Indeed, damn shame too. I used to study all his games, read books on him and spassky, etc. I could tell he was a little nutty then - had no idea how nutty he really was until the last few years... 9 posted on 02/03/2003 7:35 PM PST by chance33_98 (Freedom is not Free)
I'm the most meager of incompetent Chess novices ("fool" would be a better term) but I don't think that you can blame Chess for turning Fischer's brains into a bowl of oatmeal.
Bobby Fischer was born as Bobby Fischer. Chess is just the "outlet" in which this deranged autistic-savant founds his expression.
Fischer's "Chess IQ" is not only off the charts... there are no charts. By all accounts, his "Chess-IQ" is deep into the multiple hundreds at least -- if not the bloody thousands. His "Reality IQ" is, unfortunately, barely a few degrees above absolute zero.