Fischer, Robert James

Bobby Fischer was an American chess prodigy who became the eleventh World Champion in 1972 by defeating Boris Spassky in the legendary "Match of the Century" in Reykjavik, ending decades of Soviet dominance over world chess. He won his first of a record eight US Championships at age 14, and his streak of 20 consecutive wins in world championship qualifying events remains unmatched. His book "My 60 Memorable Games" is considered essential chess literature, and he invented Fischer Random Chess (Chess960) as well as the time increment system now standard in competitive play.