If I was to pick the most impressive aspect of Bobby Fischer, I have a lot of options to pick from. For instance, his monumental Cold War victory over Spassky or his long undefeated run in Grandmaster competition are just a few of many great accomplishments Fischer has achieved.
However there is one thing that impressed me the most about Bobby Fischer, and that one thing was that he was self-taught. So many Grandmaster today have achieved their accomplishments due to a great deal of help from others. For instance, the success of the Polgar family is openly credited to the focus and training they received from their father, who devoted his life proving that genius could be created. Other Grandmasters such as Karpov or Kasparov had an entire national support team devoted to chess, and they benefited greatly from those resources. Even the young Grandmasters of today utilize many things to improve their games, from chess coaches to the most powerful software analysis tools.
There is nothing wrong whatsoever with getting help to improve in chess, but when you look at Fischer there can be no doubt that the majority of his skill and technique was self-taught. He was able to accomplish this because of his passion and love for the game, along with the motivation to prove that he was the best the world had ever seen.
So if I had to select one thing that impressed me the most about Bobby Fischer, it would have to be the accomplishments he achieved from his own hard work as a young boy growing into manhood. He was, and always will be, a strong testament to the notion that passion and love can take you places that might seem impossible to all those around you.
4 comments:
I agree with you yet by reading his article on wikipedia I gathered that he was alos taught by coaches.
Great blog by the way ! Thank you.
The New York Times has an article and says similar:
"Long before there were computers, Fischer amassed vast knowledge about the game by studying it tirelessly. Although he did not speak Russian or German, he acquired chess books in those languages and figured out how to read them, digesting their information, refining it and making it his own. His work ethic when he played was the same as when he studied. Kasparov, in an interview from his home in Moscow, said, “He exhausted himself, his opponent and all the resources at the chess board.”
Very good point, man. I agree 100%.
And your blog is very, very good. I was out of PC and Internet for a period, due to sickness, then I came out, turned to your blog, and...WOW! You´ve improved it a lot, man! It´s perfect, full of informations and videos that even sites like Chess Base d'ont have. Congratulations!!
Greetings,
Carlos
Thanks Carlos!
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