Why Did Bobby Fischer go Insane? By Bethany Plew

            Sound has immense power over emotions. It has the power to evoke feelings of happiness, the power to lull a crying baby to sleep, the power to cause sorrow, and countless other powers. According to Ryan Littlefield, an author who is published by the University of Portsmouth, sound holds such tremendous power that technologically advanced countries secretly use it as a devastating weapon (Littlefield 1). At an infrasonic level, sound can cause insanity, brain damage, and hearing loss. Bobby Fischer, a brilliant chess player born in 1943, suffered from these same symptoms (Biography 1). Bobby’s symptoms appeared around the same time that he challenged Boris Spassky, a Russian chess grandmaster and the world chess champion, for his title (1). Russia did not want an American to steal the title, so they constantly tried to smear Bobby’s name through propaganda. Since propaganda alone did not make him less popular, Russia decided to use infrasonic sound to make him act crazy. Fischer began complaining about ringing noises, and he began to act erratically. Eventually, both Russian and American media labeled him mentally ill, a term that has largely stuck with the genius to this day. However, some theorists believe that he was never really insane.  Unfortunately, the most common opinion about Bobby is that had schizophrenia. The most likely theory, when all evidence is examined, is that Russia used the power of sound to drive Bobby Fischer to insanity.

 Clearly, Fischer demonstrated internal suffering by acting insane.  Suspiciously soon after his match with Russia, Fischer began making long, anti-sematic rants, even though his own mother was Jewish.  In addition to the rants, he would read and quote Mein Kampf, an autobiography written by Adolf Hitler (Chun 90).  He would also make outlandish demands before tournaments.  For example, in the famous Bobby verses Spassky world championship match, which marked the start of Fischer’s insanity, Fischer demanded that he receive “30% of the TV and film rights, 30% of gate receipts,” and numerous other large demands (Bobby Fischer: 43 Facts 1).  Because of Fischer’s incessant demands, officials had to delay the tournament ten days to negotiate with him (1).  Even after his preliminary demands were satisfied and the tournament started, Fischer continued to make a fuss about the board glare, lighting, and noise (1).  If these unusual complaints were not satisfied, then he would simply refuse to play the next game.  These incessant complaints coupled with his offensive rants demonstrate that he suffered from mental illness.

During the ten day delay before the match, Henry Kissinger, the president of the United States, encouraged the genius to play (Chun 92).  He insisted that Fischer win the match in order to prove American greatness, in light of The Cold War, to the Russians.  Fischer finally agreed, but in the second game of the match, he forfeited by never showing up (Staff 1).  He believed that the Russian government had purposefully attempted to break his concentration in the last game, a statement not as outlandish as it initially sounds (Chun 92, 93).  The Russian government desperately wanted Fischer to lose the match (92).  They likely would have tried anything, within their technological ability, to make him fail.

Because Fischer felt certain that the Russians were creating disturbances, he decided to make his greatest demand of all.  He insisted that he play the remaining games in a quiet, secluded room away from the cameras, crowds, and news reporters (Chun 92, 93).  He publicly addressed the surprising request directly to Spassky, his Russian opponent, who caved and accepted the terms (Bobby Fischer: 43 Facts 1).  Russia did not approve of Spassky agreeing to Fischer’s terms (1).  However, Fischer still got his way, and in the quiet room, he began winning games more consistently.  After the games and between rounds, he would often slip away from everyone (“A View of a Chess Genius” 3, 10).  Sometimes he would visit parks or he would go on long walks (3, 10).  Perhaps by slipping away on lengthy, quiet expeditions, he hoped to evade Russian spies, who he claimed hounded him, or maybe he truly slipped away to escape from the strange, high frequency humming sounds he claimed to hear (Chun 88).  This strange habit along with his outlandish demands caused the media to label Fischer a paranoid, schizophrenic madman, which is exactly what Russia wanted people to think!

