Famous quotes

Quotes by famous people, credited to who said them. Your own quotes must not match any of these. More are added all the time. 1,158,269 quotes Who coined it · How we decide

English Italiano Polski עברית Français Português فارسی Español 中文 Русский Deutsch العربية हिन्दी 日本語 Ελληνικά Latina

Bobby Fischer

65 quotes

“In my opinion, the King's Gambit is busted. It loses by force.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: A bust to the King's Gambit (1960)
“White can always play differently, in which case he merely loses differently.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1960 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On his eponymous defense to the King's Gambit. A bust to the King's Gambit (1960)
“They can't concentrate, they don't have stamina, and they aren't creative. They are all fish.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1961 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: On women chess players, in 1961, as quoted in "He was more fun when he was in the pawn squad", The Guardian (22 April 2007)
“I don't like American girls. They're very conceited, you know. In Europe they're more pleasant.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Sometimes girls write me. One girl in Yugoslavia sent me a whole slew of love letters. I don't know how she got my address. She was in a crowd watching me play. She says when I left there the stars fell out of the sky over Yugoslavia, or something like that.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They're all weak, all women. They're stupid compared to men. They shouldn't play chess, you know. They're like beginners. They lose every single game against a man. There isn't a woman player in the world I can't give knight-odds to and still beat.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I read a book lately by Nietzsche and he says religion is just to dull the senses of the people. I agree.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Yeah, there are too many Jews in chess. They seem to have taken away the class of the game. They don't seem to dress so nicely, you know. That's what I don't like.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Part Jewish. My mother is Jewish.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'm not as soft or as generous a person as I would be if the world hadn't changed me.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I don't keep any close friends. I don't keep any secrets. I don't need friends. I just tell everybody everything, that's all.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“They have nothing on me, those guys. They can't even touch me. Some people rate them better than me. That really bugs me. They think that no Americans play chess. When I meet those Russian patzers I'll put them in their place.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“When I was eleven, I just got good.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Tactics flow from a positionally superior game.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Best by test.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I have never opened with the QP – on principle.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Patzer sees a check, gives a check.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I'll play a lot, stake matches. Not like the Russians. They win the championship and then hide for three years. Every few months, anyway twice a year, I'd like to get up a purse and meet a challenger. It's good for the game, keeps up interest in chess, and it's good for the bank account. I want to get some money together. Like take professional football. All these athletes making hundreds of thousands of dollars. Contracts, endorsements. If there's room for all of them, there ought to be room for one of me. I mean, after all, I'm a great goodwill ambassador for the United States!”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview by Brad Darrach for Life Magazine, 1971
“I am the best player in the world, and I am here to prove it.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1971 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: In Chess Digest Magazine, Vol. 4 (1971), p. 263
“I have a minus score (against Spassky). I lost 3 and drew 2. I was better than him when I lost those games. I pressed for the win. My overall tournament record is much better than his. I'm not afraid of him, he's afraid of me.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview prior to world championship match, 1972
“I'm not afraid of Spassky. The world knows I'm the best. You don't need a match to prove it.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1972 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Interview by William Lombardy, 1972
“Our mind is all we've got. Not that it won't lead us astray sometimes, but we still have to analyze things out within ourselves.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Most people are sheep, and they need the support of others.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I had some personal problems, and I started listening to a lot of radio ministers. I listened every Sunday all day, flipping the dial up and back. So, I heard just about every guy on Sunday. And then I heard Mr. Armstrong, and I said, "Ah, God has finally shown me the one, I guess.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Well, I kind of split my life into two pieces. One was where my chess career lies. There, I kept my sanity, so to speak, and my logic. And the other was my religious life. I tried to apply what I learned in the church to my chess career too. But I still was studying chess. I wasn't just "trusting in God" to give me the moves.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“(The Worldwide Church of God) cleaned my pockets out frankly. I have some money left, but not that much. I've got some assets. It's amazing they didn't get everything. Now my only income is a few royalty checks from my books. I was really very foolish, but I thought I was doing what I had to do. When I sent those checks off, I really didn't have the slightest qualms, no regrets, not the slightest. I don't really regret it that much, to tell you the truth, even now.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“I can remember times coming home from a chess club at four in the morning when I was half asleep and half dead and forcing myself to pray an hour and study (the Bible) an hour. You know, I was half out of my head-stoned almost.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
“Knowing what I do about Judaism, I was naturally distressed to see that you have erroneously featured me as a Jew .. I am not today, nor have I ever been a Jew, and as a matter of fact, I am uncircumcised.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2008 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: from 1st paragraph, verified page 137 of "White King and Red Queen: How the Cold War was Fought on the Chessboard" by Daniel Johnson, published 2008
“I suggest rather than fraudulently misrepresenting me to be a Jew .. you try to promote your religion on its own merits--if indeed it has any!”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: from 2nd paragraph, verified December 2014 article by Saul Jay Singer of JewishPress.com
“Karpov, Kasparov, Korchnoi have absolutely destroyed chess by their immoral, unethical, prearranged games. These guys are really the lowest dogs around, and if people knew the truth about them, they would be held in more contempt than Ben Johnson, the runner, and they're going to know the truth when I do this book!”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Press Conference, September 1 1992
