From the San Jose 'Mercury News':

http://www.mercurynews.com/mld/mercurynews/9194702.htm

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Posted on Mon, Jul. 19, 2004

Ex-Stanford physicist slams arrest of chess figure in Japan

BROTHER-IN-LAW ACCUSES U.S. OF USING BOBBY FISCHER AS PAWN

By Nicole C. Wong

Mercury News

The brother-in-law of American chess legend Bobby Fischer blasted the
Bush administration Monday for Fischer's recent arrest in Japan, saying
Fischer is a pawn in a game of election-year politics.

``What Bobby's accused of is playing chess 12 years ago in Yugoslavia,''
said Russell Targ, a former Stanford laser physicist whose late wife was
Fischer's sister. ``It looks like it's a distraction from the war and
the economy. Let's arrest Bobby Fischer. That will take people's minds
off their troubles.''

Fischer broke a U.S. ban on doing business with the former Balkan
country in 1992, when the onetime world chess champion won $3.5 million
by outmaneuvering Russian chess superstar Boris Spassky in an exhibition
rematch. If extradited to the United States, Fischer could face up to 10
years in prison and a $50,000 fine.

The 61-year-old has been on the run since trouncing Spassky at the
tournament, traveling to Tokyo, Budapest, Hungary, and elsewhere. While
some chess fans miss watching his brilliant maneuvers, they've tired of
his tirade against Jews and the United States, particularly his praise
of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.

Fischer was arrested by Japanese immigration officials last week at
Tokyo's Narita airport for trying to fly with a revoked American
passport.

Still in Japan

Officials there told the Associated Press today that Fishcer has been in
their custody since and was being processed for deportation, though he
could appeal their deicison.

Targ, who was in Iceland in 1972 when Fischer first beat Spassky in a
Cold War showdown, has not been in touch with his brother-in-law for
more than a decade. He called for Fischer's release.

``Prosecuting Bobby right now is ridiculous,'' Targ said in his first
comments to the press since Fischer's arrest. ``He's a political
prisoner now.''

Targ blamed President George H.W. Bush for first making a scapegoat of
Fischer, who defied sanctions against Yugoslavia as the country was
embroiled in civil war. ``He didn't know what to do about ethnic
cleansing in Yugoslavia,'' Targ said of the former president. ``Now
George the Second doesn't know what to do about 900 Americans in Iraq or
the economy, but let's arrest Bobby.''

The White House on Monday referred questions about Fischer's case and
Targ's comments to the State Department, which referred questions to the
Department of Justice, which said charges have not been filed.

Miyoko Watai, president of the Japan Chess Association, said her friend
is ``depressed very much.''

Smiley faces

But some local chess aficionados are smirking.

Alan Kirshner, who runs the Success Chess school in Fremont, said he's
received e-mails with smiley faces about Fischer's arrest.

``Everyone respects his chess. No one respects him,'' Kirshner said.

Stanford chemistry Professor Richard Zare, a longtime faculty sponsor of
the university's student chess club, said Fischer's virulent anti-
Americanism and anti-Semitism make him ``the type of person you might
not want to get trapped in an elevator with.''

But Zare still marvels at Fischer's intricate understanding of chess and
ability to quickly see how moving any piece in any direction could
affect who wins the game.

``The possibilities grow astronomically in chess,'' he said. ``Even
chess computers struggle to do what Bobby Fischer was able to do with
his feel of the game,'' he said.

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rest of your frigid life." (Mick Travis, 'If...', 1968)