 The rants began around 1972, suspiciously soon after he defeated the Soviet Union chess monster, also in 1972 (“Bobby Fischer” 1).  Before the rants, he still demonstrated unattractive external characteristics, but he did not demonstrate the same level of insanity that he did after the match with Russia (Klepp 29).  Even at a young age, Fischer demonstrated external character flaws due to his tumultuous childhood.  During his childhood, his mother became so embroiled in politics that she often neglected the prodigy (Ponterotto 1).  Although she spent more of her time as an activist than she did as a parent, she never abused Fischer (1).  On the contrary, she somewhat encouraged his chess interests.  She also encouraged her son to have a healthy life outside of chess.  Because of these halfhearted efforts, Fischer maintained a tumultuous relationship with her throughout the years; however, he had a strong bond with his sister even during his insanity (1). Fischer ended up spending more of his time with his sister than with anyone else.  Unfortunately, both he and his sister had no relationship with their fathers, both of whom left when the children were young (1).  These problems likely formed Fischer’s unattractive external temperament. 

However, having a repelling disposition and suffering from insanity are two different things.  Fischer demonstrated insanity only after his match against Russia, although he had a bad temperament before the match.  One of the external character flaws he demonstrated was extreme arrogance.  He also felt embarrassed about his Jewish ancestry because, in his opinion, he thought that it made him a lesser human.  Anytime someone asked him about his ethnicity, he would simply explain that his racist ideas about Jews did not apply to him because he had a kind disposition (Popper 1).  Regardless, children would often bully him for his heritage (1).  Then, to make matters worse, when he won chess games, his opponents would use his ethnicity to taunt him.  They claimed that every non-Jewish opponent would always have more dignity and status than Fischer, even if they lost the game.  Such offensive remarks deeply injured Fischer’s pride, which caused him to overcompensate.  He started acting superior and he upgraded his dowdy wardrobe (Chun 87).  For the rest of his life, he wore only the finest, tailored suits and the nicest, made-to-order shoes (87).  By doing so, he hoped that even if others found his ancestry undesirable, they would at least no longer call him a classless man.  Despite his embarrassment and overcompensation, as a youth Fischer never spoke badly about Jews (“Bobby Fischer” 1).  This undesirable characteristic only uncovered itself after he began to act insane (1).  His arrogance and pride were his largest external character flaws.

 Fortunately, he did not exhibit exclusively negative characteristics.  One can determine from his recorded interviews that he still retained a shred of normality.  In an interview soon after his championship match, Fischer appeared on The Dick Cavett show in 1972 (ScarceTV).  The dark-eyed, dark-haired, handsome, suit-wearing, and tall young man sounds and appears like a perfectly normal, friendly man.  He sits confidently in his suit with one arm lazily dangling off the back of his cushioned chair.  He flashes a charming smile, cracks clever jokes, and belts out deep laughs.  The crowd cheers.  He kindly answers the interview questions, and he gives Dick Cavett a friendly greeting.  However, when one looks past the initial appeal and listens to what he is saying, he demonstrates supreme confidence and arrogance (ScarceTV).  For example, he famously states that the greatest pleasure in chess is not in the game itself; rather, it occurs when his opponent’s ego breaks (ScarceTV).  Again, this comment elicits laughter (ScarceTV).  Fischer smiles smugly, likely relishing the attention from the crowd.  The attention that his mother never gave him as a child.  

