• Ethical considerations
• Political consequences for those involved
• General thoughts on the matter

But even with this much love for the sport, I had only a foggy idea about the career and life of Bobby Fisher. Well today the BBC ran an article titled:
Japan 'set to free' Bobby Fisher.
Free Bobby Fisher?! Say what? It goes on:
Mr Fischer has been on the run from the US authorities for more than a decade. Before his detention, he had managed to live undetected in Japan...The chess player has already been detained for eight months near Tokyo. He is wanted in the US for playing a game in Yugoslavia in 1992, in spite of an international blockade imposed on the country over the Balkan wars. He faces a 10-year jail term in the US if found guilty of defying the economic sanctions.
Unbelievable huh? A national hero turned fugitive for playing chess illegally!
Sometimes truth is stranger (and sadder) than fiction.

A little Bobby Fisher history...
OPENING:
Fisher became a Grandmaster at 15!
He won 20 consecutive international tournaments...a world record.
MIDDLE GAME:
Then in 1972 they sent him to the Soviet Union at the height of the cold war (like Rocky IV) to take on the world champ... Boris Spassky. (Yes, the guys name was really, Boris!) This is how the BBC summed up the event: The Soviets had held the world title since World War II. For them, chess was the ultimate proof of communist superiority over capitalism. One man would challenge that. They still call it the "Match of the Century." And with the world watching...Fisher was victorious [exuberant cheers. slow fade-out].

Then Bobby stopped playing, refused a ton of lucrative endorsement deals and went into hiding. When he refused to defend it...his title was eventually revoked.
END GAME
Nearly 20 years later, in 1992 he resurfaced to rematch Boris. He won again, but pissed off the U.S. Govt. (see above). He fled to Japan and hid, renouncing his U.S. citizenship.
Later, in a radio interview, the former-New Yorker called the Sept. 11th attacks, "Wonderful news." And went on to say, "It is time to finish off the U.S. once and for all." This did not help.
Eventually the Japanese authorities caught him and ever since the U.S. Govt has been demanding that Japan deport him at once.

The story today is reporting that now it looks like he may slip off to Iceland (they granted him citizenship) where he will give the finger to the States and play chess via the internet. We'll have to wait and see.

So, I have decided...my first action as President will be to drop all charges against Mr. Fisher and offer to reinstate his citizenship (although I am almost certain he will decline). I was originally considering building a modest marble statue somewhere, but the Sept. 11th comments were way out of line. Anyhow, the knowledge that he is out there, somewhere on this very net, playing under some alias is comforting. Maybe he is even breaking a man's ego as we speak. I sure hope so.