Island & Bobby Fischer: A moment of happiness for chess fans

Aldis Sigfusdottir, 63, recently fell and injured his leg and is slow to climb the stairs. The Bobby Fischer Center in Selfoss, a small town 55 kilometers east of Reykjavik, is on the first floor of one of the town’s oldest surviving houses at Austurvegur 21, above a florist and children’s clothing store. Just ten years ago there was a video rental company that had to give up because of Amazon and Netflix.

Then the “Selfoss Area Chess Club” took over the premises and rededicated it – to a memorial to an American of Russian-Jewish descent who is revered as a national hero in Iceland, Robert James “Bobby” Fischer.

“He put Iceland on the map,” says Aldis Sigfusdottir. She studied “civil engineering” in the USA, works as a freelance civil engineer, sits on the board of the “Chess Club of Selfoss and Surroundings” and is responsible for the “Center”.

We meet to talk about Bobby Fischer’s life. Aldis leans against one of the ceiling pillars and speaks while standing.

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Born in Brooklyn in 1943, Bobby had a difficult childhood; the father, who was probably not his biological father, fled the dust, the mother, a “Communist”, was observed by the FBI. Bobby started playing chess at the age of five, took part in many tournaments and won numerous prizes, a natural.

The fact that he became an Icelander at the end of his life has something to do with the Cold War. Politics is also a kind of chess game, the players have to think strategically, says Aldis.

51 years ago, in 1972, a chess match of the century took place in Reykjavik. Fischer, then 29, challenged Russian Boris Spassky, six years his senior, to a fight for the world title after a Russian had won the title for the previous 24 years.

The duel between the two champions was also a showdown between the US and the Soviet Union. The whole world looked to Reykjavik, where two super-egos collided on the stage of a multi-purpose hall. The tournament began on July 11 and lasted until September 1, 1972. After 21 games, of which Fischer won seven, Spasski three and 11 drew, Fischer was ahead by a nose, with 12.5 points to 8.5 points for fun ski. And the US had defeated the Soviet Union. But that was not all.

Many Icelanders, says Aldis, are still convinced that this was only the prelude to something much bigger, the October 1986 summit between US President Reagan and Soviet leader Gorbachev in Reykjavik. Although nothing binding came about, both heads of state declared that they were ready “to continue where we left off”.

A good year later, in December 1987, they reached an agreement in Washington to reduce the number of medium-range nuclear missiles on both sides.

For Fischer, winning the world championship was a Pyrrhic victory. After his return to the USA, he avoided the limelight, did not take part in a chess tournament for 20 years and catapulted himself politically to the sidelines with all sorts of obscure statements about the Holocaust, the attacks of 9/11 and women who would be too stupid to play chess.

Hungary – Japan – Iceland

He lived in Hungary for a few years, then moved to Japan, married the president of the Japan Chess Federation, commuted back and forth between Japan and the Philippines until the US State Department invalidated his passport, issued an arrest warrant for him, and filed an extradition request with the Japanese government – among other things because of tax evasion and because he had traveled to Montenegro in 1992 (!) for a privately organized “return match” against Spasski and had thus violated the American Yugoslavia embargo.

Fischer was arrested and taken to detention pending deportation, where he was imprisoned for nine months. The fact that he was not extradited to the USA was thanks to some fans in Iceland, who moved heaven and earth to spare him the “homecoming”. They persuaded Iceland’s then foreign minister, David Oddsson, a conservative, to table a motion in Parliament for Fischer’s immediate naturalization.

On March 22, 2005, the Althing agreed with a large majority after just twelve minutes of deliberation. Two days later, Fischer landed at Keflavik airport with his wife – a newly minted Icelander.

Oddsson rejected all US protests on the grounds that Iceland would not extradite any nationals. He informed those party members who found Oddsson’s decision irresponsible that there were already a lot of crazy people in Iceland, so one more or less didn’t matter.

At that point, says Aldis, Fischer was already badly hit, physically and mentally, exhausted by his imprisonment and the hardships of his unsettled life. Although he had no financial worries, he did not feel at home in Iceland.

A loner for life

He was also unable to leave the country because the US had announced that they would have Fischer arrested no matter which airport he arrived at.

Fischer was and remained a loner throughout his life. He felt most comfortable in an antiquarian bookshop in the center of Reykjavik, the “Bokin Books” in the Klapparstigur. He had a regular place there, a wooden chair between the shelves where he could sit and browse through old books undisturbed.

Most recently he was interested in “paranormal phenomena”. The chair now stands in a corner of the Bobby Fischer Center in Selfoss, surrounded by the “memorabilia” that Fischer left behind: letters, books, photos, posters, caricatures, newspaper articles.

Below is the certificate, issued on March 22, 2005, certifying that Fischer is an Icelandic citizen “from that day forward”.

In the middle of the room, slightly raised on a pedestal, stands a replica of the table where Fischer played against Spasski in 1972. The original is in the Icelandic National Museum. Hardly any visitor can resist the temptation to take a seat at this table. For chess fans from all over the world, this is a moment of happiness that is worth the long journey.

The Fischer Center is not a place that was designed according to the rules of museum education. There are no “interactive” frills, visitors are neither “picked up” nor “taken away”, they move from one exhibit to the next like flipping through an album of old family photos and marveling at what is there comes to light.

Among other things, a “Spiegel” issue from July 31, 1972 with the cover story about the “war of nerves in Reykjavik”. At that time, a “Spiegel” magazine cost one mark and 80 pfennigs, and darts tournaments were not broadcast live on television.

Robert James Fischer died of kidney failure in a Reykjavik hospital on January 17, 2008.

He was buried in the graveyard of Laugardaelir Church on the eastern outskirts of Selfoss. Why in Selfoss of all places and not in Reykjavik, where he lived? For several reasons, says Aldis.

Fischer did not want his grave to become a tourist attraction, Selfoss is located exactly on the 64th parallel, the chessboard has 64 squares and he lived to be 64 years old.

The Bobby Fischer Center in Selfoss officially opened on June 1st and closes on September 4th. Outside the high season you can call Aldis Sigfusdottir and arrange an individual visit. Your phone number is on the front door of the center.