Former chess World Champion, legendary Bobby Fischer, died on Thursday, the Iceland public radio announced, quoted by BBC. The US-born player, who became famous for beating Cold War Soviet rival Boris Spassky in 1972, died after a long time of suffering from an unspecified illness, his spokesman said.
According to BBC, he was granted Icelandic citizenship in 2005 as a way to avoid being deported to the US.
"Mr Fischer was wanted for breaking international sanctions by playing a match in the former Yugoslavia in 1992. He also had alienated many in his homeland by broadcasting anti-Semitic diatribes and expressing support for the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York. The reclusive player - who had renounced his US citizenship - had lived undetected in Japan for a number of years before moving to Iceland.
The nature of the illness was unknown but Mr Fischer had been reportedly seriously ill for some time, BBC adds. Former chess World Champion, legendary Bobby Fischer, died on Thursday, the Iceland public radio announced, quoted by BBC. The US-born player, who became famous for beating Cold War Soviet rival Boris Spassky in 1972, died after a long time of suffering from an unspecified illness, his spokesman said.
According to BBC, he was granted Icelandic citizenship in 2005 as a way to avoid being deported to the US.
"Mr Fischer was wanted for breaking international sanctions by playing a match in the former Yugoslavia in 1992. He also had alienated many in his homeland by broadcasting anti-Semitic diatribes and expressing support for the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York. The reclusive player - who had renounced his US citizenship - had lived undetected in Japan for a number of years before moving to Iceland.
The nature of the illness was unknown but Mr Fischer had been reportedly seriously ill for some time,