"Matt Nemmers" wrote in message news:x4GVa.15019$o%2.7644@sccrnsc02...
"Nick" wrote in message
om...
"Matt Nemmers" wrote in message
news:ZtCVa.13338$o%2.6869@sccrnsc02...
Fissure's greatest accomplishment?
Saving us all from the hype and hoopla that would undoubtedly surround
a child raised by a raving lunatic with unrealistic expectations of
success in a largely unpopular sport.
In short: Not reproducing.

You might be disappointed to discover that Bobby Fischer has not
accomplished what you believe. According to Rene Chun in the article,
"Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame" ("The Atlantic Monthly", December 2002):

"For one thing, he has a girlfriend--Justine, a twenty-two-year-old
Chinese-Filipina living in Manila, who couldn't care less about chess and
has no intention of writing a tell-all memoir. And Fischer is now a
parent: Justine gave birth to a baby girl in 2000."

On the other hand, you might feel better by knowing that Fischer's
daughter is being brought up essentially only by her mother (who's
evidently not a "raving lunatic"), so the daughter seems on the way to
experiencing a comparatively "normal childhood".

"Fischer is a far cry from being a doting papa. According to one source,
he 'regularly sends money to his girlfriend and child' but visits them
only 'once every two months'."
--Rene Chun (from "Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame")

Whether or not his daughter should be better off if Bobby Fischer were to
take a greater interest in her life is not for an outsider like me to say.

Thank you for that tidbit of information, Nick. I did not know that.

Mr. Nemmers,

That's what I assumed: I have no reason to believe that you, unlike some other
writers here, would deliberately write false statements about other people.

Shows how much I keep up on the latest news regarding the former world chess
champion.

I also don't particularly follow the news about Bobby Fischer's personal life.
I don't regard what Fischer has been doing lately as particularly interesting.

Here's some of what I think of Bobby Fischer now:

1) Fischer was a great chess-player; now he has become a retired chess-player.
2) Fischer seems to be a quite disturbed human being, who has made some public
statements of which I strongly disapprove. Given my lack of knowledge of
his real conditions, I am not certain of how much moral responsibility
should be attributed to Fischer for having made those statements.
3) I hope that Fischer will be healthy enough to take care of his family
responsibilities, particularly to his daughter, whenever he's needed.
4) After Fischer dies, he will be long remembered for his chess games and
nothing much else of lasting significance.

I will, however, venture to guess that his daughter would be much better off
if daddy dearest stayed out of her life for good. Just my opinion, of
course.

To his credit, evidently, Bobby Fischer has been providing financial support
regularly to his family. If Fischer were bound to stay completely out of his
daughter's life, then what incentive, beyond legal coercion, would he have
to continue that support? If Fischer is fulfilling at least his financial
responsibilities as a father and is not abusive toward his family, then how
could he be denied the right to maintain some contact with his daughter?

Of course, I am not a Manila social worker who has been assigned to the case
of Bobby Fischer's daughter. And I hope that this thread does not become a
prolonged discussion about any differences among "family values".

'A little management is necessary in all families.'
--William Makepeace Thackeray (Lovel the Widower)

--Nick