Sadler Scores 7/7 in Wageningen

[Geoff Chandler]

"introverted, socially maladjusted nerds.....Fischer was one glaring example."

This an example of shooting ourselves in the foot.

Did you know Fischer? Did you meet Fischer?

Or are you basing your statement on comments made by non-chess players?

In his later Years Fischer became mentally unwell. That is not a crime.

He left us some wonderful beautiful games and brought chess into
the living rooms and onto the front pages all around the world.
We should defend and praise this man for what he done for chess.
Not label him a '..socially maladjusted nerd.' because later in life
he became ill.

There is one regular contributer on this forum who actually met
and played with Bobby. I'd like to hear his views on this matter.

Of course Nerdy types inflitrate chess. I'm one. Ashed you are too.

But if I catch a non-chess player calling you a nerd because you
play chess. I'd rip him to pieces.

[Arshad Ali]

Of course Nerdy types inflitrate chess. I'm one. Arshad you are too.

But if I catch a non-chess player calling you a nerd because you
play chess. I'd rip him to pieces.

But why? There's a large element of truth in it. It's a bookish game. Most serious players have chess libraries and they're immersed in books. If not in books, then in computer databases and engines. So why take umbrage at the description?

Fischer's games are beside the point (just as Alekhine's games would be beside the point if we were analysing him). I don't see anything in the later Fischer that I didn't see in the younger one. Please understand: I'm not criticising him; I'm describing him. Anyone who can shut himself in a hotel room to study endings for three months has to be an introvert.

I've no problem with Fischer. I enjoy some of his outbursts (which can be seen or heard on Youtube). I enjoyed it when he called Karpov, Korchnoi, and Kasparov the three lowest dogs around (though manifestly untrue). I liked it when he spat on the letter from the State Department advising him not to play in Sarajevo in 1992. I liked it when it took six security guards to restrain him at Tokyo Airport. But let's not kid ourselves and say he was socially well-adjusted. For that you would have to look at someone like Karpov or Spassky or Anand.

[Gavin Strachan]

At Brentwood next week we have our annual Geeks v Anoraks match. Who ever said we were stereotypical.

[Geoff Chandler]

"But why? "

Because I won't have NPC's having a go at chess players or chess.
We can poke fun and slag each other off. But not blinkered outsiders.

They know nothing about the game.
I always defend it and it's players no matter who they are.

I found nothing funny in the Fischer 'outbursts' just a a sad feeling
that this man should never have been allowed near a microphone
in his condition.
Journalist looking for cheap copy goading an ill man into doing
and saying silly things.

In the film I saw you can hear one of them saying;
"Spit on it Bobby, spit on it."

I can't see how you can say Fischer's games don't matter
or are beside the point. They are the point.
If Fischer never played these played games and was not not
who he was then we would never have heard of him.

And locking yourself away for 3 months to study endings
is dedication to the game in spades.

Locking yourself away for 3 months and doing nothing
but avoiding people. That is being a introvert.

[Mark Howitt]

Just as a quick point- having spent time away from the chess community I do have to say some people in it are a bit... 'chessically introverted'- and I know because I was at one point! What other chessplayers did years and years ago doesn't really have a bearing on your life now.

[Keith Arkell]

When I go to a nightclub,or the,supermarket,or watch politicians at Parliament,or listen to conversations going on around me on the train,I don't get the impression that these people are saner,brighter,more witty,more erudite,or better all round company than my fellow chess players.

I don't think that this business of generating a negative image towards chess and chess players is exclusive to these shores either.America suffers from it too.There is a terrible line in the book ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'' where the author claims that chess players are people who are '' defeated in some fundamental way''.

What we need on the inside are people who have the power of the pen,the charm,and the wit of a Bill Hartston,but who,instead of the underlying theme of ''chess keeps mad people sane'',are prepared to sing the glories of chess and chess players. Then perhaps people in the outside world will begin to listen,and to believe us!

How refreshing to hear Karpov speak of the delights of chess,and how lucky every chess player is to have discovered the game;and then to see him sitting there with a smile playing chess with a small child(check it out on utube).This man,with his billions of dollars,and his political ambitions.

