It was promoted as the “Match of the Century,” when American chess
grandmaster Bobby Fischer (right) defeated Russian Boris Spassky
(left) during the World Chess Championship in Reykjavik, Iceland.

In the world’s most publicized title match ever played, Fischer, a 29-
year-old Brooklynite, became the first American to win the competition
since its inception in 1866. The victory also marked the first time a non-
Russian had won the event in 24 years.

Robert James Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008)

After the 1972 World Chess Championship, Fischer did not play a
competitive game in public for nearly 20 years. In 1977 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, he played three games against the MIT Greenblatt
computer program, winning them all. On January 17, 2008, Fischer
died at age 64 from renal failure at National Hospital in Iceland.