Benson and Nicholas continued their work and gathered additional evidence in court records, personal interviews, and even a summary of the FBI investigation written by J. Nemenyi, a Hungarian mathematician and physicist of Jewish heritage, was considered an expert in fluid and applied mechanics. This was not confirmed by Fischer or his (by then deceased) mother. In 2002 Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer published an investigative report that stated that Bobby Fischer's biological father was actually Paul Nemenyi. In 1949, Regina moved the family to Manhattan and the following year to Brooklyn, New York City, where she studied for her master's degree in nursing and subsequently began working in that field. She engaged in political activism and raised both Bobby and Joan as a single parent. Īt the time of her son's birth, Regina was homeless and shuttled to different jobs and schools around the country to support her family. Regina and Hans-Gerhardt had already separated in Moscow, although they did not officially divorce until 1945. The threat of a German invasion led her and Joan to go to the United States in 1939. The reemergence of anti-Semitism under Stalin prompted Regina to go with Joan to Paris, where Regina became an English teacher. In 1938, Hans-Gerhardt and Regina had a daughter, Joan Fischer. Sechenov First Moscow State Medical University, where she met Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, also known as Gerardo Liebscher, a German biophysicist, whom she married in November 1933. It was there she met geneticist and future Nobel Prize winner Hermann Joseph Muller, who persuaded her to move to Moscow to study medicine. Īfter graduating from college in her teens, Regina traveled to Germany to visit her brother. Louis, Missouri, Regina became a teacher, a registered nurse, and later a physician. His mother, Regina Wender Fischer, was a US citizen, born in Switzerland her parents were Polish Jews. 17 Tournament, match, and team event summariesīobby Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, on March 9, 1943.15.7 Head-to-head record versus selected grandmasters.14.3 Speculation on psychological condition.13.5 Death, estate dispute, and exhumation.13.4 Citizenship and residency in Iceland.
9.1 Withdrawal while leading Interzonal.7 1962: success, setback, accusations of collusion.There has been widespread comment and speculation concerning his psychological condition based on his extreme views and unusual behavior. He also invented Fischer random chess, also known as Chess960, a chess variant in which the initial position of the pieces is randomized to one of 960 possible positions.įischer made numerous antisemitic statements and denied the Holocaust his antisemitism, professed since at least the 1960s, was a major theme in his public and private remarks. In the 1990s, he patented a modified chess timing system that added a time increment after each move, now a standard practice in top tournament and match play. His book My 60 Memorable Games, published in 1969, is regarded as essential reading in chess literature. Eventually, he was granted an Icelandic passport and citizenship by a special act of the Icelandic Althing, allowing him to live in that country until his death in 2008.įischer made numerous lasting contributions to chess. In 2004, he was arrested in Japan and held for several months for using a passport that the US government had revoked. The US government ultimately issued a warrant for his arrest. His participation led to a conflict with the US government, which warned Fischer that his participation in the match would violate an executive order imposing US sanctions on Yugoslavia. It was held in Yugoslavia, which was under a United Nations embargo at the time. In 1992, he reemerged to win an unofficial rematch against Spassky. Fischer subsequently disappeared from the public eye, though occasional reports of erratic behavior emerged. As a result, the Soviet challenger Anatoly Karpov was named World Champion by default. In 1975, Fischer refused to defend his title when an agreement could not be reached with FIDE, chess's international governing body, over the match conditions. Publicized as a Cold War confrontation between the US and USSR, the match attracted more worldwide interest than any chess championship before or since. After another qualifying match against Tigran Petrosian, Fischer won the title match against Boris Spassky of the USSR, in Reykjavík, Iceland. Qualifying for the 1972 World Championship, Fischer swept matches with Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen by 6-0 scores. In 1964, he won the same tournament with a perfect score (11 wins). A chess prodigy, at age 14 he won the 1958 U.S. Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was an American chess grandmaster and the eleventh World Chess Champion. Fischer at Leipzig, 1960 (playing against Mikhail Tal)