Which college did Fischer attend?

[Alex]

What college did Bobby Fischer go to?
He was a world chess champion so he must be a smart person and I want
to be a smart person so I think that I should go to his college and I
can be smart as him.

[Taylor Kingston]

If I recall correctly, Fischer never attended any college, nor did
he even graduate from high school. His obsession with chess was so
great that he lost all interest in other subjects. He was highly
intelligent, but not well-rounded intellectually.

[klgore]

Taylor,
Please don't feed the trolls.
K

[samsloan]

School of Hard Knocks

[Ken Blake]

On Wed, 12 Oct 2011 13:29:01 -0700 (PDT), Alex <tall...@yahoo.com>
wrote:

Assuming you are not trolling...

He went to no college. He didn't even graduate from High School; he
dropped out.

--
Ken Blake

[OldHaasie]

=============================
Fischer did not go to college. Nevertheless, may I recommend Georgia
Tech as the best bargain among the engineering schools.

OldHaasie

[None]

On Oct 12, 10:42 pm, OldHaasie <rsh...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> =============================
> Fischer did not go to college.  Nevertheless, may I recommend Georgia
> Tech as the best bargain among the engineering schools.
> OldHaasie

Go back to sleep Hassie.

[David Ames]

On Oct 12, 10:42 pm, OldHaasie <rsh...@gmail.com> wrote:

My nephew, from Quincy, Massachusetts, enrolled in a graduate
engineering program at Georgia Tech. He was made to feel like an
outsider and he came back home. You wouldn't know about things like
that, Haasie.

[The Masked Bishop]

>He was a world chess champion so he must be a smart person<

An interesting thought. Certainly some of the WCC's were brainier than
others. No one can argue Lasker's erudition, but Alekhine comes off as
a pretty thick drunk. Capa knew enough to tip the waiters well, and he
wouldn't argue that that was all he DID need to know.

Moving on up, I haven't heard anyone make great claims for Karpov
killing at Trivial Pursuit, and Kasparov is too mired in the theory of
alternate chronology to take seriously as a thinker on anything other
than the the Ruy Lopez. The vast middle...Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal,
Petrosian, Spassky...they all seem interchangeable on the brain game,
although I think Tal was the most FUN of the group. You get a lot of
points for that...unfun smarties are the most unfun kind of person
there is.

Bobby...he had some native brains, but then got sick (or sicker), and
deteriorated quickly. He's probably damaged the public perception of
chess as much as he enhanced it...the Fischer legacy is finally a
draw. What a case study he became, not just for the head-shrinkers,
but for any student of the nutty, enclosed world of professional chess
and its sycophants, many of who propped (and keep propping) the
Fischer madness.

Speaking of madness, I hope to see some you wankers at the Midwest
Class this weekend. The Bish is buying.
TMB

[Taylor Kingston]

On Oct 14, 10:15 am, The Masked Bishop <tmb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> >He was a world chess champion so he must be a smart person<

TMB, I know you're writing with tongue in cheek here, but I feel
obliged to make a few factual corrections:

> An interesting thought. Certainly some of the WCC's were brainier than
> others. No one can argue Lasker's erudition, but Alekhine comes off as
> a pretty thick drunk.

Alekhine was actually a very intelligent man with some good cultural
and intellectual attainments to his credit, for example he spoke
several languages and went far in law studies (though his degree is
open to question). While his chess obsession was nearly as great as
Fischer's he did not confine himself solely to chess.

> Capa knew enough to tip the waiters well, and he
> wouldn't argue that that was all he DID need to know.

If I had my choice of being any of the world champions, I'd probably
pick Capa. The guy had a way with the ladies no other WCh has come
close to. He was highly cultured. Also very intelligent and could have
gone far in some field other than chess, but he lacked the motivation.

> Moving on up, I haven't heard anyone make great claims for Karpov
> killing at Trivial Pursuit, and Kasparov is too mired in the theory of
> alternate chronology to take seriously as a thinker on anything other
> than the the Ruy Lopez.  The vast middle...Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal,
> Petrosian, Spassky...they all seem interchangeable on the brain game,

You seem to be neglecting Botvinnik's doctorate in electrical
engineering.

