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As a friend of Bobby Fischer for almost 20 years I am in an unusual position to critique this documentary. Let me say at the beginning that I think it is a brilliant work. Even so I am deeply troubled by the complete omission of three people who were as close to Bobby as any one who appears in the film, and probably closer. The three are Jack and Ethel Collins, and William Lombardy.

Bobby cut his teeth, as it were, at the home of the Collins's, spending an inordinate amount of spare time with them as a young child. In their home, he learned from Jack -- a New York State Champion, an editor of "Modern Chess Openings," (America's leading précis on opening play), a respected Correspondence Chess player, and the dean of American Chess Teachers -- and he received needed motherly sustenance from Jack's sister Ethel.

The Rev. William Lombardy was Fischer's "second" in Reykjavik. It is he who fought the battles for Bobby with the administrators and the arbiters. By his doing so, Bobby could stay somewhat in the background getting his needed rest. The tension and responsibilities lay on the broad shoulders of the Rev. Lombardy, who did a magnificent job on the front lines acting for the Mercurial Mr. Fischer. The full story of Bobby Fischer cannot be adequately told without these three Fischer companions making some contribution to his film life.

Given these three omissions one has the right to ask why Susan Polgar is represented as a Fischer expert. She was but three years old when the Fischer-Spassky match was played, and though she may have had later social connection with him, it is wrong to present her in the role she plays.

One can wonder too how Sam Sloan was chosen to give his views of Fischer. His knowledge of Fischer is a distant one at best.

Plaudits, though, are due for the in-depth interviews of Larry Evans and Tony Saidy, two who knew Bobby well. The same may be said of Asa Hofmann, to this day a legend in New York chess circles.

There is a telling scene in Liz Garbus's documentary of Bobby Fischer's life that takes place in Reykjavik the morning after he has beaten Soviet Boris Spassky to win the world championship. "Something inside me has changed", he tells a reporter. Indeed. Although his insane ravings about "the Jews", familiar to the audience even before the movie starts, were still years in the future, Garbus leaves little doubt that the seeds of Fischer's paranoia started the moment he won the title. And, as we are shown by Garbus's extraordinary use of historical footage and photographs, those seeds would take root in a psyche scarred irreparably by the life-long pursuit to be champion. In an earlier scene, Bobby recounts to an interviewer how he has wanted to be World Chess Champion "since I was seven years old". He never knew that there might be other goals in life. This fine and moving film is the story, then, of how, and at what cost, Bobby Fischer finally got his wish.

Garbus's formula is a standard one but succeeds brilliantly here. She juxtaposes archival footage and still photos (much of which, I believe, has never been shown publicly before) with contemporary interviews of many of the key players from Fischer's two-decade pursuit of the title. These individuals - fellow chess players (several of whom were his boyhood friends), tournament organizers, journalists, even his bodyguard - were all members of the small cadre of people that Bobby allowed into his life. Many were even part of his inner circle at Reykjavik. To a person, then, the interviewees were uniquely qualified to share their recollections of Bobby. But, beyond that, they had been positioned to gain some understanding of Bobby. In this film, they share that understanding, or at least their attempts at understanding, of who Bobby Fischer was, and more importantly, why he was that way.

One can only try to imagine the monumental effort required by Garbus to convince them to appear on camera. That she was even able to get Henry Kissinger (now a heavyweight in more ways than one) speaks volumes about her credibility. Kissinger's presence in the film is only one reminder of what was at stake in Reykjavik. Garbus reminds us that this was war: US versus the USSR, capitalism versus communism, freedom versus oppression, each could have been used to describe the battle. But in the end, the only one that really mattered was the title Garbus chose for her work: Bobby Fischer against the World.

Garbus filmed most of the interviews against stunning backdrops of wood-paneled libraries and polished marble floors. In that way she provides quite a contrast for some of the interviewees with their rumpled, 'haven't shaved in three days' look. By doing so, she heightens their humanity, and their humility. Bobby, by contrast, throughout the film, in his words and by his actions, only serves to confirm that he may not have had much of either.

Chess grandmasters Larry Evans and Anthony Saidy, who both knew Bobby since he was a little boy, are not just particularly articulate and insightful, but are also fonts of interesting 'Bobby facts'. Saidy tells us that when Bobby decided to camp out at Saidy's parents' home to avoid the press in the weeks leading up to the World Championship, Saidy's father was dying of cancer. "Bobby, about you staying with us, my dad is sick with cancer". "It's okay, I don't mind", replied the only slightly self absorbed Fischer.

Many of the interviews are with Europeans - Icelanders, Russians, Germans - and all reinforce how impressive it is to hear someone speak fluently in a language other than their native tongue. One has no doubts that their memories and minds must also be sharp. In this context, it is perhaps ironic that LIFE photographer and Scotsman Harry Benson's humanizing photos of Bobby, shown prominently on screen while he speaks, need no words to tell us all we need to know.

Two segments are, each, extraordinary. Saemi Parsson who was Bobby's bodyguard in Reykjavik tells the camera how, after not hearing a word from Bobby in 22 years ("not a peep"), he received the imprisoned Bobby's frantic phone call from Japan (the Japanese had detained Fischer at the request of the US). That Bobby chose to call Parsson, is not quite the correct statement. Rather, that Bobby had no one to call but Parsson seems closer to the truth. We are reminded by this episode that Bobby, by then, was not only stateless, but had severed all relationships with his family and friends. He was alone in more ways than one. The other segment is priceless and is comprised of a faded ABC Wide World of Sports TV special featuring noted sports artist LeRoy Neiman. Neiman, who expected to be "bored to pieces" by the match in Reykjavik draws Fischer as a matador skewering the hapless Spassky! But, can you imagine? ABC's Wide World of Sports? For chess? Such was the impact of Robert James Fischer.

