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XLV - Searching for Bobby Fischer

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Grand rising Reader.

The other night, I was incredibly sore from kickboxing (a fantastic feeling) and decided to sit down and watch a film.

Classically, we can get stung by indecision, but we all know how to handle that: XXXV - The Greatest Skill You Can Learn​

Nevertheless, I already had one choice in mind.
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​"Searching for Bobby Fischer"

Now Bobby Fischer, if you haven't heard of him, is one of the greatest chess players in history - if not the best. (Magnus Carlsen may have something to say about that these days).
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However, Bobby gradually lost interest in chess after becoming the World Chess Champion.

He outgrew the game.

He had explored all its possibilities, mastering all aspects, and eventually found no further value in the 64 squares on the board.

Fischer’s disillusionment with chess then deepened into outright disdain.

He came to view his opponents with contempt, seeing them as “inferior players” who lacked the skill and artistry to challenge him, let alone beat him.

By the time he contemplated quitting chess, the golden age of the game was arguably fading (it's now coming back IMO despite super computers and AI).

But younger players began to mimic the moves of past masters, reducing chess to a memorised routines and rehearsed tactics, signalling the death of chess as an art form.

Fischer eventually disappeared.

But while the film features clips of Bobby Fischer, it isn't about him.

It's about the real-life chess prodigy of 7 year old Joshua Waitzkin.

After his parents discover Josh can play chess without have ever being taught, they know their son has something special.

Josh's father hires a strict instructor to teach Josh how to be as aggressive and skilled as Bobby Fischer.

The teacher instills in Josh the belief that victory has no inherent value except in dominating another human being.

But after seeing how this approach is turning her son into a robotic player, Waitzkin’s mother turns to Vinnie, a street chess hustler.

Vinnie teaches Josh to be spontaneous, to play with instinct and joy; and show grace toward his opponents.

Ahh, we come back to our good old "It's all about balance, eh?"

However, Josh begins exploring other interests, like American football and baseball, to ensure chess doesn’t consume his life.

Before the final showdown against his rival Jonathon Poe, his father took him away for a fishing trip where he wasn't allowed to talk about chess.

When he arrives at the tournament, his friend is studying hard with his dad, and they display obvious puzzlement that Josh hasn't prepared; despite being one of the highest rates players.

Everything should be about chess, right?

Of course, Josh ends up playing against Jonathon for the championship.

And he blunders the Queen.

He was told not to bring that out early... because it wasn't the right way, but it was Josh's way.

After the teacher turns his back and begins to walk away, the mother asks "Is it over?", to which Vinnie goes "Is it over? No, Josh is setting him up, I taught him that."

Low and behold, Josh forks the King & Queen with his Knight and the game is back on.

Then... Jonathon blunders.

Josh pauses.

He knows something isn't right.

After some time, Josh can see the 12 move sequence to win the game.

But instead of playing it, he offers the draw.

"You've lost. You just don't know it yet." – Joshua Waitzkin

He wants to share the championship.

But Jonathon declines, thinking the position is totally winning, and calling Josh for a bluff.

But Jonathon missed the end of the sequence, where after they both promote to a Queen, his King would be forked, and he would lose his newly promoted Queen, and therefore the game.

After Josh won he said to his father "I tried to give him a way out".

Now what's even more interesting, is what happened to Joshua Waitzkin in real life.

He became an International Master, but never a Grand Master, and never became a world champion.

As Josh grew older, he began to drift away from competitive chess.

By the time he was in his late teens, he had effectively retired from the chess scene, having become disillusioned with the game and the intense expectations it brought - somewhat similar to Bobby Fischer, but didn't experience a mental breakdown.

By the time he got to his early 20s, Josh had discovered a new passion: martial arts.

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Do you remember the welcome email?

The Game of Life... multiple different skills....

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Anyway,

Josh began training in Tai Chi Chuan, specifically in its more combative form, Push Hands.

He applied the same focus and dedication that had characterised his chess career to martial arts.

And In 2004, he became a World Champion in Tai Chi Chuan Push Hands, winning multiple national and international titles.

Since then, Josh wrote The Art of Learning: An Inner Journey to Optimal Performance, advocating the idea that victory and mastery are less important than the process of acquiring knowledge in different fields.

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The ultimate challenge is to conquer oneself and move on, as there is no real opponent but the one within.

Just something to think about.

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