Bobby Fischer

American chess player

Photo by: Bert Verhoeff for Anefo · CC0 · Wikimedia Commons

Born:March 9, 1943

Died:January 17, 2008

Age at death:64

Manner of death:Natural Causes

Cause of death:Kidney Failure

Zodiac Sign:Pisces

Born in:Chicago, United States

Buried in:Iceland

Languages:Icelandic, English

Inventor Writer Grandmaster Animator Chess Player

Links

Wikipedia Official Website IMDb

Famous For

Movies & TV

Bobby Fischer Against the WorldMe and Bobby FischerThe Great Chess Movie

Books

My 60 Memorable GamesBobby Fischer Teaches ChessBobby Fischer Teaches Chess

Awards

Chess Oscar (1972)Chess Oscar (1971)Chess Oscar (1970)world chess champion

Bobby Fischer

American chess player

Biography

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 his first of a record eight US Championships at the age of 14. In 1964, he won with an 11–0 score, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament. Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6–0 scores. After winning another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, chess's international governing body, over the match conditions. Consequently, the Soviet challenger Anatoly Karpov was named World Champion by default. Fischer subsequently disappeared from the public eye, though occasional reports of erratic behavior emerged. In 1992, he reemerged to win an unofficial rematch against Spassky. It was held in Yugoslavia, which at the time was under an embargo of the United Nations. His participation led to a conflict with the US federal government, which warned Fischer that his participation in the match would violate an executive order imposing US sanctions on Yugoslavia. The US government ultimately issued a warrant for his arrest; subsequently, Fischer lived as an émigré. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan and held for several months for using a passport that the US government had revoked. Eventually, he was granted Icelandic citizenship by a special act of the Althing, allowing him to live there until his death in 2008. During his life, Fischer made numerous antisemitic statements, including Holocaust denial, despite his own Jewish ancestry. His antisemitism was a major theme in his public and private remarks, and there has been speculation concerning his psychological condition 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 regarded as essential reading in chess literature. In the 1990s, he patented a modified chess timing system that added a time increment after each move, now a standard practice in top tournament and match play. He also invented Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960, a chess variant in which the initial positions of the pieces are randomized to one of 960 possible positions.

This biography uses content from the Wikipedia article “Bobby Fischer”, available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Quotes

“In my opinion, the King's Gambit is busted. It loses by force.”

— A bust to the King's Gambit (1960)

“White can always play differently, in which case he merely loses differently.”

— On his eponymous defense to the King's Gambit. A bust to the King's Gambit (1960)

“They can't concentrate, they don't have stamina, and they aren't creative. They are all fish.”

— On women chess players, in 1961, as quoted in "He was more fun when he was in the pawn squad", The Guardian (22 April 2007)

Quotes sourced from the Wikiquote article "Bobby Fischer", available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License.

Photos

Bobby Fischer

Restless hands play about the head of thirteen year old Bobby Fischer of Brooklyn as the youngest member of the Manhattan Chess Club takes part in a current tournament. so far, he is in the lead, and the end is near. While his hands may be fidgety, the 8th grader's eyes are riveted on the chessboard before him.

For documentary purposes the German Federal Archive often retained the original image captions, which may be erroneous, biased, obsolete or politically extreme. Germany Zentralbild/Kohls/Leske 1.11.1960 XIV. Schacholympiade 1960 in Leipzig Im Ringmessehaus in Leipzig wird vom 16.10. bis 9.11.1960 die XIV. Schacholympiade ausgetragen. Am 28.10.1960 begannen die Kämpfe der Finalrunde. UBz: UdSSR - USA: .Weltmeister Tal - Internationaler Großmeister Fischer United States Central image / Kohls / Leske Nov. 1, 1960 w:14th Chess Olympiad, 1960 in Leipzig In the tournament in Leipzig took place between October 26(16?) and November 9, 1960. On Oct. 28, 1960 the final round began. Shown here: USSR - USA: World Champion Tal - Fischer International Grandmaster. "The clash of two top stars was short but pithy game" resulting in a draw. This is game 23 in Fischer's <My 60 Memorable Games>. Tal is in the act of playing 7 ... Ne7.

Bobby Fischer in Hilton Hotel te Amsterdam voor besprekingen met FIDE-voorzitter Max Euwe (rechts) over de tweekamp om het wereldkampioenschap met Boris Spassky NL-HaNA 2.24.01.05 0 925-3512

Bobby Fischer in Amsterdam voor besprekingen met FIDE-voorzitter Max Euwe over de tweekamp om het wereldkampioenschap met Boris Spassky. Fischer heeft krant gekocht

Bobby Fischer's game notation (in descriptive chess notation) from his round 3 game against Miguel Najdorf in the 1970 Chess Olympiad in Siegen.

Chess Game Bobby Fischer - Olavo Yepez

Collectie / Archief : Fotocollectie Anefo Reportage / Serie : [ onbekend ] Beschrijving : Schaker Bobby Fisher aan bord (archief) Datum : 15 juli 1971 Trefwoorden : schakers Persoonsnaam : Fisher, Bobby Fotograaf : Fotograaf Onbekend / Anefo Auteursrechthebbende : Nationaal Archief Materiaalsoort : Negatief (zwart/wit) Nummer archiefinventaris : bekijk toegang 2.24.01.04 Bestanddeelnummer : 924-7362