| | [[File:Bobby Fischer smiling 1972.jpg|left|thumb|Bobby Fischer in [[Amsterdam]], Jan. 1, 1972]] | | [[File:Bobby Fischer smiling 1972.jpg|left|thumb|Bobby Fischer in [[Amsterdam]], Jan. 1, 1972]] |
| | [[File:Bobby Fischer 1972.jpg|right|thumb|Bobby Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972, around the time he won the world [[chess]] championship.]] | | [[File:Bobby Fischer 1972.jpg|right|thumb|Bobby Fischer in Amsterdam in 1972, around the time he won the world [[chess]] championship.]] |
| − | '''Robert James Fischer''' (1943-2008<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/obituaries/18cnd-fischer.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin</ref>), popularly known as Bobby Fischer, was the only [[United States of America|American]] to become the official world [[chess]] champion<ref>[[Paul Morphy]] of [[Louisiana]] was widely regarded as the #1 player in the world in the 1850s, but this was in an era before an official world champion was determined.</ref> when he defeated [[USSR|Soviet]] grandmaster Boris Spassky in a 1972 match in [[Iceland]]. Fischer's championship was the culmination of a record-setting 20 consecutive victories in qualifying tournaments, which included two 6-0 records in the "[[Candidates Tournament]]s" in 1971. He was by far the highest rated player in the first official FIDE ratings, as published in July 1971, and Fischer is the only person to win the [[U.S. Chess Championship|U.S. championship]] with a perfect score (11 wins in 11 games, at age 20 in 1963–64). | + | '''Robert James Fischer''' (1943-2008<ref>https://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/18/obituaries/18cnd-fischer.html?_r=1&hp&oref=slogin</ref>), popularly known as Bobby Fischer, was the only [[United States of America|American]] to become the official world [[chess]] champion<ref>[[Paul Morphy]] of [[Louisiana]] was widely regarded as the #1 player in the world in the 1850s, but this was in an era before an official world champion was determined.</ref> when he defeated [[USSR|Soviet]] grandmaster Boris Spassky in a 1972 match in [[Iceland]]. Fischer's championship was the culmination of a record-setting 20 consecutive victories in qualifying tournaments, which included two 6-0 records in the "[[Candidates Tournament]]s" in 1971. He was by far the highest rated player in the first official FIDE ratings, as published in July 1971, and Fischer is the only person to win the [[U.S. Chess Championship|U.S. championship]] with a perfect score (11 wins in 11 games, at age 20 in 1963–64); one of his wins received the Brilliancy Prize.<ref>See [[Fischer v. R. Byrne]], https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EMDJebpc4oQ</ref> |
| | Fischer was a devout member of an evangelical church through his championship years, refusing to play chess on the [[Sabbath]] (which resulted in his withdrawing from a tournament in 1967 in which he had an enormous lead<ref>"Fischer withdrew from the 1967 Sousse Interzonal tournament in the 1966–1969 World Championship cycle, after leading with 8½ points from the first 10 games," due to a dispute resulting from his Sabbath observance and request for additional rest days. [https://www.dailychess.com/forum/spirituality/bobby-fischer-believed-in-god.144860]</ref>) and [[tithe|tithing]] a half-million dollars of his earnings.<ref>https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/2012/06/bobby-fischer-and-worldwide-church-of.html</ref> | | Fischer was a devout member of an evangelical church through his championship years, refusing to play chess on the [[Sabbath]] (which resulted in his withdrawing from a tournament in 1967 in which he had an enormous lead<ref>"Fischer withdrew from the 1967 Sousse Interzonal tournament in the 1966–1969 World Championship cycle, after leading with 8½ points from the first 10 games," due to a dispute resulting from his Sabbath observance and request for additional rest days. [https://www.dailychess.com/forum/spirituality/bobby-fischer-believed-in-god.144860]</ref>) and [[tithe|tithing]] a half-million dollars of his earnings.<ref>https://tartajubow.blogspot.com/2012/06/bobby-fischer-and-worldwide-church-of.html</ref> |