Bobby Fischer bites the big one

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.

Over the years, Fischer gave occasional interviews with a radio station in the Philippines, often digressing into anti-Semitic rants and accusing American officials of hounding him.

He praised the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, saying America should be "wiped out," and described Jews as "thieving, lying bastards."

"The United States is evil. There's this axis of evil. What about the allies of evil _ the United States, England, Japan, Australia? These are the evildoers," Fischer said.

- AP/Star Tribune (read full story here)

As a confirmed conspiracy buff, I would say that the Soviets poisoned Fischer, inducing a permanent psychosis.

Or maybe he drank too much absinthe.

Or maybe he played too much solo chess.