Today's Topics:
whatta guy
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Date: Wed, 18 Nov 92 10:11:15 -0500
From: Eric Haines <erich@eye.com>
Message-Id: <9211181511.AA04955@hemlock>
To: subgenius@media-lab.media.mit.edu
Subject: whatta guy
UPI: Fischer blames 'world Jewry' for 20-year absence from chess
BELGRADE, Yugoslavia (UPI) -- Former world chess champion Bobby
Fischer blamed ``world Jewry'' Friday for his 20-year-long self-imposed
absence from public competition and called the world's top players
``creeps and criminals.''
Fischer also said he had not decided if he would return to the United
States, where he faces possible civil and criminal charges for playing
his Russian arch-rival, Boris Spassky, in violation of U.N. economic
sanctions imposed on the rump Yugoslav federation of Serbia and
Montenegro.
``I will rest a few days, clear my head and decide on my next move,''
he told a news conference a day after triumphing over Spassky in what
was billed as a rematch of the 1971 world championship that he won.
Fischer, who took a first-place prize of $3.35 million, launched his
anti-Semitic diatribe as he expounded on what he claimed to be unfair
international competition rules instituted by the World Chess
Federation.
``The world Jewry kept me out of chess while creeps and criminals
like (Anatoly) Karpov, (Victor) Korchnoy and (Gari) Kasparov had a
privilege to play under the system,'' Fischer said.
Fischer was referring to his 20-year absence from international
competition that began after he won the 1972 world chess championship
against Spassky in Reykjavik, Iceland, and ended with the rematch in
rump Yugoslavia.
The 49-year-old resident of Pasadena, Calif., has been known for
making anti-Semitic statements in the past.
He was stripped of the world title in 1975 by the World Chess
Federation for refusing to play Karpov. Karpov lost the title to
Korchnoy (FALSE -- kgs), who was in turn defeated by Kasparov, the reigning
champion.
Fischer played the rematch with Spassky despite a U.S. Treasury
Department order that he withdraw because he would be violating the U.N.
sanctions imposed on May 30 against Serbia and Montenegro for
underwriting the ongoing Serbian ``ethnic cleansing'' conquests in
neigboring Bosnia-Hercegovina.
He publicly spat on the ``cease-and-desist'' order during a news
conference on the eve of the Sept. 3 opening game of the rematch on the
Montenegrin resort island of Sveti Stefan. The tournament moved after 12
games to Belgrade.
Fischer could face a fine up to $250,000 and a maximum penalty of 10
years in jail if charged and convicted in the United States of
``knowingly and willingly'' breaching the U.S. government directive.
Fischer said that he was unaware that any charges had been filed
against him yet.
``This question was not officially raised in America, as far as I
know,'' he said. ``I'll think about it if it happens.''
He also refused to disclose his future plans.
Spassky, 55, who remained very much in Fischer's shadow during the
press conference, is a naturalized French citizen and was not barred
from playing by Paris. He collected $1.65 million as the runner-up.
He told reporters that he was ``satisfied'' with the match, although
he added that he had expected to win at least seven games.
``In some games, I was lucky. In some not. But, in the end, it was my
fault,'' he said.
The former Soviet grand master won five of the 30 games he played
against Fischer, who clinched his requisite 10th victory on the 27th
move of Thursday's match.
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End of Subgenius Digest
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