This is Hidden Brain.
I'm Shankar Vedanta.
In October 1967, the world's greatest chess minds gathered in Seuss,
Tunisia to face off at the Interzonal Tournament, the high-stakes gateway to the World Chess Championship.
The early games were dominated by the American prodigy Bobby Fischer.
He was a 24-year-old grandmaster with an IQ rumored to be at the genius
level of 180. He was the favorite to win it all.
But despite his overwhelming lead, the tournament quickly spiraled into a masterclass in self-sabotage.
Bobby Fischer issued a series of escalating demands regarding his playing schedule.
When organizers refused to rearrange the event to suit him, he walked out, withdrawing from the tournament
while in first place and throwing away years of work in a single fit of frustration.
The walkout was a window into a profound emotional ineptness that lived right alongside Bobby Fischer's brilliance.
Throughout his career, he operated in a state of constant relational friction,
alienating the very coaches and friends who try to support him.
At his chess matches, he frequently violated the social norms of the game,
arriving late and refusing to make eye contact with the player sitting across from him.
Bobby Fischer possessed a mind that could see a dozen moves ahead on a chessboard,
but he struggled with the basic moves of social and emotional life.
And how feelings make us smarter.
Think back to the last time you made a decision you regretted.