Bobby Fischer, the 1972 world chess champion now exiled in Iceland, has led a storied life. Here are highlights:
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Name: Robert James Fischer.
Born: March 9, 1943, in Chicago.
Raised: Brooklyn, N.Y. Began playing chess at age 6.
1956: U.S. Junior Championship at 13.
1958: U.S. champion and grandmaster at 15.
1972: Became the first American world champion in almost 100 years, beating Russian Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland.
1975: Lost world champion title when he failed to play. Russian Anatoly Karpov became world champion by default.
1992: Challenged Spassky to a match in the former Yugoslavia, despite U.N. sanctions against sports events in that country. The U.S. State Department banned Fischer from playing and issued a warrant for his arrest. He won the match, collecting $3.35 million.
2004: Is detained and jailed in Japan for using a revoked U.S. passport. Washington requests that Fischer be deported to America to face a maximum 10-year sentence. He asks Iceland for citizenship.
2005: Is granted citizenship in Iceland.
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Sources: Information Please database, Wikipedia, BBC
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(Compiled by researcher Tish Wells)
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(c) 2005, Knight Ridder/Tribune Information Services.
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