Fischer freed!

FORMER WORLD chess champion Bobby Fischer was finally released from a Japanese detention camp yesterday. He had been detained there for nine months by Japanese immigration officials after the United States had revoked his original American passport.

But while Fischer was bundled into jail as a United States citizen, he claimed his freedom as a citizen of Iceland, the country that granted him citizenship in recognition of his role in putting the Nordic country on the world map 33 years ago.

Twelve minutes were all it took for the Icelandic Althingi, the world’s oldest existing democratic parliament, to approve a special legislation to grant Fischer full Icelandic citizenship.

The legislation, passed on Monday with 40 Icelandic law makers voting in favour with two abstentions, became law immediately.

Fischer’s freedom was met with rejoice from his fans worldwide who had campaigned hard for his release. He had been incarcerated since July last year, awaiting deportation to the United States to face federal charges of violating economic sanctions against the former Yugoslavia when he chose to play a chess match there with Boris Spassky in 1992.

During his nine months in jail, Fischer had mounted successful short-term challenges to the Japanese legal system in order to delay deportation.

However, all these legal battles still could not win him his freedom. According to the Japanese Immigration Bureau, the Japanese government would only consider releasing the former world champion if a country grants him full citizenship.

Thus, even the special foreigner’s passport that Iceland issued Fischer, which would have allowed him to leave Japan and travel freely in most parts of Europe, was not enough to convince the Japanese government to let him go.

Worse, it soon became known that the United States was preparing a more serious charge against Fischer. 

Earlier this month, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service asked a U.S. federal grand jury in Washington to investigate possible tax evasion charges involving Fischer who was reported to have received US$3.5 million (RM13.3 million) from his 1992 chess match with Spassky.

To Fischer’s worldwide supporters, the reluctance of the Japanese government to release him was seen as a delaying tactic to detain Fischer until the American grand jury had made a decision in early April. If Fischer could not be deported on a sanctions-busting charge which was not a crime in Japan, certainly the Japanese was obliged to deport him on tax evasion charges.

But while the United States considers Fischer as a fugitive from justice, Iceland looks at him as a hero because of his celebrated first chess match against Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972. It was at the height of the Cold War and Fischer’s victory symbolized the triumph of democracy over communism.

It is partly for that reason that Iceland made its latest move to make Fischer an Icelandic citizen. 

Last Friday week, an Icelandic parliamentary committee recommended that Fischer be granted citizenship and this was followed on Monday by the Althingi voting in favour of the committee’s recommendation.

Another delegation is due to leave Reykjavik for Tokyo soon to bring home Iceland’s latest grandmaster.

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Union open

The Union High School Chess Club will organise an eight-round open tournament at their school hall this Sunday. Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for adults, RM10 for under-18 players and RM7 for under-12 players. For non-members, the entry fees are RM20, RM15 and RM10 respectively.

For more details or to register, contact Beh Sze Ping (tel: 04.2290595), Lee Kar Kheng (tel: 04.2282761) or Lim Jiin Ying (tel: 04.6569478).

PCMM tournament

The Persatuan Catur Melayu Malaysia (PCMM) will hold a six-round open tournament at the Sekolah Kebangsaan Setapak in Kuala Lumpur this Sunday. Entry fees for PCMM members are RM11 for under-12 players and RM16 for others. For non-members, the entry fees are RM15 and RM25 respectively.

For inquiries, contact Mohd Suhairi (tel: 012.3631591), Haslindah (tel: 019.2069605) or Najib (email: alinashab@scicom.com.my). 

Terengganu tournament

The Terengganu Chess Association (TCA) will organize their President’s Trophy chess tournament at the Dewan Jabatan Laut in Kuala Terengganu on Apr 1-2.

This seven-round event is open to TCA members only and will be played in the open and under-12 categories. Fees are RM5 for under-12 players, RM10 for secondary school students and RM15 for others. For details or to register, contact Adnan (tel: 012.9375722, email: ad6sal@gmail.com) 

Selangor junior grand prix

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will hold the third leg of their Royal Selangor junior grand prix tournament on Apr 2-3 at the Sunway College. 

Entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For inquiries or reservations, contact Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922) or email chessmate@cas.com.kg. 

 Grand Prix points won from this event will be accumulated with points from the first and second legs and at the end of this junior grand prix, the top 40 players will qualify for the Final on Apr 23-24.

According to the CAS, the top 10 players from the Final will be eligible to take part in the association’s annual chess camp which, this year, will be conducted by Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers in May. This chess camp is also open to chess players born in or after 1987 with a national rating of less than 1600 points or without a national rating.

Floored by an egg

IF YOU do not believe how much trouble a single hard-boiled egg can cause, you just need to ask the former world chess champion, Bobby Fischer, about it. That is, if you can ever get to meet this chess hero in person.

Fischer, however, is still languishing in a Japanese jail, awaiting deportation to the United States where he faces federal charges of violating sanctions against the former Yugoslavia when he chose to play a chess match there with Boris Spassky in 1992.

He was nabbed eight months ago by Japanese immigration officials when he was leaving Japan and his American passport was seized and revoked by the American embassy in Japan.

