March 9, 1943 -- Robert James Fischer born in Chicago to Regina Fischer, an American of German-Jewish descent. She and her husband, Gerhardt, a German biophysicist, divorce when Bobby is 2.
May 1949 -- Bobby, 6, learns how to play chess with his older sister, Joan, using a set bought from a candy story below their Brooklyn, N.Y., apartment. By age 8, he is playing competitively.
July 1956 -- At 13, Fischer becomes the youngest player to win the U. S. Junior Championship. At 14, he wins the U. S. Open Championship for the first of eight times, and becomes the youngest person to be awarded the title of international grandmaster at 15.
Sept. 1, 1972 -- He wins the international chess crown in Reykjavik, Iceland, defeating Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union. Three years later, Fischer loses his title to Anatoly Karpov when he fails to defend it after a disagreement with tournament organizers.
September 1992 -- Fischer emerges from isolation to challenge Spassky to a rematch on the resort island of Sveti Stefan, then in Yugoslavia. Fischer wins, but the game is played in violation of U.S. sanctions imposed to punish Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic.
September 2001 -- Fischer praises the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks during an interview in the Philippines, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards."
July 13, 2004 -- Fischer is arrested in Japan and threatened with extradition to the United States to face sanctions-busting charges. Iceland grants him citizenship.
March 24, 2005 -- Flies to Reykjavik.
