Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born
chess Grandmaster who in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer to become the
official World Chess Champion. In 1974 he officially resigned the title when
FIDE, the international chess federation, refused to accept his conditions for a
title defense. He is a regular candidate in considerations of the greatest chess
player of all time.
Fischer's victory over the Soviet world champion Boris Spassky in the 1972 World
Chess Championship not only sparked heightened international interest in chess,
but was seen as a symbolic victory for the capitalist West. Particularly in the
United States, Spassky was portrayed as the product of an impersonal,
mechanical, and oppressive system of state control, while Fischer was depicted
as a solitary genius who had heroically overcome the Soviets' dominance.
Fischer now lives in Iceland, and has also become known for his
anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism, and anti-semitism. However, Fischer's
inflammatory statements have done little to diminish the professional and
popular recognition of his singular achievements on the chessboard.
Bobby Fischer at 16.Robert
James Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. His
mother, Regina Wender, was a naturalized American citizen of German Jewish
descent, born in Switzerland but raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and later a
teacher, a registered nurse and a physician. Fischer's father was listed on the
birth certificate as Wender's first husband, Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, a German
biophysicist. The couple married in 1933 in Moscow, U.S.S.R., where Wender was
studying medicine at the First Moscow Medical Institute. However, a 2002 article
by Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that
Paul Nemenyi, a Hungarian physicist of Jewish ancestry, may have been Fischer's
biological father. Gerhardt and Regina Fischer divorced in 1945 when Bobby was
two years old, and he grew up with his mother and older sister, Joan. In 1948,
the family moved to Mobile, Arizona, where Regina taught in an elementary
school. The following year they moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Regina worked
as an elementary school teacher and nurse.
In May 1949, the six-year-old Fischer learned how to play chess from
instructions found in a chess set that his sister had bought at a candy store
below their Brooklyn apartment. He saw his first chess book a month later. For
over a year he played chess on his own. At age 7, he joined the Brooklyn Chess
Club and was taught by its president, Carmine Nigro. He later joined the
Manhattan Chess Club. When Fischer was 13, his mother asked John W. Collins to
be his chess tutor. Collins had coached several top players, including future
grandmasters Robert Byrne and William Lombardy. Fischer spent much time at
Collins' house, and some have described Collins as a father figure for Fischer.
The Hawthorne Chess Club was the name for the group which Collins coached.
Fischer also was involved with the Log Cabin Chess Club.
Fischer attended Erasmus Hall High School together with Barbra Streisand, though
he later dropped out. Many teachers remembered him as difficult. According to
school records, he had an IQ of 184 and an incredibly retentive memory.
Fischer's first real triumph was winning the United States Junior Chess
Championship in July 1956. In the same year, he played several brilliant games;
his game against Donald Byrne, who later became an International Master, is
often called "The Game of the Century".
In 1957, Fischer first successfully defended his U.S. Junior title, then won the
United States Open Chess Championship on tie-breaking points over Arthur
Bisguier. Fischer was given entry into the invitational U.S. Championship. Many
thought he was too weak, and predicted that he would finish last. Instead, he
won, becoming in January 1958, at age 14, the youngest U.S. champion ever.
Fischer's victory qualified him to participate in the 1958 Portoroz Interzonal,
the next step toward challenging the World Champion. The top six finishers in
the Interzonal would qualify for the Candidates Tournament, but few thought the
youngster had much chance of this. Again he surprised the pundits, tying for
fifth place after a strong finish. This made Fischer the youngest person ever to
qualify for the Candidates (a record which was broken by Magnus Carlsen in 2005,
although Carlsen took one of 16 available places, Fischer took one of 8), and
also earned him the title of Grandmaster, making him at that time the youngest
grandmaster in history.
Before the Candidates' tournament, he competed in 1959 in strong International
tournaments at Mar del Plata, Argentina; Santiago, Chile; and Zurich,
Switzerland. In all three events, he scored well, showing that he was of true
grandmaster strength.
At the age of 16, Fischer finished a creditable equal fifth out of eight at the
Candidates Tournament held in Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1959. He
scored 12.5-15.5 and was outclassed by tournament winner Mikhail Tal, who won
all four of their individual games.
