Bobby Fischer has died yesterday in Iceland according to local media. It was known he had big health problems; Bobby Fischer died at the age of 64
Reactions Ljubojevic, Short, Timman, Adams, Radjabov, Topalov, and Anand.This morning the Icelandic newspaper
Morgun Bladi?ɬ? brought the sad news that former world champion Robert James Fischer has passed away. The cause of death was kidney failure - he had been suffering for a while and actually left the hospital about two months ago, as the doctors couldn't help him anymore. Fischer died yesterday, as was confirmed by Fridrik Olafsson this morning. A source in Reykjavik says he died at home.ONE MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR BOBBY[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"332","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"350","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION GM LJUBOMIR LJUBOJEVIC[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"333","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION GM NIGEL SHORT[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"334","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION ADAMS & RADJABOV[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"335","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION VESELIN TOPALOV[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"336","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION JAN TIMMAN[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"337","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]A shaken taped reaction of Portisch, Timman, Korchnoi and Ljubojevic can be seen
here Mig
posted this comment by Kasparov:
With the death of Bobby Fischer chess has lost one of its greatest figures. Fischer's status as world champion and celebrity came from a charismatic and combative personality matched with unstoppable play. I recall thrilling to the games of his 1972 Reykjavik world championship match against Boris Spassky when I was nine years old. The American had his share of supporters in the USSR even then, and not only for his chess prowess. His outspokenness and individuality also earned him the quiet respect of many of my compatriots.Fischer's beautiful chess and his immortal games will stand forever as a central pillar in the history of our game. And the story of the Brooklynite iconoclast's rise from prodigy to world champion has few peers for drama. Apart from a brief and peculiar reappearance in 1992, Bobby Fischer's chess career ended in 1972. After conquering the chess Olympus he was unable to find a new target for his power and passion.Fischer's relentless energy exhausted everything it touched - the resources of the game itself, his opponents on and off the board, and, sadly, his own mind and body. While we can never entirely separate the deeds from the man, I would prefer to speak of his global achievements instead of his inner tragedies. It is with justice that he spent his final days in Iceland, the site of his greatest triumph. There he has always been loved and seen in the best possible way: as a chessplayer.
Garry Kasparov
Moscow - January 18, 2008
Mark Crowther:
Robert James "Bobby" Fischer was born in Chicago, Illinois USA 9th March 1943 died in Reykjavic, Iceland 17th January 2008 at the age of 64 of kidney problems. He achieved international fame and notoriety at the height of cold war on the way to becoming World Chess Champion in 1972.Bobby Fischer learned his chess in Brooklyn New York at the age of 6. His progress at first was not spectacular but by the age of 13 he, in his own words "got good". He became US Junior Champion in 1956 and defended it the following year. Increasingly good results allowed him entry to the 1958 Championships. In a shock result he won the first of his eight US Championship titles (every time he entered) with 10.5/13, becoming in January 1958, at the age of 14, the youngest US champion and with it he became an International Master (the youngest at the time).Its only possible to go through some of the key moments of Fischer's career, especially as its so well known.
Read the rest of the article
here.
Here's a Icelandic tv report in which Spassky is interviewed.Other obituaries:
REACTION VISWANATHAN ANAND
(thanks to Europe-Echecs)
Bobby Fischer has died yesterday in Iceland according to local media. It was known he had big health problems; Bobby Fischer died at the age of 64 Reactions Ljubojevic, Short, Timman, Adams, Radjabov, Topalov, and Anand.This morning the Icelandic newspaper Morgun Bladi?ɬ? brought the sad news that former world champion Robert James Fischer has passed away. The cause of death was kidney failure - he had been suffering for a while and actually left the hospital about two months ago, as the doctors couldn't help him anymore. Fischer died yesterday, as was confirmed by Fridrik Olafsson this morning. A source in Reykjavik says he died at home.ONE MINUTE OF SILENCE FOR BOBBY[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"332","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"350","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION GM LJUBOMIR LJUBOJEVIC[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"333","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION GM NIGEL SHORT[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"334","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION ADAMS & RADJABOV[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"335","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION VESELIN TOPALOV[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"336","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]REACTION JAN TIMMAN[[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"337","attributes":{"class":"media-image","typeof":"foaf:Image","height":"355","width":"425","style":""}}]]A shaken taped reaction of Portisch, Timman, Korchnoi and Ljubojevic can be seen here Mig posted this comment by Kasparov: