Bobby Fischer

For the English footballer, see Bobby Fisher (footballer). For others with similar names, see Bob Fischer and Bob Fisher.
Bobby Fischer

Fischer in 1972
Full name Robert James Fischer
Country United States [ a ]
Born March 9, 1943
Chicago, Illinois, United States
Died January 17, 2008 (aged 64)
Reykjavík, Iceland
Title Grandmaster (1958)
World Champion 1972–1975
Peak rating 2785 (July 1972) [ 1 ]
Peak rating No. 1 (July 1971)
Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. A chess prodigy, he won the first of his eight U.S. Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won 11–0, the only perfect score in the tournament's history. In qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer won his matches against Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen 6–0. After winning another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Announced as a Cold War confrontation between the United States and the Soviet Union, the match attracted more worldwide attention than any chess championship before or since. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when he could not reach an agreement with FIDE, the international governing body of chess, over the terms of the match. As a result, Soviet challenger Anatoly Karpov was named World Champion by default. Fischer then disappeared from the public eye, although there were occasional reports of erratic behavior. In 1992, he reappeared to win an unofficial rematch with Spassky. The match was held in Yugoslavia, which was under UN embargo at the time. His participation led to conflict with the United States federal government, which warned Fischer that his participation in the match would violate an executive order imposing US sanctions on Yugoslavia. The US government eventually issued a warrant for his arrest; Fischer subsequently lived as an emigrant. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan and detained for several months for using a passport that had been revoked by the US government. He was eventually granted Icelandic citizenship under a special Althing law, allowing him to live there until his death in 2008. Throughout his life, Fischer made numerous anti-Semitic statements, including Holocaust denial, despite his Jewish ancestry. His anti-Semitism was a major theme in his public and private statements, and there was speculation about his mental state based on his extreme views and eccentric behavior. Fischer made many lasting contributions to chess. His book "My 60 Memorable Games", published in 1969, is considered an essential reference in the field of chess literature. In the 1990s, he patented an improved chess timing system, adding an extra period of time after each move, which is now a standard practice in tournaments and top-level matches. He also invented Fischer random chess, also known as Chess 960, a chess variant