Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall - from America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady Amazon Best Books of the Month, February 2011 : There may be no one more qualified than Frank Brady to write the definitive biography of Bobby Fischer. Brady's Profile of a Prodigy (originally published in 1969) chronicled the chess icon's early years, a selection of 90 games, and (in later editions) his 1972 World Championship match with Boris Spassky. With Endgame, published two years after Fischer's death, Brady's on-and-off proximity to Fischer lends new depth to the latter's full and twisted life story. Though Fischer's pinnacle artistry on the chessboard may often be discussed in the same breath with his eventual paranoia and outspoken anti-Semitism, the particular turns and travels of his post-World Championship years (half his life) lend his story most of its vexing oddity: the niggling insistence on seemingly arbitrary conditions for his matches, the years on the lam after flagrantly disregarding U.S. economic sanctions, his incarceration in Japan, his eventual citizenship and quiet demise in Iceland. All told, Fischer's life was like none other, and told through the lens of Brady's personal familiarity and access to new source material, results in an utterly engaging read.

Brady's insightful biography of the legendary chess player focuses more on Fischer's life as a chess champion than on his much-publicized legal troubles and alleged psychological breakdowns. Brady first became friends with Fischer at a chess tournament when they were both children, and he combines a traditional biography with a personal memoir. Fischer began playing chess at age six and was soon playing games by himself, unable to find worthy competition. He seems to have had a lifelong battle with himself, and his biggest challenge may have been conquering not his competitors but his own intellect. Brady is uniquely qualified to write this book. Not only is he a seasoned biographer and someone who knew Fischer on a personal level; he's also an accomplished chess player himself, able to convey the game's intricacies to the reader in a clear, uncomplicated manner. The book should appeal to a broad audience, from hard-core chess fans to casual players to those who are simply interested in what is a compelling personal story.

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Reviews

Hard to put down "Bobby Fischer was someone who used to turn up in the news every now and then in some remarkable way, and then disappear for years; this book fills in the gaps. I played a lot of chess in college, in the late fifties, and remember reading about Bobby Fischer then and thinking that he would revolutionize the game. Then in 1972, he really did, with the Fischer-Spassky match triggering the chess mania that swept the country and got me to dust off my old set. Then... silence, except for occasional weird news: he's on skid row; he's been arrested; he's spewing anti-Semitism.

This book is a fascinating account of what happened in between these flashes of news and succeeds in explaining what Fischer was all about. You don't have to be a chess fan to enjoy it (or even know the moves). It's easy, vivid reading, and kept me up beyond my bedtime. It's full of all sorts of interesting details: where his strange religious and political views came from; the files the FBI had on him and his mother; whether he was circumcised (!); the fact that he was Russell Targ's brother-in-law. The author certainly knows his subject. 

Fischer was one of the most extreme "outliers" of his generation: totally brilliant, tragically self-destructive, utterly ungrateful, but thoroughly captivating. Whether you remember Fischer or not, you'll enjoy this book as a character study of an amazing figure."  -- Phelps Gates (Chapel Hill, NC USA)

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