X-Nico

12 unusual facts about Bobby Fischer


Carlos Jauregui

In 1959, he tied for 7–8th in Santiago de Chile (Ivkov and Pachman won), and beat Bobby Fischer in their individual game there.

Cathy Warwick

They include the first full-length work on the Polgár sisters, published in 1992 shortly after Judit Polgár broke Bobby Fischer's record as the youngest grandmaster, and a 1993 biography of Nigel Short, a leading British player who was for a time ranked world No. 3.

Extra Ordinary

Lead singer Kevin Griffin told the LAUNCHcast website that the song is about the simple things in life: "I wanted to write lyrics that kind of encapsulated a picture of the current events of my life or anybody's life and just use very common visual images like 'soap on a rope' and 'smart as Bobby Fischer.' You know, it's about just spending the day with somebody you love and hanging out with really no agenda at all. And just being happy."

Fiji Chess Federation

Chess has been played in Fiji for a long time, but it was the 1972 World Championship, between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spasky, that provided the impetus for chess competitions in the country with the formation of the Suva Chess Club.

Game clock

There are five main types of Time Controls: (1) Fischer (invented by Bobby Fischer), (2) Bronstein (invented by David Bronstein), (3) Simple Delay, (4) Overtime Penalty and (5) Hour Glass.

Harry Benson

Other celebrities Benson has photographed include Bobby Fischer, Michael Jackson, who allowed him access to his bedroom, and Elizabeth Taylor, whom Benson photographed before and after her brain surgery.

Icelandic nationality law

One notable example of this process was the controversial chess champion Bobby Fischer.

John Bosnitch

John Bosnitch volunteered to help 11th World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) after Fischer was detained in Japan in 2004.

Miyoko Watai

In 1973 she met then world chess champion Bobby Fischer, and visited him several times for the next three decades.

Ortvin Sarapu

In addition to Bogolyubov, other world-class players whom Sarapu played include World Champions Bobby Fischer (a loss at the Sousse 1967 Interzonal), Garry Kasparov (a loss at the Lucerne 1982 Olympiad), and Boris Spassky (a draw at Wellington 1988), and perennial World Championship candidate Viktor Korchnoi (a draw at the Sousse Interzonal).

Peter Nemenyi

Paul Nemenyi is said, in FBI reports, to have been the father of Bobby Fischer, and he contributed to his support.

Stepan Popel

He also won the North Central Open at Wisconsin in 1957, where his young competitor Bobby Fischer took 6th place.


Bill Hook

During the preliminary rounds of the 1970 Siegen Olympiad, the Virgin Islands were paired with the USA team and Hook famously faced the legendary Bobby Fischer.

Brad Darrach

His reporting for Playboy on the 1972 Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky chess match is included as one of four “Best of the Best” in David Halberstam’s Best American Sportswriting of the Century.

Cathy Warwick

In her role as a chess journalist Warwick covered the 1992 match between Fischer and Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia.

Chess handicap

In an interview with Ralph Ginzburg published in the January 1962 issue of Harper's Magazine, future World Champion Bobby Fischer was quoted as saying that women were weak chessplayers and that he could successfully give knight odds to any woman in the world.

Helgi Ólafsson

A native of Heimaey, the largest and sole populated island in the Vestmannaeyjar Westmen Isles archipelago off the south coast of Iceland, Helgi was sixteen when the Bobby FischerBoris Spassky World Chess Championship 1972, dubbed the chess world's "Match of the Century", was held in Reykjavík.

Laugardalshöll

Perhaps the most prominent event to be held at Laugardalshöll was the World Chess Championship 1972, often dubbed the "Match of the Century", in which American challenger Bobby Fischer defeated the Russia champion Boris Spassky.

Leroy Dubeck

He was instrumental in getting Bobby Fischer to play his match for the 1972 World Chess Championship against Boris Spassky, although the match took place after his term of office was over.