1. Standard membermchill
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    25 Apr '17 07:36
    If Bobby Fischer had stayed in mental and physical shape, and not had his "issues" with paranoia, antisemitism etc. how long could Fischer have stayed on top as world champion? My guess is about 12 years, before finally losing to Kasparov. This would have pushed Karpov down a notch. Any other estimates?
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    25 Apr '17 13:581 edit
    This is so hypothetical and only thing which (thanks God!) will prevent it from turning into irritating feuds in line with "Who is better: Messi or Ronaldo? No, Ronaldinho. No, Ronaldo with teeth. No no Pele. He played with pathetic midgets! No no no, Puskás Ferenc was best ever..." only thing which will prevent from it is, hopefully, the fact that only few people takes word here.

    I love Fischer, and would root for him in any match if he had any or if he resurrected somehow, but as much I cannot guess what Morphy would have done against, say, John Nunn or Jan Timman (*from their 1990s' peak form) I cannot predict such "what if" things as how Fischer's eventual reign would have lasted.
  3. Subscribersonhouse
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    25 Apr '17 14:28
    Originally posted by vandervelde
    This is so hypothetical and only thing which (thanks God!) will prevent it from turning into irritating feuds in line with "Who is better: Messi or Ronaldo? No, Ronaldinho. No, Ronaldo with teeth. No no Pele. He played with pathetic midgets! No no no, Puskás Ferenc was best ever..." only thing which will prevent from it is, hopefully, the fact tha ...[text shortened]... form) I cannot predict such "what if" things as how Fischer's eventual reign would have lasted.
    Like a Fischer-Morphy match, I think Bobby would have wiped Morph off the board.
  4. Standard memberBigDogg
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    25 Apr '17 17:341 edit
    Originally posted by sonhouse
    Like a Fischer-Morphy match, I think Bobby would have wiped Morph off the board.
    The advantage in theory is too great. This is not a knock on Morphy. One brilliant mind simply can't match decades of collaboration by several brilliant minds.

    Edit: I should also add that Fischer once said [paraphrased] that "Morphy would beat any man alive today in a set match. He had complete sight of the board and almost never blundered. In Solitaire chess against his old games, it has sometimes taken me 20 minutes to find the proper response to some of his moves."
  5. Subscribersonhouse
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    25 Apr '17 19:15
    Originally posted by BigDoggProblem
    The advantage in theory is too great. This is not a knock on Morphy. One brilliant mind simply can't match decades of collaboration by several brilliant minds.

    Edit: I should also add that Fischer once said [paraphrased] that "Morphy would beat any man alive today in a set match. He had complete sight of the board and almost never blundered. In Sol ...[text shortened]... d games, it has sometimes taken me 20 minutes to find the proper response to some of his moves."
    And 20 YEARS for us🙂
  6. Subscribermoonbus
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    26 Apr '17 11:44
    Every star fades, sooner or later. I doubt Fischer would have held his title against Kasparov.
  7. Subscribersonhouse
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    28 Apr '17 18:43
    Originally posted by moonbus
    Every star fades, sooner or later. I doubt Fischer would have held his title against Kasparov.
    Wouldn't it have been by the time of K's rise, youth V experience? Usually youth winning?
  8. Standard membervivify
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    28 Apr '17 20:30
    Originally posted by mchill
    If Bobby Fischer had stayed in mental and physical shape, and not had his "issues" with paranoia, antisemitism etc. how long could Fischer have stayed on top as world champion? My guess is about 12 years, before finally losing to Kasparov. This would have pushed Karpov down a notch. Any other estimates?
    Not much longer. Remember, in order to become World Champion, Fischer had a long list of demands he required in order to play Spassky. Fischer had another list of demands for the match against Karpov, which included a scoring system that would give him an advantage. That scoring system was the only thing not agreed to on his long list, and he resigned.

    Honestly, had Boris not agreed to Fischer's demands, Boris would've won by default. Fischer was far too needy for competitive chess, and that would've been his undoing, sooner rather than later.
  9. Standard memberBigDogg
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    29 Apr '17 02:39
    Originally posted by vivify
    Not much longer. Remember, in order to become World Champion, Fischer had a long list of demands he required in order to play Spassky. Fischer had another list of demands for the match against Karpov, which included a scoring system that would give him an advantage. That scoring system was the only thing not agreed to on his long list, and he resigned.
    ...[text shortened]... r too needy for competitive chess, and that would've been his undoing, sooner rather than later.
    Up to a point, Fischer's "neediness" served both him, and future professional players, very well. It increased prize money for tourneys and world championship matches.

    It also didn't hurt that psychologically, his opponents couldn't do much but grumble about organizers bending over backwards to meet his demands. One (I forget who) likened it to a "cult of personality" that made it seem like the organizers were working with him, against everyone else.

    But then, after he won, he wasted a golden opportunity to bring major corporate sponsorship and media attention to the game. He turned down almost every endorsement deal offered him.
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    29 Apr '17 07:26
    Originally posted by mchill
    If Bobby Fischer had stayed in mental and physical shape, and not had his "issues" with paranoia, antisemitism etc. how long could Fischer have stayed on top as world champion? My guess is about 12 years, before finally losing to Kasparov. This would have pushed Karpov down a notch. Any other estimates?
    Als je dat echt meent : scheiden koste wat kost, dan is dat een argument temeer om dringend met CAW te gaan praten. Misschien praten ze het uit jouw hoofd maar brengen ze dingen aan die je wel kan doen.

    Het zou in elk geval Jan ook raken - financieel en wat betreft zijn 'almachtigheid', die zou een deuk krijgen. Maar misschien kan je dat anders ook. Maar in zijn plaats hem voor een hogere wedde doen gaan, dat kan je niet.
  11. Subscribersonhouse
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    30 Apr '17 00:56
    Originally posted by Mephisto2
    Als je dat echt meent : scheiden koste wat kost, dan is dat een argument temeer om dringend met CAW te gaan praten. Misschien praten ze het uit jouw hoofd maar brengen ze dingen aan die je wel kan doen.

    Het zou in elk geval Jan ook raken - financieel en wat betreft zijn 'almachtigheid', die zou een deuk krijgen. Maar misschien kan je dat anders ook. Maar in zijn plaats hem voor een hogere wedde doen gaan, dat kan je niet.
    I think this is Swedish but it doesn't make much sense. Is this right?:


    If you really mean that separating costs at a cost, then that's an argument rather than talking urgently to CAW. Perhaps they talk it out of your mind, but they bring things you can do.

    It would in any case happen to Jan - financially and in terms of his 'almighty' that would be a fool. But maybe you can do that too. But in his place to go for a higher bet, you can not.
  12. Standard memberMoxlonibus
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    02 May '17 02:01
    If he hadn't had his issues would have ever been?
  13. Standard memberBigDogg
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    02 May '17 19:46
    Originally posted by Moxlonibus
    If he hadn't had his issues would have ever been?
    Come again?
  14. Standard memberMoxlonibus
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    03 May '17 00:348 edits
    Rather than, "Would Fischer have continued, and how long without his issues?" If Fischer hadn't had his issues, would he have had the drive to begin? I play chess to block out the strife in life. My game is much better when it all hits the fan in the day to day... I play to shut the brain off, rather than use drugs or alcohol; it keeps me preoccupied so I don't worry about the uncontrollable. And every so often the game becomes the issue and doesn't help, but adds to the worry...
  15. Subscribermoonbus
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    05 May '17 20:07
    It is an interesting possibility that if Fischer had been a more normal human being, he might have been a less gifted chess player. Hard to test though, since we have no control-Fischer to 'experiment' on.
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