[ttw...@att.net]

Not only did Botvinnik had a Doctor's in EE, Alekhine had a Doctor's
(in Law?) from the Sorbonne. Capablanca was a (competent, I think)
engineering student. Euwe had a PhD in mathematics. Smyslov was a
pretty opera singer (but I haven't looked up his education.)

[Andrew B.]

On Oct 14, 7:20 pm, Taylor Kingston <ttk5...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Oct 14, 10:15 am, The Masked Bishop <tmb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > Capa knew enough to tip the waiters well, and he
> > wouldn't argue that that was all he DID need to know.
>
>   If I had my choice of being any of the world champions, I'd probably
> pick Capa. The guy had a way with the ladies no other WCh has come
> close to. He was highly cultured. Also very intelligent and could have
> gone far in some field other than chess, but he lacked the motivation.

However, The Oxford Companion (first edition) says: "Although
universally admired, Capablance was not especially liked by other
player, from whom he seemed to stand at a distance. The leading
simultaneous player of his time, he visited many clubs to play his
games, collect his fee, and depart without stopping to talk to the
players as Lasker or Alekhine might have done..."

> > Moving on up, I haven't heard anyone make great claims for Karpov
> > killing at Trivial Pursuit, and Kasparov is too mired in the theory of
> > alternate chronology to take seriously as a thinker on anything other
> > than the the Ruy Lopez.  The vast middle...Botvinnik, Smyslov, Tal,
> > Petrosian, Spassky...they all seem interchangeable on the brain game,
>
>   You seem to be neglecting Botvinnik's doctorate in electrical
> engineering.

Also, Tal went to university at 15 to study Russian language and
literature, so was presumably pretty bright.

[The Masked Bishop]

Possessing doctorates doesn't necessarily indicate above-and-beyond
smartness.

Alekhine was a drunken anti-Semite. Hard to place him in the "really
smart guy" slot.

Capa was a brilliant chessplayer. As far as I know, he never uttered
or wrote anything else that could be conceived as fabulously brainy.

[Taylor Kingston]

On Oct 14, 12:24 pm, The Masked Bishop <tmb...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> Possessing doctorates doesn't necessarily indicate above-and-beyond
> smartness.

Yeah, that's why everyone has a Ph.D.

> Alekhine was a drunken anti-Semite.

At times, yes.

> Hard to place him in the "really smart guy" slot.

Not if you know enough about him.

> Capa was a brilliant chessplayer. As far as I know, he never uttered
> or wrote anything else that could be conceived as fabulously brainy.

I'm not arguing that Capablanca was "fabulously brainy," but he
certainly does not deserve your slur that all he knew was how to tip
waiters. Neither he nor Alekhine was any Einstein, but both were well
above average in intelligence and culture. Here's an article that
might increase your respect for Capa:

http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/extra/capablancaolga.html

[The Masked Bishop]

Just beware the notion that chess players, including grandmasters or
world champions, are to be hailed as Great Minds.

Great Minds, as history has them, tend to be a little more rounded
than the kind of people you find obsessing at the chess table. I know
this has been our group-armor, the great excuse on why the babes avoid
our scene like they would a leper colony, because we are brainy nerds,
but it's not true...being a good or great chess player doesn't mean
anything other than you're a good or great chess player. A nerd,
yes...brainy, maybe.

What I DO know is despite all their doctorates and languages spoken
and middle-game combinations and fanboy flummery...our Chess Hall of
Fame has not done ANYTHING for the advancement of world knowledge or
the improvement of our species, other than win chess games.

Nothing. Zilch. Nichts. Maybe Lasker wrote a math essay once. These so-
called geniuses were not geniuses about anything other than wood-
pushing.

No-one is living larger today because of ground-breaking engineering
discoveries by Botvinnik. Schoolchildren are not reassessing history
or philosophy because of any published writings by Alekhine or
Karpov. Thomas Jefferson was a great mind who changed our lives. So
was Albert Einstein, and Charles Dickens, and a few women I'm too ill-
educated to remember right now.

