Fred Waitzkin | |
---|---|
Born | 1943 |
Occupation | Writer, novelist |
Nationality | American |
Notable works | Searching for Bobby Fischer |
Children | Joshua Waitzkin, Katya Waitzkin |
Website | |
joshwaitzkin |
Fred Waitzkin (born 1943 in Massachusetts) is an American novelist and writer for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, New York , and Esquire . He graduated from Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1965, and lives in New York City and Martha's Vineyard. [1] [2] [3] [4]
Waitzkin is the father of chess prodigy Joshua Waitzkin [5] and wrote a book about his son called Searching for Bobby Fischer; he felt that Joshua could be a successor to Bobby Fischer. The book was praised by Grandmaster Nigel Short, [6] as well as chess journalist Edward Winter, who called it "a delightful book" in which "the topics [are] treated with an acuity and grace that offer the reviewer something quotable on almost every page." [7] Screenwriter and playwright Tom Stoppard called the book "well written" and "captivating". [8] The book was made into the Academy Award-nominated namesake film [9] [10] (but released in the U.K. as Innocent Moves), with Joe Mantegna playing Joshua Waitzkin's father. [11] [12]
Garry Kimovich Kasparov is a Russian chess grandmaster, former World Chess Champion (1985–2000), political activist and writer. His peak FIDE chess rating of 2851, achieved in 1999, was the highest recorded until being surpassed by Magnus Carlsen in 2013. From 1984 until his retirement from regular competitive chess in 2005, Kasparov was ranked world no. 1 for a record 255 months overall. Kasparov also holds records for the most consecutive professional tournament victories (15) and Chess Oscars (11).
Joshua Waitzkin is an American former chess player, martial arts world champion, and author. As a child, he was recognized as a prodigy, and won the U.S. Junior Chess championship in 1993 and 1994. The film Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on his early life.
The Game of the Century is a chess game that was won by the 13-year-old future world champion Bobby Fischer against Donald Byrne in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament at the Marshall Chess Club in New York City on October 17, 1956. In Chess Review, Hans Kmoch dubbed it "The Game of the Century" and wrote: "The following game, a stunning masterpiece of combination play performed by a boy of 13 against a formidable opponent, matches the finest on record in the history of chess prodigies."
Samuel Herman Reshevsky was a Polish chess prodigy and later a leading American chess grandmaster. He was a contender for the World Chess Championship from the mid-1930s to the mid-1960s: he tied for third place in the 1948 World Chess Championship tournament, and tied for second in the 1953 Candidates tournament. He was an eight-time winner of the US Chess Championship, tying him with Bobby Fischer for the all-time record.
A game of chess can end in a draw by agreement. A player may offer a draw at any stage of a game; if the opponent accepts, the game is a draw. In some competitions, draws by agreement are restricted; for example draw offers may be subject to the discretion of the arbiter, or may be forbidden before move 30 or 40, or even forbidden altogether. The majority of draws in chess are by agreement.
Searching for Bobby Fischer, released in the United Kingdom as Innocent Moves, is a 1993 American drama film written and directed by Steven Zaillian in his directorial debut. Starring Max Pomeranc in his film debut, Joe Mantegna, Joan Allen, Ben Kingsley, and Laurence Fishburne, it is based on the life of prodigy chess player Joshua Waitzkin, played by Pomeranc, and adapted from the book of the same name by Joshua's father, Fred Waitzkin. The film was nominated for Best Cinematography in the 66th Academy Awards.
The Najdorf Variation of the Sicilian Defence is one of the most popular, reputable, and deeply studied of all chess openings. Modern Chess Openings calls it the "Cadillac" or "Rolls-Royce" of chess openings. The opening is named after the Polish-Argentine grandmaster Miguel Najdorf, although he was not the first strong player to play the variation. Many players have relied on the Najdorf.
Bruce Pandolfini is an American chess author, teacher, and coach. A USCF national master, he is generally considered to be America's most experienced chess teacher.
Several methods have been suggested for comparing the greatest chess players in history. There is agreement on a statistical system to rate the strengths of current players, called the Elo system, but disagreement about methods used to compare players from different generations who never competed against each other.
Robert James Fischer was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11–0 score, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6–0 scores. After winning another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.
Frank Brady, is an American writer, editor, biographer and educator. Former chairman of the Department of Mass Communications, Journalism, Television and Film at St. John's University, New York, he is founding editor of Chess Life magazine.
