Bobby Fischer, chess genius, dies

Bobby Fischer, the grandmaster who became the first and only American chess world champion of the modern era by beating the Russian Boris Spassky in 1972 against the background of the Cold War, has died aged 64. Fischer grew up in Brooklyn where he learnt chess from the age of six. He went to the same high school as Barbra Streisand, but dropped out as his chess-playing career developed. He attained grandmaster status at the age of 15 - the youngest in chess history at the time - and took his first shot at the world title at 16. The following year, 1960, he played Spassky for the first time and lost.

Their names were to become intertwined in headlines across the world when, in 1972, as Fischer met Spassky for their famous duel in Reykjavik, capital of Iceland. The challenge was played out as much as a clash of ideologies between the two superpowers they represented as it was a chess match. Fischer lost the first two games of the 21-game series - one forfeited in a dispute over playing conditions - before winning or drawing all but one of the next 19. He won the series 12.5-8.5.

Scheduled to defend his title in 1975, Fischer mysteriously disappeared and didn't play chess competitively again for two decades, when, in 1992 and to great opprobium for playing in the renegade Yugoslavia, he faced Spassky once more, this time in an unofficial world tournament. Fischer beat his old opponent again, but observers said that both men were past their prime.

In his final years, Fischer became increasingly eccentric, courting controversy by denying his Jewish heritage and celebrating the 9/11 terrorist attacks on the US. He sought and gained political asylum in Iceland, the scene of his greatest triumph, in 2005, and remained there until his death.