



Bobby Fischer, who brought chess to a worldwide audience, is being introduced to a younger generation in reruns of two highly rated documentaries – Bobby Fischer Against the World and Searching for Bobby Fischer. He was a controversial figure, described as ‘paranoid and obsessive’; his behaviour ‘often boorish and outrageously egotistical, bordering on lunacy’ and the most brilliant chess player in the world.
He was born 9 March 1943 2.39 pm Chicago, Illinois, to a medical mother and possibly with a mathematician/physicist biological father and took up chess aged six. At 14, he became the youngest ever U.S. Chess Champion and a year later the youngest grandmaster. At age 20, he won the 1963/64 US Championship with the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. His victory against Boris Spassky of the USSR in the World Chess Championship in 1972 attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since.
He then became reclusive and sometimes erratic, disappearing from competitive chess and the public eye, giving his money to a Fundamentalist Church and eventually ending up as a resident in Iceland where he died aged 65.
He had a 9th house Pisces Sun trine a 12th house Jupiter in Cancer, which sounds good-natured and confident. But what dominates his chart is an Air Grand Trine of Mars in Aquarius trine Uranus Saturn in Gemini trine Neptune in Libra. Cerebral and up-in-his head he had the cold detachment needed for the battle of wits that the chess game demands. Saturn Uranus would give him insight and with Neptune added into the mix, he’d have flashes of genius. His Mercury in Aquarius also brings a sharp mind and squaring onto Uranus, it doubles up on the inspired insight. Pisces despite its dreamy reputation is often the sign of scientists and explorers so in certain charts is no drawback to deep thinking or strategy.
His talented Air Grand trine became a Kite with the opposition of Mars to Pluto on the Ascendant so his ruthless desire to maintain control was the driving force behind his thinking. In chess, he once said, ‘the object is to crush the other man’s mind’ – which pretty much sums up Mars Pluto. The Mars Pluto opposition squares onto a 10th house Taurus Moon hinting at a tortured emotional life, fuelled by deep, black rage, which he focussed onto a public career (10th house Moon). Air Water charts are quite tricky to balance between thinking and feeling functions.
When he won the World Championship on 1 September 1972 against reigning world champion Boris Spassky breaking a 24 year domination of the game by the Russians, he had Pluto exactly conjunct his 3rd house Neptune (on one leg of the Air Grand Trine).
He had a whole raft of notable Harmonics – the superstar 22H and other ‘Master’ number 11H, the breakthrough-genius 13H as well as the creative 5th and 7th harmonics.
His psychological troubles were never formally diagnosed and it is thought likely he suffered from paranoid personality disorder.
Add On: John Nash, the brilliant mathematician and double Nobel winner who made fundamental contributions to game theory and the factors that govern chance amongst other things, and was brought to public attention by the Russell Crowe movie A Beautiful Mind, was born 13 June 1928 7am Bluefield, WV. He was also psychologically troubled and diagnosed schizophrenic for which he was hospitalised and eventually was able to carry on with his life. Though died in a car crash in 2008.
He had a very different chart to Fischer. Nash was a Sun Venus in Gemini opposition Saturn; with his Sun on the focal point of a mini-Grand Trine to Neptune trine Mars Moon in Aries. He also had an intense Mercury Pluto in Cancer square Uranus and square Mars Moon.
Of the odd similarities between Fischer and Nash – both had 10th house Suns and both had Pluto on their Ascendant and both had Mercury square Uranus.
They both had Grand Trines in their superstar 22nd harmonic, which is exceptionally strong in Nash’s case. And similar planets/aspects in their respective genius-breakthrough 13H.























