Answers.Body: <p>At the very least we know that in 1992 a man that looked and sounded like an aged version of Bobby Fischer played Boris Spassky in a match, and won it. Assuming that this old man was actually not Fischer, we must think of plausible alternatives for who it possibly could've been. What old man besides Bobby Fischer will look like Bobby Fischer and be able to play well enough to beat a former world champion? How couldn't this mysterious veteran be at least somewhat famous in the chess world (being a strong player that is also a Fischer look-alike)? And how did he manage to dupe the chess world (including all the people who knew him on a personal level) into thinking that he was Bobby Fischer?</p>
  
  <p>It is very difficult to give plausible answers to the above questions, and since there is no real indication that it wasn't the real Bobby Fischer to played Spassky I will go ahead and use Occham's razor to conclude that the most reasonable explanation is that it was the real Fischer that played in the 1992 match.</p>
  
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Answers.Text: I tend to agree with you of course, but for example how about the wonderful sense of humor that the "earlier" Bobby had? There are tens of examples of his sense of humor, but I think it was completely lacking in the 1992-on Bobby. The earlier Bobby was a very brilliant and entartaining person, constantly smiling (just look at his TV appearances), but the 1992 Bobby was hardly entertaining, he was only preoccupied with his own rants against the Jews, the Soviets, the USA, and so on.
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Answers.Text: @A.N.Other We know that Bobby Fischer suffered from paranoia. This is a very serious mental disease which is more than likely to make an otherwise witty and eloquent person into a deranged mess if left unchecked. And we know that Fischer did not receive much in the way of treatment of his condition.
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Answers.Text: Regarding playing strength, he basically played only the 1992 match, which could have been prearranged (while he was accusing everyone else of prearranging everything). It is true that strong GMs reportedly saw him analyzing, and that there was a "secret match" with Gligoric, but who guarantees us that this match was actually played? Of course in that case Spassky knew that he was not the real Fischer and so on. Let's suppose it was all made up to earn the big prize. You could ask where was the real Fischer then? And why did he keep silent? He could have died, and only his close friends knew.
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Answers.Text: @A.N.Other The problem with the scenario you're proposing is that you have to make a whole slew of other assumptions, none of which have been indicated by anything, other than old Fischer's deranged behaviour as a contrast to young Fischer. This is why we use Occham's razor to say that this is not likely to be the best explanation of the situation. Proving historical facts beyond any doubt is impossible, but proving it beyond any reasonable doubt is not.
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Answers.Text: Of course I am speaking only by absurd and theoretically, there are a lot of other things that make us believe that he was the real Fischer indeed, for example the people who knew him well, such as, later, his Icelandic friends, could not be deceived, I think, and so on and on... also in the interviews he gave a lot of details about situations that the only real Fischer could know.
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Answers.Text: In 1984 Fischer was already preoccupied with not appearing in "Encyclopedia Judaica" indeed... so it could be that 8 years later his level of paranoia had worsened...
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Answers.Text: On further thoughts, I suppose that a fake Fischer would disappear again soon after the match, to never reappear again. Instead, the real Fischer gave interviews and continued until the end his own "fight" against his enemies, real or imagined. This could be the real proof that the 1992 Fischer was genuine in my view.
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Body: <p>As in title above, are there any chances that the Fischer who reappeared in 1992 (and then later on), was not the real Bobby? If this is not the case, what do you consider as "proof" that he was indeed the real Fischer?</p>
  
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Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-29T08:34:25.820Z
Comments.Text: **What if** the Fischer that reappeared in 1992 **was** the real one, but the Fischer who had a wonderful chess career between 1950 and 1972 was **not** ?
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Comments.CreationDate: 2018-10-29T20:39:19.047Z
Comments.Text: Then, why should the man who had a wonderful chess career use a different name than his real name? Furthermore, was it so easy in the USA, back in the 1950s, for a kid, to use a fake identity?
Comments.UserDisplayName: A. N. Other
Tags: <world-championship><famous-players><fischer><boris-spassky>
Title: Are there any chances that the Fischer who reappeared in 1992 was not the real one?
ThreadText: # Are there any chances that the Fischer who reappeared in 1992 was not the real one?
  
