10 Facts about Bobby Fischer

Bobby Fischer was an American grandmaster. He was a legend who had shown us some wonderful games, and he fought with Russians and came out as champion. Russian chess grandmasters were supposed to be the strongest in the world. Bobby Fischer was born on March 9, 1943, in Chicago, Illinois.

His full name was Robert James Fischer. Bobby Fischer is a complete chess legend; his games are still studied by the grandmasters. There are some very unknown facts about Bobby Fischer. You will learn many things in this article just by reading it thoroughly.

Facts about Bobby Fischer

Before seeing the facts in detail, check this table for common facts about Bobby Fischer.

Full Name	Robert James Fischer
Date of Birth	9th March 1943
Country of Birth	United States
World Championship Years	1972-1975
Died on	17th January 2008
Peak Rating	2785
Peak Ranking	Fischer’s Japanese Wife’s Name
Fischer’s Japanese Wife Name	Miyoko Watai

Started Playing at a very young age

Bobby Fischer started playing chess when he was only 6 years old. His parents divorced when he was 2 years old. His sister Joan brought him a chess set and Bobby didn’t have a coach to start with; he started playing by reading instructions only.

Manhattan Chess Club was Bobby’s first club. Bobby’s style of playing was unique and sometimes very aggressive, too.

Game of the Century

Bobby played a game against Donald Byrne(an American chess player) when he was only 13 years old. In these games, he sacrificed his queen, and the result of the game was ‘Bobby won the game. He won the game by checkmate.

This game was called the ‘game of the century by some famous chess experts and reviewers. Bobby gained popularity with this game. He won the US Chess Championship when he was 14 years old. This title was not easy at all.

The youngest Grandmaster at that time

Bobby became the Chess Grandmaster at the age of 15 years. He set the record of becoming the youngest grandmaster at that time. Bobby was quite famous now for scoring all three GM norms at such a young age.

He also qualified for World Champion. The highest Elo rating Bobby reached was 2785; it was the highest Elo rating in the world at that time. Bobby won all 11 games in 1964 at the US championship finals. He won the US championship title eight times in a row.

Becoming World Champion

Bobby became the World Chess Champion in 1972 by beating Borris Spassky. Borris was the former chess champion. People from all over the world followed the matches for the title. Bobby gained popularity all over the world by winning the title after defeating a Soviet Union GM.

Soviet Union Grandmasters have been completely dominating the Chess Champion title form for the last many years. Bobby lost his title in 1975 when he refused to defend it due to some reasons. Anatoly Karpov was given the title in 1975.

Style of Playing

Bobby Fischer’s style of playing was very unique. Sometimes, he sacrifices his pieces and checkmates the opponent. Fischer didn’t believe in drawing the game.

His main focus was to fight hard and win the game. Fischer was said to be the deep positional player. Sometimes, he can be aggressive, too. He mostly liked to start with 1.e4. He always played for the win; he has converted many drawn games to winning games.

Details about how Bobby won the title

Fischer lost the first match against Borris Spassky and Fischer didn’t appear for the second match after the break. He said that the cameras were distracting him; he would only play in complete silence with no extra noise.

Borris Spassy showed his sportsmanship and agreed to play in the other room. Fischer won that game, and now the score was one or both. By game 17, Fischer was in the lead with 10 points.

In the end, Bobby Fischer was the new World Champion. The Soviets also allege that there is a device under Fischer’s chair that is Jamming Spassky’s brainwaves.

Did not play any competitive chess for about 20 years

After not defending his title in 1975, Fischer didn’t play any public or competitive chess for about 20 years. He was completely underground, living in San Francisco and Pasadena. He became a member of a cult.

Somehow, Fischer was ready to play in 1992. This tournament was against the US Chess Federation, and Fischer was warned, too. This event was held in Yugoslavia. Without taking the warning seriously, he played the tournament and won it.

Arrest Warrant against Fischer

After violating the rule, even after a warning, an arrest warrant was issued in his name. Fischer didn’t return to the US after that. He has also made many anti-American comments in the past. Bobby lived in different places after that.

He lived in the PhiliWorldppines.  In 2004, Fischer was detained in Japan because of using a revoked US passport.

The US wanted him back because of 1992(the event he played in Yugoslavia). Somehow, Fischer escaped the deportation to the US, and he was granted asylum in Iceland; later, he lived in Iceland.

Love for Rock Music

Fischer liked to listen to rock music a lot. He used to listen to loud rock music while preparing for his games. The following books are written by him.

Bobby Fischer used to read chess literature. He had written many chess books, and those books are

• Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess
• My 60 memorable games
• Bobby Fischer’s Game of Chess
• Checkmate
• The World Champion Teach

These are the books he wrote, and if you are preparing for chess, these books are highly recommended.

Death

Bobby Fischer died on January 7, 2008, at the age of 64 from renal failure. That day, the chess world lost one of its legends. It is also said that he refused the treatment.

These are some of the main facts about the legend Bobby Fischer. We hope that you get to know some interesting facts about Fischer.

Bobby Fischer was a legend who used to play with only a winning mindset. Thank you for reading. We will come up with some more interesting articles.

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