Bobby Fischer

The Immigration Bureau detained the 61-year-old Fischer at Narita International Airport in Chiba Prefecture at the behest of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which had recently stepped up efforts to track the fugitive, U.S. authorities said July 15.

The Narita branch of the Immigration Bureau said July 16 that it took Fischer into custody at the airport when he tried to leave for the Philippines on an invalid passport.

The arrest capped a cat-and-mouse game between U.S. authorities and Fischer, who shuttled among several nations, including Japan, the Philippines and Hungary, to avoid arrest. A grand jury in Washington charged him with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by going to Yugoslavia for the chess match against Boris Spassky. The charge, handed down in 1992, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

U.S. authorities, acting on the outstanding warrant, recently canceled Fischer's U.S. passport after discovering that he had a 90-day visa to visit Japan.

The Japan Times Weekly: July 24, 2004
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