Bobby Fischer

World Champion 1972-1975
Born: 1943, Brooklyn

Fischer was a genius. He devoted his entire life to chess, studying every aspect of the game. His games are filled with inspiring sacrifices that are truly amazing. He created a brilliant opening that was said to be a forced win. But, one day someone played it against him. And so Fischer, faced with his own weapon used against him, had to find a secret antidote to counter this star studded opening. And he did.  He came back and destroyed his own beautiful opening.
Fischer's genius became evident early on. He became a master at age 12. One year later he won the U.S. Junior Championship (an impressive feat). The next year, at age 14, he won the U.S. Championship. Winning the U.S. Championship is something that anyone would be proud of. Winning it at 14 though is simply stunning. And, to top that off, Fischer won every single game he played in the round robin tournament, a record never matched. This accomplishment established Fischer as the strongest player in the United States. In 1972, Fischer proved himself the strongest player in the world through his defeat of Spassky. Fischer sought to improve the conditions of professional chess players and thus made requests for tournament conditions that organizers were unable or unwilling to meet. As a result, Fischer decided not to defend his title 1975, and the title defaulted to his challenger Anatoly Karpov. Fischer then departed from the chess scene for 20 years and was persuaded to come back for a rematch against Boris Spassky. Fischer defeated Spassky in this match, reflecting that the years haven't dulled Fischer's genius.