Because some people rate him at 2930 and he's 2880 tops
Why do you consider Bobby Fischer overrated?
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I think Bobby's overrated, not because he's not an amazing player ... he is. He had an admittedly amazing streak of 19 wins over top-notch grandmasters. But A lot of people talk about him as "the best ever." and seem to believe if he had come out of retirement he would've thrashed Kasparov. I firmly believe that if Fischer had stayed in competition, we would have seen him for what he was ... an amazing player, who, like all other amazing players, has flaws, is a mortal, and will in time be fade against the following generations. It happened to Steinitz, Lasker, Capablanca ... I believe if any one of these men had stopped playing either when they took the title, or just a few years after ... they'd have had a mystique about them too. If Lasker had stopped playing chess in 1905 or right after his big tournament victory of 1914, I suspect there would be the idea that Lasker would have been capable of beating anyone today. Because he played on, and chess theory continued to develop, and he grew older, we recognize such a belief is ridiculous. But when we are faced with players like Fischer and Morphy, who rose to the top and then voluntarily retired, without defending their legacy, we simply assume they would have been successful.
He was overrated after he went into seclusion.
He wasn't overated he was damn scary at his very best for the era he played in.
Dec 10, 2011
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#6
Dear Bobby is overrated because he is an American. The entire country is overrated.
Who is this Bobby Fischer?
trysts wrote:
Dear Bobby is overrated because he is an American. The entire country is overrated.
Only by Americans.
Member Since: May 2010
Member Points: 11111
Member Points: 11111
Dear Bobby is overrated because he is an American. The entire country is overrated.
.......
Woohoo! 11111 points!
P.S. Fischer was great.
Once, I played chess with a fellow named Bobby. But I think his last name was Schopenhauer.
philippines love bobby fischer,bobby has a daughter here in the phil. for his dna
people with that kind of talent and skill.. if in chess, or many areas and other fields, leave the masses in awe
dzindzifan wrote:
I think as an an American that grew up as a kid in the Fischer era, I was 10 yrs old when he defeated the great Boris Spassky for the World Championship title, Bobby Fischer will always be an icon. As I got older I started to really like Kasparov and so he, probably more than Fischer, captured my attention because Fischer was long gone. Bobby was more of a disappointment because his chess legacy could have been so great for so many years but that the substance of the man was so much less than his chess ability. He did very little for the game as a whole. What he did, he did for himself and he never looked back or apologized for it. Was Fischer the best ever? He dominated the greatest players of his era ... and they were some of the greatest players ever. We'll be debating this the rest of our lives. Right now I'm very intersted in Nakamura and Carlsen ...
You've been drinking too much kool-aid amigo.
Dec 15, 2011
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#15
look at fischer's FiDE rating 2785 FIDE. The guy stopped playing in 1972....
now look at the rest of the list.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methods_for_comparing_top_chess_players_throughout_history#Elo_System
That right there should be a clue considering that the peak ratings keep going UP over time.
Dec 15, 2011
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#16
Fischer actually did a lot for chess just by being great. He attracted new players to the game. If he didn't do anything for chess then we probably wouldn't be talking about him.
Dec 15, 2011
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#17
Wikipedia:
"The U.S. Department of the Treasury had warned Fischer beforehand that his participation was illegal as it violated President George H. W. Bush's Executive Order 12810[265] that implemented United Nations sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia.[266] In response, Fischer called a conference and, in front of the international press, literally spat on the U.S. order forbidding him to play, announcing "This is my reply". Following the match, the Department obtained an arrest warrant against him. Fischer remained wanted by the United States government for the rest of his life and never returned to America."
Bravo for Fischer! He literally spat on the U.S. order. That definitely increases my respect for him. I might have done the same thing. The U.S. discusts me sometimes.
Well Bobby Fischer is one of the best or probably the greatest player in chess. Maybe he reached to a point in his life that chess is not exciting anymore so he retired.
Dec 15, 2011
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#19
browni3141 so playing a chess match in a nation engaged in genocide after the US State Dept told him not to is your version of a good idea? If he spat on a US Order telling him not to play at Auschwitz or Dachau during WW 2 would you also admire that as well? BTW the US embargo was part of the UN embargo it wasn't just unilateral on the part of the US. Try reading the sources below and then see how much you respect Fischer for playing chess in Yugoslavia in 1992. BTW I'm not just another jingoistic flag waving butthead who blindly supports everything the US does (I don't) but Fischer's attitude was just another example of his sociopath personality (ie asshole in layman's terms)
"The war (in Yugoslavia) was characterized by bitter fighting, indiscriminate shelling of cities and towns, ethnic cleansing, systematic mass rape and genocide mostly led by the Serb forces. Events such as the Siege of Sarajevo and the Srebrenica massacre would become iconic of the conflict."
SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bosnian_War
"Think of Bosnia overrun by Serbian-backed militias. Then think of the chess genius Bobby Fischer violating United Nations sanctions, and decency itself, to play a chess match for profit in Serbia against his old rival Boris Spassky.
The contrast reeks of callousness, not to mention disregard for international law. The match also violates President Bush's executive order forbidding Americans to do business in Yugoslavia."
SOURCE: NYT 09.22.92 http://www.mark-weeks.com/chess/92fs$$.htm
Well, The US didn't do anything to arrest him. He was in and out of airports that would extradite him to America and nothing ever happened. It wasnt until his rants on 9-11 that the US felt it could no longer ignore him and put into action a plan that would bring him into custody. And even that was mild---a short time in a japanese prison and then the life of Riley in Iceland.
Perhaps a more fitting punishment would have been to put him in a room full of people who lost loved ones in the twin towers. Turn them loose and let them beat the hell out of him. Beat the living shit out of him until he says -I'm sorry, I will never say those things again.
Yeah, that might have been a more fitting punishment.
If you do, of course.
Is it because he never defended his world title?
Just curious, as I am still relatively new to chess.