Posted on 07/16/2004 7:46:09 AM PDT by NCjim
Japanese Immigration Officials Detain Former World Chess Champ Bobby Fischer at Tokyo Airport
Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer, wanted since 1992 for playing a tournament in Yugoslavia despite U.N. sanctions, was detained in Japan for an apparent passport violation and will be deported to the United States, media reports said.
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.
The Kyodo News agency said he was detained for allegedly using an invalid U.S. passport. Kyodo and the Asahi newspaper reported officials were preparing to deport him to the United States.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo said it knew Fischer had been detained but refused to comment further, 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 by playing the match. The sanctions were imposed on 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.
In radio interviews, he praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards." 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.
And who says the U.N is not useful - here is a case where they've protected the world from rogue chess players.
</sarcasm
And it's good to see that the federal gumshoes are hard at work tracking down such heinous monsters. He played chess in Yugoslavia in violation of U.N. sanctions??? Oh, the humanity!!!! Throw him in with Milosevic and lose the key!!!
He's as crazy as a bedbug. Can we not pay the Japanese to keep him?
Another big fat guideline lie provided by the friendly media.
Sanctions were imposed after Bosnian Muslim government staged massacre of it's own citizens who were waiting for free bread. ('breadline massacre") in order to get international support for their breakaway republic.
if a court case here, should be interesting
Who has jurisdiction?
Maybe they can deport him to France.
How do you cheat at chess?
I heard the recordings of the radio broadcasts from links right here at FR. He is FULL of hatred and contempt for the USA.....or just plain crazy.....or both.....probably both.
Has anybody here tried "Fischerandom" chess?
"How do you cheat at chess?"
Some top-rated players (International Masters and Grandmasters) have allegedly used computers to look up past games so they'll know what lines to play against someone...or what moves would be the best to make. Some chessbases have millions of games and these guys know the openings so well that they can play many moves into a game before getting "out of the book". Then they excuse themselves, go to their room, check the database, and come back to their ticking clock. Hard to prove, but supposedly done.
Darn it......why can't they send him someplace else. We don't want him here.
Is that really cheating?
Does Marthat Steward have a passport?
Meanwhile millions of illegal aliens continue to pour across our borders un-molested.
News at 11.
It makes him Jewish.
And a total freakin' lunatic.
And a brilliant chess player.
Who's utterly and completely off his rocker.
"Is that really cheating?"
Not if you think it's O.K. to have an open book next to you during a semester final...so you can look up the answers. Or, in the case of a chess tournament, have a computer loaded with Chessbase next to you (why bother walking all the way back to your room or car?)
The point of the game is to match your wits (or abilities that come strictly from your head/memory) against those of your opponent. Best analogy I can think of is putting tracing paper over a famous painting, then claiming the resulting painting as your own...rather than painting just using your own abilities and what you've learned from teachers and practice.
Makes sense I quess. But what about football coaches looking at their scouting reports or photos of the other team's alignments during a game? Wouldn't that be similar?
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