REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Jan. 18, 2008
Chess Master Bobby Fischer Dies
Reclusive Former World Champion And Cold War Icon Was 64
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Play CBS Video Video Bobby Fischer Dies America's greatest chess player Bobby Fischer has died in Iceland. The reclusive former world champion lived a life filled with controversy. Mark Phillips reports.
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Video Checkmate For Chess Genius Bobby Fischer rose to fame as a Cold War hero after defeating Russia in the 1972 World Chess Championship, but left a less heroic legacy. Katie Couric takes a look back on Fischer's life.
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A fierce critic of his homeland, Bobby Fischer became wanted in the United States for violating the sanctions. (AP)
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Bobby Fischer of the U.S. right, and Boris Spassky of Russia, play their last game together in Reykjavik, Iceland, in this Aug. 31, 1972 file photo. (AP Photo/J. Walter Green)
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Photo Essay Bobby Fischer The life of an eccentric chess genius.
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- Bobby Fischer Lands In Iceland
Fischer died Thursday in a Reykjavik hospital, his spokesman, Gardar Sverrisson, said. There was no immediate word on the cause of death.
Born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, Robert James Fischer was a U.S. chess champion at 14 and a grand master at 15. He beat Spassky in a series of games in Reykjavik to claim America's first world chess championship in more than a century.
The event had tremendous symbolic importance, pitting the intensely individualistic young American against a product of the grim and soulless Soviet Union.
It also was marked by Fischer's odd behavior - possibly calculated psychological warfare against Spassky - that ranged from arriving two days late to complaining about the lighting, TV cameras, the spectators, even the shine on the table.
Spassky said in a brief phone call from France, where he lives, that he was "very sorry" to hear of Fischer's death.
Former Russian chess champion Garry Kasparov said Fischer's conquest of the chess world in the 1960s was "a revolutionary breakthrough" for the game.
But Fischer's reputation as a chess genius soon was eclipsed by his idiosyncrasies. He lost his world title in 1975 after refusing to defend it against Anatoly Karpov. He dropped out of competitive chess and largely out of view, emerging occasionally to make erratic and often anti-Semitic comments, although his mother was Jewish.
"The tragedy is that he left this world too early, and his extravagant life and scandalous statements did not contribute to the popularity of chess," Kasparov told The Associated Press.
Fischer lived in secret outside the United States but emerged in 1992 to confront Spassky again, in a highly publicized match in Yugoslavia. Fischer beat Spassky 10-5 to win $3.35 million.
The U.S. government said Fischer's playing the match violated U.N. sanctions against Yugoslavia, imposed for Serb leader Slobodan Milosevic's role in fomenting war in the Balkans.
Over the years, Fischer gave occasional interviews with a radio station in the Philippines, often digressing into anti-Semitic rants and accusing American officials of hounding him.
He praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards." His mother was Jewish.
He also announced he had abandoned chess in 1996 and launched a new version in Argentina, "Fischerandom," a computerized shuffler that randomly distributes chess pieces on the back row of the board at the start of each game.
Fischer claimed it would bring the fun back into the game and rid it of cheats.
In July 2004, Fischer was arrested in Japan and threatened with extradition to the United States to face sanctions-busting charges. He spent nine months in custody before the dispute was resolved when Iceland - a chess-mad nation and site of his greatest triumph - granted him citizenship.
Fischer told reporters that he was finished with a chess world he regarded as corrupt, and sparred with U.S. journalists who asked about his anti-American tirades.
"The United States is evil. There's this axis of evil. What about the allies of evil - the United States, England, Japan, Australia? These are the evildoers," Fischer said.
In his final years, Fischer railed against the chess establishment, alleging that the outcomes of many top-level chess matches were decided in advance.
Instead, he championed his concept of random chess.
"I don't play the old chess," he told reporters upon arrival in Iceland. "But obviously if I did, I would be the best."
© MMVIII The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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See all 54 Commentsit was interesting to read your short bio on Fischer - seems this fascinating guy was a bundle of contradictions - but what a chess player!