Immediately after beating Spassky, Fischer began his life of seclusion. It may have been even sadder that he also effectively stopped playing chess at the same time, at age 29. All of us are familiar with Fischer's increasingly bizarre post-Reykjavik antics. Sometimes attributed to eccentricity, Garbus makes no secret that she believes Bobby's behaviour was a product of mental illness. Through the images and words of her film, she leaves no other way to label Bobby's paranoia and psychotic pronouncements. She puts the proof right there, in the flickering of a projector, for all to see. We wish it weren't so.

There's alot to take away from this documentary, alot, it's about the triumph and tragedy of the most fascinating chess players of our time, Bobby Fischer! This is about a Brooklyn kid who alone unlocked all the secrets of chess, became a Grand Master, took on the powerful Soviet chess machine at 29 and kicked their ass! That's the Bobby Fischer I will always remember!

Very, very few people would argue that the great chess champion Bobby Fischer was normal. He was clearly a mentally ill man (even people who are as close to his friends as you can find agree with this)--though exactly what illnesses he had is all a case of conjecture. In fact, this film would make great viewing by a psychology class as there are many possible diagnoses for the very brilliant and very flawed man. With strong evidence for having a severe personality disorder (such as Paranoid Personality Disorder), a mental disorder (Paranoid Schizophrenia) and even a possible developmental disorder (such as Asperger's), he is a complicated yet always interesting case study. The overlap and contradictory nature of the man make his case so compelling.

The film "Bobby Fischer Against the World" is interesting because it does not try to diagnose the man in any way. Instead, it just lets people talk about him and his descent into isolation and madness. And, the more they tell you, the more obvious it becomes he was a very sad and practically impossible man to like. And, interestingly, some of the most vile and nasty things he said were actually downplayed to some extent in the film. This film is never boring, very well-constructed and exciting to watch. I can't see how anyone could watch this and not get sucked into the life and analysis of Fischer. Very well done.

Bobby Fischer was at one time the world's greatest chess player, but this film often deals with his descent into almost madness. From the beginning, you know that this man, who was a genius, was also decidedly off center. It was a big deal in 1972 for Fischer to defeat Spassky, so much so that it was televised around the world, and it was a gigantic news story. The intensity of Fischer is well discussed, with the various interviewers being people who knew him recollecting of that time. Little is said about Fischer's personal life (I will assume he never married or had children), but for anyone who was old enough in 1972, he was a household name, a superstar. This documentary is well put together and you don't have to play or like chess to watch it. That, in and of itself, is a ringing endorsement for this documentary.

Great documentary on a tortured genius.

The story of Bobby Fischer, arguably the greatest chess player who ever lived. Examines his growing up, his emergence as chess genius at a very young age, his ascendancy to being World Chess Champion (at the age of 29), he's decline, disappearance, re-emergence, becoming a fugitive from US justice and his later years.

The highlight is the famous showdown against Boris Spassky for the World Championship, in Reykjavik in 1972. Demonstrates well his genius, neuroses and general personality.

Also particularly interesting is that there are very good attempts to explain his personality problems and mental issues. Sadly, genius and insanity often go hand in hand...

Bobby Fischer was both the embodiment and the antithesis of what the public perceives a Chess master to be. A prodigy, a genius, driven, obsessive, complicated, eccentric, and at the same time tall, handsome, political and politically incorrect; the man compelled the greatest admiration and at the same time disdain in his turbulent life. "Bobby Fischer Against the World" documents Fischer's unique story from his complicated and troubled childhood on to his ascent as one of the great prodigies of the game to winning the world championship and finally his tragic decline and death. The centerpiece of the film is the 1972 world championship match between Fischer and Spassky and the drama that unfolded. The tense lead-up to the match with Fischer's prima donna antics leaving the world wondering whether the match will ever take place; the match itself, with its false starts and amusing incidents and games that are among the most befuddling and brilliant in the history of the game; and Fischer's victory which elevated him to legend all amidst the backdrop of the Cold War and its importance and connection to the game. His post-championship years are properly covered highlighting the man's decline as he descended on to his "wilderness" years of forsaking the game on to the dark road of cults, homelessness, conspiracy theories, anti-semitism, a pathological rematch with Spassky, lawlessness and death in Iceland which served as full circle to a life that was tragic as it was one of a kind. Interviews with Fischer's friends, acquaintances, Chess masters, authors and footage of Fischer and his times offer a sweeping glimpse of the man and the myth and legend that was him. One cannot overestimate Fischer's importance and contribution to the game, his brilliance on the board and efforts to improve the status of the game have been part of professional Chess ever since. The best documentary on Fischer at present "Bobby Fischer Against the World" is a distinguished tribute to one of the most fascinating and outstanding individuals in history.

Saw this documentary during the "Flimmer Filmfestival" in Norrköping, Sweden on the 6th of October 2011.

I just have to say that this is a great documentary. It follows and explains the life of World Champion Chess player Bobby Fischer, from his childhood to present. Everything from the stunning interviews to the background music in this documentary is so well thought of. It's a documentary that has you on the edge of your seat during the whole playtime, telling an amazing, fun and also sad story about a man that changed the world.

I would recommend anyone to go and see this brilliant depiction of a man's life and his inner struggle with himself. 9/10 stars.