Japan detains chess legend

2004-07-16 12:06

Tokyo - Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has been detained in Japan by immigration authorities, officials said on Friday, capping a more than decade-long hunt by US authorities for the elusive chess legend.

Fischer, who is wanted by America for attending a 1992 chess match in Yugoslavia in violation of international sanctions, was stopped at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on Tuesday.

Fischer, 61, was trying to travel to the Philippines, an official said.

Miyoko Watai, a Japan Chess Association official who said she was a longtime friend of Fischer, said he discovered when he was detained that the United States had revoked his passport.

Watai, who said she had spoken with Fischer since his detention, added that he was told he would be extradited, but that he would appeal. Japan and the United States share an extradition treaty.

The US Embassy in Tokyo said they knew about the detention. Both US Embassy and Japanese officials, citing privacy concerns, declined to elaborate.

First American to win world title

Fischer shot to fame in 1972 when he won an epic Cold War battle against Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union to become the first American to win the world title.

In the three decades since that match, the eccentric chess prodigy slipped mysteriously in and out of public view.

He resurfaced for a dramatic rematch against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992, beating him 10-5 to win $3.35m.

But he disappeared again as US authorities accused him of violating UN sanctions imposed against Yugoslavia by playing the match. The sanctions were imposed on Yugoslavia for provoking warfare in neighbouring Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Fischer, indicted by a grand jury in 1992, had eluded authorities since, leaving a tantalising trail of clues to his whereabouts, via radio broadcasts from the Philippines, sightings in Japan and the occasional overseas interview.

Watai said that Fischer had travelled to and from Japan on his US passport without a problem in the past. She said he often came to Japan for short stays.

"I feel very sorry for him," she said. "I don't understand why this had to happen."

The Japanese airport immigration spokesperson said Fischer was attempting to leave for the Philippines when he was detained on Tuesday.

Fischer, a chess prodigy, became a grandmaster at the age of 15 and was the world chess champion from 1972 until 1975.

Despite his legendary chess skills, he has become increasingly known for his vitriolic outbursts and bizarre personal behaviour.

In radio interviews, he praised the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out", and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards". His mother was Jewish.

He also announced that he had abandoned chess in 1996 and launched a new version in Argentina, claiming it would bring the fun back into the game and rid it of cheats.

- AP