December 27, 2005
By SHELBY LYMAN
Despite Bobby Fischer's often bizarre political and racial statements of the last decade and resultant pariah status, he remains a person to be taken seriously in matters of chess. On such issues he has usually, although not always, been deeply insightful and prescient. Fischer's youthful demands for professional conditions - like his play, itself - were far ahead of his time. Optimum lighting, suitably designed chess sets and boards, comfortable seating and table arrangements and adequate insulation from spectators and noise are now accepted as norms. Long before computers achieved proficiency, he predicted they would eventually dominate human players. Fischer's insistence that grandmasters should begin play from unfamiliar positions - random chess - is likely an indication of the direction in which the game is headed.His most laudable idea of recent years, "the Fischer clock", has had a revolutionary impact. Its design allows increments to be added to a player's allotted time after each move. Now standard in top-level tournaments, it helps manage the essential chaos of time pressure and brings a new flexibility to the game. Famously the kid from Brooklyn, Fischer is now a grizzled ex-patriot living in Iceland. Although he has not played serious chess for more than 30 years, he probably will continue to have an impact, one way or the other. |





