In Memory of Bobby Fischer
Edward Rothstein on mathematics, music, and chess (New
York Times, Jan. 19, 2008):
"There may be only three human activities in which miraculous
accomplishment is possible before adulthood: mathematics, music and
chess."
George Steiner on music, mathematics, and chess (New
Yorker, Sept. 7, 1968):
"There are three intellectual pursuits, and, so far as I am aware, only
three, in which human beings have performed major feats before the age
of puberty. They are music, mathematics, and chess."
This is from Steiner's "A
Death of Kings," reprinted in George
Steiner: A Reader, Oxford University Press, 1984,
pp. 171-178:
A Death of Kings, 171
A Death of Kings, 172
A Death of Kings, 173
A Death of Kings, 174
A Death of Kings, 175
A Death of Kings, 176
A Death of Kings, 177
A Death of Kings, 178