13 March 2022

A Different Kind of Fischer Bio

When I saw the title of this month's featured video, I immediately thought of Joseph Ponterotto, last seen in The Real Bobby Fischer? (February 2016). Fortunately, the ''Fischer as madman' theme isn't what this clip is about. It's a sympathetic biography of Fischer using animated drawings. Some people might call it a cartoon, but for me it's too thoughtful to be called that.


Why Did the World’s Best Chess Player Go Insane? (22:12) • '[Published on] Mar 4, 2022'

When the animator introduced himself, I thought he said, 'Forty-two', but in fact it's 'Thoughty2'. The description explains,

Thoughty2 (Arran) is a British YouTuber and gatekeeper of useless facts. Thoughty2 creates mind-blowing factual videos about science, tech, history, opinion and just about everything else.

The question in the title isn't really answered and there are a number of factual errors, so it won't please everyone. With over 1.1 million views and 3400 comments less than two weeks after its publication, the video shows that the Fischer story continues to attract interest 50 years after his near-legendary rise to the World Championship.

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