Fischer's Friend

For anyone who are interested writing about the late Bobby Fischer's life, here's the people one should always bear in mind. They will be a great source about Fischer's over all honor and stigma. All the comments though about him by his friends just simply canonized him but so much negative things have been marked against Fischer that for some of us who doesn't really know who the real Bobby Fischer was, it was a breath of fresh air. He may not be as bad as we might think of him, well, I'm just being objective and fair even with the dead people. Excerpt from Dylan Loeb McClain New York Times Chess Blog, Gambit:

“All of them are unhappy about the fight over his estate and about the recent procedure to extract D.N.A. from his remains to perform a test to determine if he is the father of a nine-year-old Filipino girl.

"He was a very nice and caring person,” Einarsson said. “At the same time he was very stubborn. We always took him for what he was.”

Saemundur Palsson, a former chief inspector in the Icelandic police, who served as Fischer’s bodyguard during the 1972 match, had a falling out with Fischer some months before he died. But, he still describes him as “nice” and “a good man.” He said that before they argued, they often ate and went swimming together. “He called me ‘Bro’ all time,” Palsson said, adding, “I miss him.”

Dr. Magnus Skulason, a psychiatrist, who also served on the committee that worked to free Fischer, said that he did not get to know him well until he was hospitalized near the end of his life. Then he kept him company, as Fischer did not want to be alone.

Dr. Skulason said that when they first met, Fischer, knowing of his profession, joked that “he was so normal that he was almost boring.” After getting to know Fischer a bit, Skulason said, “He was not crazy. Not at all. He was very hurt about being outlaw from his own country.”

Skulason said Fischer certainly had issues. “He had a fear of authorities, maybe because of his mother’s political activities,” he said, and added, “He was unprepared to become so famous at an early age.”