Endgame

Earliest known photograph of Bobby Fischer, sitting on his mother’s lap in 1944, when he was one year old. Regina Fischer was homeless when she gave birth to Bobby, and they first lived in a shelter for indigent mothers. MCF photo

Bobby’s mother, Regina, and her husband, Gerhardt Fischer, while in France during the 1930s. Though Gerhardt’s name is on Bobby’s birth certificate, it is not certain that he was Bobby’s father. MCF photo

Chess can be studied virtually anywhere, and Bobby was seldom without a chess board. One night, exasperated, Regina lightly tapped her nine-year-old son on his head with her bare foot: “Get out of the bathtub!” MCF photo

The ebullient Carmine Nigro, Bobby’s first chess teacher, visited New York’s Washington Square Park in 1955, where Bobby was playing in an outdoor tournament. MCF photo

Before he became obsessed with chess, Bobby dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player. Here he is wielding a bat for his grade school’s team during a game in Brooklyn, in 1955. dailynewspix

Bobby engaged in a systematic regimen of reading every chess book in the Brooklyn Public Library and memorizing what was most helpful in each. Here he is, at age fourteen, reading a volume of Alexander Alekhine’s best games. FB Photo

Bobby at fourteen, interrupted while playing a game with his friend, teacher, and mentor, Jack Collins. MCF photo

Regina picked up her son at the Manhattan Chess Club many a late evening and escorted him home on the subway. Here he’s fallen asleep with his head on his mother’s shoulder. This snapshot was taken by Bobby’s sister, Joan. MCF photo

In 1958, after being refused an extension of his visa in Russia because of his rude behavior, Bobby arrived in Yugoslavia with his sister, Joan. JAT, the Yugoslavian airline

Although Bobby had played some speed games against Tigran Petrosian in Moscow, this game at the Portoroz International, in 1958, was their first formal encounter. They drew. Yugoslavian Chess Federation

David Bronstein was one of the strongest players in the world in 1958, but was only able to draw his game with Bobby, which created a sensation, proving that Bobby was of World Championship caliber. Yugoslavian Chess Federation

Regina Fischer, a frequent protester, at the head of a peace march in Moscow, 1960. She went from there to East Germany, where she completed her medical degree. Planet News, Ltd.

Bobby played three games against Mikhail Tal in Curaçao, in 1962, just before the flamboyant Russian became ill and was hospitalized. Brooklyn Public Library, Brooklyn Collection

Banned from traveling to Havana in 1965, Bobby sat in a closed room in New York’s Marshall Chess Club and played his opponents by teletype. After he defeated Vassily Smyslov, the two analyzed their game by phone. The Queens Borough Public Library, Long Island Div., New York Herald-Tribune Photo Morgue

William Lombardy (left) and the bearded Miguel Quinteros, both grandmasters, served as Bobby’s seconds at the 1972 match. Icelandic Chess Federation

Regina Fischer, wearing a blond wig as a disguise, secretly visited Bobby in his hotel room during his match in Iceland. Bobby was preparing for his next game against Boris Spassky. MCF photo

In 1972 Fischer finally reached the summit of chess, playing in Iceland for the World Championship against Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. Icelandic Chess Federation

At the banquet after he had won the match, Bobby, who often seemed uninterested in women, surprised the assembled dignitaries by dancing with an Icelandic beauty. Icelandic Chess Federation

Back in the United States, Bobby had become America’s hero by defeating the Soviet Union. In New York, on the steps of City Hall, Mayor John Lindsay awarded Bobby a gold medal and a Proclamation of Acclaim. Dailynewspix

After winning the championship, Bobby appeared on a number of television shows and received unprecedented media coverage. Here he is in late 1972 on The Merv Griffin Show, thinking about a move. Courtesy of The Merv Griffin Show

In 2004, Bobby was imprisoned in Japan for traveling without a valid passport, and was threatened with extradition back to the United States. Icelandic friends worked to free him, but after ten months in jail, bearded and haggard, Bobby appeared to be a broken man. Einar Einarsson

Miyoko Watai visited Bobby daily while he was in jail in Japan. Subsequently, she cared for him during his illness in Iceland, where friends said they were an affectionate and loving couple. Einar Einarsson

Bobby, nearing the end of his life, walking down a country road near Álpingi, the site of Iceland’s original parliament. Founded in AD 930 during the Viking era, Iceland’s national parliament is the oldest in the world and still in existence. Einar Einarsson

The last known photographic portrait of Bobby Fischer, who had become an Icelandic citizen, taken at 3 Frakkar (3 Coats), his favorite restaurant in Reykjavik. Einar Einarsson