Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess

Author - Fred Waitzkin ... [Goo?] [Posters]

This Hardcover Book item from Random House was reviewed on 29-Jul-2008.

Search ISBN:0394544552 offer from Abebooks or used books from Alibris. Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess Reference Book. Classifications : General Biographies & Memoirs Subjects Books Chess Board Games Puzzles & Games Entertainment Subjects Books General Puzzles & Games Entertainment Subjects Books General Sports Subjects Books Hardcover .

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1) Hardcover Book Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Random House. I would recommend this title for anyone who truly enjoys the game of chess, a short history of american and russian chess told from a fathers point of view. Very good reading.¤

2) Hardcover Book Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Random House. Okay, okay. A few years back, when I was really getting into chess (By the way, I am a Class A player who casually plays and studies the game.), I rented the movie that was based on this book. Just recently, I decided to purchase this book for a quick insight into what the book is suppose to view, which is the world of a chess prodigy. I started reading it and really enjoying the book until I got to the chapter titled, "Losing It." In this chapter, a real chess genius was introduced, Jeff Sarwer. If you have seen the movie, Searching For Bobby Fischer, then you might recall the opponent that Josh plays at the US Primary Championship, named Jonathan Poe; well, this is actually a villainized version of Jeff Sarwer, the real child genius; also, the game that they really played was drawn; and the real genius of the game came from Jeff Sarwer who played the Nimzo-Indian: Four pawn attack, on which he did not know any theory; he had only seen it played once before; that´s brilliant. Sure, Josh Waitzkin was a gifted, young talent, but I am sorry; he was not a genius; really, his gift was supplemented by a lot of studying and the overgrown geek, Bruce Pandolfini, a guy who can´t accept the fact that he just doesn´t have it (Incidentally, this same guy gave lessons to Jeff; there is even video footage of Bruce saying that he had never seen a talent like that of Jeff; this was after he taught Josh: HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!); he depended on books and other people to guide him through problems. There is little known about this other chess prodigy, Jeff Sarwer, who is a couple of years younger than Waitzkin and who is/was much, much better than Josh. Easily, Jeff Sarwer is one of the greatest geniuses who ever lived. I really, truly mean this. At age seven, he was teaching himself chess and playing better than Josh was at that age. At age nine, he was playing better than Bobby Fischer played at age eleven. If you have a chance, go to jeffsarwer.com and check out the videos that are posted there; get a dose of a truly one-of-a-kind person; it´s not very often that people like him come along. Jeff lived a life without inhibition. He was confident and he loved life and himself; what is wrong with that? So many times, kids care too much what other people think and they forget to freely live in the world as a human being. The majority of the world seems to ostracize people who seem "cocky" and/or brash and have immense talent and confidence in themselves; these people are happy and many times jealous people single-out these people and take away their freedom and inhibit their talent. Jeff Sarwer is the Mozart of Chess; Josh Waitzkin IS NOT; SORRY. It is as simple as that. Naturally, Jeff understood competition and winning, whereas Josh was TAUGHT it by a book or his dad or Bruce pandolfini. Jeff got inside Josh´s head and messed with him. It is a fact that, at the nationals, where Jeff and Josh played against each other, Josh went to the bathroom and started crying because he was scared of losing against Jeff. Haha.

Josh´s dad wrote this book. At times, while reading this book, one gets annoyed by the effusive way in which Fred depicts his son´s talent. Meh. Josh was a talented, young chess player who studied the game, but he was not ingenious like Jeff Sarwer is/was. GOD. What more should I say? Go to chessgames.com and look for the commentary that Jeff Sarwer has left on his own games. GOD!!! Why do kids like him have to have all of their rights and freedom taken away from them? This makes me hate Josh Waitzkin, a mediocre, well-read player who does not deserve an even close amount of the adulation that he has received. Okay; I need to go and contemplate whether or not I should even bring a human being into this wicked world. Spread the word about Jeff Sarwer. He truly is better than Waitzkin and deserves the recognition that he missed out on back in the eighties, before an article in Vanity Fair was published, one which caused an alarm and caused a child protection agency to seize Jeff and his child-prodigy sister, Julia, and keep them from being as famous as Josh Waitzkin, who is now writing gimmicky books on nonsense and promoting "hip-hop chess." Don´t buy into the crap of hollywood.

BUT Fred did write a good book. Props to him. I couldn´t put it down until the "Losing It" chapter, which prompted me to run a search on google for Jeff Sarwer. Then I picked it back up and finished reading it, in one sitting. It is a good, easy read; I can´t argue with that. Sometimes, Fred strays from the point like an amateur biographer or even writer who wants to put too much of HIMSELF into the context of the events of the book. His other memoir, The Last Marlin: The Story of a Family at Sea is a great, great book, too. You should check that out.

Good Night.
¤

3) Hardcover Book Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Random House. This book is joyous, exhilarating, thrilling, delightful. Waitzkin´s writing is melodious, like a Mozart violin concerto streaming forward and forward, each passage a delight on it´s own, yet still driving the composition forward.

This is best of all a book about fathers and sons, the warmth of friendship, love and respect that emerges in the finest relationship between them. It is also very much a book about games and chess and competition, winning and losing and their emotional consequences. This book also is a fine reflection of the movie, the one capturing the essence of and complementing the other.

Just a wonderful book, I highly recommend.¤

4) Hardcover Book Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Random House. "Searching for Bobby Fischer" by Fred Waitzkin, © 1984, 1988

This is a wonderful story of a little boy who plays exceptionally good chess, and is a grandmaster, now. His parents go through a lot to further his abilities and try to avoid the pitfalls of wanting him to be more for their own egos, not his. It also tells the story of what has happened in the world of chess since 1972 when Bobby Fischer beat Boris Spassky.¤

5) Hardcover Book Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Random House. The coverage of the junior chess circuit and Washington square chess matches is compelling reading, but the chapters on the Soviet refusniks are too in depth and out of place.¤

6) Hardcover Book Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Random House. Searching for Bobby Fischer is the story of Fred Waitzkin and his son Josh, from the moment six-year-old Josh first sits down at a chessboard until he competes for the national championship. Drawn into the insular, international network of chess, they must also navigate the difficult waters of their own relationship. All the while, Waitzkin wonders about and searches for the elusive Bobby Fischer, whose myth still dominates the chess world and profoundly affects Waitzkin´s dreams for his son.¤

Page Updated: Robert N. Goolsby, 26-Aug-2008, 03945445529780394544557, 520-030-650-861-131-406-FGB-8

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