Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Bobby Fischer - Greg Shahade, 1-0

Bobby Fischer posthumously defeats Greg Shahade in the NY Times "Sentence of the Week" competition in the NY Times:

Sentence of the Week, Pathos and Petulance Edition


By SAM ANDERSON

Here are our candidates:


A. DeWitt brings to satire what Roberto BolaƱo’s “2666″ brought to the detective story: purity of means, ineffability of ends. (Garth Risk Hallberg on Helen Dewitt’s new novel, “Lightning Rods”)

B. I was no great fan of “Taxi Driver,” I found it a thesis statement shot from a spatter gun. (James Wolcott, “Lucking Out”)

C. Mr. Berlusconi pretended to fall asleep at one point, officials said, and afterward said he had never been held back a year at school. (Europe, keeping it classy)

D. Basically, unless you’re world champion, you feel like an idiot. (Chess master Greg Shahade, quoted in “Counterplay: an Anthropologist at the Chessboard”)

E. “Nothing soothes pain like the touch of a person.” (Bobby Fischer’s last words, quoted by Robert Desjarlais, “Counterplay”)

full article

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

CONGRATULATIONS!!
MANHATTAN APPLESAUCE!

-Great Job! Good Luck in the 2011 Playoffs!!

Anonymous said...

That just proves how strong Fischer was - even dead, he can beat Shahade, spotting him life and human existence, sort of the ultimate odds game.