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Key facts about Bobby Fischer
18/01/2008 15:20 - (SA)
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| Chess legend Bobby Fischer speaks to the press in Reykjavik, Iceland, in this 2005 file photo. (John McConnico, AP File) |
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Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has died in Iceland at the age of 64.
Here are some facts about him:
Fischer, born in Chicago, was the United States' first and
only world chess champion, and is still seen by many as the
greatest natural talent the game has ever known.
His world title match with the Soviet Union's Boris
Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972 became an emblem of the Cold War
confrontation between the superpowers. Fischer won convincingly, by 12-1/2 points to 8-1/2.
When the moody and eccentric Fischer failed to defend his
crown in Manila in 1975, world chess authorities awarded it to
his challenger, the Russian Anatoly Karpov.
Fischer fell foul of US authorities by playing a rematch
against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992, at a time when it was
subject to economic sanctions over Belgrade's war with breakaway
republics.
Fischer vanished after the match, only resurfacing after
the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States. In an interview
with a Philippine radio station, he praised the strikes and said
he wanted to see America "wiped out".
He was granted Icelandic citizenship in 2005 after
spending eight months in detention in Japan fighting a US
extradition request.
- Reuters
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