From an eulogy for former world chess champion Bobby Fischer written by Michael Paterniti:

Four moves later, in what he himself came to regard as one of the best chess moves of his career, Bobby offered the strongest piece on the board – his queen – for a bishop. The audacity of such a move, especially coming from a 13-year-old, and one that was met with murmurs by onlookers that day, seemed to signal the beginning of something very unexpected to the world, and something terribly amiss for Byrne. Even if he was a kid, he wouldn’t just give away his queen, would he?

A sombre and incredible account of chess master Bobby Fischer’s funeral near Reykjavik, Iceland, last January. Bleak, yet riveting, reading.

At 8am on Monday 21 January, under cover of darkest night, a hearse slid stealthily out of the snowy streets of Reykjavik, followed by another car. In the hearse was a coffin containing the body of Bobby Fischer, the American chess virtuoso, who had died four days earlier, aged 64; in the car were an Icelandic couple who had been his neighbours and a French Catholic priest whom Fischer, born and raised Jewish, had never met. They drove 45km east of the Icelandic capital and stopped at a Lutheran country church near the small town of Selfoss. They were met there by a Japanese woman, a Buddhist, who had flown in from Tokyo the night before and who said she was his wife. The farmer who owned the land on which the church was built, and where Fischer would sometimes go for walks, had dug a grave overnight in the plot’s ancient cemetery. The small group huddled around the grave, and the priest said a prayer. By 10am, the ceremony was over. The coffin had been lowered into the ground and Fischer’s wife and neighbours, the farmer and the priest walked silently away.

A photo of Fischer’s grave at the Church of Laugardælir where his funeral was held, can be seen here.

Chess Champion Bobby Fischer Dies.

Bobby Fischer has died, cause unknown, in Reykjavik, Iceland, his spokesman said today.

Bobby Fischer, the reclusive American chess master who became a Cold War icon when he dethroned the Soviet Union’s Boris Spassky as world champion in 1972, has died. He was 64.

This brings to mind a song I mentioned a few years ago, titled Bobby Fischer, written in 2001 by local band, Lazy Susan, which included an intriguing chorus line:

no-one ever says Reykjavik in a song

Reykjavik is the capital of Iceland, which granted Fischer citizenship several years ago.

Chess master Bobby Fischer’s current plight brings to mind the lyrics of a song written, and titled, in his honour (as well as a nameless girl known to the lyricist) by Sydney band, Lazy Susan.

They’re all saying that you’ll never play again
They’re all saying that you’re finished
That you’re washed up as a friend
All my life I’ve feather dusted
but that’s not how it’s going to end, oh no
Spies in hideouts send their secret messages
There’s a thief caught in the headlights
Of a car beneath a bridge
There’s no light on in the house
Except the light’s on inside the fridge, oh yeah

The song, written in 2001 by the way, features an interesting chorus:

no-one ever says Reykjavik in a song.

Reykjavik of course being the capital of Iceland. You need to know the Bobby Fischer story to know what Lazy Susan means with that reference.