Reuben Fine vs Bobby Fischer
Two chess prodigies, compared on what is actually documented: field, era, country and record. No invented numbers.
The record, side by side
| Reuben Fine | Bobby Fischer | |
| Field | Sports | Sports |
| Sub-field | Chess | Chess |
| Born | 1914 | 1943 |
| Died | 1993 | 2008 |
| Country of birth | United States | - |
| Star sign | Libra | Pisces |
Who they are
Reuben Fine
In 1948, FIDE organized a round-robin tournament in The Hague and Moscow to determine who would succeed Alexander Alekhine as World Chess Champion. Five players were invited. The sixth invitation — by many accounts the most interesting one — went to Reuben Fine of New York, ranked by most contemporary observers among the top two or three players in the world. Fine declined. He was in the middle of his psychoanalytic training and felt that his professional obligations took priority over competing for the world title. He was thirty-three years old. He never played serious…
Full biography of Reuben Fine →
Bobby Fischer
On a July evening in 1972, in a stark hall in Reykjavik, Iceland, two men sat down to play chess with the eyes of the world upon them. One represented the Soviet Union, the dominant chess power that had held the World Championship for twenty-four consecutive years. The other was a twenty-nine-year-old from Brooklyn who had learned the game from a pamphlet at age six, who had barely slept in weeks, who had already threatened to withdraw from the match twice, and who was now the most famous chess player on earth. Robert James Fischer…
Full biography of Bobby Fischer →
What they share
- Both are held here under Sports.
- Same sub-field: Chess.
- Their lifetimes overlap.
Where they part
- 29 years separate their births (1914 and 1943).
Questions people ask
- Who came first, Reuben Fine or Bobby Fischer?
- Reuben Fine. Reuben Fine was born in 1914, Bobby Fischer in 1943.
- What field is each of them in?
- Reuben Fine is filed under Sports (Chess). Bobby Fischer is filed under Sports (Chess).
- Were they contemporaries?
- Yes - their lifetimes overlap.