In 1960, Fischer tied for first with the young Soviet star Boris Spassky at
the strong Mar del Plata tournament in Argentina, with the two well ahead of the
rest of the field. Fischer lost only to Spassky, and this was the start of their
relationship, which began on a friendly basis and stayed that way, in spite of
Fischer's troubles on the board against Spassky. Fischer struggled in the
subsequent Buenos Aires tournament, finishing with a minus score, as Soviet
Viktor Korchnoi won. This was the only real failure of Fischer's competitive
career.
In 1961, Fischer started a 16-game match with frequent U.S. Champion Samuel
Reshevsky, one of the world's strongest players. The match was split between New
York and Los Angeles. Despite Fischer's meteoric rise, the veteran Reshevsky was
considered the favorite, since not only did he have much more match experience,
but he had never lost a set match in his life. After 11 games and a tie score (2
wins apiece with 7 draws), the match ended due to a dispute between Fischer and
match organizer and sponsor Jacqueline Piatigorsky. Mrs. Piatigorsky's husband
Gregor Piatigorsky, a world-class concert cellist, was giving a concert later in
the afternoon of the scheduled 12th game. Mrs. Piatigorsky, who wanted to attend
the concert, as well as the chess game, rescheduled the 12th game to start at 11
a.m., apparently without getting Fischer's approval. Fischer, who liked to sleep
late, objected, and abandoned the match. He later made up with Mrs. Piatigorsky,
by accepting an invitation to Santa Monica 1966, which she helped to sponsor.
Fischer was second behind former World Champion Tal at Bled 1961, a super-strong
tournament. He defeated Tal head-to-head for the first time, scored 3.5/4
against the Soviet contingent, and finished as the only unbeaten player.
In the next World Championship cycle, Fischer won the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal
by 2.5 points, scoring 17.5-4.5, making him one of the favorites for the
Candidates tournament in Curaçao, which began soon afterwards. However, he had a
disappointing tournament, finishing fourth out of eight with a 14-13 score. The
result nonetheless established Fischer, at 19, as the strongest non-Soviet
player in the world. Tal fell very ill during the tournament, and had to
withdraw before completion. Fischer, a friend of Tal's, in spite of Tal's
head-to-head dominance, was the only player who visited him in the hospital.
Following his failure in the 1962 Candidates (at which five of the eight players
were from the Soviet Union), Fischer asserted that three of the Soviet players
had an agreement to draw their games in order to concentrate on playing against
him, and also that a fourth, Victor Korchnoi, had been forced to throw games to
ensure a Soviet player won. It is generally thought that the former accusation
is correct, but not the latter. (This is discussed further at the World Chess
Championship 1963 article).
Fischer played in eight United States Chess Championships during his career. He won the title all eight times he contested it, and each time the tournament was held in New York City. His scores were: 1957-58: 10.5/13; 1958-59: 8.5/11; 1959-60: 9/11; 1960-61: 9/11; 1962-63: 8/11; 1963-64: 11/11; 1965-66: 8.5/11; 1966-67: 9.5/11. The total is 74/90, for 82.2 per cent, with only three losses.
In 1962, Fischer said that he had "personal problems" and began to listen to
various radio ministers in a search for answers. This is how he first came to
listen to The World Tomorrow radio program with Herbert W. Armstrong and his son
Garner Ted Armstrong; the Armstrongs' denomination, The Worldwide Church of God,
predicted an imminent apocalypse. In late 1963, Fischer began tithing to the
church. According to Fischer, he lived a bifurcated life, with a rational chess
component and an enthusiastic religious component.
Fischer decided not to participate in the Amsterdam Interzonal in 1964, thus
taking himself out of the 1966 World Championship cycle. He held to this
decision even when FIDE changed the format of the eight-player Candidates
Tournament from a round-robin to a series of knockout matches, which eliminated
the possibility of collusion.
Fischer wanted to play in the Capablanca Memorial Tournament, Havana 1965, but
Americans were not allowed to travel to Cuba at that time. Fischer had travelled
to Cuba to play as a youth, before Fidel Castro assumed power with a coup in
1959. Fischer was able to play by telegraph, staying in New York and playing
from the Frank Marshall Chess Club. His games lasted longer because of the
transmission delays and receipt of moves logistics. But Fischer finished second,
behind former World Champion Vasily Smyslov, and defeated Smyslov in their game.