But Fischer proved to be a tougher nut than the Americans or the Japanese could reckon. 

Firstly, he promptly renounced his American citizenship in an effort to delay the deportation. Secondly, Fischer had the unwavering support of his fiancée Miyoko Watai who had stood steadfastly by him during these eight months. 

And thirdly, his loyal legion of fans worldwide launched a campaign to have him freed. After all, they argued, what could the American government hope to achieve by arresting the apparently harmless but eccentric Fischer?

Fischer certainly had friends in high places around the world and Iceland was one such country that rallied to Fischer’s aid. To the Icelandic people, Fischer was their hero because of his celebrated chess match against Spassky in Reykjavik in 1972. 

But short of offering him Icelandic citizenship, the Icelandic government approved a special foreigner’s passport for Fischer which would have allowed him to leave Japan and travel around freely in most parts of Europe. Iceland even sent two groups of official representatives to escort Fischer out of Japan.

It would have been a satisfying end to this saga but for the fact that the Japanese government still refused to let Fischer go. Instead, he ended up being placed in solitary confinement for four days, all because of a single hard-boiled egg.

Apparently, Fischer had not been given an egg for his breakfast. He grabbed a guard by his shirt to ask him, but the garment ripped.

A group of about 14 or 15 guards then came into Fischer's cell to drag him away. When he resisted their efforts, the guards slapped handcuffs on him with his hands behind his back, holding him that way for two hours.

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 a guard was hit in the face, breaking his nose. Fischer was then promptly placed in solitary confinement.

Fischer would have been 62 years’ old two days ago. His supporters had hoped that he would be freed before then, but at this point of writing, it looked very unlikely. 

Rather, it has become clearer that if Fischer is not freed by today, he has instructed his supporters and lawyers to sue the Japanese Ministry of Justice and Immigration Bureau.

According to his lead lawyer, Masako Suzuki, there are no legal grounds to detain Fischer further. However, the Japanese immigration has refused to say anything and their only argument was that Iceland’s invitation to Fischer was irrelevant to his case.

"The attorney for the Ministry of Justice says only that and then she looks down at the table. That's all. They cannot find any justifiable reason to detain him right now, especially with a country that is now willing to accept him. There is no legal ground for the Japanese government to hold him," Suzuki said.

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National age-group 

This year’s national age-group chess championship starts tomorrow at the Wilayah Complex in Kuala Lumpur. 

Organised by the Malaysian Chess Federation (MCF), this three-day championship will see some of the best junior players in the country competing in 12 separate age-group events for boys and girls, namely, the under-20, under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8. 

According to the MCF, the winners of the various events will be considered for selection to the Asean and Asian-levels age-group chess events, subject to MCF regulations. 

Sri Aman junior chess

The Sek Keb Sri Aman in Penang will hold a junior open tournament at their school on Mar 19. The seven-round event will constitute the first leg of Penang’s junior chess circuit for this year.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM10 for under-16 players and RM8 for under-12 players. Non-members are required to pay RM15 and RM13 respectively. According to the organisers, this event will have five age-group categories: under-16, under-14, under-12, under-10 and under-8.

For inquiries, contact Eoh Hook Kim (tel: 04.8260196) or Eoh Thean Keat (tel: 016.4540070).

Seremban Parade chess

The Malaysian Chess Federation and Seremban Parade will jointly organize this year’s Seremban Parade age-group tournament for under-18 and under-12 categories on Mar 19 and the Seremban Parade open tournament on Mar 20. 

For the age-group event, entry fees are RM15 for under-18 and RM10 for under-12. For the open event, all players are charged RM15 except for under-12 players who need to pay only RM10. Only the first 100 players will be accepted in either event.

For inquiries or registration, contact Amy Yap of Seremban Parade (tel: 06.7648282, fax: 06.7619177) or Greg Lau (tel: 012.9020123).

Selangor junior grand prix

The Chess Association of Selangor (CAS) will organize the second leg of their Royal Selangor junior grand prix tournament on Mar 19-20 at the Sunway College. 

Grand Prix points won from this event will be accumulated with points from the first and third legs (to be played on Apr 2-3) and at the end of this junior grand prix, the top 40 players will qualify for the Final on Apr 23-24.

According to the CAS, the top 10 players from the Final will be eligible to take part in the association’s annual chess camp which, this year, will be conducted by Australian grandmaster Ian Rogers in May. This chess camp is also open to chess players born in or after 1987 with a national rating of less than 1600 points or without a national rating.

Entry fees are RM15 for CAS members and RM25 for non-members. For inquiries or reservations in this event and the chess camp, contact Lim Tse Pin (tel: 012.2984922) or email chessmate@cas.com.kg. 

Union open

The Union High School Chess Club in Penang will organise an eight-round open tournament at their school hall on Mar 27. There are eight cash prizes with a first prize of RM200.

Entry fees for members of the Penang Chess Association are RM15 for adults, RM10 for under-18 players and RM7 for under-12 players. For non-members, the entry fees are RM20, RM15 and RM10 respectively.

For more details or to register, contact Beh Sze Ping (tel: 04.2290595), Lee Kar Kheng (tel: 04.2282761) or Lim Jiin Ying (tel: 04.6569478).