Chess maestro
Bobby Fischer has cited a lack of alcohol as one of the
factors making him ill behind bars at the East Japan
Immigration Bureau Detention Center in Ushiku, Ibaraki
Prefecture.
"I can't get any alcohol in here, which I think is also
bad for my health. I say that quite seriously. I think
alcohol in moderation is very good for your body.
Alcohol in moderation is very good for your health. It
has a cleansing effect on your body, an antiseptic
effect. It has many benefits. It's good for your heart
and so on," Fischer told Radio DZRH in the Philippines
in the second of two separate interviews given on New
Year's Eve and Jan. 17 and listed on the Internet
overnight. "They don't allow alcohol, but they allow
cigarettes. And they give the people cigarettes,
tax-free. So the people are smoking like chimneys in
here."
Fischer, in detention while he fights on a series of
fronts to avoid being returned to the U.S. where he
faces trial as a sanctions breaker for playing chess,
occasionally sounded weary and admitted feeling under
the weather.
"I'm very dizzy. I've been very dizzy the last two
months. I'm very dizzy now as I'm talking to you," he
said as he opened the second interview listed on the
Internet overnight.
He blamed his state on the air conditioning at the
detention center, which he said is noisy, but left
inmates unbearably cold if turned off. He also repeated
complaints he has made about the center's close
proximity to Tokai, Ibaraki Prefecture, scene of Japan's
worst-ever nuclear accident in 1999 and a series of
minor mishaps at various times since.
At other times, Fischer seemed almost jovial, noting
that he was the oldest of the roughly 500 male and
female inmates at the center. He noted that he is free
to make phone calls and is occasionally let out of his
cell upon request.
Once, Fischer even broke in to a raspy voiced rendition
of the 1965 Barry McGuire hit "Eve of Destruction,"
silencing the unnamed female DJ when she tried to ask
him a question mid-song.
"Let me finish. This is cute," Fischer said before going
on to finish the song from 40 years ago. Fischer's
efforts may not win him a Grammy, but his recollection
of the lyrics was word perfect, suggesting he retains
the phenomenal memory for which he was famous in his
heyday.
Fischer also drew comparisons between his case -
arrested in July last year by officials at Narita
Airport for using what they claimed was a revoked U.S.
passport - and that of California Gov. Arnold
Schwarzenegger, who had no trouble making a trip to
Japan without even bringing a passport when he was still
just a movie star back in 1998.
"Schwarzenegger came to Japan without a passport.
Period. And they didn't throw him into jail. They didn't
deport him back to the U.S. They didn't even threaten
him. Nothing. But me, I came into the country with a
perfectly valid passport and they've thrown me into
prison now for over six months. The difference between
me and Schwarzenegger is Schwarzenegger is a Jew
ass-kisser and I'm not," he said before the announcer
and Filipino grandmaster Eugene Torre asked him another
question as they did many times when Fischer appeared
likely to make inflammatory comments.
Nonetheless, Fischer still criticized the land of his
birth, which once hailed him as a Cold War hero
following his defeat of then Soviet Boris Spassky to
become World Chess Champion in 1972.
"It's very dangerous in general to make any agreement
with the U.S. Because if you don't keep your part they
come after you. But if they don't keep their part, so
what, they just laugh at it. 'Who are you to tell the
U.S. what to do?'" he said. "The world is in a terrible
situation with all these nuclear power plants, nuclear
bombs, pollution, wars, land mines everywhere. The U.S.
should set a good example and destroy all its nuclear
weapons. Unilaterally."
Fischer, however, saved his most intense criticisms for
U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister
Junichiro Koizumi.
"This Bush is very inconsistent in his policies. He's a
liar, he's a crook. One thing he's very consistent about
- he wants to kill or imprison all his enemies. That
he's very consistent on and the U.S. is very consistent
on," Fischer said.
Later, Fischer would slam Japan, too.
"This country is completely corrupt. Koizumi is a war
criminal. He should be hung," Fischer said before Torre
and the announcer quickly piped up to stop him from
saying anything further.
Meanwhile, the Associated Press reported that a
parliamentary committee in Iceland talked about giving
Fischer citizenship, with one lawmaker predicting he
would get it.
Gurun Ogumundsdottir, a member of the parliamentary
panel discussing a petition to grant Fischer Icelandic
citizenship, said the chess champion would probably get
his wish.
"Usually these things are settled with unanimous vote,
but in this case a majority might suffice, and it seems
to me the majority is in favor of granting citizenship,"
Ogumundsdottir told the AP.
Iceland, scene of Fischer's triumph over Spassky 33
years ago, offered Fischer residency last month,
expressing a willingness to accept him even without a
passport. However, the Justice Ministry has refused to
let Fischer leave Japan, even though it is fighting a
court case with him over a deportation order issued last
August.
The U.S. Embassy in Tokyo has admitted talking to Japan
and Iceland about Fischer. Iceland has reportedly
refused a U.S. government request to rescind its offer
of help to Fischer.
|
|
|
