Fischer, an eccentric genius and chess grandmaster, died last week of kidney failure at 64 — a fitting age for a man who earned his fame moving pieces on a board with 64 squares. Fischer is lauded as the best chess player in American history, and his games against Soviet players in the 1960s were a perfect symbol of Cold War tensions. But Fischer had had enough of America. After reaching the pinnacle of his fame, he decided to live in self-imposed exile in a number of countries, including Budapest and Iceland. In the years before his death, Fischer occasionally made radio appearances to rail against Jews and a Jewish conspiracy, which he said was set on destroying the world. Naturally, Fischer himself was Jewish.
- Phillip Kurdunowicz
