Chess legend Fischer could become Icelander

Iceland is considering granting citizenship to United States chess legend Bobby Fischer, a parliamentary official said in Reykjavik today.

It comes after Fischer’s friend Saemundur Palsson filed a petition with the parliament which was discussed by its general committee on Thursday.

It will be considered again at a meeting next week.

Gurun Ogmundsdottir, a member of the nine-member Parliament General Committee, said that although there were mixed feelings about granting Fischer citizenship, the committee was likely to approve it.

“Usually these things are settled with unanimous vote, but in this case a majority might suffice, and it seems to me the majority is in favour of granting citizenship,” Ogmundsdottir said.

The United States has been seeking Fischer, 61, for more than a decade on charges of violating international sanctions against the former Yugoslavia by playing chess there in 1992.

The former chess champion has been detained in Tokyo since he was arrested six months ago for trying to board a plane to the Philippines with an invalid US passport.

Japan has ordered him to be deported to the United States.

Iceland was the place of Fischer’s greatest chess victory – a 1972 match against Boris Spassky, champion of the then Soviet Union.

It agreed last year to allow Fischer into the country without a passport and gave him a residence permit.

Under Icelandic law, a person must have lived in the country for seven years and must hold a valid passport to meet citizenship requirements.

But the parliament can grant exceptions and give citizenship by decree. Last year, 17 athletes were granted citizenship in this way.

“Fischer is a man who has painted himself into a corner because of his peculiarities, and we should be the country that accepts him,” Ogmundsdottir said.

Palsson, a former police officer who became acquainted with Fischer when he was guarding him in Reykjavik in 1972 and has since become his close friend, said he was confident Fischer would get Icelandic citizenship.

“Bobby Fischer tried to get residence permits in many countries, but they all turned him down. I suggested he come to Iceland, and when he found out that it wasn’t as cold here as he had thought, he liked the idea.”