Actually, the first theory about Fischer involves his neglect as a child.  This theory states that Fischer never suffered from insanity.  He simply thought on a higher-level than what other people could understand, which caused them to label the genius insane.  These theorists believe that he became a genius because he was so neglected as a child, and therefore he had more time to think.  Unfortunately, this does not account for his outrageous actions.  For example, after the September 11, 2001, attack on the World Trade Center, he “applauded the act” (Chun, 82).  According to Rene Chun, a published journalist from the Atlantic Monthly, “…even the Fischer apologists had to throw up their hands when he took to the Philippine airwaves on September 11, 2001… Fischer revealed views so loathsome that it was impossible to indulge him any longer. (82)” One cannot blame this offensive rant on his intelligence.  On the contrary, this action indicates that he suffered from madness, not genius.  Also, throughout the years, the modern public has appreciated geniuses like Isaac Newton, Albert Einstein, and Thomas Edison, even if they do not particularly understand them.  Thus, immediately labeling a smart person “insane” does not match with how the public has treated past geniuses, which is another reason why the theory that Fischer never went insane does not make sense.

The second theory is that Fischer suffered from Schizophrenia or some other type of mental illness because of his tumultuous childhood.  Perhaps his fame worsened his condition and caused paranoia.  According to Joseph Ponterotto, a proponent of this theory and a psychologist, “In recent years, however, researchers have come to understand that Bobby Fischer was psychologically troubled from early childhood. Careful examination of his life and family shows that he likely suffered with mental illness that may never have been properly diagnosed or treated” (Ponterotto 1).  However, he later provides a disclaimer, stating that it would be “…inappropriate… to proffer a formal psychological diagnosis of Fischer” (1).  Thus, Ponterotto recognizes that his theory has a flaw: phycologists cannot diagnose, with 100% accuracy, a person who no longer exists.  They can only glean information about his mental state from news stories and articles.  Unfortunately, most news stories and articles about Fischer are inaccurate, biased propaganda, which means that even the most skilled phycologist cannot clinically diagnose Fischer with a mental disorder.  Thus, although this theory is plausible, phycologist cannot pinpoint the exact cause of his insanity.  They cannot say for certain that he went insane because of his childhood.  Thus, this theory lacks concrete evidence.

The last theory; however, has extremely solid evidence.  This theory states that the Russian Government drove Fischer insane with infrasonic sound.  This theory sounds so initially outlandish that very few people believe it.  However, Russia did have the technology to perform such an attack.  Proof that Russia had this type of technology is a historical fact.  An article by WordPress documents the history of infrasonic weapons, in one article they state, “…developed by the German military during the final phase of the Second World War. The ‘Luftkanon’ or ‘Wirbelwind Kanonew’ as a sound weapon designed to shoot down enemy aircraft by creating a vortex of sound” (A Short History of Sound Weapons Pt2: Infrasound 1).  A few years later, before and during the cold war, a Russian-born French scientist named Vladimir Gavreau fine-tuned the weapon to make it infrasonic (Vassilatos 1).  According to a published author named Vassilatos, Vladimir managed to focus the sound and control the frequency (1).  He states the following about Vladimir’s weaponized invention, “This design demonstrated great pitch selectivity, power, and directivity…. This weapon was a remarkably compact and efficient device” (1).  This information suggests that Russia could direct the focused infrasonic waves, by means of a small device, directly at someone.  Russia had newly acquired this inconspicuous weapon, and it is unlikely that they felt any moral quandaries about using this dangerous weapon against Fischer.

Thus, not only did Russia have the technology to drive someone insane, but they also had a reason to want Fischer insane.  They viewed Fischer as an enormous threat to the title of World Chess Champion, a title which Russia had proudly defended for years.  America desperately wanted to win the title, just like they won the famous competition to reach the moon.  This made the games between Fischer and Spassky figurative warfare between American and Russian intelligence.  Such high stakes drew massive publicity.  The reputation of these two powerful countries hung in the balance, and the whole world was watching to see how the scale would tip.  Russia panicked under the pressure and decided to use a weapon to weigh the scale in their favor: the weapon of infrasonic sound.  They began using infrasonic sound during the world championship match, which is when Fischer began to complain about the lights, board glare, crowd noise, and high-frequency humming (Rene 88, 93).  Interestingly, he had never made these complaints in his numerous previous tournaments.  Then, after winning the match, he began to act insane.  His actions match the description of test humans and animals exposed to high frequency weapons (Vassilatos 1).  Like the test subjects, he also began acting aggressive, irate, paranoid, and depressed (Ponterotto 1, Vassilatos 1).  He demonstrated his final symptom in 2009 when he died of Kidney failure (Mcclain 1).  Premature death due to organ failure is another consequence of infrasonic sound exposure (Vassilatos 1).  Now, after his lonely death, the public only remembers Fischer as a maniac, not as the man who defeated Russia.  However, in recent years people have begun to question if the government is using infrasonic sound to drive people insane.  According to a poll preformed on the College of the Mainland campus, sixteen out of twenty-one people polled believe that the government can and has used infrasonic sound to drive people crazy (Bethany 1).  Perhaps now that the public has started to consider this conspiracy, they will also consider that Russia drove Fischer crazy.  This realization will help restore Fischer’s ruined reputation in the public eye.

