Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from

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

Acclaimed biographer Frank BradyÂ traces the meteoric ascentâ€”and confounding descentâ€”of enigmatic chess genius Bobby Fischer.

Drawing from Fischer family archives, recently released FBI files, and Bobbyâ€™s own emails, this account is unique in that it limns Fischerâ€™s entire lifeâ€”an odyssey that took the Brooklyn-raised chess champion from an impoverished childhood to the covers of Time, Life and Newsweek to recognition as â€œthe most famous man in the worldâ€ to notorious recluse.
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At first all one noticed was how gifted Fischer was. Possessing a 181 I.Q. and remarkable powers of concentration, Bobby memorized hundreds of chess books in several languages, and he was only 13 when he became the youngest chess master in U.S. history.
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Arriving back in the United States to a heroâ€™s welcome, Bobby was mobbed wherever he wentâ€”a figure as exotic and improbable as any American pop culture had yet produced. No player of a mere â€œboard gameâ€ had ever ascended to such heights. Commercial sponsorship offers poured in, ultimately topping $10 millionâ€”but Bobby demurred. Instead, he began tithing his limited money to an apocalyptic religion and devouring anti-Semitic literature.Â
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After years of poverty, Bobby remerged in 1992 to play Spassky in a multi-million dollar rematchâ€”but the experience only deepened a paranoia that had formed years earlier when he came to believe that the Soviets wanted him dead for taking away â€œtheirâ€ title. When the dust settled, Bobby was a wanted manâ€”transformed into an international fugitive because of his decision to play in Montenegro despite U.S. sanctions. Fearing for his life, traveling with bodyguards, and wearing a long leather coat to ward off knife attacks, Bobby lived the life of a celebrity fugitiveâ€”one drawn increasingly to the bizarre.Â
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And yet, as Brady shows, the most notable irony of Bobby Fischerâ€™s strange descentâ€”which had reached full plummet by 2005 when he turned down yet another multi-million dollar paydayâ€”is that despite his incomprehensible behavior, there were many who remained fiercely loyal to him. Why that was so is at least partly the subject of this bookâ€”one that at last answers the question: â€œWho was Bobby Fischer?â€
Country USA
Brand Broadway Books
Manufacturer Crown
Binding Paperback
ItemPartNumber part_0307463915
Color Multicolor
ReleaseDate 2012-01-17
UnitCount 1
EANs 9780307463913

Country	USA
Brand	Broadway Books
Manufacturer	Crown
Binding	Paperback
ItemPartNumber	part_0307463915
Color	Multicolor
ReleaseDate	2012-01-17
UnitCount	1
EANs	9780307463913

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

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