  (Asked by: username_0 on 2018-10-21)
  
  As in title above, are there any chances that the Fischer who reappeared in 1992 (and then later on), was not the real Bobby? If this is not the case, what do you consider as "proof" that he was indeed the real Fischer?
  
  **Tags:** world-championship, famous-players, fischer, boris-spassky
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_1**: **What if** the Fischer that reappeared in 1992 **was** the real one, but the Fischer who had a wonderful chess career between 1950 and 1972 was **not** ?  
  > **username_0**: Then, why should the man who had a wonderful chess career use a different name than his real name? Furthermore, was it so easy in the USA, back in the 1950s, for a kid, to use a fake identity?  
  
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  ## 1 answers
  
  ### Answer by username_2 on 2018-10-21. Score: 11 | Accepted answer
  
  At the very least we know that in 1992 a man that looked and sounded like an aged version of Bobby Fischer played Boris Spassky in a match, and won it. Assuming that this old man was actually not Fischer, we must think of plausible alternatives for who it possibly could've been. What old man besides Bobby Fischer will look like Bobby Fischer and be able to play well enough to beat a former world champion? How couldn't this mysterious veteran be at least somewhat famous in the chess world (being a strong player that is also a Fischer look-alike)? And how did he manage to dupe the chess world (including all the people who knew him on a personal level) into thinking that he was Bobby Fischer?
  
  It is very difficult to give plausible answers to the above questions, and since there is no real indication that it wasn't the real Bobby Fischer to played Spassky I will go ahead and use Occham's razor to conclude that the most reasonable explanation is that it was the real Fischer that played in the 1992 match.
  
  > **Comments:**
  > **username_0**: I tend to agree with you of course, but for example how about the wonderful sense of humor that the "earlier" Bobby had? There are tens of examples of his sense of humor, but I think it was completely lacking in the 1992-on Bobby. The earlier Bobby was a very brilliant and entartaining person, constantly smiling (just look at his TV appearances), but the 1992 Bobby was hardly entertaining, he was only preoccupied with his own rants against the Jews, the Soviets, the USA, and so on.  
  > **username_2**: @A.N.Other We know that Bobby Fischer suffered from paranoia. This is a very serious mental disease which is more than likely to make an otherwise witty and eloquent person into a deranged mess if left unchecked. And we know that Fischer did not receive much in the way of treatment of his condition.  
  > **username_0**: Regarding playing strength, he basically played only the 1992 match, which could have been prearranged (while he was accusing everyone else of prearranging everything). It is true that strong GMs reportedly saw him analyzing, and that there was a "secret match" with Gligoric, but who guarantees us that this match was actually played? Of course in that case Spassky knew that he was not the real Fischer and so on. Let's suppose it was all made up to earn the big prize. You could ask where was the real Fischer then? And why did he keep silent? He could have died, and only his close friends knew.  
  > **username_2**: @A.N.Other The problem with the scenario you're proposing is that you have to make a whole slew of other assumptions, none of which have been indicated by anything, other than old Fischer's deranged behaviour as a contrast to young Fischer. This is why we use Occham's razor to say that this is not likely to be the best explanation of the situation. Proving historical facts beyond any doubt is impossible, but proving it beyond any reasonable doubt is not.  
  > **username_0**: Of course I am speaking only by absurd and theoretically, there are a lot of other things that make us believe that he was the real Fischer indeed, for example the people who knew him well, such as, later, his Icelandic friends, could not be deceived, I think, and so on and on... also in the interviews he gave a lot of details about situations that the only real Fischer could know.  
  > **username_0**: In 1984 Fischer was already preoccupied with not appearing in "Encyclopedia Judaica" indeed... so it could be that 8 years later his level of paranoia had worsened...  
  > **username_0**: On further thoughts, I suppose that a fake Fischer would disappear again soon after the match, to never reappear again. Instead, the real Fischer gave interviews and continued until the end his own "fight" against his enemies, real or imagined. This could be the real proof that the 1992 Fischer was genuine in my view.  
  
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