Japan Detains Ex-Chess Champ Bobby Fischer

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By NATALIE OBIKO PEARSON, Associated Press Writer

TOKYO - Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, wanted since 1992
for playing a tournament in Yugoslavia despite U.N. sanctions, has
been detained in Japan, clearing the way for his extradition to the
United States.


AP Photo



Fischer was stopped at Tokyo's Narita International Airport on Tuesday
as he tried to go to the Philippines, an airport official said on
condition of anonymity.


Miyoko Watai, a Japan Chess Association official who described herself
as a longtime friend of Fischer's, said the eccentric chess prodigy
discovered when he was detained that the United States had revoked his
passport.


Watai, who said she had spoken with Fischer since his detention, added
that he was told he would be extradited but that he would appeal.


The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said it knew Fischer had been detained but
refused further comment, citing privacy concerns.


Fischer became a Cold War hero in 1972 when he defeated Boris Spassky
of the Soviet Union to become the first American world chess champion.
But the chess prodigy, long know for his eccentric ways, stunned the
chess world by refusing to play again, and had slipped mysteriously in
and out of public view in the years since.


He forfeited the title in 1975, and resurfaced for a dramatic rematch
against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992, beating him 10-5 to win $3.35
million.


U.S. authorities accused him of violating U.N. sanctions imposed
against Yugoslavia for provoking warfare in neighboring
Bosnia-Herzegovina.


Fischer, indicted by a grand jury in 1992, managed to elude
authorities and left a tantalizing trail that included radio
broadcasts from the Philippines and sightings in Japan.


The Athens-based World Chess Federation had no comment about Fischer's
arrest.


"The international federation has had no connection with Mr. Fischer
since 1975, so officially we are not in a position to say something
about this," said Giorgos Mastrokoukos, the federation's public
relations director.


In radio interviews, Fischer praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks,
saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving,
lying *******s." His mother was Jewish.


Fischer, now 61 years old, became grandmaster at age 15.


He announced that he had abandoned chess in 1996 and launched a new
version, "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.