Former American chess superstar Bobby Fischer was released from detention in Japan today. He will be heading for Iceland, which has made him a citizen. From Reuters:
Refraining from any comment to reporters who had gathered outside, Fischer got in an Icelandic embassy car and headed for Narita International Airport, where he was to depart for Iceland.
The chess master used a series of legal moves to fight deportation to the United States, including seeking refugee status, renouncing his U.S. citizenship and unveiling plans to marry his companion, Miyoko Watai, a four-time Japan women’s chess champion.
“I’m very happy, it’s like a dream,” Watai told reporters as she went into the detention center to greet her fiance. “I’m hoping he’ll be able to go to Iceland without any trouble.”
Iceland granted him citizenship this week, clearing the way for him to leave for the tiny North Atlantic state where he is something of a hero.
Fischer had been in held in custody in Japan for the last eight months. He is wanted by the United States for violating UN sanctions against former Yugoslavia when he took part in a 1992 chess match again Russian Boris Spassky. Fischer still faces up to a $250,000 fine and ten years in prison. He did, however, win the match and the $3 million in prize money.
The 1992 Fischer-Spassky Match was a rematch of their classic 1972 battle in Iceland, “The Match of the Century”, which made Bobby Fischer the World Champion and broke the Russian stranglehold on chess domination. The victory, at the height of the Cold War, was an immense victory for the United States and a humiliating loss for the Soviets.
In recent years, however, Fischer sparked some controversy when he made a radio appearance in the Philippines on September 11, 2001:
“This is all wonderful news. It is time to finish off the US once and for all. I was happy and could not believe what was happening. All the crimes the US has committed in the world. This just shows, what goes around comes around, even to the US. I applaud the act. The US and Israel have been slaughtering the Palestinians for years. Now it is coming back at the US.”
The entire life story of Bobby Fischer is a fascinating one. Including his unapologetic anti-semitism (even when his mother is reportedly Jewish), his connections to the Worldwide Church of God (interestingly, the church where the recent Wisconsin shootings took place, the Living Church of God, was an offshoot of this church), and, oh yeah, the fact that he is probably the greatest chess player of all time, Fischer’s biography is littered with ups, downs, and oddities.
Some, like FreeBobby.org, have called for an end to the US pursuit of Fischer, and even for President Bush to pardon him. That of course is ridiculous, and would allow Fischer to enter the United States as a free man, something he doesn’t deserve.
Eric Anderson at 9:35 pm
