happy birthday bobby fischer - 67 years old in heaven today!

bobby fischer, born on march 9, 1943, and would be 67 years old today. he was the world's greatest chess player. fischer won the world championship from boris spassky in 1972 and immediately began his spiral downward into oblivion. he refused to defend his title. and in 1975 and it passed to anatoly karopov by forfeit.

fischer died two years ago, in iceland, on january 17, 2008. his death, as i posted last year on its anniversary, left me with mixed feeling. he was a great chess player, but a failure as a human being. still, as someone who inspired me to take up the game (and provided countless hours of enjoyment going over his spectacular games), i owe him some gratitude.

here is a news video of his astounding victory against boris spassky in 1972: