《by Dr. Frank Brady》.pdfVIP

What We Can Learn From Bobby Fischer by Dr. Frank Brady Nov. 19, 2011 Dallas, Texas Sometime in 1964 as I was walking to my apartment in Greenwich Village with Bobby Fischer, I offhandedly asked him if he would give me chess lessons, in return for my teaching him how to play billiards. He said, “Okay, for your first lesson, read and study every column of Modern Chess Openings, together with all the footnotes.” Realizing that was a monumental task, and thinking I might be able to shortchange it a bit, I asked him what the second lesson would be. “Do it all over again.” he said. I like to tell this story because in some ways it best illustrates Bobby’s approach to studying chess: he was a relentless student of the game. In his time, he was the most booked-up player in the world, and those were the Dallas Speech: What We Can Learn from Bobby Fischer aent to UofT 11-26-11 1 days without computers, making it considerably more difficult to access games from around the world. In my biography of Bobby, Endgame, I outlined many of the ways that he studied, but I recommend that you go back to My 60 Memorable Games, not just for the depth and beauty of his content, but also as a display of his scholarship of the game, filled with unique insights and references to games and treatises of the past. In Endgame, I wrote the following story, which might be worth repeating. I beg indulgence of those who have already read the book: ●●● In March of 1960 the 17-year-old Bobby was to fly to Mar del Plata, the seaside resort on Argentina’s Atlantic Dallas Speech: What We Can Learn from Bobby Fischer aent to UofT 11-26-11 2 coast, south of Buenos Aires. Bobby thought he would walk through the tournament easily until he learned that David Bronstein and Fridrik Ola