But not Vassily Smyslov. Or Mikhail Tal, or Jose "Pass the rum shaker"
Capablanca.

[The Masked Bishop]

Hey, I LOVE Capa. He was the Player, back in the day when being
fabulous at chess came with some style. While I have some hopes for
Vishy Anand, it must be said that the Russians brought some of the
worst couture and hair-care to our sport from which we still are
barely recovered. AND he knew how to tip waiters, unlike the cheap-ass
culture that chess is now...

Alekhine...Indiana, let it go. He drifts farther down both the chess
and esteem lists every year. And I don't care how good at chess he
was, or checkers, or Monopoly...anyone who publishes racist rants gets
an auto-eject from the Mind Pool. You can't take the stage and play
gorgeous violin while farting loudly at the same time...it matters.

[The Masked Bishop]

And don't forget, Capa is one of the Three Great Cubans of the past
century. The other two are Fidel Castro and Desi Arnaz.

[The Masked Bishop]

I should give poor old AA some benefit of the doubt...his anti-
Semitism seems limited, in the historical record anyway, to a small
handful of articles. And at that time in Europe, it would be pretty
hard to find anyone who wasn't either Jewish or anti-Semitic to some
degree or another...those were not good times.

[Taylor Kingston]

On Oct 14, 12:35 pm, The Masked Bishop <tmb...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Just beware the notion that chess players, including grandmasters or
> world champions, are to be hailed as Great Minds.

It's very hard to discuss this with you, because you keep shifting
ground. You switch between two stances: (1) Alekhine and Capablanca
were dolts, and (2) Alekhine and Capablanca were not fabulously brainy
geniuses. There's a lot of room between those two positions. Let me
know when you settle on one or the other.
As far as chess champions being on the whole less well-rounded than,
say, Tom Jefferson or other polymaths, that pretty much goes without
saying.

[MikeMurray]

On Fri, 14 Oct 2011 12:35:20 -0700 (PDT), The Masked Bishop
<tmb...@gmail.com> wrote:


>What I DO know is despite all their doctorates and languages spoken
>and middle-game combinations and fanboy flummery...our Chess Hall of
>Fame has not done ANYTHING for the advancement of world knowledge or
>the improvement of our species, other than win chess games.

But maybe this time it's different (signed) Ken Rogoff

[Offramp]

Tal was a maths whizz.

[Offramp]

On Oct 14, 7:49 pm, "ttw6...@att.net" <ttw6...@att.net> wrote:
> Smyslov was a
> pretty opera singer (but I haven't looked up his education.)

I always thought he was a bit nerdy-looking. But I have never seen him
sing!

[micky]

Offramp wrote:
>
> Tal was a maths whizz.

Did you get the wrong bus Al?

[The Masked Bishop]

I don't think any of them were dolts. (Well, most of them weren't).

Just cautioning us all against assuming that most of these guys knew
much about anything other than opening variations.

[None]

Petrosian was said to have been a street sweeper before his chess
career fed him.

[Taylor Kingston]

You can hear him sing here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FbDkuI3p3JI

[raylopez99]

On Oct 15, 3:35 am, The Masked Bishop <tmb...@gmail.com> wrote:

> But not Vassily Smyslov. Or Mikhail Tal, or Jose "Pass the rum shaker"
> Capablanca.

Not true at all. Penrose was UK champ for a while and discovered a
cause for a genetic disease that colors your urine (famous, Google it,
PKU something). Taimainov was a concert pianist. others did stuff
too.

Point is: once you become a professional you cannot be expected to
devote time outside your field of playing chess, but some of these
guys did and excelled in non-chess areas.

I think you are projecting your own inadequacies to others. what do
you do outside of chess? A grease monkey at the Jiffy Lube maybe?

RL

[rsh...@gmail.com]

=====================================
Leonid Stein was a common factory worker.

OldHaasie

[rsh...@gmail.com]

================================
That could happen, I suppose. Nevertheless, I'd still recommend

[rsh...@gmail.com]

====================================
Brilliantly stated, Masked Bishop. Compare, for example, the lives
and careers of the Penrose brothers, Roger and Jonathan.

