Endgame

When Bobby Fischer died in January 2008, he left behind a confounding legacy. Everyone knew the basics of his life: he began as a brilliant youngster, then became the pride of American chess, then took a sharp turn, struggling with paranoia and mental illness. But nobody truly understood him. What motivated him from such a young age, and what was the source of his remarkable intellect? How could a man so ambivalent about money and fame be so driven to succeed? What drew this man of Jewish descent to fulminate against Jews, and how was it that a mind so famously disciplined could unravel so completely?

From his meteoric rise, to an utterly dominant prime, to his eventual descent into madness, the book draws upon hundreds of newly discovered documents and recordings, and numerous firsthand interviews conducted with those who knew Fischer best, to paint, for the very first time, a complete picture of one of the most enigmatic icons.

This is the definitive account of a fascinating man and an extraordinary life, one that at last reconciles Fischer's deeply contradictory legacy and answers the question: 'Who was Bobby Fischer?'

“Well-researched.”

Fascinating. - The Times

A rapt, intimate book... Fascinating. - New York Times

Frank Brady's superlative Endgame is a biography more than worthy of its charismatic subject ...the second half of his life is one of the saddest stories, even as this is one the year's best biographies. - Washington Post

A superb storyteller. - Literary Review

(An) engaging account. - Sunday Telegraph

Well-researched and enjoyable. - Jewish Chronicle

The Mozart of the chessboard is inseparable from the monster of paranoid egotism in this fascinating biography. Brady, founding publisher of Chess Life magazine and a friend of Fischer, gives a richly detailed account of the impoverished Brooklyn wunderkind's sensational opening--he was history's first 15-year-old grandmaster--and the 1972 match with Boris Spassky, in which Fischer captivated the world with his brilliant play and towering tantrums. Brady's chronicle of Fischer's graceless endgame is just as engrossing, as the chess superstar sinks into poverty after rejecting million-dollar matches; flirts with cults; and becomes, though himself Jewish, a raving anti-Semite and conspiracy theorist.... Brady gives us a vivid, tragic narrative of a life that became a chess game. - Publishing News (Starred review)

Rich in detail and insight...I consider this book essential reading in the effort to understand

Bobby Fischer and his place in our world.

Frank Brady is the author of numerous biographies, including Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy, one of the bestselling chess books of all time. He is chairman of the Department of Mass Communication, Journalism, Television and Film at St. John's University, is the president of the Marshall Chess Club, and served as secretary of the United States Chess Federation from 2003 to 2005. He lives in New York.

When Bobby Fischer died in January 2008, he left behind a confounding legacy. Everyone knew the basics of his life: he began as a brilliant youngster, then became the pride of American chess, then took a sharp turn, struggling with paranoia and mental illness. But nobody truly understood him. What motivated him from such a young age, and what was the source of his remarkable intellect? How could a man so ambivalent about money and fame be so driven to succeed? What drew this man of Jewish descent to fulminate against Jews, and how was it that a mind so famously disciplined could unravel so completely? From his meteoric rise, to an utterly dominant prime, to his eventual descent into madness, the book draws upon hundreds of newly discovered documents and recordings, and numerous firsthand interviews conducted with those who knew Fischer best, to paint, for the very first time, a complete picture of one of the most enigmatic icons. This is the definitive account of a fascinating man and an extraordinary life, one that at last reconciles Fischer's deeply contradictory legacy and answers the question: 'Who was Bobby Fischer?'

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