Chess became a news item in the United States with this unusual achievement.
Fischer finished second at the 1966 Santa Monica supertournament, just behind
world finalist Boris Spassky. The next year, he won over strong fields at Monte
Carlo 1967 and Skopje 1967.
In the next cycle, at the 1967 Sousse Interzonal, Fischer scored a phenomenal
8.5 points in the first 10 games. His observance of the Worldwide Church of
God's sabbath was honored by the organizers, but deprived Fischer of several
rest days, which led to a scheduling dispute. Fischer forfeited two games in
protest and later withdrew, eliminating himself from the 1969 World Championship
cycle.
At home, Fischer won all eight U.S. Championships that he competed in, beginning
with the 1957-1958 championship and ending with the 1966-1967 championship. This
string includes his 11-0 win in the 1963-1964 championship, the only perfect
score in the history of the tournament, and one of only a handful of perfect
scores in high-level chess tournaments ever.
Fischer was forced to attend school, and had to miss the 1958 Olympiad. But he
represented the U.S.A. on top board with great distinction at four Olympiads:
(Leipzig 1960, Varna 1962, Havana 1966, and Siegen 1970). At Leipzig, he scored
13/18 for the silver medal, and the U.S.A. also won the team silver. At Varna,
he scored 11/17 and the U.S.A. finished fourth. At Havana, he scored an
incredible 15/17 for the individual silver, and the Americans again won team
silver. Then at Siegen he again won silver with 10/13, and the U.S.A. finished
fourth. His overall total was +40, =18, −7, for 49/65 or 75.4 per cent. Fischer
turned down further invitations to play in 1964, 1968, and 1972, after which he
retired for 20 years.
Fischer won the tournaments at Vinkovci 1968 and Netanya 1968 by large margins.
But he then stopped playing for the next 18 months, except for an amazing win in
a New York Metropolitan League team match over Anthony Saidy.
Bobby Fischer's score card from his round 3 game against Miguel Najdorf in
the 1970 Chess Olympiad.The 1969 U.S. Championship was also a zonal qualifier,
with the top three finishers advancing to the Interzonal. Fischer, however, had
sat out the U.S. Championship because of disagreements about the tournament's
format and prize fund. To enable Fischer to compete for the title, Grandmaster
Pal Benko gave up his Interzonal place, for which the United States Chess
Federation (USCF) paid him a modest $2,000; the other zonal participants waived
their right to replace Benko. This unusual arrangement was the work of Ed
Edmondson, then the USCF's Executive Director.
Before the Interzonal, though, in March and April 1970, the world's best players
competed in the USSR vs. Rest of the World match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia.
Fischer agreed to allow Bent Larsen of Denmark to play first board for the Rest
of the World team in light of Larsen's recent outstanding tournament results,
even though Fischer had the higher Elo rating. The USSR team won the match by a
hair (20.5-19.5), but Fischer beat Tigran Petrosian, whom Boris Spassky had
dethroned as world champion the previous year, 3-1, winning the first two games
and drawing the last two.
Following the Match of the Century, the unofficial World Championship of
Lightning Chess (5-minute games) was held at Herceg Novi. Fischer annihilated
the super-class field with 19/22, 4.5 points ahead of Tal. Later in 1970,
Fischer won tournaments at Rovinj/Zagreb with 13/17, and Buenos Aires, where he
crushed the field of mostly Grandmasters with 15/17. Clearly, he had taken his
game to a new level.
The Interzonal was held in Palma de Mallorca in November and December 1970.
Fischer won it with a remarkable 18.5-4.5 score, 3.5 points ahead of Larsen,
Efim Geller, and Robert Hübner, who tied for second at 15-8. Fischer finished
the tournament with seven consecutive wins (one by default).
Fischer continued his domination in the 1971 Candidates matches, defeating his
opponents with a lopsided series of results unparalleled in chess history.
First, he crushed Mark Taimanov of the USSR at Vancouver by 6-0. A couple of
months later, he repeated the shutout against Larsen at Denver, again by 6-0
(+6−0=0). The latter result was particularly shocking: Larsen had played
first board for the Rest of the World team ahead of Fischer just a year before,
and at the Interzonal had in their game handed Fischer his only loss.
