Wednesday, January 30, 2008

No longer searching for Bobby Fischer

This morning I met with someone from the university Chess Club to donate several of Chris' chess sets and his chess clock. Although he never joined, he had expressed some interest in the club and talked about maybe checking out some of their events to see if it was a group he might find appealing. I think he'd be happy knowing that his sets will be enjoyed by fellow lovers of the "King's Game". Right now, I like to think he's picking up tips from recently departed chess legend Bobby Fischer.

Coincidentally, Fischer also died of complications from kidney failure. Apparently he refused ongoing dialysis therapy and chose to let nature take its course. While many people may view this as an extreme choice and question Fischer's capacity to direct his own medical care, it is a legitimate option that some kidney patients decide on for any number of reasons.

Another interesting coincidence is that the last years of Fischer's life were spent in chess-mad Iceland where he lived a reclusive and increasingly paranoid existence, occasionally making news with outrageous rants against Jews and/or his country of birth, the U.S. Fischer's remains were buried in a small church cemetery near Selfoss, 60 km south of the capitol of Reykjavik. I don't remember Chris mentioning that he knew of Bobby Fischer living in Iceland but knowing Chris' wide-ranging knowledge of many seemingly unrelated bits of information...

I guess we won't be searching for Bobby Fischer any longer. Hopefully, he's found the peace that eluded him for most of his troubled and controversial life. Maybe he can learn something from Chris.
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