Bobby Fischer

Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was born on March 9, 1943, in Chicago, USA. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, where he showed an early interest in chess. Learning the rules at the age of 6, he quickly became passionate about the game, devoting almost all his time to it. At the age of 14, he became the United States Champion, and at 15 (in 1958) he earned the title of Grandmaster – at that time, the youngest grandmaster in the world. In 1964, he won the U.S. Championship with a perfect score of 11 out of 11 – an achievement that has never been repeated.

Fischer dominated the chess world during the 1960s but often had conflicts with tournament organizers. However, during 1970–71 he demonstrated unprecedented chess power by winning the Interzonal Tournament and the Candidates Matches by overwhelming scores: he demolished Taimanov and Larsen 6–0, and defeated Petrosian 6½–2½, thus earning the right to challenge world champion Boris Spassky.

The match between Fischer and Spassky in 1972 in Reykjavik, Iceland, is known as "The Match of the Century," pitting an American against a Soviet at the height of the Cold War. After his victory, Fischer refused to play further matches, insisting on new rules for the title defense. In 1975, FIDE did not accept his conditions, and he lost the title without playing, with Anatoly Karpov becoming world champion by default. Fischer then disappeared from public view for nearly 20 years. In 1992, he played a rematch against Spassky in Yugoslavia (deemed illegal by the USA due to sanctions against the country) and won 17½–12½. Afterwards, he went into hiding, wanted by American authorities.

Fischer spent years in Hungary, Japan, and Iceland, and often made anti-American and anti-Semitic statements. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan for an expired passport, but Iceland granted him citizenship, sparing him extradition to the USA. He died on January 17, 2008, in Reykjavik from kidney failure.