DGT

Chess is life! is a famous quote by a famous chess player! Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008) was an American-born chess Grandmaster, and the eleventh World Chess Champion. Fischer became famous as a teenager as a chess prodigy.

In 1972, he became the first, and so far the only, American to win the official World Chess Championship, defeating defending champion Boris Spassky in a match held in Reykjavík, Iceland. The match was widely publicized as a Cold War battle. He is often referred to as one of the greatest chess players of all time. Iceland subsequently awarded citizenship to Fischer in recognition of a 30-year-old match that put the country "on the map".

In 1975, Fischer failed to defend his title when he could not come to agreement with the international chess federation FIDE over the conditions for the match. He became more reclusive and played no more competitive chess until 1992, when he had a rematch with Spassky. The competition was held in Yugoslavia, which was then under a strict United Nations embargo. This led to a conflict with the US government, and he never returned to his native country. In his later years, Fischer lived in Hungary, Germany, the Philippines and Japan. During this time he made increasingly anti-American and antisemitic statements.

During the 2004–2005 time period, after his US passport was revoked, he was detained by Japanese authorities for nine months under threat of extradition. He was then granted Icelandic citizenship and released to Iceland by the Japanese authorities. He lived in Iceland from 2005 until his death in 2008.