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Robert James Fischer – United States
Robert James “Bobby” Fischer (born March 9, 1943) is a United States-born Icelandic chess International Grandmaster and in 1972 became the only US-born chessplayer ever to win the World Chess Championship. In 1975 he officially resigned the title when FIDE, the international chess federation, refused to accept his conditions for a title defense. He is considered by many to be one of the greatest chess players of all time.
Fischer’s victory over the Soviet world champion Boris Spassky in the “Match of the Century” not only sparked heightened international interest in chess, but was seen as a symbolic victory for the capitalist West. Particularly in the United States, Spassky was portrayed as the product of an impersonal, mechanical, and oppressive system of state control, while Fischer was depicted as a solitary genius who had heroically overcome the Soviets’ dominance: the American David who had slain the communist Goliath.
Fischer now lives as a recluse (the title of the popular film Searching for Bobby Fischer alludes to his legendary withdrawal from competition) in Iceland, and has also become known for his anti-Americanism, anti-imperialism, and antisemitism. However, Fischer’s inflammatory statements have done little to diminish the professional and popular recognition of his singular achievements on the chessboard.
Early years
Robert James Fischer was born at Michael Reese Hospital in Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Regina Wender, was a naturalized American citizen, of German Jewish[1] descent, who was born in Switzerland, raised in St. Louis, Missouri, and later became a teacher, registered nurse, and physician.[2] Fischer’s father was listed on the birth certificate as Wender’s first husband, Hans-Gerhardt Fischer, a German biophysicist; the couple married in 1933 in Moscow, U.S.S.R., where Wender was studying medicine at the First Moscow Medical Institute. However, a 2002 article by Peter Nicholas and Clea Benson of The Philadelphia Inquirer suggests that Paul Nemenyi, a Hungarian physicist of Jewish ancestry, may have been Fischer’s biological father.[3] Gerhardt and Regina Fischer divorced in 1945 when Bobby was two years old, and he grew up with his mother and older sister, Joan. In 1948, the family moved to Mobile, Arizona, where Regina taught in an elementary school. The following year they moved to Brooklyn, New York, where Regina worked as an elementary school teacher and nurse.
In May 1949, the six-year-old Fischer learned how to play chess from instructions found in a chess set that his sister had bought at a candy store below their Brooklyn apartment. He saw his first chess book a month later. For over a year he played chess on his own. At age 7, he joined the Brooklyn Chess Club and was taught by its president, Carmine Nigro. When Fischer was 13, his mother asked John W. Collins to be his chess tutor. Collins had coached several top players, including future grandmasters Robert Byrne and William Lombardy. Fischer spent much time at Collins’ house, and some have described Collins as a father figure for Fischer. Fischer attended Erasmus Hall High School together with Barbra Streisand[1], though he later dropped out. Many teachers remembered him as difficult. According to school records, he had an IQ of 180[citation needed]and an incredibly retentive memory.
1956-1967
Fischer’s first real triumph was winning the United States Junior Chess Championship in July 1956. In the same year, he played several brilliant games; his game against Donald Byrne, who later became an International Master, is often called “The Game of the Century”.
In 1957, Fischer won the United States Open Chess Championship on tie-breaking points over Arthur Bisguier. Fischer was given entry into the invitational U.S. Championship. Many thought he was too weak, and predicted that he would finish last. Instead, he won, becoming in January 1958, at age 14, the youngest U.S. champion ever.
Fischer’s victory qualified him to participate in the 1958 Portoroz Interzonal, the next step toward challenging the World Champion. The top six finishers in the Interzonal would qualify for the Candidates Tournament, but few thought the youngster had much chance of this. Again he surprised the pundits, tying for fifth place after a strong finish. This made Fischer the youngest person ever to qualify for the Candidates, and also earned him the title of International Grandmaster, making him at that time the youngest grandmaster in history.
At the age of 16, Fischer finished a creditable equal fifth out of eight at the Candidates Tournament held in Bled/Zagreb/Belgrade, Yugoslavia in 1959. He scored 12.5-15.5 and was outclassed by tournament winner Mikhail Tal, who won all four of their individual games.
In 1961, Fischer started a 16-game match with frequent U.S. Champion Samuel Reshevsky, one of the world’s strongest players. Despite Fischer’s meteoric rise, the veteran Reshevsky was considered the favorite. After 11 games and a tie score (2 wins apiece with 7 draws) the match ended due to a dispute between Fischer and match organizer Jacqueline Piatigorsky.
