Robert James "Bobby" Fischer (March 9, 1943 – January 17, 2008) was a chess Grandmaster, and the eleventh World Chess Champion. Born an American, late in life he took Icelandic citizenship. As a teenager, Fischer became famous as a chess prodigy. In 1972, he became the first, and so far the only, American to win the official World Chess Championship defeating defending champion Boris Spassky, of the Soviet Union, in a match held in Reykjavík, Iceland. The match was widely publicized as a Cold War battle. He is often referred to as one of the greatest chess players of all time. In 1975, Fischer did not defend his title when he could not come to agreement with the international chess federation FIDE over the conditions for the match. He became more reclusive and played no more competitive chess until 1992, when he won a rematch against Spassky. Source: Bobby Fischer's Chess Biography on Wikipedia.