Q 01/05

Which Nixon adviser made a personal phone call in 1972 to urge Fischer to play for the world title?

A) Alexander Haig

B) Henry Kissinger

C) H. R. Haldeman

D) John Ehrlichman

Answer · why

B) Henry Kissinger

Henry Kissinger placed the call because the match against the Soviet champion had become a Cold War contest, and Fischer, who had been holding out ove...

Q 02/05

In which city was the 1972 world title match, dubbed the Match of the Century, played?

A) Moscow

B) Belgrade

C) Reykjavík

D) New York

Answer · why

C) Reykjavík

Reykjavík hosted the whole match only after a plan to split it with Belgrade, Fischer's own first choice, fell through.

Q 03/05

What was unusual about Fischer's three years as world chess champion, from 1972 to 1975?

A) He defended it three times

B) He lost and regained it

C) He played no competitive games

D) He played only team events

Answer · why

C) He played no competitive games

He played no competitive games as champion, sitting out his whole reign before letting the title go in 1975, and he stayed away from serious play for ...

Q 04/05

What did Iceland's parliament grant Fischer in 2005 to free him from detention in Japan?

A) Political asylum

B) Refugee status

C) Full citizenship

D) A diplomatic passport

Answer · why

C) Full citizenship

Full citizenship came by a special law in March 2005, after Japan had refused to release him on lesser papers, and within days he was free.

Q 05/05

Fischer grew up in Brooklyn, but in which city was he born in March 1943?

A) Los Angeles

B) Philadelphia

C) Chicago

D) St. Louis

Answer · why

C) Chicago

Chicago is on a birth certificate naming a German father who never entered the United States; his mother took the children through California and Ariz...