In the next World Championship cycle, Fischer won the 1962 Stockholm Interzonal by 2.5 points, scoring 17.5-4.5, making him one of the favorites for the Candidates tournament in Curaçao. However, he had a disappointing tournament, finishing fourth out of eight with a 14-13 score. The result nonetheless established Fischer, at 19, as the strongest non-Soviet player in the world.
In 1962, Fischer said that he had “personal problems” and began to listen to various radio ministers in a search for answers. This is how he first came to listen to The World Tomorrow radio program with Herbert W. Armstrong and his son Garner Ted Armstrong; the Armstrongs’ denomination, The Worldwide Church of God, predicted an imminent apocalypse. In late 1963, Fischer began tithing to the church. According to Fischer, he lived a bifurcated life, with a rational chess component and an enthusiastic religious component.
Following his failure in the 1962 Candidates, Fischer asserted that the Soviet players had a non-aggression pact and concentrated on playing against him. The top three finishers (Tigran Petrosian, Paul Keres and Efim Geller) indeed drew all their games among themselves at Curaçao, but opinions differ on whether this was prearranged; although it was confirmed by the high-ranking Soviet player Yuri Averbakh.[4]
Fischer therefore decided not to participate in the Amsterdam Interzonal in 1964, thus taking himself out of the 1966 World Championship cycle. He held to this decision even when FIDE changed the format of the eight-player Candidates Tournament from a round-robin to a series of knockout matches. (In the previous two cycles, FIDE had sought to address complaints of Soviet collusion by limiting the number of Soviet participants, an approach that Soviet chess players considered extremely unfair.)
In the next cycle, at the 1967 Sousse Interzonal, Fischer scored a phenomenal 8.5 points in the first 10 games. His observance of the Worldwide Church of God’s sabbath was honored by the organizers, but deprived Fischer of several rest days, which led to a scheduling dispute. Fischer forfeited two games in protest and later withdrew, eliminating himself from the 1969 World Championship cycle.
At home, Fischer won all eight U.S. Championships that he competed in, beginning with the 1957-1958 championship and ending with the 1966-1967 championship. This string includes his 11-0 win in the 1963-1964 championship, the only perfect score in the history of the tournament, and one of only a handful of perfect scores ever in high-level chess tournaments.
Fischer represented the U.S.A. on top board with great distinction at four Olympiads (Leipzig 1960, Varna 1962, Havana 1966, and Siegen 1970). He was forced to attend school and had to miss the 1958 Olympiad, and he turned down further invitations to play in 1964, 1968, and 1972, after which he retired for 20 years.
The road to the world championship (1969-1972)
Bobby Fischer’s score card from his round 3 game against Miguel Najdorf in the 1970 Chess Olympiad.The 1969 U.S. Championship was also a zonal qualifier, with the top three finishers advancing to the Interzonal. Fischer, however, had sat out the U.S. Championship because of disagreements about the tournament’s format and prize fund. To enable Fischer to compete for the title, Grandmaster Pál BenkÅ‘ gave up his Interzonal place, for which the United States Chess Federation (USCF) paid him a modest $2,000; the other zonal participants waived their right to replace BenkÅ‘. This unusual arrangement was the work of Ed Edmondson, then the USCF’s Executive Director.
Before the Interzonal, though, in March and April 1970, the world’s best players competed in the USSR vs. Rest of the World match in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. Fischer graciously agreed to allow Bent Larsen of Denmark to play first board for the Rest of the World team in light of Larsen’s recent outstanding tournament results, even though Fischer had the higher Elo rating. [2] The USSR team won the match by a hair (20.5-19.5), but Fischer beat Tigran Petrosian, whom Boris Spassky had dethroned as world champion the previous year, 3-1, winning the first two games and drawing the last two.[3]
The Interzonal was held in Palma de Mallorca in November and December 1970. Fischer won it with a remarkable 18.5-4.5 score, 3.5 points ahead of Larsen, Efim Geller, and Robert Hübner, who tied for second at 15-8. [4] Fischer finished the tournament with seven consecutive wins (one by default).
Fischer continued his domination in the 1971 Candidates matches, defeating his opponents with a lopsided series of results unparalleled in chess history. He crushed both Mark Taimanov (USSR) and Larsen 6-0 (+6-0=0).[5] The latter result was particularly shocking: Larsen had played first board for the Rest of the World team ahead of Fischer just a year before, and at the Interzonal had in their game handed Fischer his only loss.
Only former World Champion Petrosian, Fischer’s final opponent in the Candidates matches, was able to offer resistance. Petrosian unleashed a strong theoretical novelty in the first game and had Fischer on the ropes, but Fischer defended with his customary aplomb and even won the game. This gave Fischer a remarkable streak of 20 consecutive wins, the second longest winning streak in chess history after Steinitz’s 25-game streak from 1873 to 1882. [6] Petrosian won decisively in the second game, finally snapping Fischer’s winning streak. After three consecutive draws, however, Fischer swept the next four games to win the match 6.5-2.5 (+5=3-1). The final victory allowed Fischer to challenge World Champion Boris Spassky.
