Bobby Fischer freed from detention cell; heads to Iceland

[truthpusher]

Bobby Fischer freed from detention cell; heads to Iceland
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By ERIC TALMADGE, Associated Press writer
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USHIKU, Japan -- Chess legend Bobby Fischer was freed today from a Japanese detention center and immediately headed for a flight to Iceland, bringing to a halt efforts to deport him to the United States.



Fischer, sporting a long, gray beard, jeans and a baseball cap pulled down low to cover his face, left the immigration detention center in this city on Tokyo's outskirts early this morning.

The eccentric chess icon was taken into custody by Japanese immigration officials in July when he tried to leave the country using an invalid U.S. passport.

As he was taken away in a black limousine provided by the Icelandic Embassy, his vehicle was mobbed by a few dozen photographers and reporters. Fischer did not emerge from the car or make any comment.

complete story: http://www.southcoasttoday.com/daily/03-05/03-24-05/a05wn468.htm

[alittlelark]

1. Thank You Iceland!!!

This travesty can finally end.

[solinvictus]

2. Thank God!

It was a crime that Japan detained him on a bogus US order. He was persecuted unfairly.

[psychopomp]

11. Actually, he is quite lucky

He was travelling on a passport that had been revoked; you try that and see how long you stay on Japanese soil. Well, I'll just tell ya, you wouldn't stay at all. You would be sent back to the U.S. and you would be arrested at Immigration.

[Jack Rabbit]

3. !!

Robert Fischer v. Boris Spassky, Match for the World Title/Reykjavik, August 1972 (Spanish Opening)

[truthpusher]

4. nice link - thanks.

[edbermac]

10. The best games were the 4th, 6th, 13th and 19th...

The 6th was pure Bobby...the 4th and 19th were headbutting draws and the epic 13th game was the one that I broke Boris for good...the 10th you linked to was good also...

[Jack Rabbit]

17. Game Six

Robert Fischer v. Boris Spassky, Match for the World Title/Reykjavik, July 1972 (Queen's Gambit Declined)

[bluestateguy]

5. That guy is not wired for cable

:crazy:

[Psephos]

6. He was a political pawn. lol

Seriously, the dude looks like Saddam's brother in law. Maybe that's why they were up in such high dudgeon over the Evil Chess Terrorist.

Weren't there ANY higher-priority targets for prosecution? Must have been a slow month last July.

I think he's going to like Iceland just fine.

[Nothing Without Hope]

9. From his recorded comments from years ago, he didn't like Iceland either

...but surely he'll be cared for there better than in what our own country has become. At least they appreciate his chess genius and can forgive a lot because he really isn't fully sane.

[Blue_Tires]

7. good for him...

here's hoping that he doesn't run into any jews while over there, based on some of his previous comments

[Jamastiene]

8. Am I to believe that this man

is "wanted" because he played a game of chess in the "wrong" country? Is THAT why he is in trouble?

[cornermouse]

12. Actually, I have some difficulty in understanding why the U.S.

government is bothering with Bobby Fisher at all. Aren't they supposed to be hunting al Qaeda or something?

[graelent]

13. Man, I don't understand most of these posts

Here we have an Anti-Semite who has been hiding from the US for years because he broke the law, and people seem happy he got away with it. I don't get it. Who cares if the guy is good at chess? He broke the law, arrest him. If the case against him is invalid, say so in the courts.

I guess I don't understand any support for this man.

[allemand]

15. He is Jewish and mentally ill.

He violated an executive order by Poppy Bush.

Playing a match of chess should not constitute a violation of economic sanctions. That is also the position of the French and other European governments.

[graelent]

19. OK, it might have been a stupid order, but

you still take it to court and win, not hide half a world away.

[SOS]

20. The US hypocrisy is troublesome

Romania violated the sanctions by allowing Yugoslavian jets to refuel in Romania.
Even fuel cargo jets which provided fuel to Milosovics military.
Yet now Romania is welcomed into the US coalition in Iraq without one word about their sanctions violations. Why are sanctions violations OK for Romania but not Fischer?

[Redstone]

21. Oh, balls. The problem that people have is that

the Justice Department doesn't feel that it has any other priorities, nothing more important to do, thant to go after a guy for playing a chess match in a place where the government doesn't want people to play chess matches.

And you think that's a good use of your tax money?

Spare me.

Redstone

[Snap]

22. Correcto Mundo Redstone

[Career Prole]

14. They edited his comments pretty heavily in that article!

Fischer, clad in a striped sweater and jeans, made typically outspoken statements to reporters.

"This was not an arrest, it was a kidnapping," he said when he arrived at the airport.

"It was all cooked up between (U.S. President George W.) Bush and (Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro) Koizumi. They are war criminals. They should both be hung.

"I'm very happy to be leaving," he said later.

He added: "Japan is a nice country, but you have a criminal leadership."

http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=609125

He went on to say "Koizumi is a gangster who answers to Bush."

I heard the full diatribe on (of all places) CNN Daybreak.

[Flammable Materials]

16. Good for you, Bobby!

PS: Take me with you. kthxbye

[DemoTex]

18. A good chess read: "Trap. Dominate. Fuck." by Julian Barns

Trap. Dominate. Fuck.
Septics maintain that live chess is as enthralling as watching paint dry. Ultra-skeptics reply: unfair to paint. As a theatrical experience it is austere and minimalist: two men, two chairs, a table and no dialog. Yet for three months the cheapest seats at the Savoy were, by a long way, the most expensive cheap seats in any London theatre...

Granta 47, March 1994, p. 73.

An excellent essay on the Nigel Short/Gary Kasparov World Chess Championship in September 1993. Tempers started off heated when Kasparov said before the match, 'My opponent is Short and the match will be short', while Short accused Kasparov of having been a Soviet KGB operative. Plenty of Bobby Fischer influence here too.