Download Bobby Fischer Against The World | HBO Documentary

Release Date (UK) – 15^th July 2011
Certificate (UK) – 12A
Runtime – 93 Minute
Director – Liz Garbus
Country – USA Bobby Fischer Against The World is a compelling yet tragic biographic documentary on the life of the world chess champion, and arguably the best chess player ever, Bobby Fischer. The film follows his bizarre life, beginning from his first introduction to fame when he became the United States Chess Champion at the age of 15, to the famous world chess championships in Iceland in 1972, to his growing delusional paranoia. He discovered chess at the age of 6 and never looked back, and the film expertly portrays how this game from the 6th Century ultimately defined and eventually consumed his life. Bobby’s years of studying and playing chess all led up to the biggest match of his career, The World Chess Championship. This 1972 match against the Russian Boris Spassky became as popular as the American Superbowl at the time, with people taking time off work just to watch it. This, as well as the previous games and tournaments he won, rendered him an iconic figure during the cold war. After disappearing from the public eye for decades he returned in a comeback match with Spassky, both were a shadow of their former selves. However he disobeyed America to play the match in Yugoslavia (which was under UN embargo) which meant he became a wanted man and could not return to his home country. He became increasingly anti-Semitic and anti-American. Although at times difficult to watch ( a particularly awful press conference in which everyone is left speechless is an awkward moment revealing what Fischer has become) the film is a portrait of his troubled genius that reveals many layers to Fischer. Throughout the film there are fascinating interviews with Fischer’s old friends and acquaintances. These are insightful and intercut with original footage of his matches, interviews that he himself gave and brilliant still photographs. The photographs in particular reveal a side which cannot be fully understood through interviews or footage of the matches he played, many of the photographs are of Fischer exercising and swimming which reveal a lighter side to him. Some of the most touching photos are of Fischer walking in the hills once he has won the world chess championship.

Bobby Fischer Against The World is darkly humorous throughout, raising unexpected laughs, especially from the young Fischer’s dry laconic wit. After he wins the World Championship he is asked what he is going to do, his reply was that his goal now was to play more chess, “I don’t feel I’ve played enough chess”. Along with this wit however it is possible to see a man whose psyche deteriorates as his life goes on, becoming more neurotic and paranoid. The sheer scope of the film in impressive, we glimpse into not just his professional chess career but also into his personal life and his lost childhood. His family life was unstable, his mother moved him and his sister around lots when he was young and from this came a disconnection with his mother which never recovered. After only finding out who his father was once he had died this too affected Fischer on a deeply personal level.

Here is an insightful and compelling documentary which follows Bobby Fischer through his turbulent life; the highs of being the chess champion of the world to the devastating lows of paranoia. It appears that his genius and mental illness are joined together and become impossible to separate. Even if you are not a fan of chess (I know next to nothing of the game) this film is captivating and brings an in depth view into Fischer’s life and the genius that he was, and at times how this and his global recognition were his biggest burden. This tale of the rise and fall of a genius is as sad as it is captivating.
 

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Bobby: You Deserve Better

We live in a strange world.

The body of chess icon Bobby Fischer might be exhumed from its Icelandic grave because of a legal squabble among prospective heirs.

The would-be heirs include two nephews; his putative Filipino wife and child; and his Japanese companion, who has made spousal claims but has been unable to provide a valid marriage certificate.

The rationale for the exhumation is that DNA reclaimed from it will help resolve the dispute over his estate, which could be worth more than $3million.

The notion of " Requiescat in pace" ("May he rest in peace") has become as outmoded as the notion of privacy in our modern culture.

I'm reminded of the bizarre claim on the remains of Ted Williams, perhaps the greatest pure hitter in baseball history - who died in 2002.

His head was placed in the custody of a cryogenic company by a son in the expectation that the Red Sox star could be restored to life with future advances of science.

It's ironic that two competitive giants who fought the news media to draw a protective circle around their private world should suffer such public indignities after their demise.

Bobby and Ted: You deserve better.

Article Source : Dispatch

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Fischer May Still Not Be Able to Rest in Peace

After his death on January 17, 2008 an Icelandic court awarded Bobby Fischer's estate to his wife Miyoko Watai. Then Marilyn Young, Fischer's "Filipina live-in partner", filed a claim on behalf of her eight-year-old daughter Jinky, who she says was fathered by the former World Champion. Now it appears the case will be settled by the disinterment of Fischer's remains for DNA testing. 

  

Fischer’s remains to be exhumed

In a bizarre twist to the battle for the estate left by the late chess legend Bobby Fischer, lawyer Sammy Estimo revealed that the remains of the chess icon will be exhumed soon.

Estimo, lawyer of Fischer's Filipino child, Jinky Young, said that Judge Sigrun Gudmundsdottir of the Icelandic probate court found no DNA samples of Fischer at the National Hospital in Iceland, where the ex-world champion died on January 17, 2008 of renal failure. Because of this development, Estimo and his collaborating Icelandic lawyer,Thordur Bogason, were left with no other recourse but to request the court to issue an order for the exhumation of Bobby's remains for DNA samples to be tested with the blood samples extracted from Jinky when she went to Iceland in December last year.

Jinky, Fischer's nephews and the Japanese Miyoko Watai, who claims to have married Fischer in 2004, are claimants to the PHP 140 million [three million US$] and gold deposits left by the chess genius at the Landsbanki in Reykjavik. Fischer also purchased real estate properties in Iceland, where he became a citizen after his release from a Japanese airport prison in 2005.
Lawyer Estimo, Jinky, Marilyn, GM Eugene Torre at Fischer's grave

Bobby Fischer with Jinky Young and "live-in partner" Marilyn Young in 2004

In a decision issued by the Supreme Court of Iceland in December last year, Watai's marriage to Fischer was invalidated because of the failure of the Japanese to present the original of their alleged marriage certificate.

