(19.1.2008): Bobby Fischer, the eccentric genius who became Americas only world chess champion by humbling the Soviet Unions best but who spent his last years as a fugitive from U.S. authorities, has died at 64. A spokesman for Fischer said he died after an unspecified illness at midday on Thursday in Reykjavik, the site of his 1972 victory over Boris Spassky at the height of the Cold War. Once feted as a national hero and seen by some as the greatest chess talent ever, the Chicago-born former child prodigy seemed unable to resist perplexing his public with angry gestures, decade-long sulks and outrageous opinions. Having won the world title, he gave it away again to the Soviet champion Anatoly Karpov three years later by refusing to defend it. After years of obscurity, he defied U.S. sanctions to play and beat Spassky again in former Yugoslavia during the Balkan wars. Of Jewish ancestry himself, he claimed to be the victim of a Jewish conspiracy. PHOTO: Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer speaks to reporters on his departure for Iceland from Narita International Airport, east of Tokyo in this March 24, 2005
Posted on: Tue, 02 Sep 2014 17:36:33 +0000