He Had The Most Incredible Mind In History, Until This Happened

And he died at 64, one year for every square on the board. Poetic.

imagine if his sister bought a snakes and ladders boards instead

My grandfather taught me how to play chess as a kid. He was ruthless. Never once did he allow me to win. We played for YEARS before I was able to beat him. The day I won I can picture the rickety kitchen table and cheap laminate floor sitting in the corner of my grandparents old farm house down to the last detail. He fell down a bottle when my grandmother past away. Such a kind and brilliant man. I am 39 now and have taught both of my sons to play the game.

For people curious about the winning streak Fischer won 20 games in a row But in todays time they often make it sound like magnus had a winning streak of a lot of games which are typically very impressive but there are draws in his. Magnus streak is just him going without losing however here Fischer is only winning which is insane

Spassky is the definition of a true sportsman. The respect shown for his competitor is unrivaled in any other sport. He didn’t even let the Soviet Us relations tarnish his views.

Mad respects for Spassky. He could have easily gone to be a bitter enemy, hostile and happy that the one guy who could regularly beat him in his profession was going through rough times. Instead, he accepted some ridiculous demands, campaigned to get his enemy out of jail and exile and, when that failed, OFFERED TO JOIN HIM IN PRISON. Spassky was a true sportsman and friend, through and through.

To put that 20 game win streak into context, the two greatest players of all time, Kasparov and Carlsen, both have 6 wins as their longest classical win streak, and Karpov, another top 5 all time player who succeeded fischer as world champion (and lost to kasparov) also has 6. One of today's best players Fabiano Caruana achieved 7 in a row at a tournament which is literally the greatest performance in modern chess. Fischer did 3 times that

My teacher, Joan Targ, was his older sister. She shaped young minds for many decades. Her son Nick went to the same high school and university I did. He was regarded as a genius like his mother and uncle.

You know who really stands out in this story? Boris Spasky. What a great sportsman and concerned opponent. Outstanding!

I remember watching an interview with Fischer and he mentioned how during matches even the wrong lighting would throw him off. Definitely seems like he might have had sensory issues that weren’t well understood at the time.

My grandfather taught me years ago that sometimes when you are too far ahead of your time it makes you a little crazy. That seems true for Bobby.

It's natural to strive to become like the best at a profession, however the story about Fischer's life has made me value the importance of one's character in tandem with proficiency way more than before. Spassky, despite losing, has definitely earned my respect.

Spasky was honestly the mvp of the story with giving into Fischers demands to ensure he got a fair shot to prove his title even though he was being pressured to win at all costs by the soviet union, just because he respected him. Plus even though Fischer went off grid for like twenty years, Spasky was willing to go out of his way to play with him again. Then to try and personally protest for his release from prison and even ask to stay in his cell to play chess with him, just because he respected his skill so much.

Boris spassky was such a nice guy, not taking the tittle of the worlds best just to have a fair match with Bobby, and even going to his jail cell just to play with him, it's just great how he never gave up on beating him

Spassky was very thoughtful and respectful to his opponent.

It seems like whatever we learned from about age 5 until age 10 is what we end up being best at. Bobby's obsession came at the right time. Not being shown "how" to play and being forced to learn from the ruleset alone, I think helped as well, so that he had a full understanding for his obsession to thrive within.

Spasky wanting to be imprisoned with his rival as long as they’re given a chessboard is really moving. He really lived for the game.

"The difference between genius and insanity is measured only by success"

I applaud your eloquence and the insightful depth of your script in thisdocumentary. Very impressive.

When you play over Bobby's brilliant Queen sacrifice against Donald Byrne in 1956, you marvel at the fact that a thirteen-year-old kid could see that far ahead. But then you realize that that kid had a genius I. Q., a photographic memory, and basically played and studied chess every day.