Chess Master Bobby Fischer Dies

Reclusive Former World Champion And Cold War Icon Was 64

(AP)  Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.

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."

[extremophil]

Checkmate

[piercetheval]

...EN PASSANT...GATE GATE PARAGATE PARASUMGATE OH BODHI SVAHA..AUM SHANTI

[tbweb]

You had to be into Chess to really understand Fischer. Fischer came from the old-school of Chess where Chess was always considered a game for the individual. Fischer hated the Soviet Union''s approach to Chess and considered their use of Chess a political tool. For example the Soviet Union had a team approach to Chess where an individual would have many trainers, an entire team studying for them, studying their future opponents and training the selected team leader to compete in competitions with the latest Chess innovations. Bobby Fischer thought this approach destroyed Chess and considered it cheating and so did many. In order to compete against the Soviet Union, many nations had to take the same approach creating their own teams to remain competitive. The thing that made Bobby Fischer''s World Chess Championship so awesome, so rewarding was that Fischer not only beat Boris Spassky the individual, but the Soviet Union teams as well, Fischer beat them all! The downside to Fischer''s victory was that he had to drop out of school at a young age and devote his life to Chess to make his point, to win the World Championship and in that respect many feel like Fischer was really the loser. Bobby Fischer didn''t feel like America appreciated his sacrifice, didn''t reward his efforts the way it should have and abandoned his country. Bobby Fischer was awesome, you would have to play through his games to appreciate Fischer''s Chess genius and what a treat!

[jegibbons]

Bid a sad farewell to one of the strongest, and yet most troubled minds of the past century. Bobby was nothing, if not truly ONE OF A KIND!

[papabc]

Yawn!

[blackyowe]

Fruitcake but talented fruitcake....

[nolalou]

Bobby Fisher was a genius, and like many geniuses, a troubled one.

yurpallid , if your looking for a loser, I suggest you invest in a mirror!

[barbaraf4]

"His mother was Jewish."

Then, so was he. How do you deny your own heritage?

[wangbang]

I''ll always remember him as being a traitor, not a chess genius.

[iceman_1960]

A troubled chess genius has died.

If there is a hell, Mr. Fischer would be one more chess nut roasting on an open fire.

But there isn"t. Rest in peace, Bobby Fischer.

Chess is a cool game, but you have to be a little mad to devote your whole life to it.

Before Fischer there was the emotionally unstable Paul Morphy, considered by many the greatest player of all time ["Make one bad move against Morphy, and you might as well resign"], who became a recluse and died in a bathtub at 49, and Alexander Alekhine, a very great player but an erratic individual who once u*rinated during a chess match, in full view of the audience, while in a state of intoxication.

Oh well.

Rest in peace, Bobby Fischer.

[iceman_1960]

"I"ll always remember him as being a traitor, not a chess genius."
- Posted by wangbang747 at 10:36 AM : Jan 18, 2008

That"s how I"ll always remember George W. Bush.

Not as a great genius of statesmanship, but as a traitor.







["D*amned lefties have to bring Bush into every story..."]

[antizion]

"His mother was Jewish."
Then, so was he. How do you deny your own heritage?
Posted by barbaraf4

Any way you can. Bobby was right!

[cbs_oliver]

Too bad.

He played some nice chess games.

[cbs_oliver]

p.s. IF YOU COMMIT TREASON AGAINST THE U.S. , YOU DESERVE YOUR FATE.......THOSE ARE THE RULES, LOVE THEM OR GETR THE F@CK OUT.

Posted by yurpallid at 09:53 AM : Jan 18, 2008

Let''s start with those why fly the traitor flag!

[jegibbons]

Like two other prominent Grandmasters of Chess, Paul Morphy & Raoul Capablanca Bobby Fisher taught himself the game at a young age.
This man was a true prodigy in every sense of the word but as such and is too often the case; Bobby was singularly focused for far too long which eventually distorted his perspective of life. His was a form of madness, I believe, that made living with fame very difficult for him. He walked away from the game he loved too much too late in my opinion. I, for one, will always remember him fondly.

[cbs_oliver]

My personal favorite chess prodigy was Sammy Reshevsky.

I think Fischer first won the US chess champianship by beating Reschevsky.

In any case they played early.

[iceman_1960]

Speaking of chess...

In "Star Trek" Mr. Spock is sometimes seen playing 3-dimensional chess.

Does anyone play 3-dimensional chess in real life ? I"ve never heard of a tournamnent for that.

(I bet Mr. Spock was one h*ell of a player.)