Only former World Champion Petrosian, Fischer's final opponent in the Candidates
matches, was able to offer resistance in their match played at Buenos Aires.
Petrosian unleashed a strong theoretical novelty in the first game and had
Fischer on the ropes, but Fischer defended with his customary aplomb and even
won the game. This gave Fischer a remarkable streak of 20 consecutive wins, the
second longest winning streak in chess history after Steinitz's 25-game streak
from 1873 to 1882. Petrosian won decisively in the second game, finally snapping
Fischer's winning streak. After three consecutive draws, however, Fischer swept
the next four games to win the match 6.5-2.5 (+5=3−1). The final match victory
allowed Fischer to challenge World Champion Boris Spassky, whom he had never
beaten before (+0=2−3).
Fischer's career-long stubbornness about match and tournament conditions was
again seen in the run-up to his match with Spassky. Of the possible sites,
Fischer preferred Yugoslavia, while Spassky wanted Iceland. For a time it
appeared that the dispute would be resolved by splitting the match between the
two locations, but that arrangement fell through. After that issue was resolved,
Fischer refused to play unless the prize fund, which he considered inadequate,
was doubled. London financier Jim Slater responded by donating an additional $US
125,000, which brought the prize fund to an unprecedented $250,000. Fischer
finally agreed to play.
The match took place in Reykjavík, Iceland, from July through September 1972.
Fischer lost the first two games in strange fashion: the first when he played a
risky pawn-grab in a dead-drawn endgame, the second by forfeit when he refused
to play the game in a dispute over playing conditions. Fischer would likely have
forfeited the entire match, but Spassky, not wanting to win by default, yielded
to Fischer's demands to move the next game to a back room, away from the cameras
whose presence had upset Fischer. The rest of the match proceeded without
incident. Fischer won seven of the next 19 games, losing only one and drawing
eleven, to win the match 12.5-8.5 and become the 11th World Chess Champion. His
winning strategy was mainly based upon avoidance of Spassky's pre-match
preparation, by using a varied series of opening surprises. Spassky's play from
games 3-10 was probably the worst in his career, as he made several bad
blunders. Spassky played better in the second half of the match, but he was too
far behind by that stage.
Fischer's win was a momentous victory for the United States during the time of
the Cold War: the iconoclastic American almost single-handedly defeating the
mighty Soviet chess establishment that had dominated world chess for the past
quarter-century.
Fischer was also the (then) highest-rated player in history according to the Elo
rating system. He had a rating of 2780 after beating Spassky, which was actually
a slight decline from the record 2785 rating he had achieved after routing
Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian the previous year.
The match was coined "The Match of the Century", and received front-page media
coverage in the United States. With his victory, Fischer became an instant
celebrity. He received numerous product endorsement offers (all of which he
declined) and appeared on the covers of Life and Sports Illustrated. With
American Olympic swimming champion Mark Spitz, he also appeared on a Bob Hope TV
special. Membership in the United States Chess Federation doubled in 1972 and
peaked in 1974; in American chess, these years are commonly referred to as the
"Fischer Boom."
Fischer gave the Worldwide Church of God $61,200 of his world championship prize
money. However, 1972 was a disastrous year for the church, as prophecies by
Herbert W. Armstrong were unfulfilled, and the church was rocked by revelations
of a series of sex scandals involving Garner Ted Armstrong. Fischer, who felt
betrayed and swindled by the Worldwide Church of God, left the church and
publicly denounced it.
