REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) — Bobby Fischer, the reclusive chess genius who became a Cold War hero by dethroning the Soviet world champion in 1972 and later renounced his American citizenship, has died. He was 64. Fisher died in a Reykjavik hospital on Thursday of kidney failure after a long illness, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said Friday. Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, N.Y., Fischer faced criminal charges in the United States for playing a 1992 rematch against Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia in defiance of international sanctions. In 2005, he moved to Iceland, a chess-mad nation and site of his greatest triumph.
A few moves back when I ended up a knight and a pawn ahead, my opponent tried to make fun of me by not resigning still. He unpolitely wanted to make me labour more just to finish the game. He was being funny. He was also attempting to make me lose the game by time run-out. Taking the humour out of it I deicided to get back at him by prolonging the game too.
I promoted every pawn to a queen as many as I could. There were also exchanges of chat during these attempts. It was humorous because his king was trapped to dance the cha-cha-cha in only two squares (f3 and f4 square). It was a 10-minute game and he lost on time. The result on the board is a very funny position --the king is on its own fighting against 4 queens and 4 chess men.
(If you haven’t read Part I, please click here first)
The rule of the match is to always play from a Najdorf position. He showed his closed hands so I can try to pick which hand has the white pawn. This is a standard chess practice of deciding who will get to play the white pieces first. Unfortunately for him (my alter ego), he is really me so I knew which hand he had hidden the white pawn. “Sucker!” I uttered with a grin on my face when I picked the hand where the white pawn is. “So you think you’re smart eh? Let’s see how well you’ll play.” -was his sarcastic reaction.
So the match began. Oh what a very hard experience! Playing him was the hardest games I have ever played in my entire life! I thought it’s just going to be easy to beat him because everything he will think he won’t be able to hide from me. But I forgot that I cannot also hide my thoughts from him.
The match ended in a draw. Of the total four games, we both lost one game as black using the Najdorf defence. From here an argument started. “See? Najdorf defence is not reliable!” He claimed furiously. “I have to disagree. We only lost with the Najdorf defence because we haven’t really mastered it yet sufficiently.” I said. He instantly popped his eyes and irritatedly said, “How would you know, you are just an alter ego!” Shocked and angered by his claim I said, “Excuse me? I am the alter ego? What a nut case you are! I am the one who is real, the real Joemar.” He started laughing and said, “What? So there are two real Joemar’s now? That can’t be right. There can only be one!” At this point I just knew that he intends to get rid of me by attacking me with a long sweeper handle lying just beside him.
Everything now happens very quickly. As he reach for the sweeper handle I was fortunate to remember the vacuum cleaner I rarely keep under the table. I hurriedly grab its long steel handle as my weapon. The scramble movements created strong vibrations of the whole place. So strong that it made some objects fall out of place and consequently triggered the camera to shoot! We were caught at the moment where I barely blocked his first attack (see photo above).
There I was, fighting for my life and is getting exhausted fast. He was gasping for air too. The fight continued but no one was able to hit the other. Eventually we both realised that even in fighting we are still aware of what the other is thinking therefore we will always know where to block. After the realization, an idea came to mind -that I should close my eyes instantly and swing the vacuum handle like crazy! Only a few swings with eyes closed and “Whacked!” It felt that I got him on the head.
I slowly opened my eyes, looked around, and there was no sight of him. I have survived!
But suddenly I realized that I was lying on the floor and felt a terrible pain at the back of my head. It was an enormous lump! So how did I end up lying on the floor having a huge lump on the head?
It became apparent. Hitting him is actually hitting myself!
The next morning I told Chris, my workmate, of my ordeal with my alter ego. Wanting to show Chris the photos I asked him if he believes my story. To my surprise he said, “Yes, because my own alter ego has come to work with me today and is just in the next room.” “Wow! Can you call him so we can take photo of us three?” I asked with excitement. “Certainly!” He said. And so we did (see photo above).
Author's note:
The above story is just "made up" and is only for humour :) The photos were done on a special camera.
It was another of those nights I’m having difficulty falling asleep. I tried counting sheep and when the count was at 901,384,309 I got frustrated noticing that there are some sheep crossing back to the fence where I started the counting. It made me lose count! The disappointment was so bad that it made me more awake!
Rather than do a recount, I just decided to watch TV. What a bad decision! It was dancing with the stars which kept me watching until my favourite celebrity is on. By the time they were announcing the scores I have been more awake as I was a while ago.
Maybe I could read a chess book that will make my mind tired at analysing chess positions? I’m sure it will make me feel sleepy, I thought. So from the book shelf I took a chess book about the Najdorf Defence. As I study the positions on my chess board, I wanted to try it at once on an opponent. But who am I going to play with, when I’m all by myself in the place? If I play over the internet there is no guarantee that my opponents will cooperate to reach my intended study position. What can I do? I asked myself. Hmmm.. If only I can summon my alter ego...
Suddenly I heard someone getting out of my bed walking out of the bedroom yawning. “Erhhh!” He yawns and said, " Why are you still up this time, shouldn’t you be sleeping?" It’s my alter ego looking and talking at me! I couldn’t believe it!!
"Ok, I know what you want. You want me to practice the Najdorf Defence with you isn’t that right?" He asked. “Oh yes please, what a fantastic idea!” I replied. “But first we should take photos together as this is one of a kind phenomenon. People will not believe me that I have played you --my own alter ego, if I have no evidence, you know.” I added. “Alright.” He said. So we took a photo together via a timed shot both holding the book, Mastering the Najdorf (see photo above). In the photo he is the one having a can of coke.
We were having a fantastic time studying the Najdorf Defence. Most of the positions are "double edged" and very sharp. There is a fair deal of tactical subtleties but it can also be played using a strategist style. It is quite a reliable defence and is a good choice to play for a win as black. No wonder the former world champion Kasparov uses this defence as his main weapon in most of his matches!
During the study my alter ego noticed my money lying on the table and was not able to help himself. “Hey, what about we make this game more interesting? Want to play for money? Most wins in four games?” He asked. I was a bit embarrassed to refuse as it was the first time he had shown himself to me physically. “Sure” I replied.
The bet was on! $20 a win! He went to the bedroom, snatched my piggy bank and took all the money inside to use as his bets. I can’t really complain as that money is technically his because he is really me –only as my alter ego.I was really excited to play him because I know we are of equal strength, as after all I am practically playing my own self! Yet at the time I still wonder a great deal on who would get the most wins...
