Bobby Fischer’s many mysteries

Among Bobby Fischer’s many mysteries: Chess champ’s own father
By Ashley Fantz, CNN
July 7, 2010 — Updated 1337 GMT (2137 HKT)

(CNN) — Bobby Fischer was a master chess player, a man who once seemed the epitome of control. But Fischer’s personal life was often chaotic and marked by mystery.

One of those mysteries seems of particular relevance this week. His body was exhumed in Iceland to satisfy a paternity suit a woman has filed claiming that Fischer fathered her 9-year-old daughter.

Fischer was 64 when he died in January 2008.

Los Angeles Times reporter Peter Nicholas and his wife, Clea Benson, also a reporter, spent years researching Fischer’s life, digging through public records and conducting dozens of interviews with people who knew the Fischer family, discovering, among other things, that Bobby was lied to most of his life about who his real father was.

Last year, Nicholas wrote a comprehensive story about Fischer in the Times detailing the genius’ complicated and controversial life.
“He was a star when I was a kid, Fonzi and John Travolta rolled into one,” Nicholas told CNN. “I loved chess, and he embodied the game. When I became a journalist, I knew I had to use my skills to take a closer look at him.”

Taking on the Soviets and God

The reporter recalled the euphoria that swept America in 1972 when Fischer wrested the World Championship from Russian Boris Spassky. The win earned the young and handsome kid from Brooklyn international fame, a notoriety that sometimes puffed an already large ego.

Fischer remarked to Shelby Lyman, chess commentator of that 1972 match, that he would like to play against God.

“He joked that it would probably end in a draw,” Lyman told CNN. Bobby said he’d just explain to God, ‘Look you have your domain, and I have mine.’ “

Joking aside, Fischer was acutely uneasy with stardom. A shy eccentric given to oddball statements, he preferred to be buried in a book than featured on a magazine cover.

“He hated journalists,” recalled Lyman. “He hated the spotlight.”

Here is the full article.