            Although the cause of Fischer’s insanity remains shrouded in mystery, multiple theories attempt to solve his puzzle.  The first theory is that Fischer never went insane, he was simply too smart for people to understand.  The second theory believes that Fischer went insane as a result of his tumultuous childhood.  Lastly, the third and most likely theory is that Fischer went insane because of infrasonic sound.  This theory is the most likely theory because Fischer exhibited the same symptoms that test animals and humans exhibit after being exposed to infrasonic sound.  Also, the timing at which he began acting insane occurred suspiciously soon after his chess tournament with Russia.  Although this theory comes the closest to explaining Bobby Fischer’s insanity, no one can prove the sinister Russian plot with absolute certainty.  Thus, until solid evidence emerges, the mystery will remain unsolved. 

                                                          Works Cited:

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“A View of a Chess Genius.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 19 June 2011, pg 3,   10 www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2011/06/19/nyregion/20110619VISUALss-11.html.

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Chun, Rene. "Bobby Fischer's Pathetic Endgame." The Atlantic Monthly, vol. 290, no. 5, 12,

2002, pp. 80-100, Research Library, https://ezproxy.com.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-com.ezproxy.com.edu/docview/223095321?accountid=7022.

Klepp, L. (2007, Mar 05). The age of chess. The Weekly Standard, 12, 29. Retrieved from             https://ezproxy.com.edu/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/233007916?acco            untid=7022

Littlefield, Ryan. "The psychoacoustic effect of infrasonic, sonic and ultrasonic frequencies

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https://littlefield.co/the-psychoacoustic-effect-of-infrasonic-sonic-and-ultrasonic-

frequencies-within-non-lethal-cf05e1fd8673.

Mcclain, Dylan Loeb. “For Bobby Fischer, the Drama Won’t Die.” The New York Times, The    New York Times, 24 July 2010, www.nytimes.com/2010/07/25/fashion/25fischer.html.

Plew, Bethany. Conspiracy Theory Beliefs Poll. College of the Mainland. 16 October 2017.

Ponterotto, Joseph G. “Bobby Fischer, a Psychological Autopsy.” Pacific Standard, 14 Dec.         2010, psmag.com/social-justice/a-psychological-autopsy-of-bobby-fischer-25959.

 Popper, N. (2004, Jul 23). Chess master pawned identity for hatred. ForwardRetrieved from             https://ezproxy.com.edu/login?url=https://search-proquest-            com.ezproxy.com.edu/docview/367783816?accountid=7022

ScarceTV. “A Very Different Bobby Fischer.” YouTube, YouTube, 11 Feb. 2008,                                    www.youtube.com/watch?v=MPlXC3M8hbg.

Vassilatos, Gerry. “"The Sonic Doom of Vladimir Gavreau" by Gerry Vassilatos | Borderlands    [Vol. 52, No. 4, Fourth Quarter 1996].” Borderland Sciences Research             Foundation,borderlandsciences.org/journal/vol/52/n04/Vassilatos_on_Vladimir_Gavreu. html.

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