“First of all, we have to understand what communism is. I mean, to me, real communism, the Soviet communism, is basically a mask for Bolshevism, which is a mask for Judaism.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1992 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Press Conference, September 1 1992
“What is going on is I am being persecuted night and day by the Jews, for telling it like it is. They want to put me in jail, they're robbing me of everything I have, they're continuously lying about me. I've had enough of this shit. The latest thing they've done is I had some stuff in storage back in Pasadena for 12 years, spent a fortune on storage fees, a fortune on safes... and these God-damn Jews in America have just gone and grabbed it all.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, January 13 1999
“They're lying bastards. Jews were always lying bastards throughout their history. They're a filthy, dirty, disgusting, vile, criminal people.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, March 10 1999
“My main interest right now is to expose the Jews. This is a lot bigger than me. They're not just persecuting me. This is not just my struggle, I'm not just doing this for myself... This is life and death for the world. These God-damn Jews have to be stopped. They're a menace to the whole world.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, March 10 1999
“I have a crazy quirk, Eugene. I like to say what I think. And if you're gonna work for the Jews, you can no longer say what you think. You can't say the holocaust never happened, for example. That is an absolute no-no. You can't say that circumcision is a crime. There are so many things you cannot say once you get on the Jewish bandwagon. … There used to be a lot of people like me, but little by little the Jewish spirit seems to be conquering all.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking to Eugene Torre on Bombo Radyo Philippines, May 24 1999
“I would rather be free in my mind, and be locked up in a prison cell, than to be a coward and not be able to say what I want.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, May 24 1999
“America is totally under control of the Jews, you know. I mean, look what they're doing in Yugoslavia... The Secretary of State and the Secretary of Defense are dirty Jews.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, May 24 1999
“The Jews have been hardened against Christ, against decency for thousands of years... They're gonna have to be annihilated, Eugene.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Speaking to Eugene Torre, Radio Interview, May 24 1999
“I studied that first Karpov-Kasparov match for a year and a half before I cracked it, what they were doing, and discovered that it was all prearranged move-by-move. There's no doubt of it in my mind.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, June 27 1999
“I love chess, and I didn't invent Fischerrandom chess to destroy chess. I invented Fischerrandom chess to keep chess going. Because I consider the old chess is dying, it really is dead. A lot of people come up with other rules of chess-type games, with 10x8 boards, new pieces, and all kinds of things. I'm really not interested in that. I want to keep the old chess flavor. I want to keep the old chess game. But just making a change so the starting positions are mixed, so it's not degenerated down to memorization and prearrangement like it is today.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, June 27 1999 (see 2:18 - 3:03) (also see here from 39:04 - 39:49) [https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=2344&v=eMTbSfBvC7c
“The United States is supposed to be a government of laws, not people. But that's a lot of shit. The United States is totally controlled by dirty Jews. And these are ruthless, lawless, criminal people. They've been mutilating their kids for thousands of years, cutting off a piece of their penis. That's illegal too, but that never stopped the dirty Jews.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, June 27 1999
“They are subhuman. They are the scum of the Earth. When you talk about Jews, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel of humanity.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 1999 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, October 16 1999
“I object to being called a chess genius because I consider myself to be an all around genius who just happens to play chess, which is rather different. A piece of garbage like Kasparov might be called a chess genius, but he's like an idiot savant. Outside of chess he knows nothing.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, July 6 2001
“I was in Japan a couple of months ago, I saw a preview for the movie Pearl Harbor. And they showed the Japanese airplanes coming in to bomb Pearl Harbor, and I applauded. Nobody else in the theater applauded.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, July 6 2001
“I'm very concerned because I think the Jews want to drive the elephants to extinction because the trunk of an elephant reminds them of an uncircumcised penis. I'm absolutely serious about that... Jews are sick, they're mental cases.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, July 6 2001
“Look at all I've done for the US. Nobody has single-handedly done more for the US image than me, I really believe this. When I won the World Championship in '72, the United States had an image of, you know, a football country, baseball country, but nobody thought of it as an intellectual country. I turned all that around single-handedly, right? But I was useful then because there was the Cold War, right? But now I'm not useful anymore, you see, the Cold War is over, and now they want to wipe me out, steal everything I have, put me in prison, and so on.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, September 11 2001
“Look at the history of the (United States). The history of the country is basically what? Get something for nothing, right? Take, kill. They invaded the country, they robbed the land of the American Indians, they killed almost all of them off... That's the history of the United States. A despicable country.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2001 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, September 11 2001
“You know I'm finished with the old chess because it's all just a lot of book and memorization you know.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, January 27 2002
“I follow the old chess, I follow all the pre-arranged matches, like the last Kramnik-Kasparov match. At the highest level it is all pre-arranged, move by move. You have very interesting, beautiful pre-arranged games being created by very intelligent players, working with computers, working in teams. I have no objections to people creating such games, but they must say these are pre-arranged games, but they must not claim that they are finding the moves over the board.”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) first seen 2002 wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source
Recorded in: Radio Interview, January 27 2002
“* "The old chess is you're banging your head against the wall with this theory. (...) You were trying to find some little improvement on move 18 or 20. It's ridiculous. It gets harder and harder and harder. You need more and more computers. You need more and more people working for you." 2005”
Bobby Fischer (1943–2008) said by 2008 at the latest wikiquote, CC BY-SA 4.0 source