Bobby Fischer

Not much is known about his personal life except for the fact that he supposedly married a Japanese woman named Miyoko Watai.

He was engulfed with various diseases that left him terminally ill. In 2008, he breathed his last due to degenerative renal failure in Reykjavík. He was buried in the small Christian cemetery of Laugardælir church, outside the town of Selfoss,

He is considered by many as the greatest chess player who ever lived. Chess grandmasters and international masters have claimed him to be the legendary player that the game ever witnessed.

Bobby Fischer was born as Robert James Bobby Fischer to Hans-Gerhardt Fischer and Regina Wender Fischer. While his father was a biophysicist, his mother worked as a teacher, registered nurse, and a physician. He had an elder sister Joan Fischer.

With the spread of anti-semitism and a tense political scenario, his parents had to separate. As such, Young Fischer was raised single-handedly by his mother, who took up various jobs to survive a living for both the children.

He first started playing chess at the age of six. With no partner to play against, he started playing against himself. In his early years, he travelled a lot with his mother, shifting from one place to another. It was after almost ten transits that the family finally shifted to Brooklyn in 1950.

While in Brooklyn, he dedicated much of his time to playing chess. It was while playing against a chess master at an exhibition that he was spotted by Brooklyn Chess Club President Carmine Nigro. Impressed by his playing skills, Nigro introduced him to the club to attain training in the game.

In 1954, he was introduced to grandmaster William Lombardy who, in turn, taught him the nuances of the game. The two engaged in playing quality chess. It was these sessions that build a strong foundation on which he relied on for the rest of his life.

In 1955, he secured a membership with the Manhattan Chess Club. The following year, he attended the Hawthorne Chess Club. It was there that he befriended Jack W Collins who went on to become his mentor. He not only played several competitive matches against Collins but also read deeply through the latter’s large chess library.

His career experienced an astonishing upward rise as Fischer soon climbed the rating chart to list himself at the number one position on the United States Chess Foundation.

In 1956, he created history by becoming the youngest ever US Junior Chess Champion with a score of 8½/10. The same year, he tied for the 4–8th places with Arthur Bisguier at the U.S. Open Chess Championship, scoring 8½/12. Furthermore, he gave impressive performance at the Canadian Open and Eastern States Open Chess Championship.

This American chess World champion was the youngest ever Junior Champion at the age of 13. He was also the youngest ever candidate for World Championship and the youngest ever Grandmaster