http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080118/D8U89N681.html
World Chess Champion Bobby Fischer Dies
Jan 18, 7:26 AM (ET)
By GUDJON HELGASON
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REYKJAVIK, Iceland (AP) – Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.
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They say the line between genius and madness is very grey.
I played a lot of chess as a child. (I was a rated chess and bridge player. And, if I was born a couple of decades later, then I might have been a poker millionaire. I knew the math side; would have had to learn the people side.) I knew of Fischer before he was “popular”. I followed his games in the chess rags and chess clubs in the Greenwich Village. In fact, at chess, you can quickly see that you are out classed with no hope of ever getting better. His games were like that. I found many people, who while better than I, opined that he was the “Cassius Clay” of our “sport”. After that point, you’re either just kidding yourself or wasting time. So, I moved on to find my niche at something I was unique at. (I’m still looking!?!)
I hope he found peace.
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Reinke Faces Life 