Frequent walks gave Fischer's brain a boost
Saturday, July 9, 2011 03:05 AM
Basic Chess Features
Many stories concern Bobby Fischer's fondness for walking.
On three or four occasions during the 1960s, I met him by chance as he perambulated around New York. He was always friendly and eager to talk.
Late-night walks often took him to chess hangouts such as the Chess and Checker Club of New York, where he would frequently take on a player of master strength, offering up to 15-1 odds to his opponent and the gathering kibitzers.
He seemed to tremendously enjoy the fun and hilarity provoked by the impromptu exhibitions.
A champion boxer once described to me the difficulty of keeping up with Fischer's walking tours. There seems to have been a method to his locomotion.
Rae Pica, author of A Running Start, wrote: "Movement increases blood vessels that allow for the delivery of oxygen, water and glucose to the brain. And this can't help but optimize brain performance."
Nocturnal walks - a wonderful combination of darkness and contemplation - offered Fischer a private laboratory to explore chess moves.
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