TOKYO - After decades of evading the public eye and U.S. justice officials, former world champion Bobby Fischer — possibly the best and certainly the most eccentric chess player ever — has been taken into custody by Japanese immigration after allegedly trying to leave the country with an invalid passport.
Fischer, 61, was detained at Narita Airport outside Tokyo while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight for the Philippines on Tuesday, according to friends and airport officials. The U.S. Embassy confirmed Fischer was detained.
It was not immediately clear if Fischer would be extradited to the United States, where he is wanted for playing a 1992 chess match in the former Yugoslavia in violation of international sanctions. Japan and the United States have an extradition treaty.
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He forfeited the title in 1975, refusing to play when conditions that he demanded proved unacceptable to the International Chess Federation. He resurfaced for a dramatic rematch against Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992, beating him 10-5 to win $3.35 million.
After that, the fiercely private Fischer disappeared, living in secret outside the United States.
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While incognito, Fischer intermittently gave interviews with a radio station in the Philippines, often digressing into anti-Jewish rants and accusing American officials of hounding him.
In the radio interviews, he praised the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards." His mother was Jewish.
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