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The Bobby Fischer Home Page
http://bobbyfischer.net/

November 17, 2002

"Disclaimer

This page is a Fischer fan site.
Bobby cannot read any of these emails you may send to me, thinking they are intended to him.

Question: "Where is Bobby now?"
That is the #1 question I find coming to me via email.
Answer: I don't know. "

I had to chuckle when I read these words, posted prominently near the top of this site's home page. I imagine they receive way too much mail expecting to plug right into Bobby's brain.

This is a Fischer Fan site, and it plain to see the dedication of the site's publisher. Different sections highlight Fischer's tournament & match record, his opening & endgame play, and his opponents. While these lists merely sort & categorize the data from the 690 games the site attributes to Fischer, the analysis of his opening repertoire shows more effort. Here's an example of his responses to the French in each era of his career:

Early Years: "When faced with the French Defense, Fischer almost invariably invited the Winawer with 1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3. After the further moves 3...Bb4 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bc3 6.bc3, we arrive at the theoretically crucial position. [112, 171, 257, 284, 291, 298, 353, 383, 399]"

Middle years: "During this period, Fischer had uneven results against the French defense. He maintained his allegiance to 3.Nc3 inviting the Winawer variation, but many of his opponents chose less critical variations like the MacCutcheon and Burn variations. [414, 445, 464, 497, 504, 542]"

And the latter period: "Bobby stayed with 3.Nc3, still inviting the Winawer. He successfully experimented with 4.a3 vs. Uhlmann at Zagreb, 1970, but lost against Kovacevic with this move later in the same tournament. [584, 586, 599, 616, 655, 663, 669]"

One of the best features of this site is the incredible collection of photographs. Over 200 thumbnails show Bobby in all phases of his career, from awkward teen to World Champion to aging recluse. This is truly a fascinating visual record, which includes magazine covers and even a Fischer autograph. Another great resource offered at this site is "100 Notable Games in Bobby Fischer's Chess Career", which can be either downloaded or played through on the site. Each game comes with a brief introduction, but no annotation. Other features worth mentioning include a short Flash-format movie by Felix Jung (ending with "Come home. Come home.") and a collection of Fischer quotes ("People have been playing against me below their strength for fifteen years.").

Although the site is easy to navigate (at the bottom of each page are links to the major sections) I was mislead by the upper frame provided to each page, which contains what look like links to different sections, but which in fact do not function. The site lists 20 updates so far in 2002, and includes such other things as Fischer's radio interviews, and reprints of 35 different articles about Bobby, including authors such as Reuben Fine, Frank Brady, Ralph Ginzburg, Brad Darrach, William Lombardy, Garry Kasparov, even Bobby's own account of his arrest and incarceration in Pasadena.