It looks like Bobby Fischer will now be granted citizenship in Iceland. I don't think this will help him much, but who knows. I am curious as to why Iceland is so supportive of Bobby Fischer, even when pressured by the USA to stop.

“"Bobby Fischer tried to get residence permits in many countries, but they all turned him down. I suggested he come to Iceland, and when he found out that it wasn’t as cold here as he had thought, he liked the idea."

I wonder how this will improve the chess playing strength of Iceland, which is currently ranked 41st in the world. I just did the calculations - it will bring them up to 28th place, right behind Sweden.

In similar news, here is an interesting article about the effects of computers and the internet on chess. The easy access to information has been beneficial to many individual players, but it also speeds the demise of the game. Chess will never die as a game amongst friends and amateurs, but on the international level it is already dying.

Gregory Shahade, an international master, said he has used databases, partly because everyone else does. Computers and databases have made chess more predictable and probably less fun, he says, adding, "It seems there is less creativity now."
Garry Kasparov, a former world champion and still the world's top-ranked player, agreed that electronic aids may have stifled creativity, at least in the openings.

Fischer Random Chess hopes to put this problem in check. Fischer came up with this chess variant so that "chess creativity and talent would be more important than memorization and analysis of opening moves."