Bobby Fischer died today. I don't want to give the impression that I admired him - he was a vicious anti-semite, among other things - but I was always sort of fascinated by the guy, despite the fact that, before I added the relevant Facebook application, I probably hadn't played a game of chess for non-instructional purposes in about a decade. I remember hearing on September 11 that Fischer had given an interview in praise of the attacks; it added to the surreal nature of that day more than most things could have.
Einarr Einarrson, apparently the chair of a "Fischer support group" in Iceland, is quoted as saying "He was not a man who wanted to seek medical attention. He didn't believe in Western medicine." Of course he didn't.
The world has lost an eccentric genius.
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I think "fascinated" is the best possible word to describe my sentiments towards him as well. I remember following his extradition case quite closely when he turned up in Japan a few years ago (which was when Iceland offered him asylum). He was demonstrably paranoid-delusional right down to the use of his name (and I think that condition is the source of anything he said that we may consider reprehensible, which is admittedly a lot), but I think the way he was treated by the United States government and society at large was not at all constructive, and certainly didn't help.
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