Bobby Fischer, chess prodigy, dies in Iceland

Bobby Fischer, the former world chess champion, died in a Reykjavik hospital yesterday, 35 years after he deposed the Soviet Boris Spassky in a match that came to symbolise Cold War rivalry. The 64-year-old was a troubled figure who in the decades after his triumph espoused a series of anti-American causes.He renounced his US citizenship, lived in Hungary and Japan before ending up in Iceland, scene of his greatest triumph.A Brooklyn reared prodigy, Fischer was American chess champion at 14, becoming a grand master at 15. He was the first American in a century to be crowned world champion after beating Mr Spassky in neutral Iceland in 1972. He won the clash convincingly, by 12-1/2 points to 8-1/2. But he was soon to forfeit the title. After a row over playing arrangements, he refused to play Anatoly Karpov, the Soviet champion in 1975. Former Russian chess champion Garry Kasparov said Fischer had revolutionised the game by introducing a fresh approach to tournament play in the 1960s. Mr Kasparov said he failed to fulfil his early promise, wasting much of his talent."The tragedy is that he left this world too early, and his extravagant life and scandalous statements did not contribute to the popularity of chess," Kasparov said.Mr Spassky, a rival turned friend, said he was "very sorry" to hear of his death. After he dropped out of competitive chess, Mr Fischer developed a reputation as a recluse, emerging occasionally to make headlines with outlandish and anti-Semitic comments. An exhibition rematch against Mr Spassky on the Yugoslavian resort island of Sveti Stefan was played in violation of US sanctions imposed to punish President Slobodan Milosevic. Fischer was arrested in Japan in 2004 and threatened with extradition to the United States to face sanctions-busting charges. He spent nine months in custody before the dispute was resolved when Iceland — a chess-mad nation and site of his greatest triumph — granted him citizenship.In his final years, Fischer railed against the chess establishment, alleging that the outcomes of many top-level chess matches were decided in advance. He championed his concept of random chess, in which pieces are shuffled at the beginning of each match in a bid to reinvigorate the game. Despite his fractious nature, he retained a high opinion of his own abilities.