There was never much controversy. First of all, Capa was not much of a sportsman. He never had a huge competitive drive and the supposed rematch feud was not what historians made it out to be.

Second of all, Capablanca said during their first match that he couldn¨t play chess and win certain games that Alekhine managed. it wasnt a fluke. Far from it, Alekhine played straight into Capas hand and still beat him. I suppose you could say Alekhine got what Karpov wanted out of Fischer. Karpov has lamented on the fact that his abilities as a chess player were hemmed in by not getting to play Fischer.

Alekhine went from being a trickster to a tempered, active, attacking positional player. Without Capa this would have never happened.

Alexander had enormous resolve and determination. He set out his plan ten years in advance to dethrone Capa by avoiding to play him to boost moral. He said so openly.

Can you imagine today a chessplayer writing in his diary that he will mentally prepare for ten years to beat someone, list point by point how, and then go ahead and do it?

Even more crazy, Alekhine was supposed to be executed as a teen but was granted mercy because he was as chessplayer and the hang man (or whatever the method was) was a chess fan.

RJF's "life's checkmate anniversary" is coming up after a few days on January 17. On this occasion let's,

<https://www.bing.com/images/search?...>

Here's one I just played:

click for larger view

Hi, <Petrosianic>. My only guess is that those opponents didn't fully grasp the benefit of having center pawns on the fourth rank. Maybe they know that it enables one's bishops and queen to develop, but they don't understand the value of a territorial advantage in the center (let alone on a wing). Hence they didn't transfer the principle of "controlling the center" to a different starting position.

As for why the e8-bishop wasn't freed earlier, perhaps the player viewed this bishop as many players in conventional chess view the rooks: to be developed almost as an afterthought.

"I Hate CHESS!"

"It's ridiculous, it gets harder and harder"

But Fischerrandom somehow isn't. Go figure.

So, in the English language you have an extra " L". Well, unnecessary!!
The opening and middlegame positions of 1.e4 have been known for centuries. Someone who chooses 1e4 to start the game will be stressed, tired and bored. It doesn't surprise me that these Bobby Fischer maniacs end up hating the game just like their Master.

Alekhine's game was so beautiful, Kasparov and Reti were Artists! And Bobby? He ended his career at 29 and started making crazy statements.

I don't know what to think. Was he crazy his whole life? Or did the madness start when he learned chess from his sister or later from Pandolfini?

Albert Einstein

You've completely lost me with the comment about Fischer learning chess from Pandolfini. Maybe it's a joke that doesn't translate.

It's debatable to me whether Fischer was ever crazy at all, or whether he just never grew up. He didn't have a father, he never had a job or any responsibility. He never learned a lot of things that most people learn, and it seemed like there were a lot of people who wanted to make sure he never did, as if they got vicarious enjoyment from his living that way.

I have a friend who's a hard core Fischertarian, in the religious sense. So much so that she's decided in her mind that Fischer got in trouble with the IRS because somebody reported him, and wants that person to literally go to hell. It's more likely that no such person exists, and Fischer only drew the attention of the IRS after so many years because a) because he became an international criminal, and b) because he finally had enough money for the IRS to smell. Nobody cares whether you pay when your tax bill would be 98¢ anyway. But when you win three and a half million dollars, they perk up.

I've had many discussions with this person. She discounts anything wrong Fischer did with the assurance that he was crazy, therefore not responsible for anything. But the moment you discount something she likes on the grounds that he was crazy, therefore unreliable, she does an about face and insists that you can't call him crazy because he was never diagnosed as such, et cetera. It's irrational, but this is an emotional process, not a logical one. Joshka is that way, only worse, as he deliberately spreads misinformation to the unsuspecting.

<Chess is still very much alive without Fischer There were many who tried to destroy the game or 1.d4 _But they didn't succeed.>

That's a behavior very well known in sci-fi and other fandoms. People who leave a club often aren't content to just leave it. They don't want the club continuing to exist without them, and try to wreck the joint on their way out. Thus, in Fischer's mind, the world title DIDN'T go on without him. All the games in all the matches played after 1972 were pre-arranged move for move. They didn't really happen.

I really shouldn't be commenting, as I only glanced at the thread. But the above really caught my eye, coming from such a knowledgeable poster.

So, if I may ask <Petrosianic>-

How do regard the supposedly credible story that Fischer had all his fillings removed because he feared they could be used for radio transmissions?

Fischer was not crazy but disturbed, unique, odd, gifted...those that knew him say he was OK. I doubt if Mr Polgar would have let a crazy person near his daughters.

Remember the Russians had Spassky's chair dismantled to see if there was some kind of James Bond-style device inside making Spassky play badly. (According to Korchnoi, that story was NOT printed in Russia, by the way, only in the western press).

I'm not saying Fischer couldn't have been crazy, only that it's not clear. I don't know if this story happened at all, or when it did, if it did. It's certainly deeply paranoid if true. Although with Russia the line between paranoia and reasonable fears is blurry. If I told you before it happened that Alexander Litvinenko would be murdered by radiation poisoning, that would probably sound crazy.

But was Fischer crazy when he accused Korchnoi of throwing games at Curacao? Or just paranoid? Was Fischer crazy when he accused Botvinnik of getting advice from his low-rated team captain? Or just a bad sport who didn't know how to keep the excuses plausible-sounding? If he was crazy, when did he go crazy? After winning the title, or before? Was he crazy when he tried to have Bob Ellsworth killed, or just a bad guy with no fear of accountability?