On April 16, Judge Gudmundsdottir will resolve the request of Jinky for the disinterment of her father's remains in a cemetery in Selfoss town, south Iceland.

Estimo had predicted before that this saga would reach this far – for Bobby Fischer to rise again and provide the solution to this puzzle on his estate!

Lawyer Samuel Estimo
Counsel of Jinky Young, Fischer's daughter

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DNA testing with 23andMe

It occurs to us that there is an inexpensive and uncomplicated alternative to digging up the remains of Fischer to extract DNA samples for testing against those of Jinky Young. The company 23andMe, a privately held personal genomics and biotechnology company (co-founded by Anne Wojcicki, who is married to Google co-founder Sergey Brin) provides a service that genotypes DNA samples and can map the ancestry of a subject.

A single sample – in the form of saliva – taken from Jinky Young will provide a map of her DNA family tree, going back many generations. If the map shows ancestry in Hungary and the US, where Fischer's parents originated, then further tests are justified. If they are only in Asia or the Philippines then it would be clear that Fischer is not the father of Jinky – without having to extract DNA from an exhumed body.

The cost of a 23andMe is $399 for ancestry. The DNA mapping can also be conducted by many hospital facilities.

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Related ChessBase reports

Bobby Fischer dies in Iceland 18.01.2008 – One of the world's greatest chess geniuses, Bobby Fischer, has died at the age of 64. A spokesman for Fischer said the former world chess champion passed away in a Reykjavik hospital yesterday. The US-born former world chess champion, who became famous around the world for beating the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky in 1972, had been seriously ill for some time. Rest in Peace, Bobby.

Bobby Fischer – his final weeks 25.01.2008 – One of the greatest chess legends, the eleventh world champion Robert Bobby Fischer, passed on January 17, 2008. The cause of death was renal failure. He was quietly buried by his closest friends at a cemetery in the countryside he loved. Controversy is arising due to the secrecy of the burial, but we are convinced it was conducted according to his personal wishes. Report and tributes.

Bobby Fischer buried in Iceland 22.01.2008 – Chess legend Robert James Fischer, eleventh world champion, was laid to rest in the cemetery of Laugardalur Church outside the town of Selfoss, 60 km south of Reykjavik. Fischer, who died of kidney failure, had requested that only a handful of people be present at the funeral – amongst them Fischer's companion, Miyoko Watai. We bring you the wire reports and a statement by Garry Kasparov.

First anniversary of Bobby Fischer's death 17.01.2009 – Exactly one year ago a great chess legend died, at the age of 64. Bobby Fischer was buried without ceremony in a private cemetery in southern Iceland, which now has a simple headstone – a reader sent us a picture. In a commemorative article we remember Bobby with an inspiring story from his childhood – "The Sicilian Vespers" and with links to his Sixty Memorable ChessBase Reports.

Iceland: Fischer's estate, his final resting place 10.11.2009 – The chess legend Bobby Fischer died in Iceland on January 17, 2008. He was buried in the compound of a church in Selfoss, 60 km from the capital Reykjavik. Since then there has been a battle over his estate, which is claimed by his nephews Alexander and Nicholas Targ. Now the Reykjavik Discrict Court has ruled in favour of Fischer's lawfully wedded wife, Miyoko Watai. Pictorial report.

Fischer's daughter Jinky files claim to his estate 11.11.2009 – Yesterday we published a report on an Islandic court awarding Fischer's estate to his lawfully wedded wife Miyoko Watai. Today we received a message from Marilyn Young, Fischer's "Filipina live-in partner", who is seeking justice for her and Fischer's eight-year-old daughter Jinky. The two are on their way to Iceland to file their claim. Marilyn has sent us some fairly compelling photographic evidence.

Marilyn and Jinky visit Fischer's tomb 05.12.2009 – As we reported some weeks ago, Marilyn young, Bobby Fischer's "Filipina live-in partner", is claiming rights to the late champion's estate for their common daughter Jinky. The claim has been filed with Icelandic courts, and during their visit a blood sample was drawn from Jinky and submitted for DNA ananlysis. Marilyn's lawyer Samuel Estimo sent us the following report from Reykjavik.

On Fischer and Miyoko Watai

'Fischer and Miyoko were indeed married' 27.01.2008 – Did Bobby Fischer marry the president of the Japan Chess Association, Miyoko Watai, with whom he lived for some years in Japan? This question moves out of the gossip columns and requires serious investigation as questions are raised in the press about the legality of Fischer's "secret burial" – and the fate of his estate, estimated at about £1.5 million. We have received a letter from a close associate.

'We want to live together forever' 01.09.2004 – She collected pictures of her chess hero after his match with Boris Spassky in 1972. One year later they met in Tokyo – the start of a romance spanning decades. Since four years the two have lived together in downtown Kamata in Tokyo's Ota Ward. In an exclusive interview for ChessBase Miyoko Watai tells us the story of her life with Bobby Fischer.

'Bobby Fischer and I have decided to marry' 17.08.2004 – Bobby Fischer, the former world chess champion, plans to marry the president of the Japan Chess Association (and four-time Japanese women's champion) Miyoko Watai. This was reported in newspapers and wire services last night. Now Watai-san has sent us a statement explaining the background of her personal relationship with Fischer.

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