Masamune
07-17-2004, 03:36 PM
EDIT: the title is Finding Bobby Fischer, I typoed and was too lazy to fix. =\
July 16, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:45 a.m. ET
TOKYO (AP) -- After decades of evading the public eye and
U.S. justice officials, former world champion Bobby Fischer
-- possibly the best and certainly the most eccentric chess
player ever -- has been taken into custody by Japanese
immigration after allegedly trying to leave the country
with an invalid passport.
Fischer, 61, was detained at Narita Airport outside Tokyo
while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight for the
Philippines on Tuesday, according to friends and airport
officials. The U.S. Embassy confirmed Fischer was detained.
It was not immediately clear if Fischer would be extradited
to the United States, where he is wanted for playing a 1992
chess match in the former Yugoslavia in violation of
international sanctions. Japan and the United States have
an extradition treaty.
But Fischer's detention -- and a possible handover to U.S.
authorities -- gives Japan a chance to show it is
cooperating with the United States just days before
Japanese officials plan to bring an accused U.S. Army
deserter, Charles Robert Jenkins, to Tokyo for urgent
medical treatment.
Jenkins, whose Japanese wife was kidnapped by North Korea
in 1978 and returned home in 2002, is wanted by Washington
on desertion charges for allegedly defecting to North Korea
in 1965. Jenkins is suffering from problems following
abdominal surgery in North Korea.
Miyoko Watai, a longtime friend of Fischer's, told The
Associated Press she had talked to him in custody. She said
he was told he would be deported, but was planning to
appeal.
``He didn't know that his passport had been revoked,'' said
Watai, a member of the Japan Chess Association. ``He had
been traveling frequently over the past 10 years, and there
was never a problem. I don't understand why his passport
was revoked all of a sudden.''
Considered by many to be the best player ever, Fischer
became a grandmaster at age 15.
He became a Cold War hero in 1972 when he defeated Boris
Spassky of the Soviet Union at a widely followed series of
matches in Reykjavik, Iceland, to become the first American
world chess champion.
The event was seen as having tremendous symbolic
importance, pitting the intensely individualistic young
American against a product of the grim and soulless Soviet
Union.
But it also was marked by Fischer's odd behavior -- either
eccentricities or calculated psychological warfare against
Spassky -- that ranged from arriving two days late to
complaining about the lighting, TV cameras, the spectators,
even the shine on the table.
He forfeited the title in 1975, refusing to play when
conditions that he demanded proved unacceptable to the
International Chess Federation. He resurfaced for a
dramatic rematch against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992,
beating him 10-5 to win $3.35 million.
After that, the fiercely private Fischer disappeared,
living in secret outside the United States.
The U.S. government accused Fischer of violating U.N.
sanctions against Yugoslavia by playing the match. The
sanctions were placed on Yugoslavia during President
Slobodan Milosevic's era as a punishment for the country's
role in more than a decade of Balkan bloodshed.
While incognito, Fischer intermittently gave interviews
with a radio station in the Philippines, often digressing
into anti-Jewish rants and accusing American officials of
hounding him.
In the radio interviews, he praised the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks, saying America should be ``wiped out,''
and described Jews as ``thieving, lying bastards.'' His
mother was Jewish.
He also announced that he had abandoned chess in 1996 and
launched a new version in Argentina, ``Fischerandom,'' a
computerized shuffler that randomly distributes chess
pieces on the back row of the chess board at the start of
each game. Fischer claimed it would bring the fun back into
the game and rid it of cheats.
Alexander Roshal, member of executive committee of the
Russian Chess Federation and chief editor of chess magazine
64, said he had ``mixed emotions'' about the former world
champion.
``On the one hand, Fischer is a tough, notorious and
quarrelsome person, but on the other hand he is a chess
genius and contributed so much for the development of
chess.
``He is a pathologically perverted anti-Semite, which is
strange knowing his origin, and I suspect he is not
appreciated in America. But on the other hand, he has done
so much good for the country and was the only American to
defeat the Soviet grandmaster.''
Former U.S. champion Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass., who
followed the Reykjavik matches from the Soviet Union at age
16, said Fischer ``was ahead of his time by about 15
years.''
Watai said Fischer could be stubborn.
``He was like a child,'' she said. ``Chess had been his
whole life, so he was sheltered from the world in some
ways. Once he made up his mind, he would never change it,
no matter what anyone said. That didn't always make people
happy.''
That he would turn up in Japan was not a complete surprise.
Fischer had long been rumored to be living in Japan, aided
and sheltered by chess devotees, and is believed to have
frequented a Tokyo chess club.
``He came here often for short stays,'' said Watai. ``He
also traveled to the Philippines, Germany, Switzerland and
many places.''
American officials apparently had been following his recent
movements.
Ferdinand Sampol, Philippine airport immigration chief,
said Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez was alerted
by the U.S. Embassy in Manila last week that Fischer might
try to enter that country.
``But there was no request to exclude or remove him from
the Philippines,'' he said.
Fischer is believed to have last visited the Philippines in
2003.
Filipino Grandmaster Eugene Torre, another longtime friend
of the former champion, said Fischer had been planning to
seek political asylum in Switzerland and was caught off
guard by the arrest.
