I have received my finished copy of Endgame by Frank Brady. Unlike the uncorrected proof, from which I reviewed the book, the finished copy has a section with many photographs that have never been seen before by the general public. Yesterday I spent nearly an hour looking at them, again and again.The idea that Bobby Fischer was alienated from his mother Regina is debunked by these photos. We see a snapshot taken by his sister Joan which shows young Bobby sleeping on the subway, head resting on his mother's shoulder. In another picture, Regina in disguise visits Fischer in his hotel room during the 1972 match in Reykjavik.
Before becoming obsessed with chess, pre-teen Bobby dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. One photo shows him batting at the plate, during a grade school game in Brooklyn.
There are also shots of Fischer with Mayor John Lindsay on Bobby Fischer Day, and of the much older Fischer walking down a country road in Iceland.
My favorite picture is the one of Fischer, at the Marshall Chess Club in 1965, talking on the phone with Smyslov after defeating him by teletype.
