When Fischer was becoming a burgeoning chess superstar, is said he wouldn't speak to people who didn't play chess, but showed contempt for weak players.
When asked why so cold, Fischer replied, "Anyone can be a master!"
Was he: lying?.... overly enthusiastic?..... crazy?
Pick one and please support (as you would any move), or compare/contrast.
I consider this a rather salient point for any serious chess player to ponder.
🙏
He was right. Given enough training hours, getting good at tactics first. Then building a decent opening repertoire. And knowing rook endgames reasonably well, make a master. Maybe 5000-6000 hours of training for a very average player.
I think he was constantly playing psychological games.
1) he wanted to be revered, he was annoyed when people thought less of him
2) he needed to feel confident OTB and so he psyched himself up
3) he wanted to instill fear into his opponents
4) he had a tough life and had to work hard for his success and had little sympathy
5) he was slightly crazy and was prone to saying very quippish / soundbyte type things.
"Anyone can be a master" was probably not showing enthusiasm for people who could succeed if they tried, but that reaching the level of master vs his level of chess skill was not an accomplishment - it is "easy"
Although, I'm not sure if this is something all chess peeps need ponder...but it's interesting and his standoffish style probably lent some psychological aspects to his gameplay.
If we are talking about adult improvers then 5000 hours for tactics training seems very little. And if he made twice as much practise he would probably peak at lichess puzzle rating 2200 then just fall down.
Help I want to tell you this quote inspired me and I'm already a master, but I can't solve the captcha.
I'm just going to use stockfish to solve it so I can post this.
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He was right. As long as you played, you can go from being a beginner to a grandmaster (if you practice).
He said awful things early in his life, too - he idolized Hitler back in his 20s, and got progressively worse as he aged. To say that Fischer was kind of a jerk makes me wonder what standards would qualify for a full-blown misanthrope.
As brilliant a player he was equally as loathsome as a human being.
These traits can be found in most people who have reached the top of their field. This trash talk is even found with average players from many sports. Of course, when used by Trump, it's false bravado to cover his many insecurities.
To be frank, who cares what Bobby Fischer thought about anything? Unless it has to do with variations, the guy was loonier than the snake that married the garden hose.
