Coming Soon!

Bobby Fischer:  His Genius, his Psychosis and the Chess “Game of the Century”

     In 1958, a young New Yorker named Bobby Fischer became the first known “pop star” in the world of Chess.  Fischer was only fifteen years old when he achieved the title of chess Grandmaster. However, by 1972, with Fischer’s ensuing celebrity status, his life took an unusual detour. He quit playing chess professionally, moved to California and “lived the life of a celebrity fugitive; one drawn increasingly to the bizarre” and was “fearful for his life.” Fischer believed nefarious conspirators were scheming to “kidnap him to breed an heir who could [preserve] his chess-genius DNA.” This subject looks at the characteristics of genius, its emergence in a person who demonstrates recognizable traits of perceptual skill, and affords us an engaging but disturbing observation of how these traits can cause disorderly social abilities.  An investigation into the actions of Bobby Fischer will disclose a lack of “emotional intelligence” possibly due to developmental issues associated with an atypical parental structure.  As “perhaps the greatest chess player of all time,” Bobby Fischer’s story provides us a fascinating view of the world of internationally organized chess tournaments. And with his extraordinary powers of memory and concentration to play the game at the highest level, a consideration of the dark side of genius demonstrates unpleasant disruptions to the nature of a human’s potential.