Match of the Century
World Chess Championship 1972
Fischer’s career-long stubbornness about match and tournament conditions was again seen in the run-up to his match with Spassky. Of the possible sites, Fischer preferred Yugoslavia, while Spassky wanted Iceland. For a time it appeared that the dispute would be resolved by splitting the match between the two locations, but that arrangement fell through. After that issue was resolved, Fischer refused to play unless the prize fund, which he considered inadequate, was doubled. London financier Jim Slater responded by donating an additional $US 125,000, which brought the prize fund to an unprecedented $250,000. Fischer finally agreed to play.
The match took place in ReykjavÃk, Iceland, from July through September 1972. Fischer lost the first two games in strange fashion: the first when he played a risky pawn-grab in a dead-drawn endgame, the second by forfeit when he refused to play the game in a dispute over playing conditions. Fischer would likely have forfeited the entire match, but Spassky, not wanting to win by default, yielded to Fischer’s demands to move the next game to a back room, away from the cameras whose presence had upset Fischer. The rest of the match proceeded without incident. Fischer won seven of the next 19 games, losing only one and drawing eleven, to win the match 12.5-8.5 and become the 11th World Chess Champion. His winning strategy was mainly based upon avoidance of Spassky’s pre-match preparation, by using a varied series of opening surprises.
Fischer’s win was painted as a Cold War propaganda victory for the United States: the iconoclastic American almost single-handedly defeating the mighty Soviet chess establishment that had dominated world chess for the past quarter-century.
Fischer was also the (then) highest-rated player in history according to the Elo rating system. He had a rating of 2780 after beating Spassky, which was actually a slight decline from the record 2785 rating he had achieved after routing Taimanov, Larsen, and Petrosian the previous year.
“The Match of the Century” received front-page media coverage in the United States. With his victory, Fischer became an instant celebrity. He received numerous product endorsement offers (all of which he declined) and appeared on the covers of Life and Sports Illustrated. With American Olympic swimming champion Mark Spitz, he also appeared on a Bob Hope TV special.[5] Membership in the United States Chess Federation doubled in 1972[6] and peaked in 1974; in American chess, these years are commonly referred to as the “Fischer Boom.”
Fischer gave the Worldwide Church of God $61,200 of his world championship prize money. However, 1972 was a disastrous year for the church, as prophecies by Herbert W. Armstrong were unfulfilled, and the church was rocked by revelations of a series of sex scandals involving Garner Ted Armstrong. [7] Fischer, who felt betrayed and swindled by the Worldwide Church of God, left the church and publicly denounced it.
Fischer-Karpov 1975
Fischer was scheduled to defend his title against challenger Anatoly Karpov in 1975. Fischer had played no tournament games since winning the title, and he laid down numerous conditions for the match. FIDE agreed to all of his demands but two, rejecting Fischer’s demands on how the match would be won. Fischer claimed the usual system (24 games with the first player to get 12.5 points winning, or the champion retaining his title in the event of a 12-12 tie) encouraged the player in the lead to draw games, which he regarded as bad for chess. Fischer instead wanted a match of an unlimited number of games, with the first player to score ten wins winning the match, draws not counting. Many detractors called this proposal unrealistic and said it would turn the match into a test of stamina rather than skill. (For these critics, the “first to six wins” Karpov-Kasparov match in 1984, which was aborted after 48 games, would later serve as confirmation.) Fischer’s most controversial demand was that if each player won nine games, the reigning champion (Fischer in this case) would retain his title. This meant that Fischer only needed to win nine games to retain the championship, while Karpov had to win by a 10-8 score. It was admitted that this gave Fischer less of an advantage than Soviet World Championships such as Spassky had demanded. Because FIDE would not agree to this proposal, Fischer resigned in a cable to FIDE president Max Euwe on June 27, 1974:
“As I made clear in my telegram to the FIDE delegates, the match conditions I proposed were non-negotiable. Mr. Cramer informs me that the rules of the winner being the first player to win ten games, draws not counting, unlimited number of games and if nine wins to nine match is drawn with champion regaining title and prize fund split equally were rejected by the FIDE delegates. By so doing FIDE has decided against my participating in the 1975 world chess championship. I therefore resign my FIDE world chess champion title. Sincerely, Bobby Fischer.”