My Great Predecessors is a series of chess books written by former World Champion Garry Kasparov et al. The five volumes in the My Great Predecessors series are about the players who preceded Kasparov in being official World Champions. The series of books continued with the Modern Chess volumes that covers developments in the 1970s and Kasparov's games with Anatoly Karpov. The series is being extended with three volumes of Garry Kasparov on Garry Kasparov, covering his other games. The books contain historical details, but for the most part the books are made up of annotated games.
My 60 Memorable Games is a chess book by Bobby Fischer, first published in 1969. It is a collection of his games dating from the 1957 New Jersey Open to the 1967 Sousse Interzonal. Unlike many players' anthologies, which are often titled My Best Games and include only wins or draws, My 60 Memorable Games includes nine draws and three losses. It has been described as a "classic of objective and painstaking analysis" and is regarded as one of the great pieces of chess literature.
Below is a list of events in chess in 1993, as well as the top ten FIDE rated chess players of that year.
Jeffrey William Sarwer is a Canadian-Finnish former child chess prodigy whose charismatic personality and chess talent made him a well-known media figure. His chess career and his family's unconventional lifestyle were the subjects of many articles and TV shows.
The 1975 World Chess Championship was not played due to a dispute over the match format. Champion Bobby Fischer was to play Anatoly Karpov in Manila, commencing June 1, 1975. Fischer refused to play the then-standard "Best of 24 games" match and, after FIDE was unable to work out a compromise, forfeited his title instead. Karpov was named World Champion by default on April 3, 1975.
In a chess endgame of a king, bishop, and pawn versus king, a wrong rook pawn is a rook pawn whose promotion square is the opposite color from the bishop's square color. Since a side's rook pawns promote on opposite-colored squares, one of them may be the "wrong rook pawn". This situation is also known as having the wrong-colored bishop or wrong bishop. In many cases, the wrong rook pawn will only draw, when any other pawn would win. This is because the defending side can sometimes get their king to the corner in front of the pawn, after which the attacking side cannot chase the king away to enable promotion. A fairly common defensive tactic is to reach one of these drawn endgames, often through a sacrifice.
Kangugi "K. K." Karanja is an American chess player and former chess prodigy. He became a US Chess Federation Candidate Master at the age of 10.
Many books, films and other works about Bobby Fischer have been created. Bobby Fischer was an American chess prodigy who rose to prominence during the 1950s and 1960s. In 1972, Fischer defeated the Soviet player Boris Spassky to become world champion. Soviet players had dominated chess for several years before Fischer's championship, a trend which continued after 1975 when Fischer refused to defend his title. Fischer's participation in the 1972 championship match increased American interest in chess, in the context of the Cold War.
Vladimir Pimonov is a Russian-born Danish journalist, author and literary scholar. As a journalist he is best known for his investigative reporting on the Soviet/Russian affairs. His literary research focuses on Shakespeare, classics, plot (narrative) theory and the concept of theatricality (metatheatre). His work is held in almost 100 major public and university library holdings around the world.
As a 'chess parent', a journalist, and a sane man, Fred Waitzkin is articulately aware of what he is doing. And what he is doing isn't always pretty. Full of bafflement, doubt, persistent self-reproach and comically vulgar ambition, he continues to ...
The screenplay by Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), based on Fred Waitzkin's autobiographical book, is best when it deals with the issues surrounding competitive chess. Is winning, for example, the only thing? Is chess so important that it ...
Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on a true story and was adapted from a book written by Fred Waitzkin, Josh's true-life father. It is good to know that Josh survived his childhood, went on to win two U.S. Junior Chess championships in his ...
GB title; Innocent Moves A father discovers that his seven -year- old son is a chess prodigy. ... exciting and accessible to non-players. wd Steven Zaillian book Fred Waitzkin ph Conrad L. Hall m James Horner pd David Gropman ed Wayne ...
Innocent Moves is based on the book Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin, which tells the true story of Josh, now aged 15. The subject matter might at first appear dull, but the vivid characters, the emotional heartache, and the belly ...
The real Fred Waitzkin wrote not only Searching for Bobby Fischer, a book I like very much, but also a very interesting biography of Garry Kasparov, with the significant—especially for my purposes here—title Mortal Games (1993). Now, if I ...