Searching for Bobby Fischer
Jillian and I watched the movie Searching for Bobby Fischer the other day and enjoyed it very much. Its the true story of a 7 year old boy, Josh Waitzkin, who discovers he has a gift for chess. The movie follows him through his first year of playing.
Two things are going on in the movie. His father, though very loving, is also very competitive, and takes his sons success to be his own, constantly pushing his son to achieve a higher level. The turning point in this plot is when his father takes all of Josh’s trophies off the mantel in the living room and gives them to Josh to keep in his room, telling him “here, these are yours.” The other plot line is that Josh is kind hearted and dislikes that other kids fear him. His teachers are telling him that to win he needs to be cocky and overbearing. However he refuses to change, and in the end finds a way to win anyway.
As usual, for me the coolest part was reading about the real Josh Waitzkin. Sometimes movies vary greatly from what really happened, however since the movie is based on a book written by Josh’s dad, it follows what really happened perfectly. The actor even looks just like the real Josh did at that age. Josh is in his 20s now and is still a dominent chess player.
So the movie also got me interested in learning how to play chess. I learned when I was a little kid and know all the rules, but I have never been able to understand the strategy very well. However after reading around a little bit I am beginning to see why the game is so esteemed, and beginning to grasp what it takes to win. I like that I can go on yahoo games anytime and try out new strategies with real people. I am still such a baby though, in learning how to play the game.
Warren Said,
December 8, 2006 @ 13:19
We’ll have to play some time