OldHaasie

[David Ames]

On Oct 15, 5:37 am, Offramp <alaneobr...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Tal was a maths whizz.

Tal studied journalism.

[David Ames]

Depends on what you put your mind to. Instead of putting my mind on
chess, I should have devoted my time to pursuing studies that there
wasn't time for in the school day. Independent study and
accomplishment would probably have counted greatly to a science and
engineering institute in Massachusetts. (They suggested to me what I
might do with myself and reapply after a year.)

[The Masked Bishop]

Ouch, there's a "classist" in our midst! As in, a person who thinks
some perfectly useful occupation, like working at a Jiffy Lube, should
be looked down upon or used as examples of a worthless life!

I'm not a grease monkey at Jiffy Lube, but if I was, I sure would be
proud of it...I GO to Jiffy Lube and the dudes there know what they
are doing.

You, Mr. Lopez, clearly do not.

TMB

[The Masked Bishop]

The only way ANY of this can really be answered is to kidnap the
current top four chess players, two men and two women, and force them
to work a season living and mingling with the cast of "Jersey Shore."

Then we will separate the great minds from the great unwashed. Culture
snobs like Ray Lopez, get your popcorn ready.

TMB

[micky]

It's not his real name y'know - I call 'im trEEni when I feel like it...

He's just another wannabe Wall St. parasite..

.

[The Masked Bishop]

No harm, no foul...but as idiotic as this thread is, turning it into a
personal attack on any poster is SO 1990s usenet. It was never about
me, and who would want it to be?

[raylopez99]

I beat you to that reference to the Penroses, or at least one of the
two, see my time stamp.

RL

[raylopez99]

On Oct 17, 8:53 am, David Ames <ames0...@gmail.com> wrote:

>
> Depends on what you put your mind to.  Instead of putting my mind on
> chess, I should have devoted my time to pursuing studies that there
> wasn't time for in the school day.  Independent study and
> accomplishment would probably have counted greatly to a science and
> engineering institute in Massachusetts.  (They suggested to me what I
> might do with myself and reapply after a year.)

Don't worry about it. You would not have amounted to much in the real
world anymore than you have in the chess world.

Your mind is a terrible thing, a waste.

RL

[raylopez99]

But you bit on the gratuitous flame bait I add at the end of my
messages, but avoided answering the serious part of my message, on
Penrose. So 1990s of you.

Shithead.

RL

[BettorO...@aol.com]

On Oct 12, 4:29 pm, Alex <talltr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> What college did Bobby Fischer go to?
> He was a world chess champion so he must be a smart person and I want
> to be a smart person so I think that I should go to his college and I
> can be smart as him.

I see you did ask WHICH in the subject header, so my bad.

[BettorO...@aol.com]

On Oct 12, 4:29 pm, Alex <talltr...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> What college did Bobby Fischer go to?
> He was a world chess champion so he must be a smart person and I want
> to be a smart person so I think that I should go to his college and I
> can be smart as him.

The answer to your loaded question, which I'm sure you know, is that
he dropped out at age fifteen from Erasmus High in Brookluyn, where he
and Babs Streisand used to eat lunch every day. She had a major crush
on him.

BTW, if you want to be smart, you should learn when to use the word
WHICH as opposed to WHAT.

WHICH is used when you have a fixed number of choices, such as "Which
college," while WHAT is used for an indeterminate number of
choices,e.g., "what do you want to do?"

[The Masked Bishop]

If you want to be smarter, you won't end your question with a
preposition:

"To which college did Bobby Fischer go?"

would be the correct phrasing.

Back at you...
TMB

[None]

You can also add an object. the easiest way would be to add- asshole.

"To which college did Bobby Fischer go asshole?"

Hmmnnnn still doesn't look right. This is just the kind of nonsense up
with which I shall not put.

[The Masked Bishop]

Then you need a comma:

"To which college did Bobby Fischer go, asshole?"


BTW, is your name short for None More Black? As in, Nigel Tufnel's
description of his latest album cover?