Chess legend Fischer to appeal

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

The reclusive genius was arrested by Japanese immigration officials last week after trying to leave the country for the Philippines.

Fischer is wanted in the United States for playing a rematch against Soviet world champion Boris Spassky in Yugoslavia in 1992. Yugoslavia was under international sanctions at the time, and Americans were banned from doing business there.