Regarded by many as the greatest chess player of all time who, starting at age 14, played in and won eight US Chess Championships. He infamously disappeared from the spotlight only several years after winning the infamous Cold War confrontation against Boris Spassky from the USSR in 1972.
He first learned to play chess using the manual from a chess set purchased in the candy store downstairs from where he grew up.
He won the 1963-64 U.S. Championship with the only perfect score in the history of the tournament and his 1969 book, My 60 Memorable Games, is a must-read for any aspiring chess player.
He became engaged to fellow chess grandmaster Miyoko Watai in August of 2004. They married that same year and remained married until his death.
After his mysterious disappearance, a 1993 film entitled Searching Bobby Fischer, about a Prodigy chess player trained to play aggressively like Fischer, was released. The film was written and directed by Steven Zaillian.
