Liz Garbus

The game of chess has for centuries ensnared men’s minds in its seemingly bottomless complexities. But no one seems to have lost himself in it more completely than Bobby Fischer. From the age of seven, he devoted himself to its study completely. Bobby’s unmatched obsessive genius allowed him to singlehandedly challenge the brute force of the Soviet chess machine. He became the game’s first rock star, only to lapse into isolation, paranoia, and misanthropy. Liz Garbus’s high energy film recreates the excitement that surrounded Fischer’s matches and the madness that followed. Interviewees from both within and without the chess world try multiple approaches to cracking the Fischer enigma. In the end the only thing about Bobby that is certain is the ultimate fruits of his genius: a brief, momentous victory and a protracted, harrowing defeat. Plays with "Donut Shop" (dir. Alex Jablonski and Michael Totten, 5 min.) an evocative slice of life, in which Fischer's lost children keep the old master's spirit alive, all night long. Sponsored by the World Chess Hall of Fame and Museum.(DS)
http://www.hbo.com/documentaries/bobby-fischer-against-the-world/index.html… (more)