The New Nation - Internet Edition

BBC Online

Controversial former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has died aged 64, Iceland's media says.

The US-born player, who became famous around the world for beating the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky in 1972, had been seriously ill for some time.

Mr Fischer was granted Icelandic citizenship in 2005 as a way to avoid being deported the US. Mr Fischer was wanted for breaking international sanctions by playing a match in the former Yugoslavia in 1992.

He also had alienated many in his homeland by broadcasting anti-Semitic diatribes and expressing support for the 11 September 2001 attacks in New York.

The reclusive player had lived undetected in Japan for a number of years before moving to Iceland.