Jan

19

We have read a fair number anecdotes, biographies and controversies, but perhaps another way to look at Bobby Fischer is to think about what we can learn from him in terms of both life and any applications of his life and chess as they apply to the markets.

Independent thinking and willingness and adaptability to live in any number of places: Iceland, Japan, Philippines, and Hungary. Having been to or lived in all of them I can attest to the fact they are all vastly different. Fischer also demonstrated his ability and the longevity of his talents by making a comeback, on his own terms, as in his match with Boris Spassky in 1992. Or, when it seems as victory is improbable to make a dramatic and hard fought comeback as in his 1972 match against Spassky. How many times does the market make us question our own abilities and how needed it is to focus on ones methods and talents while still evolving and improving to achieve success? The need to be aggressive at all times whether it is attacking or using subterfuge as seems to be the case in his match against the grandmaster Robert Byrne.

This is not a suggestion to disregard or ignore his many faults but rather so that we can focus and learn from many of his positive attributes as well. Fischer's almost single-mindedness on Chess and his many transfers and incarnations also seem to have limited the scope of his achievements and therefore what could have been learned from him. As in nature when a tree grows, or is transplanted, it needs the root structure to support a broadening of the branch material and growth above.

Not being an expert on chess or Fischer, or life, I welcome all other suggestions and observations.

Laurence Glazier adds:

An icon of my youth gone, and the same applies for many of us.

It's a big question what to do about great artists who became antisemitic. Most notably in music, Wagner; and there is an open debate in Israel whether to hear his music.

I was never a fan of the recently late Karlheinz Stockhausen, but I listened to him no more after he psychopathically described 9-11 as a great work of art.

We have to take a broader view. Should we deprive ourselves of the works of DH Lawrence and TS Elliot because they were tainted as children with pervasive cultural prejudice? To boycott all literature by antisemitic English authors pre 1950 would leave very few (George Orwell a notable exception).

Bobby Fischer?

Probably not an Icarus, more a Narcissus who, lacking a mentor to grab his shoulder, fell - ever unaware - through the squared pool into muddy waters.

GM Nigel Davies adds:

I think there are many things to be learned from Fischer. Here's what comes to my mind:

1) Work rate: Fischer's 'remarkable' comeback becomes more comprehensible when one realises that all he ever did during his 20 year break was to study chess. I heard stories about his time in Hungary, that anyone seeking an audience was well advised to send in some of the latest chess books and magazines as a peace offering.

If you read 'Bobby Fischer goes to War' the comparison with the Russians becomes clear. In their training camps they studied a little chess in the mornings and then got the cards and booze out at midday.

2) Ascetic Lifestyle: Bent Larsen told me a funny story once about how he had to rescue a bottle of cognac from Fischer when the latter was intent on pouring it down the sink. Fischer also took a lot of exercise during his best years, mainly swimming I understand.

3) Learning from history: Fischer had a remarkable breadth of knowledge, studying the old games as well as the new. Amongst the openings Fischer rehabilitated were the Bishop's Gambit, the Evans Gambit and the Exchange Spanish.

4) Will to win: Fischer's disdain for short draws is well documented, one of the most famous examples being to laugh when Geller (who had a big plus score against Fischer at the time) offered him a draw on move 7 in their game at the Sousse Interzonal.

5) Preparation: Fischer took opening preparation to new levels of excellence, a trait which Garry Kasparov was to emulate in later years.

A few more will probably occur to me, Fischer was a truly remarkable player whose play was greatly respected (feared) by his rivals.
 


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4 Comments so far

  1. James Miles on January 19, 2008 3:03 pm

    If you want to improve your chess, you should study Fischer's games. But, considerably before the full extent of his long unraveling became evident, Fischer had become an extreme lesson in the risks of obsessive focus on one activity.

    His main lesson for market practitioners was his boyhood practice of playing both sides of the board with equal ferocity in order to find the answer to every position: how many of us argue with ourselves that hard?

    Surely, it stops there. The success of Fischer's antics at Reykjavik probably encouraged him to push things even further when discussing the defence of his title. He pushed too far had it taken from him, having misunderstood human limits. Given he undermined even his own chess reign, his need for control and fear of failure meant he could not have handled the continuous nature of markets where your multiple opponents will make several moves at once. And his lack of breadth, of interest in any intellectual activity beyond Chess, hardly set him up to comment on world affairs from a balanced perspective based on knowledge.

    Fischer's positive value lies in his feats on the board. What beautiful feats they were.

  2. George Parkanyi on January 20, 2008 1:42 pm

    Passion and intense concentration. Those would be attributes I think you could transfer to the markets.

    When I played chess, there was nothing more satisfying than the warm, hazy mental fatigue/exhilaration you feel after winning a hard-fought, intense 5-hour tournament battle. You don’t realize until its over how much of yourself you leave on that board. And when you’re the winner - what a distilled feeling of achievement!

    So remember that great trade that that gave you fits and made you doubt your manhood/womanhood, but then at the darkest hour turned and went on to become one of your biggest winners. Any similarities?

    Cheers,
    George

  3. bob on January 21, 2008 4:39 pm

    In terms of learning from both his faults and his successes, one important lesson is that Bobby Fischer won when he played on his own terms and lost when he couldn’t. Warren Buffett has also espoused his belief in this doctrine for investing.
    Bobby Fischer, in fighting against his own government, clearly couldn’t compete and lost it completely. On the other hand, when he was able to dictate every aspect of play he won consistently and spectacularly, even defeating the juggernaut that was the USSR. His mind and style of play were in fact perfectly suited to win against this opponent because he did not play by their rules, or any rules they could understand.
    If the markets are zero-sum competitions, then this same strategy will apply. Define a game you can win and play that.

  4. Macauley on January 23, 2008 8:33 pm

    A short mini-doc I shot at the ongoing Corus tournament, in which top grandmasters share their recollections of Fischer, on the day after his death:
    http://blip.tv/file/609251

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