JAPAN rejected former chess champion Bobby Fischer's demand for protection as a political refugee yesterday and issued an order to deport him.

FORMER world chess champion Boris Spassky has appealed to US President George W Bush to show mercy to former rival Bobby Fischer and not seek his extradition from Japan, according to a copy of a letter faxed to the media.

Chess grandmaster Bobby Fischer plans to appeal against a deportation order to the United States next week for the second time and to apply for temporary freedom from a detention centre in Japan, an adviser said today.

Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has appealed against Japanese move to deport him to the US for travelling on an invalid passport and is seeking political asylum.

It was not the best move he ever made. After more than 10 years of evading the public eye and US justice officials, former world champion Bobby Fischer has been arrested by Japanese immigration officials after trying to leave the country with an invalid passport.

Former world chess champion Bobby Fischer has been arrested in Japan by immigration authorities, capping a more than decade-long hunt by US authorities for the elusive legend.

A note left by a dying officer on the Kursk says the nuclear submarine was sunk by the explosion of one of its own torpedoes, reports a Russian newspaper.