[neoconslayer]

Iceman_1960:
You can buy three dimensional chess sets inpired by Star Trek.
I don''t think it is in print, so try eBay.
I have never heard of a tournament.
It is a difficult game for some spatially because of upwards and downwards diagonal movement and because of the movement of knights.

[tbweb]

I was only commenting on Robert J in the context of his brilliant Chess skills, not looking at Fischer as a package. His joy over the 9/11 attacks was sad and disturbing, but had nothing to do with his Chess skills. Speaking of 9/11 many experts considered bin Ladens attack brilliant, a novelty but still wish he were dead, executed on sight. One thing has nothing to do with the other unless its being considered as a package!

[iceman_1960]

I remember seeing Bobby Fischer as a guest on a Bob Hope television show, shortly after his victory over Boris Spassky. (This was before Fischer went off the deep end.)

Bob Hope potrayed his Russian opponent, complete with stereotypical Russian hat, in an amusing skit. As Fischer was trying to analyze a chess position, Hope was loudly cracking his knuckles, eating celery and pretzels, using a nutcracker, doing everything possible to distract him.

Finally Fischer made his move, and Bob Hope then "jumped" all his pieces, checkers-style.

"Do I have checkmate ?" asked Hope.

"No, I think you have gin," said Fischer.

A very nice memory of happier days.

[antoniof123]

After reading some of the comments I realize what fools some people are. This man was ill and the fine line to insanity was never quite crossed maybe that is a blessing for everyone but Bobby Fischer.

The man is dead somehow I really don''t think he cares what any one thinks.

Rest in peace Bobby Fischer.

[iceman_1960]

RE: Post by neoconslayer at 11:19 AM : Jan 18, 2008

Thanks.

I"d better wait until I thoroughly master 2-dimensional chess first, though.

I have the "Chess Genius" software program downloaded on my desktop.

My won-lost record against it is nothing to brag about.

It"s roughly 0 - 100,000.

[iceman_1960]

"My won-lost record against it is nothing to brag about.

It"s roughly 0 - 100,000."
- Posted by Iceman_1960 at 11:28 AM : Jan 18, 2008

Not surprising. It beat the world champion in 1994.

http://www.chessgenius.com/

[iceman_1960]

Still no word on the cause of Bobby Fischer"s death.

(Maybe he had all his money in the stock market)

[iceman_1960]

Early in his career Bobby Fischer became alienated from his mother.

After the Spassky championship match, when Fischer spoke of his admiration Richard Nixon, she campaigned vigorously for Senator George S. McGovern. ( - NY Times Obituary)

Well, we know who the real brains in that family was.

[iceman_1960]

What a tragic waste of intellect.

Bobby Fischer"s IQ was said to be 181, a level approaching that of Thomas Jefferson, Albert Einstein and Barack Obama.

It should have been put to better use.

[Wookiee-1138]

A shame. He''s run the gamut from world champion to a laughing stock. However, he''s hardly the first or last Chess master to go off the deep end.

[tbweb]

In the context of strictly Chess, I think many Chess players will agree that one of Bobby Fischers best Chess moments came during the World Championship against Boris Spassky. During the match the Russians stopped the match and took apart Fischers chair, thinking he was cheating with electronic devices only to look like fools! After Spassky lost to Fischer the Russians held a tournament to replace Spassky claiming his lost embarrassed Russia but Spassky won that tournament further embarrassing Russia!

[pelosistilho]

Fischer may have been right on Serbia, but otherwise he was an unstable, obnoxious, self-loathing scumbag who never really did bring honor to the United States. Good riddance to a Fascist pig who was never proud of himself or his origins but preferred to lie with Islamonazi curs.

[random_radar]

"emerging occasionally to make erratic and often anti-Semitic comments, although his mother was Jewish."

That would make him Jewish, too, wouldn''t it? Or do we define Jewish people who make anti-semitic comments as non-Jewish?

It is schizophrenic journalism to call a Jew anti-semitic. Tar him with the anti-semitic label or praise his Jewish descent, but don''t confuse people by doing both.

[tbweb]

Fischer loved Chess, he dropped out of school at age 12 to devote his life to the game he loved. In practical terms Fischer wasn''t well educated and had a childs mind in a real world context. Serbia was one of the Chess capitals of the world at the time, Belgrade had Chess activities going on around the clock, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week! Fischer thought he died and went to Heaven, plus they worshiped him there! I think Bobby Fischer was more attracted to that Chess environment than Serbian politics. Fischer would have played Chess on the Moon if the same Chess environment was there too! I think he later got caught up in politics, Fischer was a Chess freak thats all!