Irrespective of whether I ever reach the levels towards which I once aspired(whether that be to play for my country or to become world champion!),in the unlikely event that I ever quit chess for good and do well in some other walk of life,I will never belittle,or look down upon chess players and the delightful chess life.

[Ian Kingston]

I've noticed one current positive depiction of chess in the media. Boots are running a TV advert for a weight loss programme in which a woman's colleagues are discussing her wonderful new man, who is (among other things) a 'chess genius'. It took me pleasantly by surprise.

[Arshad Ali]

I don't think that this business of generating a negative image towards chess and chess players is exclusive to these shores either.America suffers from it too.There is a terrible line in the book ''Searching for Bobby Fischer'' where the author claims that chess players are people who are '' defeated in some fundamental way''.

I was going to cite this line by Fred Waitzkin myself. Though mind, he was talking of American players. There may be something to what he says: American chess players seem to be even more socially maladroit and gauche than the run-of-the-mill American.

Perhaps the public is uncomfortable with the idea of anyone -- chess player or mathematician -- who can concentrate on anything for a protracted period of time. So against the grain of modern life, where we're immersed in perpetual distraction and most of us have acquired the learned incapacity to fix our attention on anything for more than a moment. And chess seems, well, such a monumental waste of time: all that concentration and effort for a mere game? Is there nothing else to do? Are chess players idlers and bums who couldn't make it in real life and use chess as something to fill their hours? This is the public perception, the public suspicion.

[Justin Hadi]

Perhaps the public is uncomfortable with the idea of anyone -- chess player or mathematician -- who can concentrate on anything for a protracted period of time.

Oh dear!

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Keith,

You are right about Kaprov.

I spent 2-3 hours with Karpov, just him and me in the Edinburgh Chess Club
in 1984. He wanted a secret visit and I was nominated to show him around.

We were like two kids in a chocolate factory. He really does love the game.

One of the greatest memories of my life.

It beat hands down watching my children getting born.
I kept thinking how many grading points I was going to lose
having to look after these new people.

[carstenpedersen]

What we need on the inside are people who have the power of the pen,the charm,and the wit of a Bill Hartston,but who,instead of the underlying theme of ''chess keeps mad people sane'',are prepared to sing the glories of chess and chess players.

Actually, I've always been lead to believe the comment "Chess doesn't drive people mad, it keeps mad people sane." was by Hartston, so a slightly unfortunate example.

Saying that, I've never seen the original source, so I could be wrong. Does anyone know where this comment comes from?

[Mark Howitt]

Just to balance it and give you my complete thoughts on the subject... I think some chessplayers are some of the smartest and most interesting people I've met. In fact, the people who reach it to the top, or close, at chess are often highly skilled at other things too. Those are the people who should be presented to the media to pump up the image of the game.

[Keith Arkell]

Hi Geoff,
Tremendous story! You met the real Karpov,friendly and charming,but
unfairly vilified for years by the English chess press.

Hi Carsten,
This was my point. If only Bill Hartston had used his great wit to
sing the praises of chess players,rather than leading his readers to
believe that chess is some kind of prozac which we indulge in so that we
don't go completely bonkers

[Gareth Harley-Yeo]

I wonder if talking about the latest innovation in the Ruy Lopez would do the trick in small talk with a woman?

I don't think the subject itself is taboo; it's more to do with the person who's doing the talking. For example, I spent 10 minutes last night talking to a girl where I explained how and why clocks are used in chess. She became so interested in the subject she's going to accompany me this weekend in Sunningdale.

Any subject can be made interesting; much depends on the enthusiasm of the orator.

[LozCooper]

I wonder if talking about the latest innovation in the Ruy Lopez would do the trick in small talk with a woman?

I don't think the subject itself is taboo; it's more to do with the person who's doing the talking. For example, I spent 10 minutes last night talking to a girl where I explained how and why clocks are used in chess. She became so interested in the subject she's going to accompany me this weekend in Sunningdale.

Any subject can be made interesting; much depends on the enthusiasm of the orator.

Lol. Obviously where I've been going wrong with my chat up lines