The
ever-watchful Mainichi Daily News reports that Bobby Fischer was placed in solitary
confinement for several days (we are told for five) "because of a brawl
over a single hard-boiled egg". Apparently Fischer asked for an extra egg.
There was an argument and a scuffle, after which Fisher was "hurled alone
into a cell lit and monitored 24 hours from Wednesday to Sunday."
Mainichi notes that the fight occurred on the same day that the first of two
delegations of eminent persons from Iceland were due to meet him at the East
Japan Immigration Bureau Detention Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki Prefecture. Officials
at the center were aware that Fischer was due to receive a delegation on exactly
the day he ended up in solitary confinement.
It was the first time Fischer had been placed in a solitary cell since he was
sent to Ushiku in August last year. "It was a blatant provocation,"
Gardar Sverrisson, an Icelandic politician and member of a Fischer support group
said at the home of the Tokyo Bar Association.
Miyoko Watai and Saemundur Palsson
Details of the incident were given by Fischer's fiancee Miyoko Watai and his
long-time friend, Saemundur Palsson, who was able to visit Fisher and speak
to him through a glass window on Monday morning. Fischer told Palsson that he
had asked a passing guard if he could have an egg for his breakfast. He grabbed
the guard by his shirt, which unfortunately ripped. "A group of about 14
or 15 guards came into Fischer's cell to drag him away," Palsson reports.
"He resisted their efforts. Guards slapped handcuffs on him with his hands
behind his back, holding him that way for two hours. Then a middle-aged guard
approached Fischer, told him he had to behave himself, then started to free
him from his bindings. When the handcuffs were released, another scuffle broke
out and Fischer hit a guard in the face." Palsson said he was not sure
whether Fischer had hit the warden purposely or by accident. He said Fischer
had not spoken about whether it was deliberate.
After his release from solitary confinement Fischer was on Monday permitted
individual 30-minute meetings with Watai, Palsson and Gudmunder Thorarinsson,
former head of the Icelandic Chess Federation and organizer of Fischer's 1972
match in Reykjavik with Boris Spassky for the world title. The Icelanders are
hoping to escort Fischer back to their country. Iceland has prepared a special
foreigner's passport for him and his supporters have an airplane ticket out
of the country with his name on it. He is hoping to leave by Wednesday, his
62nd birthday, but that wish seems almost impossible.
Previous ChessBase articles
 Fischer's
passport – to freedom?
08.03.2005
March 9th is Bobby Fischer's 62nd birthday. By chance a very special gift
has arrived in Japan for the former world champion: an Icelandic passport
with which he may be able to travel to freedom after more than six months
in a Japanese detention facility. We have exclusive
pictures of the new passport. |
 Fischer
receives an Icelandic passport
2/23/2005
Immigration authorities in Iceland have decided to issue full travel documents
for former world champion Bobby Fischer, who is being held in Japanese
detention for not possessing a valid passport. Fischer's new passport
will be sent to Japan by diplomatic mail, and a delegation is traveling
there to escort him to Iceland.
|
 Fischer's
lawyer Masako Suzuki speaks out
02.02.2005
Is Japan buckling under pressure by the US? Bobby Fischer, 61, former
World Champion of Chess who has been jailed in Japan for six months now,
is applying for Icelandic citizenship. But Tokyo seems to be balking
at a constructive solution entailing his release to Iceland. Fischer's
lawyer Masako Suzuki has given us an exclusive
interview. |
|
 Bobby Fischer applies for Icelandic Citizenship
25.01.2005 After
the Japanese authorities last week refused Fischer's request to be
extradited to Iceland the chess legend, who is being held in a Japanese
detention facility, has today written to the President of the Icelandic
Althingi (picture), applying for Icelandic citizenship. A special law
would have to be passed to grant Fischer's request.
|
|
 Bobby Fischer – immigration plans on ice
22.01.2005 His
supporters filed a petition that Fischer might be released from
detention in a Tokyo jail and allowed to travel to Iceland, where he
has been granted refuge. But Japanese Justice Ministry lawyers said
they were not prepared to change Fischer's deportation destination to
Iceland, and that he would have to remain in detention. A harsh blow for the chess legend.
|
|
 Bobby Fischer – six months in jail
1/17/2005 On
July 13, 2004 he was arrested at Narita Airport in Tokyo, for
attempting to leave the country on an invalidated. Since then the
greatest hero of Western chess has been languishing in a Japanese
detention facility, now physically exhausted and suffering from dizzy
spells. His Icelandic friends, who are offering him refuge, have
launched another appeal to the authorities.
|
|  US
threatens Iceland, Fischer Committee appeals
22.12.2004
Iceland
is under US pressure to drop plans to offer a home to fugitive former
chess champion Bobby Fischer, the Reuters news agency tells us. But the
Icelandic government has stated that its offer "will not be withdrawn
despite pressure from the United States." How do we know that? Among
other things we read it in Aljazeera, would you believe? Here's the latest
on this international
confrontation.
|
 RJF
Committee mobilizes pro-Fischer forces
18.12.2004
While Bobby Fischer remains incarcerated in a Japanese prison a special
committee in Iceland is moving to get him free and find him a home on
the North-Atlantic island country. Iceland's foreign minister and a prominent
political scientist have spoken out. Here's a report on Fischer's Iceland
Connection...
|
 Fischer
to get refuge in Iceland?