[easeup-2009]

I''ve said it once & I''ll say it again, Bobby Fischer was the best defensive end in NFL history.

[thgdriver]

He was a brilliant chess player, a genius, a disturbed eccentric all rolled into one. I remember the 72 match with Boris well. He drove Boris to the point of paranoia, Boris was so worked up he could not concentrate on the games.

As far as praising the 9/11 attacks go. I am sure if he was still alive some of you conspiracies morons could have straightened him out about that.

[fitedafuture]

Death was Searching for Bobby Fisher and FOUND HIM..

[fitedafuture]

Theres no mention he lost to a computer..whats up with that???..

[denn034]

Condolences to Fischer''s family and friends.

[iceman_1960]

"Theres no mention he lost to a computer..whats up with that???.."
- Posted by fitedafuture at 05:14 PM : Jan 18, 2008

That was Gary Kasparov, I think.

Kasparov also beat Big Blue at least once.

[iceman_1960]

Deep Blue.

Kasparov also beat Deep Blue at least once.

Deep Blue was the name of the IBM computer system he did battle with.

[cdfoxtrot]

The author of the article "forgot" to mention that Bobby Fischer rightly attributed the 9/11 attacks on the US to US foreign policy -- particularly its support for Israel and Israel''s oppression of the Palestinian people. His comments at that time creates the true context for his supposedly "anti-semitic" stances (which were really a disdain for the policies of the Israeli government, and nothing to do with his Jewish heritage) and for his comments on the US being part of the "true" axis of evil. Note that the countries he named are the main contributors to the so-called coalition of the willing" that brought us the Iraq fiasco. Whomever wrote the article has obvious political views that diminished the quality of the end product.

May Bobby Fischer rest in peace. A genius and a courageous patriot.

[bud28dy]

Fischer played Spassky when I was 10 and I followed every match. The guy was absolutely brilliant on the chessboard and among the top two or three who ever lived. But unfortunately he greatly tarnished his image with all the junk and hate he later spouted. It''s really hard to separate Fischer the man from Fischer the chess champ. So his death should not cause anyone any sadness.

[tiredofthebs]

R.I.P. Bobby Fischer. There are those of us who saw the method in your so-called madness.

[mbburch06]

It''s often said that talent is given to those least able to handle it. Certainly true in this case.

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.

[cdfoxtrot]

It''''s a shame that Fischer''''s extreme views and personality quirks overshadowed his great achievements.

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.

[iceman_1960]

"You might want to reflect on why he was welcomed with open arms by Europe."
- Posted by cdfoxtrot at 10:50 PM : Jan 18, 2008

The Japanese threw him in jail. He was there for months.

[tbweb]

The fond memories of Bobby Fischer seem to have the same magic and power as those of Jackie Kennedy. Our minds seem to have a cut off point, only wanting to remember the good and not the bad. In the case of Jackie Kennedy our minds only want to remember the good times she shared with John F. Kennedy and those magical moments during Camelot. The same is true of Bobby Fischer, we only want to remember his innocence, the good moments and give them both a polite pass for the tragedy and sad times that found its way into their lives. R.I.P. Robert James Fischer.

[cdfoxtrot]

"You might want to reflect on why he was welcomed with open arms by Europe."
- 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.

[bobgee_1999]

What the phuque does this story have to do with Obama? And claims that he is a radical Muslim are idiotic, anyway. Radical Muslims lack the finesse necessary to put on an elaborate charade. Not that it much matters. After Bush, it''s difficult to see how the offspring of Hannibal Lector and Elizabeth Bathory could fail to be an improvement.

[robertkjjj]

He had a brilliant mind for chess, one of the best ever. Outside of that, he was a total as*shole. He was a crazed Jew-hating lunatic, and he hated his own country. Not much good can be said of that. What a jerk.

[jackie0428]

He praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying ***." His mother was Jewish. Wow. How can there be even ONE person sorry to see someone like this dead? He PRAISED the 9-11 attacks? A mass murder of 3000 innocents? Most of whom were burned to death? Most of whom were so incinerated, so obliterated, that their loved ones didn''t even have one identifiable particle to bury? How can ANY of you be so INSANE to say one nice thing about this totally fu*cked-up as*shole? Sorry, but when you praise psychotic mass murderers, you are less than subhuman. I have not an ounce of patience for you if you try to rationalize such completely insane behavior.

[neoconrcrazy]

Outside of praising the 911 attacks -

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?