Bobby Fischer

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.