Posting Bail for Bobby Fischer
- Alex
Couldn't help but notice this link in my morning newsreading today.
So Bobby Fischer finally turned up... because he's been arrested and is now awaiting deportation from Japan to the US?
For playing a chess game in Yugoslavia??? In 1992???!!!
Wow. This man was considered a cold war hero in the 70s, and the US nevertheless issued a warrant for his arrest for violating trade sanctions
for playing chess for money in a sanctioned country. (I think I just broke my own personal record for using the word "for" in a sentence). Granted,
3.5 million dollars is a lot of money, but somehow I don't think he put much of that back into the Yugoslavian economy.
What a weird world we live in. Incidentally, if you haven't seen it, I suggest checking out the movie
Searching for Bobby Fischer. It's a good flick about parents and child prodigies. I'd mention
that it made ESPN's list of best sports movies, but that list was terrible.
In any case, if Ali didn't go to jail, neither should Fischer. C'mon country, make it happen.
What do you think? Drop us a line at webmaster@simpleprop.com and give us some
feedback. Maybe we'll even run your letters in future Gambits. 'The Daily Gambit' is updated every weekday.
