Bobby Fischer Died!

A shocking news for chess world when recent news reported all over the world that the Bobby Fischer the 11th World Champion (1972-1975) have died on the 17th of January, 2008 in Iceland. According to of chess fan, it is ironic that Fischer died at age 64 (the number of squares of the chessboards!). He finally reached the last square of the chess board. Borris Spassky his rival in the famous 1972 World Championship said in a brief phone call from France, that he was "very sorry" to hear of Fischer's death.

The nature of the illness was unknown but Mr Fischer had been reportedly seriously ill for some time. Spokesman Gardar Sverrisson said Fischer passed away in a Reykjavik hospital on thursday without clarifying the cause of death. The Week In Chess mentioned that Bobby Fischer died from kidney failure and had been been in hospital for two months before he was released to go home after the doctors said Fischer have no chance to cease. Before this, someone mention that Fischer has been in hospital for at least a month in late 2007 for a serious physical medical complaint. The nature of the complaint has been well-known among the Icelandic chess community for weeks but they have, perfectly reasonably, preferred to keep it private. An Italian news have reported before that Fischer was suffering for a renal insufficiency.Renal insufficiency is when your kidneys no longer have enough kidney function to maintain a normal state of health.

Ljubomir Ljubojevich view about Fischer death.

.Below are interesting excerpts about Fischer translated from Icelandic News:

..."I had just finished putting aside books for him when I heard the news" says Bragi Kristjónsson book-store owner, but Bobby Fischer was a regular guest at his store on the Klapparstígur. "He most enjoyed old American comics and laughed a lot when he read them." Bragi says he also read stories of men who had been chased away from their countries but you could say Bobby himself was in the same position.

"He also thought a lot about chess even though he wouldn't admit it and when I got russian books on chess he was quick to purchase them." says Bragi and adds that Fischer spoke and read fluid Russian.

"He didn't show any Icelandic any interested because everyone here speaks English anyway. He often talked to kids outside the store and they had no problem understanding him." According to Bragi did Bobby even occasionally play chess with the kids outside the store.

Soon after he came to Iceland he started coming to the store. "He saw the book-store as a certain shield from the environment. Particularly first after he arrived there were foreign news stations with a camera crew outside looking for him. I remember for a example a Russian news station that came here with 5 cameramen. They had heard he was a frequent guest at the store and they waited here for days hoping for him to show!"

According to Bragi Fischer felt comfortable within the stacks of books. "He was so calm in here that some times he fell asleep over the books and slept for hours. He also sometimes helped me organize the book stacks that are all over the place. Fischer was of course not like other people" says Bragi. "He was a little obsessed with the fact that he was an outlaw and prosecuted by Americans, but of course the treatment Americans gave him was a complete disgrace."

Bobby was exceptionally good despite his eccentrics according to Bragi. "There were many here that came with books for Fischer to sign and he always took them well and signed them with a smile."...

Another interesting excerpts about Fischer from swissinfo.ch

...."In the 1990s, he was said to be living under assumed names in cheap hotels in Pasadena on the outskirts of Los Angeles, surviving mainly on occasional royalties from his books. In London, one newspaper described him as "dressed like a derelict, waddling and fat and with a straggly beard".

Former friends painted a picture of a solitary man spending much of his day in rooms littered with chess books, oranges and jars of vitamins, playing chess by himself and reading magazines on chess to keep in touch.

One commentator said there was one constant through his life's exceptional peaks and troughs -- his "running battle with the rest of the human race"...