• ABC News: The Strange Life of Bobby Fischer (3:53) • 'A showdown between a journalist [Jeremy Schaap, son of sportswriter Dick Schaap] and the chess grandmaster in 2005.'
• BBC News: (Stephen Smith) Fischer dead at 64, the number of squares on a chess board! (3:18)
• BBC News: Funerailles de [Funeral of] Bobby Fischer (0:58)
• CNN: Kasparov on death of Fischer (3:36) • Statement by telephone.
• ESPN: Iceland, Fischer and Chess (1:32) • This is one of our favorites: 'Iceland has been described as "Chess Mad". What does that even mean? Do they all gear up and hit their local bars to represent their favorite players on the weekends? Are there Fischer bars and Spassky bars?'
• NBC: Death of Bobby Fischer (0:42)
• Reuters: Bobby Fischer 1943-2008 (1:02)
• Sky News: Bobby Fischer Chess Champion dies age 64 (6:32) • Another statement by Kasparov plus questions and answers.

The titles are those used on YouTube.

At the beginning of every calendar year, we take a look at the top chess stories of the previous year. The year 2007 saw frantic activity to establish some sort of routine in the selection of the World Champion, an increase in the number of top class grandmaster tournaments, and a host of lesser stories. Read more...

Photo: Live Ice Chess Match In Trafalgar Square, London vs. Moscow, 11 January 2007 (Sean McKay/Freud Communications via Getty Images).

Communities include popular chess sites like Chess.com and Chessgames.com that we had previously listed under topics 'News' or 'Blogs / Magazines / Columns'. Do you have a favorite chess community that's not listed? Let us know with a comment below! • Coming soon: chess discussion groups.

Setting up a chess board correctly is not as easy as you might think. How many errors can you spot in this photo? (See How to Set Up a Chess Board.)

Photo: 'Close-up of a complete chess set' (Stockbyte / Getty Images).

Fischer stopped playing chess after his match with Spassky, disappeared from public view, and the 'Fischer boom' ended as quickly as it had begun. In 1992, the reclusive ex-champion resurfaced in war-torn Yugoslavia for a second match with Spassky. He again caught the media's attention, this time for different reasons. The world saw a vulgar anti-Semite who spat on official documents from the country that had adored him 20 years earlier.

After winning the rematch, Fischer disappeared again until September 2001. Immediately following the destruction of the World Trade Center, he was heard in radio broadcasts shouting his satisfaction over the collapse of the twin towers and the deaths of thousands of his compatriots. His next physical appearance was in July 2004, when he was arrested in Japan and faced possible extradition to the USA. He stayed in the media spotlight until March 2005, when he was released by Japan to Iceland, where he lived his final years in near total obscurity.

Now that he is gone forever, which Fischer does the world remember? The reaction to his death has been at a level only seen for the greatest sports and cultural personalities. Here are sample commentaries from people and places who had a special relationship with Bobby Fischer. Read more...