Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer (view image) flew out of Japan, en route to Iceland (where he's regarded as a celebrity), after Tokyo decided not to deport him to the United States where he faces prison.
So he plays a game of chess with someone 1992, from a country under sanctions by the USA, and for this they want to put him in prison for 10 years? Come on! This guy is an International legend for dethroning the Russians (20 years prior in 1972), at a game that they had dominated for decades - especially since he beat the Russian chess-master Boris Spassky, during the height of the cold-war.
Problem is though, that the American is still wanted in the US for breaking international sanctions (related to the Balkans) by playing a match in Yugoslavia in 1992.
He was detained in July trying to leave Japan using a revoked US passport, “I won’t be free until I get out of Japan,” Mr Fischer told reporters at Tokyo’s Narita airport. “This was not an arrest. It was a kidnapping cooked up by Bush and Koizumi,” he said, referring to US President George W Bush and Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi. Mr Fischer’s lawyer, Masako Suzuki, said the chess icon had “smiled from the bottom of his heart when he boarded the plane”.
Japan’s justice ministry decided to let Mr Fischer travel to Iceland after being shown documents proving he had been granted Icelandic citizenship, Japanese reports said. Moving to Iceland does not mean Mr Fischer is now beyond Washington’s reach as Iceland, like Japan, has an extradition treaty with the US.
The US said it was disappointed at the move. “Mr Fischer is a fugitive from justice,” said a US state department spokesman.
The reclusive Mr Fischer had lived undetected in Japan for a number of years with fiancee Miyoko Watai, a former Japanese chess champion.
Bon voyage Mr. Fischer! may all your next moves bring you the peace and happiness you deserve.