``Poor Bobby,'' he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Japan-Bobby-Fischer.html?ex=1090996625&ei=1&en=4072b0c0f2332ef3
This man kicks ass. =D
July 16, 2004
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Filed at 10:45 a.m. ET
TOKYO (AP) -- After decades of evading the public eye and
U.S. justice officials, former world champion Bobby Fischer
-- possibly the best and certainly the most eccentric chess
player ever -- has been taken into custody by Japanese
immigration after allegedly trying to leave the country
with an invalid passport.
Fischer, 61, was detained at Narita Airport outside Tokyo
while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight for the
Philippines on Tuesday, according to friends and airport
officials. The U.S. Embassy confirmed Fischer was detained.
It was not immediately clear if Fischer would be extradited
to the United States, where he is wanted for playing a 1992
chess match in the former Yugoslavia in violation of
international sanctions. Japan and the United States have
an extradition treaty.
But Fischer's detention -- and a possible handover to U.S.
authorities -- gives Japan a chance to show it is
cooperating with the United States just days before
Japanese officials plan to bring an accused U.S. Army
deserter, Charles Robert Jenkins, to Tokyo for urgent
medical treatment.
Jenkins, whose Japanese wife was kidnapped by North Korea
in 1978 and returned home in 2002, is wanted by Washington
on desertion charges for allegedly defecting to North Korea
in 1965. Jenkins is suffering from problems following
abdominal surgery in North Korea.
Miyoko Watai, a longtime friend of Fischer's, told The
Associated Press she had talked to him in custody. She said
he was told he would be deported, but was planning to
appeal.
``He didn't know that his passport had been revoked,'' said
Watai, a member of the Japan Chess Association. ``He had
been traveling frequently over the past 10 years, and there
was never a problem. I don't understand why his passport
was revoked all of a sudden.''
Considered by many to be the best player ever, Fischer
became a grandmaster at age 15.
He became a Cold War hero in 1972 when he defeated Boris
Spassky of the Soviet Union at a widely followed series of
matches in Reykjavik, Iceland, to become the first American
world chess champion.
The event was seen as having tremendous symbolic
importance, pitting the intensely individualistic young
American against a product of the grim and soulless Soviet
Union.
But it also was marked by Fischer's odd behavior -- either
eccentricities or calculated psychological warfare against
Spassky -- that ranged from arriving two days late to
complaining about the lighting, TV cameras, the spectators,
even the shine on the table.
He forfeited the title in 1975, refusing to play when
conditions that he demanded proved unacceptable to the
International Chess Federation. He resurfaced for a
dramatic rematch against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992,
beating him 10-5 to win $3.35 million.
After that, the fiercely private Fischer disappeared,
living in secret outside the United States.
The U.S. government accused Fischer of violating U.N.
sanctions against Yugoslavia by playing the match. The
sanctions were placed on Yugoslavia during President
Slobodan Milosevic's era as a punishment for the country's
role in more than a decade of Balkan bloodshed.
While incognito, Fischer intermittently gave interviews
with a radio station in the Philippines, often digressing
into anti-Jewish rants and accusing American officials of
hounding him.
In the radio interviews, he praised the Sept. 11, 2001,
terrorist attacks, saying America should be ``wiped out,''
and described Jews as ``thieving, lying bastards.'' His
mother was Jewish.
He also announced that he had abandoned chess in 1996 and
launched a new version in Argentina, ``Fischerandom,'' a
computerized shuffler that randomly distributes chess
pieces on the back row of the chess board at the start of
each game. Fischer claimed it would bring the fun back into
the game and rid it of cheats.
Alexander Roshal, member of executive committee of the
Russian Chess Federation and chief editor of chess magazine
64, said he had ``mixed emotions'' about the former world
champion.
``On the one hand, Fischer is a tough, notorious and
quarrelsome person, but on the other hand he is a chess
genius and contributed so much for the development of
chess.
``He is a pathologically perverted anti-Semite, which is
strange knowing his origin, and I suspect he is not
appreciated in America. But on the other hand, he has done
so much good for the country and was the only American to
defeat the Soviet grandmaster.''
Former U.S. champion Alexander Ivanov of Newton, Mass., who
followed the Reykjavik matches from the Soviet Union at age
16, said Fischer ``was ahead of his time by about 15
years.''
Watai said Fischer could be stubborn.
``He was like a child,'' she said. ``Chess had been his
whole life, so he was sheltered from the world in some
ways. Once he made up his mind, he would never change it,
no matter what anyone said. That didn't always make people
happy.''
That he would turn up in Japan was not a complete surprise.
Fischer had long been rumored to be living in Japan, aided
and sheltered by chess devotees, and is believed to have
frequented a Tokyo chess club.
``He came here often for short stays,'' said Watai. ``He
also traveled to the Philippines, Germany, Switzerland and
many places.''
American officials apparently had been following his recent
movements.
Ferdinand Sampol, Philippine airport immigration chief,
said Immigration Commissioner Alipio Fernandez was alerted
by the U.S. Embassy in Manila last week that Fischer might
try to enter that country.
``But there was no request to exclude or remove him from
the Philippines,'' he said.
Fischer is believed to have last visited the Philippines in
2003.
Filipino Grandmaster Eugene Torre, another longtime friend
of the former champion, said Fischer had been planning to
seek political asylum in Switzerland and was caught off
guard by the arrest.
``Poor Bobby,'' he said.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/international/AP-Japan-Bobby-Fischer.html?ex=1090996625&ei=1&en=4072b0c0f2332ef3
This man kicks ass. =D