Arrested chess genius seeks political asylum
Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has appealed against Japanese move to deport him to the US for travelling on an invalid passport and is seeking political asylum.
The reclusive genius was arrested by Japanese immigration officials last week after trying to leave the country for the Philippines.
After visiting Fischer in custody at Narita Airport, near Tokyo, Miyoko Watai, of the Japan Chess Association, said he was hoping to find political asylum in a third country.
She said he was “a pathetic sight” in custody, but refused to disclose what they discussed during their 30-minute meeting.
“It is a race against time,” Watai said. “We are fighting this from morning to night.”
Fischer is wanted in the United States for playing a rematch against Soviet world champion Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992. Yugoslavia was under international sanctions at the time, and Americans were banned from doing business there.
Fischer, who won the match and more than €3m in prize money, rocketed to fame at the height of the Cold War when he defeated Spassky in a series of games in Iceland, in 1972.
His genius for chess was quickly overshadowed by his eccentric behaviour, however. He lost his title as world champion in 1978 and then largely vanished from the public eye.