Fischer was scheduled to defend his title against challenger Anatoly Karpov
in 1975. Fischer had played no tournament games since winning the title, and he
laid down numerous (a total of 64) conditions for the match. While most of them
were purely game-oriented in nature, some were as bizarre as a requirement for
everyone entering the room where the game is conducted to take off head
covering. Many commentators supposed that Fischer's objective in making the
demands was to avoid conducting the match in the outcome of which Fischer was
not certain. Fischer made the following three principal demands:
Fischer claimed the usual system (24 games with the first player to get 12.5
points winning, or the champion retaining his title in the event of a 12-12 tie)
encouraged the player in the lead to draw games, which he regarded as bad for
chess. Fischer instead wanted a match of an unlimited number of games. However,
match based on the first two conditions could take several months (In 1927 the
Capablanca-Alekhine match to achieve the condition of winning only 6 games
continued for 34 games). Many argued that this would be an exercise in stamina
rather than skill. The FIDE commission headed by FIDE president Max Euwe and
consisting of both, US and USSR, representatives, ruled that the match should
continue until 6 wins. However, Fischer replied that he would resign his crown
and not participate in the match. Instead of accepting Fischer's forfeit, the
commission agreed to allow the match to continue until 9 wins, leaving only one
of the 64 conditions set by Fischer unsatisfied. FIDE postulated that the player
achieving 9 victories first would win the match, eliminating any advantage for
the reigning champion (Fischer). Most observers considered Fischer's demand of
his win in case of 9:9 draw to be unfair. It meant that Fischer only needed to
win nine games to retain the championship, while Karpov had to win by a 10-8
score. Because FIDE would not agree to that demand, Fischer resigned in a cable
to FIDE president Max Euwe on June 27, 1974:
"As I made clear in my telegram to the FIDE delegates, the match conditions I
proposed were non-negotiable. Mr. Cramer informs me that the rules of the winner
being the first player to win ten games, draws not counting, unlimited number of
games and if nine wins to nine match is drawn with champion regaining title and
prize fund split equally were rejected by the FIDE delegates. By so doing FIDE
has decided against my participating in the 1975 world chess championship. I
therefore resign my FIDE world chess champion title. Sincerely, Bobby Fischer."
Former U.S. Champion Arnold Denker, who was in contact with Fischer during the
Karpov match negotiations, claimed that Fischer wanted a long match to be able
to play himself into shape after a three-year layoff. Karpov became World
Champion by default in April 1975. In his 1991 autobiography, Karpov expressed
profound regret that the match did not take place, and claimed that the lost
opportunity to challenge Fischer held back his own chess development. Karpov met
with Fischer several times after 1975, in friendly but ultimately unsuccessful
attempts to arrange a match. Garry Kasparov has argued that Karpov would
have had a good chance to defeat Fischer in 1975.
Fischer disappeared and did not play competitive chess for nearly 20 years. To
this day, he claims that he is still the World Champion because he never lost a
title match.
1975-1991
In 1982, Fischer published a pamphlet, "I Was Tortured in the Pasadena
Jailhouse!", detailing his experiences following his arrest in 1981 after being
mistaken for a wanted bank robber. Fischer alleged that the police treated him
brutally. He was eventually charged with damaging prison property (a mattress).
The 14-page pamphlet ends with the signature: "Robert D. James (professionally
known as Robert J. Fischer or Bobby Fischer, The World Chess Champion)." By this
time Fischer had a Nevada driver's license and Social Security card with that
name, the same one that appeared in the 1981 Pasadena police report.
In the early 1980s, Fischer stayed for extended periods in the San
Francisco-area home of his friend, the Canadian Grandmaster Peter Biyiasas.
During a stretch of four months, the two played 17 five-minute games, and
Fischer, despite his layoff from competitive play, won all of them, according to
Biyiasas.
In 1984, Fischer wrote to the editors of the Encyclopedia Judaica, stating that
he was not, and had never been, Jewish, and asking that his name be removed from
the publication. Encyclopedia Judaica complied with the request.
Fischer arranged a financial settlement through FIDE with the Soviet Chess
Federation, over the issue of many thousands of unauthorized photocopied
versions of his book "My 60 Memorable Games" being distributed in the Soviet
Union by the Soviet Federation.
After twenty years, Fischer emerged from isolation to challenge Spassky (then
placed 96-102 on the rating list) to a "Revenge Match of the 20th Century" in
1992. This match took place in Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, FR Yugoslavia, in
spite of a severe United Nations embargo that included sanctions on sporting
events. Fischer demanded that the organizers bill the match as "The World Chess
Championship", although Garry Kasparov was the recognized FIDE World Champion.
