developed a very deep hatred of Jews and anything related to Judaism.His last true public game of chess came in 1992. Boris Spassky, the man who Fischer defeated in 1972, agreed to a rematch to be held in Yugoslavia. At that time, due to the war occurring there, Yugoslavia was under international and United States sanctions and the match against Spassky, with a large monetary prize, was considered illegal by the U.S. government. Despite being warned, Fischer went ahead and played against Spassky, won, and collected his money. U.S. officials took notice and he became a fugitive afraid of being arrested. He never returned to the United States again.He lived incognito for the next several years, mostly in Hungary. After the 9/11 attacks, Fischer made remarks that spread around the world praising the attacks and condemning the United States and Jews. It would seal his fate with the chess community, Jews around the world, Americans, and the U.S. government. He was once again on the move before being arrested in Japan for using a revoked passport. The Icelandic government took notice and made him a citizen of their country in recognition of what he did for Iceland because the 1972 match was held in Reykjavik. He lived there the rest of his life and died at the age of sixty-four, no doubt helped by his refusal to accept medical treatment.Bobby Fischer was a man who had a complex personality. He was a genius in some respects and is still considered by some to be the greatest chess player in history. But his obstinate attitude towards things seemed to more often hinder than help him.In conclusion, I found this to be a very well written book and a fascinating look at Bobby Fischer. The author has managed to write the book so brilliantly, that one would not even have to know how to play chess in order to enjoy this book. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about Bobby Fischer and his sometimes strange life.

Fisher’s mind was far more complex than mine or yours, and had fewer limitations than us. He beat the corrupt world of international totalitarian politics by out maneuvering the hegemony of the Russian big brains, then withdrew from the fray when they came for him. Read the book from the standpoint of a parent trying to raise a unique prodigy—neither siding with Fisher or against him until you see him reach and, to the extent possible, accept his human limitations. Powerful insights.

As a keen amateur chess enthusiast and one similar in age to Fischer, I was already aware of most of the details of Fischer's life. I read this book in the hope of finding some explanations for his anti-Americanism, his anti-Semitism, his Holocaust denial, his ingratitude to friends, his hypochondria, and his failure to play competitive chess after 1972 except for the meaningless match against Spassky in 1992. This book describes those elements of Fischer's character but offers no insights, and is a somewhat superficial treatment. For example, we are told that as a young man Fischer suddenly started to make anti-Semitic comments to acquaintances. There is no attempt to explain why this might have been so. Fischer's mother was Jewish (as was his probable real father) but he was not brought up in a religious family so it is unlikely that he might have been rebelling against his Jewish heritage.I suspect that in Britain the book will be read mainly by chess players but the author clearly aims the book primarily at Americans, including non chess players interested in their fallen hero, which means he has to regularly explain features of the game that are basic knowledge for players. More importantly, the author avoids being too critical of Fischer, aware that many American readers will be passionate Fischer fans. For example, Brady explains Fischer's failure to play Karpov for the world championship in 1975 primarily as Fischer's desire for a change from the pattern of a 24 game match established by FIDE for all world championships after 1948 to a first to 10 wins with the holder keeping the title if the score was 9-9. This meant that if the score reached 8-8 then the challenger would have to win 10-8 to become champion. Brady does not criticise Fischer for this but quotes a match in 1910 with the same rule. He does not say that the rule was considered controversial and unfair even in 1910 and that the situation was very different in 1910, when the champion treated the title as his personal possession and accepted challenges on his own terms. From 1948 the title was owned by FIDE, which established the rules, and FIDE went to enormous lengths to change the rules to the first to ten wins to accommodate Fischer but was unwilling to accept Fischer's 10-8 demand. Neither does Brady offer fear of failure as a possible reason for Fischer's unwillingness to play Karpov except on his own terms. Karpov had played powerfully in matches to quality to meet Fischer, and was the only leading player younger than Fischer and the only one Fischer had never played. It is odd that Brady does not mention this as at least a possibility because he does suggest that fear of failure was a factor inhibiting Fischer's participation in chess after 1975.After 1975 Fischer spent much of his time as a semi-recluse and this is reflected in the book's sketchy details of the final 33 years of his life. Fischer's paranoia is recounted but not explained. One of the strangest of Fischer's theories was that the five matches between Kasparov and Karpov between 1984 and 1990 were rigged, with the players making pre-determined moves. As a conspiracy theory that has even less credibility than the theories that the moon landings were faked or that the CIA organised 9/11.Fischer was one of the greatest of all chess players. He was also a fine writer on chess. However, as a human being he sadly had many deficiencies that cut short his chess career and led to his eventual exile in Iceland. These are outlined in "Endgame" but it is a character sketch of Fischer rather than a finished portrait.

Frank Brady gives us a close look into the career of a chess genius, from his first contact with the board to world championship and beyond. He helps us to understand that genius is not a bed of roses. Bobby Fisher certainly made many people suffer, but he also suffered from the incomprehension of many people. A tragic life, that this book helps understand.You won't learn much about playing chess, but you may learn things that will help you live with genius.This book is hard work, but worth it.

They say that genius skirts close to madness and that could certainly be pointed at Bobby Fischer, but he was not mad.He was certainly a genius at chess, but his outlandish statements and behaviour as he reached adulthood and onto death make him a hard man to like or even admire.All that being said this is an interesting read, and I feel an even-handed look at his life.

I am a fan of the main character. No matter the author , always will gonna be a glimpse of truth in to it

Educational.