I for one am still proud of his achievements, and will judge him by those.
I think History should be recorded as accurately as possible, both the good along with the bad, and not manipulated or altered because we didn''t like or agree with something. The Historical Archives of the United States is famous for accurately recording History, even if it means sealing that History for a number of years until the World can handle it. In contrast, the Russians are notorious for rewriting History and not accurately recording it. If you fall out of favor with the Russians they will erase you from their History including going back and erasing all photos of you from official documents and publications! History must be accurately recorded, the good along with the bad, despite political differences, including the History of those we don''t like or who don''t like us, or those who disagree, which includes Bobby Fischer. It seems no one would have a complete picture of Bobby Fischer or an accurate history of him if you wrote it.
Posted by jackie0428 at 02:03 AM : Jan 19, 2008,,,
You are absolutely correct up to a point. But many don''t think Bobby Fischer really meant it, really felt that way, but we all must be held accountable for our statements and actions anyway, including Fischer. But I think Fischer was lashing out, made those anti-U.S., 9/11 and Jewish comments out of anger and frustration because of his situation. In my view the real truth how about how someone really feels is when they express themselves when everything in their lives is going well, when there is no pressure, then you see and hear the real them. People explode and say many things they don''t really mean when angry that they often regret! We are only talking about Fischer''s Chess skills and accomplishments and strictly confined to just Chess.
I grew up with chess. Bobby and I are about the same age. I was and still remain in awe of Bobby''s incredible achievements.
His child abandonment issues formed a psyche that never developed fully. Understand this; Bobby Fisher was first and foremost a warrior. He was bloody ruthless in board combat which is what chess is, when it is at its best.
I believe that lonely child, grew up an angy man. Bobby Fisher, US World Champion was by then, too famous to be ignored by a world press.
Bobby''s politics unlike his board strategy was not nearly as well thought out.
I met and conversed with Grand Master Boris Spassky many years ago. I remember at the time pondering the personality differences between these two giants of chess.
Boris Spassky was a totally affable international citizen. Safe to say, Mr. Spasssky was the most truly unpretentious and sophisticated, cosmopolitan human being I have ever encountered. He was/is the antithesis of a Bobby Fisher. Ironic that the Russian, famous for losing, turns out to be the big winner in the long run. Caissa''s kind of justice!
Spassky left the Soviet Union has had a prosperous career. Fisher, became a paranoid hermit, disenfranchised and leaves us as a classic enigma of the troubled mind.
I''d say Fischer was pretty much dead-on honest, but they''re his opinions.
He had been hounded by the feds for years, had his passport taken because he played chess in jugoslavia!
One can understand his "anti-americanism" for that reason. As he was a jew, he can say anything he wants about his people -
we criticize roman catholics, what does that make us?
- Posted by cdfoxtrot at 10:50 PM : Jan 18, 2008
The Japanese threw him in jail. He was there for months.
Posted by Iceman_1960
Last time I looked, Japan is in Asia.
- Posted by cdfoxtrot at 10:50 PM : Jan 18, 2008
The Japanese threw him in jail. He was there for months.
Posted by mbburch06
He didn''t have "extreme views" and his views didn''t overshadow his achievements. You may take the position that his views were "extreme" but that''s your opinion. His condemnation of US support for Israel and it''s terrible treatment of Palestinian civilians may be considered "extreme" to some Americans, but it''s how most of the world feels. You might want to reflect on why he was welcomed with open arms by Europe.
Fischer''s 1972 victory over Spassky was as much a victory for America as was the moon landing. This young, individualistic American taking down the collectivist Soviets who had dominated chess for the past century. Match 21 is perhaps the most memorable game of all time.
It''s a shame that Fischer''s extreme views and personality quirks overshadowed his great achievements.
May Bobby Fischer rest in peace. A genius and a courageous patriot.
Kasparov also beat Deep Blue at least once.
Deep Blue was the name of the IBM computer system he did battle with.
- Posted by fitedafuture at 05:14 PM : Jan 18, 2008
That was Gary Kasparov, I think.
Kasparov also beat Big Blue at least once.
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