12/16/2004
The news today on Bobby Fischer, who is currently being held in a Japanese
detention facilities pending extradition to the US, is that the Icelandic
government has offered to grant him a residence permit. In a telephone
interview Fischer speaks about his plight in Japan and reacts to statements
by Garry Kasparov on Fischer Random Chess. Full
details... |
 Returning
to the 'scene of the crime'
30.11.2004
Twelve years ago Boris Spassky played a match against Bobby Fischer in
Yugoslavia. That got Fischer into a lot of trouble, while for Spassky,
a French citizen, there were no repercussions. Now the tenth world champion
returned to Belgrade to open the Belgrade Chess Trophy. Quick
interview... |
 Fischer
to Bush and Koizumi: 'You are going to pay for this!'
18.10.2004
Bobby Fischer, still in detention in Japan, has spoken out again in an
interview, this time threatening the Japanese Prime Minister Koizumi
and US President Bush: "You are going to pay for this, and you are going
to pay for your crimes in Iraq too." His new lawyer, Richard J. Vattuone,
plans to release documents to prove US government involvement in a
plot against Fischer. |
 'We
want to live together forever'
01.09.2004
She collected pictures of her chess hero after his match with Boris Spassky
in 1972. One year later they met in Tokyo – the start of a romance spanning
decades. Since four years the two have lived together in downtown Kamata
in Tokyo's Ota Ward. In an exclusive interview for ChessBase Miyoko Watai
tells us the story of her life
with Bobby Fischer. |
 Listen
to Bobby Fischer
26.08.2004
In emotional phone calls from his detention cell in Tokyo ex world champion
Bobby Fischer gave a Philippine radio station two lengthy interviews. Fischer
is facing deportation and incarceration in the US, and voices his nightmare
fears: "I will be tried, convicted, sentenced, imprisoned, tortured and
murdered." We have summary transcripts
and audio files. |
 Dramatic
moments around Fischer's deportation
25.08.2004
First the Japanese Justice Minister Daizo Nozawa issued a deportation order
against former world champion Bobby Fischer's, then Fischer's lawyers filed
a lightning appeal on the grounds that physical deportation would be a
flagrant violation of Fischer's right to full legal recourse and protection
under Japanese law. Here's the full
story by Fischer's legal coordinator. |
 'Bobby
Fischer and I have decided to marry'
17.08.2004
Bobby Fischer, the former world chess champion, plans to marry the president
of the Japan Chess Association (and four-time Japanese women's champion)
Miyoko Watai. This was reported in newspapers and wire services last night.
Now Watai-san has sent us a statement explaining the background of her
personal relationship with Fischer. |
 Fischer
renounces US citizenship
15.08.2004
Bobby Fischer has been moved to a new detention facility in Tokyo, pending
a decision on his deportation to the US, where he faces a 10-year jail
sentence. A lot of new material has surfaced, including Fischer's handwritten
renouncement of his US citizenship and a blow-by-blow description and picture
of his arrest at Narita Airport. Harrowing
stuff... |
 Spassky
to Bush: Arrest me!
10.08.2004
Boris Spassky, who played the contentious return match against Bobby Fischer
in Yugoslavia 1992, for which the latter is currently facing deportation
and incarceration in the US, has appealed to President Bush to show mercy
and charity for his tormented successor. If for some reason that should
be impossible, Spassky suggests a very
imaginative alternative... |
 Fischer's
appeal rejected
28.07.2004
Bobby Fischer's appeal against his deportation was rejected today by Japanese
authorities. Meanwhile the Icelandic Chess Federation has appealed to US
president Bush to pardon Fischer and set up a petition web site to collect
signatures. In Tokyo a "Free Fischer Press Conference" is scheduled for
Thursday. More... |
 Fischer
a sacrificial pawn?
25.07.2004
Bobby Fischer is still in detention at Narita Airport in Tokyo, traumatised
but stubborn, "behaving like a Samurai". At the same time news outlets
all over the world are covering the story, with Fischer's brother-in-law
Russell Targ assailing the Bush administration for playing election year
politics with the former chess champion's freedom. There's
a lot to be read... |
 Game
of Life: Kasparov on Fischer - in full
20.07.2004
The news of Fischer's arrest in Japan came as a shock to Garry Kasparov,
who was in a holiday camp working intensely on the games of his greatest
American predecessor. In today's issue of The Wall Street Journal Kasparov
assesses Fischer's chess career – for a public that was being exposed to
his current situation. We now bring you Kasparov's
full article. |
Will
Fischer be extradited?
19.07.2004
Chess legend Bobby Fischer, the hero of millions, languishes in the detention
facilities of Narita Airport in Tokyo, waiting for a decision by Japanese
Immigration authorities on his deportation to the US. We have collected
all the documents and reconstructed a timeline to his arrest. Fischer,
who has no legal counsel, is appealing
for international assistance. |
 Bobby
Fischer detained in Japan (updated)
16.07.2004
It's the latest twist in the sad tale of American former world champion
Bobby Fischer. He has been detained in Japan and faces possible deportation
to the US to face charges for playing in Yugoslavia in 1992. Fischer's
website says he was "very nearly killed" in Japan. The story has been picked
up by news services all over the
world. |
