Timeline

Browse Bobby Fischer’s life date by date, or filter by theme.

1943 — Born in Chicago. Robert James Fischer is born on 9 March 1943 in Chicago.

1948 — Brooklyn. The family settles in Brooklyn, New York.

1949 — The rules, alone. At six, he learns the rules from a chess set’s instruction sheet.

1956 — The Game of the Century. Aged 13, he beats Donald Byrne after the sacrifice 17…Be6!!.

1958 — US champion, grandmaster. US champion at 14 (1957-58), grandmaster at 15.

1962 — Stockholm and Curaçao. He wins the Stockholm Interzonal, then finishes 4th in the Curaçao Candidates.

1964 — 11 out of 11. He wins the 1963-64 US Championship with a perfect 11/11.

1970 — Palma Interzonal. He wins the Interzonal by 3.5 points and wins his last 7 games.

1971 — Taimanov, Larsen, Petrosian. Two 6-0 sweeps, then the Candidates final won 6.5-2.5 against Petrosian.

1972 — World champion. He beats Boris Spassky in Reykjavik, 12.5 to 8.5, ending Soviet domination.

1975 — The forfeited title. With no agreement with FIDE, he does not defend his title: Karpov is declared champion.

1981 — Pasadena arrest. Mistaken for a bank robber, he is arrested by error.

1992 — Rematch with Spassky. In Sveti Stefan and Belgrade, he wins 10 to 5 (15 draws) despite the embargo.

2005 — Icelandic citizen. After his 2004 arrest in Tokyo, Iceland grants him citizenship.

2008 — Death. He dies in Reykjavik on 17 January 2008, aged 64.