The purse for this match was reported to be $US 5,000,000 with two-thirds to go
to the winner. The U.S. Department of the Treasury had warned Fischer beforehand
that his participation was illegal. In front of the international press, Fischer
was filmed spitting on the U.S. order forbidding him to play. Following the
match, the department obtained an arrest warrant for him although some dispute
the legality of the Department's claim and question why others who broke the
embargo have not been prosecuted. Fischer won the match, 10 wins to 5, with 15
draws. Many grandmasters observing the match said that Fischer was past his
prime. In the book Mortal Games, Garry Kasparov is quoted: "He is playing OK.
Around 2600 or 2650. It wouldn't be close between us." He has not played any
competitive games since.
Fischer insisted he was still the true world champion, and that all the games in
the FIDE-sanctioned World Championship matches, involving Karpov, Korchnoi and
Kasparov, had been pre-arranged.
Fischer, whose mother and father were both Jewish, made occasional hostile
comments toward Jews from at least the early 1960s. From the 1980s, however,
antisemitism was a major theme of his public remarks. He denied the "Holocaust
of the Jews," announced his desire to make "exposing the Jews for the criminals
they are the murderers they are" his lifework, and argued that the United States
is "a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew bastards."
In 1999, he gave a call-in interview to a radio station in Budapest, Hungary,
during which he described himself as the "victim of an international Jewish
conspiracy." Fischer's sudden re-emergence was apparently triggered when some of
his belongings, which had been stored in a Pasadena, California storage unit,
were sold by the landlord, who claimed it was in response to nonpayment of rent.
Fischer interpreted this as further evidence of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy
perpetrated by "the Jew-controlled U.S. Government" to defame and destroy him.
In 2005, some of Fischer's belongings were auctioned on eBay. In 2006, Fischer
claimed that his belongings in the storage unit were worth millions.
Fischer participated in at least 33 such broadcasts between 1999 and 2005,
mostly with radio stations in the Philippines, but also with stations in
Iceland, Colombia, and Russia.
For some years Fischer lived in Budapest, where he lived with the Jewish Polgár
family. He played Fischer Random Blitz as well as analyzed many games with
Zsuzsa Polgar.
Hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks Fischer was interviewed live by
Pablo Mercado on the Baguio City station of the Bombo Radyo network, shortly
after midnight September 12, 2001 Philippines local time (or shortly after noon
on September 11, 2001, New York time). Fischer commented on U.S and Israeli
foreign policy that "nobody cares ... that the US and Israel have been
slaughtering the Palestinians for years". Informed that "the White House and
Pentagon have been attacked", he proclaimed "This is all wonderful news".
Fischer stated "What goes around comes around even for the United States" and
said that if the U.S. fails to change its foreign policy, it "has to be
destroyed." After calling for President Bush's death, Fischer also stated he
hoped that a Seven Days in May-type military coup d' etat would take over power
in the U.S. and then execute "hundreds of thousands of American Jewish leaders",
"arrest all the Jews" and "close all synagogues".
Subsequent to that interview, Fischer's "right to membership in the United
States Chess Federation was cancelled" by a unanimous 7-0 decisionof the USCF
Executive Board, taken on October 28, 2001. In 2006, that decision was
subsequently "vacated" by the same Board.
Fischer being arrested in Japan in July 2004.Fischer was arrested at Narita
International Airport in Narita, Japan near Tokyo for allegedly using a revoked
U.S. passport while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight to Ninoy Aquino
International Airport in Manila, Philippines. Fischer used a genuine passport
that the United States Embassy in Bern, Switzerland issued to him in 1997. The
passport was allegedly revoked in 2003, although Fischer asserts that it was
valid and that he never received any notification that it had been cancelled.
Fischer has been wanted by the United States government ostensibly for playing
chess with Spassky in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in 1992. The match
violated President George H. W. Bush's Executive Order 12810 that implemented
United Nations sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia.
Fischer's supporters have stated that other U.S. citizens were present at the
match, specifically reporters, and were not prosecuted. They also have stated
that although Japan and the United States have a mutually binding extradition
treaty, Fischer should not have been deported, as violating a U.S. executive
order is not a violation of Japanese law. Tokyo-based Canadian journalist and
consultant John Bosnitch set up the "Committee to Free Bobby Fischer" after
meeting Fischer at Narita airport and offering to assist him. Bosnitch was
subsequently allowed to participate as a friend of the court by an Immigration
Bureau panel handling Fischer's case. He then worked to block the Japanese
Immigration Bureau's efforts to deport Fischer to the United States and
coordinated the legal and public relations campaign to free Fischer until his
eventual release.
