Fred Waitzkin
Born1943
OccupationWriter, novelist
NationalityAmerican
Notable worksSearching for Bobby Fischer
ChildrenJoshua Waitzkin, Katya Waitzkin
Website
joshwaitzkin.com

Fred Waitzkin (born 1943 in Massachusetts) is an American novelist and writer for The New York Times Sunday Magazine, New York, and Esquire. He graduated Kenyon College in Gambier, Ohio in 1965, and lives in New York City and Martha's Vineyard.[1][2][3][4]

Waitzkin is the father of chess prodigy Joshua Waitzkin[5] and wrote a book about his son called Searching for Bobby Fischer; he felt that Joshua could be a successor to Bobby Fischer. The book was praised by Grandmaster Nigel Short,[6] as well as chess journalist Edward Winter, who called it "a delightful book" in which "the topics [are] treated with an acuity and grace that offer the reviewer something quotable on almost every page."[7] Screenwriter and playwright Tom Stoppard called the book "well written" and "captivating".[8] The book was made into the Academy Award-nominated namesake film[9][10] (but released in the U.K. as Innocent Moves), with Joe Mantegna playing Joshua Waitzkin's father.[11][12]

Major works

  • 1988: Searching for Bobby Fischer: The Father of a Prodigy Observes the World of Chess
  • —; Fred Waitzkin (1 August 1995). Attacking Chess: Aggressive Strategies and Inside Moves from the U.S. Junior Chess Champion. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 978-0-684-80250-3.
  • — (2001). The Last Marlin: The Story of a Father and Son. Penguin Books. ISBN 978-0-14-100188-3.
  • — (2013). Mortal Games: The Turbulent Genius of Garry Kasparov. Perseus Books Group. ISBN 978-0-7867-5487-8.[13]
  • The Dream Merchant

See also

References

  1. ↑ Jay Helmer (January 2005). Kenyon College. College Prowler, Inc. pp. 123–. ISBN 978-1-59658-071-8.
  2. ↑ "King Kasparov". 7 October 1990. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  3. ↑ Scott Barry Kaufman. "From Chess to Dreams: Interview on the Creative Writing Process with Fred Waitzkin". Scientific American Blog Network. Retrieved 15 May 2016.
  4. ↑ "List of Kenyon College people", Wikipedia, 2019-08-08, retrieved 2019-11-21
  5. ↑ Martin Amis (17 September 2014). The War Against Cliche: Essays and Reviews 1971-2000. Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. pp. 322–. ISBN 978-1-101-91025-2. As a 'chess parent', a journalist, and a sane man, Fred Waitzkin is articulately aware of what he is doing. And what he is doing isn't always pretty. Full of bafflement, doubt, persistent self-reproach and comically vulgar ambition, he continues to ...
  6. ↑ The Spectator, April 8, 1989, pp. 30–31
  7. ↑ Searching for Bobby Fischer review, Edward Winter, Chess History, 1989
  8. ↑ The Observer, April 2, 1989, p.45
  9. ↑ Roger Ebert (15 June 2009). Roger Ebert's Four Star Reviews--1967-2007. Andrews McMeel Publishing. pp. 683–. ISBN 978-0-7407-9217-5. The screenplay by Steven Zaillian (Schindler's List), based on Fred Waitzkin's autobiographical book, is best when it deals with the issues surrounding competitive chess. Is winning, for example, the only thing? Is chess so important that it ...
  10. ↑ Ray Didinger; Glen Macnow (2009). The Ultimate Book of Sports Movies: Featuring the 100 Greatest Sports Films of All Time. Perseus Books Group. pp. 283–. ISBN 978-0-7624-3921-8. Searching for Bobby Fischer is based on a true story and was adapted from a book written by Fred Waitzkin, Josh's true-life father. It is good to know that Josh survived his childhood, went on to win two U.S. Junior Chess championships in his ...
  11. ↑ Leslie Halliwell (1996). Halliwell's Film Guide. HarperPerennial. pp. 1085–. ISBN 978-0-06-273372-6. GB title; Innocent Moves A father discovers that his seven -year- old son is a chess prodigy. ... exciting and accessible to non-players. wd Steven Zaillian book Fred Waitzkin ph Conrad L. Hall m James Horner pd David Gropman ed Wayne ...
  12. ↑ Film review. 6-7. Orpheus Pub. 1994. Innocent Moves is based on the book Searching for Bobby Fischer by Fred Waitzkin, which tells the true story of Josh, now aged 15. The subject matter might at first appear dull, but the vivid characters, the emotional heartache, and the belly ...
  13. ↑ Benjamin Hale (21 August 2013). Philosophy Looks at Chess. Open Court. pp. 108–. ISBN 978-0-8126-9818-3. The real Fred Waitzkin wrote not only Searching for Bobby Fischer, a book I like very much, but also a very interesting biography of Garry Kasparov, with the significant—especially for my purposes here—title Mortal Games (1993). Now, if I ...


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