[barrysloate]

Originally Posted by Peter_Spaeth

He was already mentally unwell, it seems, at his peak. Amazing piece by the way, must reading.

http://www.thestacksreader.com/the-day-bobby-blew-it/

A priceless line: He wears a business suit about as naturally as a python wears a necktie.

I finally read the article Peter, thanks for the link. I always knew how hard it was to get Bobby to go to Iceland, but never read that much detail about it. I always thought he was afraid of losing.

His mental problems continued when the match started. He lost game one on a silly blunder, and forfeited game two when he refused to play. He claimed his chair was bugged with microphones, and there were cameras hidden in the florescent lights. His entourage thought he was having a breakdown and were ready to give up on the match.

After a few days he calmed down, and when he sat down for game three he proceeded to play some of the best chess ever seen. Over the final nineteen games he won seven times and only lost once. That is an enormous margin for players of that caliber.

It was also the last competitive chess he ever played. He never played another serious game for the rest of his life.