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

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4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
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  • This item: Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess by Fred Waitzkin

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Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

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.

From Publishers Weekly

Ever since he started playing tournament chess at age seven, Josh Waitzkin, an athletic, fun-loving, not overly studious boy, has been among the top-rated players of his age group in the U.S. He is now 11. The troubled relationship between son and father, a talented but amateur chess buff, torn between ambitions for the prodigy and guilt at exploiting him, develops here against a background of chess clubs, seedy game parlors and Washington Square populated by a colorful gallery of Manhattan chess loversmasters, hustlers, Russian emigre teachers and doting parents. In marked contrast, notes the author, is the hero status of chess champions in Russia and the palatial setting of competitions like the Moscow Hall of Columns where he and his son attended the 1984 Karpov-Kasparov matches, which may have been not only state-supported but politically controlled, he contends. What, the author wonders, will become of Fischer's legacy of a promising generation of young American players following their idol's premature retirement from chess and society? First serial to the New York Times Magazine and Sports Illustrated; author tour.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Product Details

  • Paperback: 240 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin (Non-Classics); Mti Rep edition (August 1, 1993)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0140230386
  • ISBN-13: 978-0140230383
  • Product Dimensions: 7.6 x 5.1 x 0.7 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 5.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (24 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.com Sales Rank: #272,803 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Fred Waitzkin
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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Inside This Book (learn more)
First Sentence:
In the spring of 1984, at the National Elementary Chess Championship in Syracuse, New York, a distraught father began to whisper moves to his son. Read the first page
Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
chess establishment, chess parents, scholastic tournaments, chess shop, chess talent, chess fan, tournament room, chess life, chess teacher, chess children, chess world, speed chess, simultaneous exhibition, chess lessons, chess prodigy, chess books, speed games, weak master, playing strength, little players, chess club
Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
New York, United States, Washington Square, Bobby Fischer, Soviet Union, Manhattan Chess Club, Bruce Pandolfini, Boris Gulko, Jeff Sarwer, Hall of Columns, House of Trade Unions, Joel Benjamin, Svetozar Jovanovic, Central Chess Club, Victor Frias, Anatoly Karpov, Boris Spassky, Church of God, Los Angeles, New Mexico, Sokolniki Park, Volodja Pimonov, David Arnett, Frank Brady, Iron Curtain
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Front Cover | Table of Contents | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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This book cites 9 books:
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Beginning Chess by Bruce Pandolfini
 

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

24 Reviews
5 star:
 (17)
4 star:
 (6)
3 star:
 (1)
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Average Customer Review
4.7 out of 5 stars (24 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars Intruiging,, October 27, 1999
By A Customer
A real story about a brilliant pre-adolescent chess player. The author is the subjects father so we get as close to the action as any writer can get. Not only that but the father is a professional sports writer. This is a promising combination that delivers. The book follows, very closely, the career of the subject as well as his personal development. It is a continuous evolution of many captivating small stories that are well written and easy to understand. Total involvement and captivation is inevitable. The book is written by the father of the subject, and because of this we get a far more intimate and accurate account, and makes the book even more interesting because the writer was directly involved in every scene and he communicates his feelings. The relationship between father and son is itself very intriguing. We also get a in depth look at the reclusive world of the chess enthusiast and professional in the states and abroad. This is the type of book that you can tear through on a nonstop reading orgy
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An inspiring book about the ordeals of a chess prodigy., September 1, 1998
By A Customer
"Searching for Bobby Fischer" is a very good book with many anecdotes and milestones in the life of Fred Waitzkin, and his chess playing son, Josh Waitzkin. At first, I considered this another boring biography, but as I started reading, I was drawn by it. It's not a biography...it is a 'real' book that describes many difficulties of being a chessplayer. The 'Washington Square Park' and 'Trip to Moscow' chapters captured my attention the most. I would reccomend this book to just about anyone, whether you play chess or not.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars A+ Chess Book, July 8, 2001
By Dave (Detroit, MI USA) - See all my reviews
This was an excellent book about chess in the USA and of course the life a real chess prodigy. I myself love chess and am interested in it and this book totally fulfilled my longing for a chess novel. Fred Waitzkin does an excellent job writing this book about his son. He writes the book from a very honest standpoint, clearly shown when he talks about Joshua's chess tournaments. I totally agree with Fred about how Bobby Fischer has changed the chess world. Fred was interested in chess, so his son became interested in chess. Just as my father did, in the 1972 match between Fischer and Spassky, he became interested in the game, and I am now, I'm just not a chess prodigy like Josh! This is a great book giving you a greater view of chess in the USA and also in the former Soviet Union. This is a great book! Read it!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Better Than Patzer, Less than Grand Master
Fred Waitzkin's Searching for Bobby Fisher is the story of his chess prodigy son Joshua's rise from a six year old's first game to a Junior National Chess Championship. Read more
Published 9 months ago by Daniel Murphy

5.0 out of 5 stars Cute story, for whole family
Well, this is a story of a child, chess prodigy, and how the father support his son.
There are nice quotes and social value, humbles, kindness, courage and friendship... Read more
Published 12 months ago by Norberto Martel Gutierrez

5.0 out of 5 stars Enjoyed this little piece of chess history very much.
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.
Published 20 months ago by Philip D. Wilhelm

4.0 out of 5 stars Don't Forget the Real Child Genius, Jeff Sarwer, Who Was Much, Much Better Than Josh Waitzkin
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. Read more
Published 20 months ago by BABY

5.0 out of 5 stars Joyous, inspiring
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... Read more
Published 20 months ago by Len

5.0 out of 5 stars Chess at It's Best
"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... Read more
Published 22 months ago by David Brockert

3.0 out of 5 stars Half Good
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.
Published on October 27, 2007 by Nathan W. Smith

5.0 out of 5 stars Chess is Life
Searching for Bobby Fischer is a skillfully woven set of vignettes that tell two stories, really. One, of course, is the story of his and his son Josh's discovery of the boy's... Read more
Published on January 12, 2006 by Anthony Toohey

4.0 out of 5 stars Young Fischer
Ever since the elusive disappearance of chess genius Bobby Fischer, who beat Russian Boris Spassky in 1972 for the world championship, the only American to do so, parents all over... Read more
Published on January 8, 2006

5.0 out of 5 stars A Book For All Chess Players - Good Read
This book has the championship chess presence like "The Queen's Gambit" by Tevis and the scholastic excitement of "The Chess Team" by Sawaski - The others are fiction, but what... Read more
Published on August 23, 2005 by Eskychesser

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