According to the Agence France-Presse, Fischer renounced his United States
citizenship. A month later, it was reported that Fischer was marrying Miyoko
Watai, the President of the Japanese Chess Association, with whom he had been
living since 2000. Fischer also appealed to United States Secretary of State
Colin Powell to help him renounce his citizenship. Under pressure from the
United States, Japan's Justice Minister rejected Fischer's appeal that he be
allowed to remain in the country and ordered him deported.
Seeking ways to evade deportation to the United States, Fischer wrote a
letter to the government of Iceland in early January 2005 and requested an
Icelandic citizenship. (Fischer also attempted, unsuccessfully, to receive
Serbian citizenship. He also unsuccessfully requested German citizenship on the
grounds that his late father, Hans Gerhardt Fischer, had been a lifelong German
citizen.) Sympathetic to Fischer's plight – but reluctant to grant him the full
benefits of citizenship – Icelandic authorities granted him an alien's passport.
When this proved insufficient for the Japanese authorities, the Alşingi agreed
unanimously to grant Fischer full citizenship in late March for humanitarian
reasons, as they felt he was being unjustly treated by the U.S. and Japanese
governments. Meanwhile, the U.S. government filed charges of tax evasion against
Fischer in an effort to prevent him from traveling to Iceland.
When Japanese authorities received confirmation of Fischer's new citizenship,
they agreed to release him and allow him to fly to Iceland. Although Iceland has
an extradition treaty with the United States, Icelandic law does not permit its
own citizens to be extradited. Icelandic officials reiterated their belief that
the United States government had singled Fischer out for his political
statements.
Shortly before his departure to Iceland on March 23, 2005, Fischer and Bosnitch
appeared briefly on the BBC World Service, via a telephone link to the Tokyo
airport. Bosnitch stated that Fischer would never play traditional chess again.
Fischer denounced President Bush as a criminal and Japan as a puppet of the
United States. He also stated that he would appeal his case to the U.S. Supreme
Court and said that he would not return to the US while Bush was in power. Upon
his arrival in Reykjavík, Fischer was welcomed by a crowd.
In May 2005, a delegation, including Boris Spassky, visited Iceland with the
intent of "drawing Fischer back to the chessboard." Fischer appeared interested
in playing a Chess960 match against a "worthy opponent." Spassky said that he
was not planning to play Fischer.
On December 10, 2006, Fischer phoned in to an Icelandic television station and
pointed out a clever winning combination which was missed in a chess game which
was televised in Iceland.
Fischer was renowned for his opening preparation, and made numerous
contributions to chess opening theory. He was considered the greatest
practitioner of the White side of the Closed Ruy Lopez and the Black side of the
Najdorf Sicilian, as well as being one of the greatest theoreticians of the
King's Indian Defense. He also demonstrated several important improvements in
the Grunfeld Defence. In the Nimzo-Indian Defence, the line beginning with 1.d4
Nf6 2.c4 e6 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e3 b6 is named for him.
Fischer established the viability of the so-called "Poisoned Pawn" variation of
the Najdorf Sicilian (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5
e6 7. f4 Qb6!?). Although this bold queen sortie, snatching a pawn at the
expense of development, had been considered dubious, Fischer succeeded in
proving its soundness, a claim supported by contemporary theory. Fischer won
many games with this line; his only loss was in the 11th game of his 1972 match
with Spassky.
In 1960, prompted by a painful loss to Spassky, Fischer wrote an article
entitled "A Bust to the King's Gambit" for the first issue of Larry Evans'
American Chess Quarterly, in which he recommended 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6.
This variation has since become known as the Fischer Defense to the King's
Gambit. After Fischer's article was published, the opening was seen even less
frequently in master-level games, although Fischer took up the White side of it
in three games (preferring 3.Bc4 to 3.Nf3), winning them all.
Fischer revived the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez at the Havana Olympiad
1966 (specifically the line beginning 1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 Nc6 3.Bb5 a6 4.Bxc6 dxc6
5.0-0), and had great success with it, prompting many other top players to start
playing it.