Fischer disappeared and did not play competitive chess for nearly 20 years. To this day, he claims that he is still the World Champion because he never lost a title match.
Disappearance and aftermath (1975 to present)
1975-1991
In 1982, Fischer published a pamphlet, “I Was Tortured in the Pasadena Jailhouse!”, detailing his experiences following his arrest in 1981 after being mistaken for a wanted bank robber. Fischer alleged that the police treated him brutally. He was eventually charged with damaging prison property (a mattress).
The 14-page pamphlet ends with the signature: “Robert D. James (professionally known as Robert J. Fischer or Bobby Fischer, The World Chess Champion).” By this time Fischer had a Nevada driver’s license and Social Security card with that name, the same one that appeared in the 1981 Pasadena police report [8] [9].
In 1984, Fischer wrote to the editors of the Encyclopedia Judaica, stating that he was not of the Jewish faith and asking that his name be removed from the publication [10].
Revenge Match of the 20th Century
After 20 years, Fischer emerged from isolation to challenge Spassky (then placed 96-102 on the rating list) to a “Revenge Match of the 20th Century” in 1992. This match took place in Sveti Stefan, FR Yugoslavia, in spite of a severe United Nations embargo that included sanctions on sporting events. Fischer demanded that the organizers bill the match as “The World Chess Championship”, although Garry Kasparov was the recognized FIDE World Champion. The purse for this match was reported to be $US 5,000,000 with two-thirds to go to the winner. The U.S. Department of the Treasury had warned Fischer beforehand that his participation was illegal [11]. Following the match, the department obtained an arrest warrant for him although some dispute the legality of the Department’s claim and question why others who broke the embargo have not been prosecuted [12]. Fischer won the match, 10 wins to 5, with 15 draws. Many grandmasters observing the match said that Fischer was past his prime. In the book Mortal Games, Garry Kasparov is quoted: “He is playing OK. Around 2600 or 2650. It wouldn’t be close between us.” He has not played any competitive games since.
Antisemitic radio interviews
Fischer, whose mother and possible biological father Paul Nemenyi were both of Jewish descent, made occasional hostile comments toward Jews from at least the early 1960s. From the 1980s, however, antisemitism was a major theme of his public remarks. He denied the “Holocaust of the Jews,” announced his desire to make “expos[ing] the Jews for the criminals they are […] the murderers they are” his lifework, and argued that the United States is “a farce controlled by dirty, hook-nosed, circumcised Jew bastards.” [7]
In 1999, he gave a call-in interview to a radio station in Budapest, Hungary, during which he described himself as the “victim of an international Jewish conspiracy.” Fischer’s sudden re-emergence was apparently triggered when some of his belongings, which had been stored in a Pasadena, California storage unit, were sold by the landlord, who claimed it was in response to nonpayment of rent. Fischer interpreted this as further evidence of a worldwide Jewish conspiracy perpetrated by “the Jew-controlled U.S. Government” to defame and destroy him [13]. In 2005, some of Fischer’s belongings were auctioned on eBay. In 2006, Fischer claimed that his belongings in the storage unit were worth millions [14].
Fischer participated in at least 33 such broadcasts between 1999 and 2005, mostly with radio stations in the Philippines, but also with stations in Iceland, Colombia, and Russia. Fischer made disparaging remarks about the political situation in chess, alleging that every World Championship match since he had left the scene in 1975 had been pre-arranged. [citation needed]
For some years Fischer lived in Budapest, where he lived with the Jewish Polgár family. He played Fischer Random Blitz as well as analyzed many games with Zsuzsa Polgar. He did not get along with her two younger sisters Judit and Zsofia after Zsofia agreed to give a simultaneous exhibition at the Budapest American club. He later lived in Japan. Zsofia in the televised interview also claims that Fischer could get along with Jewish individuals by simply saying that they were a good person but doing anything for America was a far greater crime in his view.
Radio interview after the September 11, 2001 attacks
Hours after the September 11, 2001 attacks Fischer was interviewed live[8] by Pablo Mercado on the Baguio City station of the Bombo Radyo network, shortly after midnight September 12, 2001 Philippines local time (or shortly after noon on September 11, 2001, New York time). Fischer commented on U.S and Israeli foreign policy that “nobody cares … [that] the US and Israel have been slaughtering the Palestinians for years”. Informed that “the White House and Pentagon have been attacked”, he proclaimed “This is all wonderful news”. Fischer stated “What goes around comes around even for the United States” and said that if the U.S. fails to change its foreign policy, it “has to be destroyed.” After calling for President Bush’s death, Fischer also stated he hoped that a Seven Days in May-type military coup d’ etat would take over power in the U.S. and then execute “hundreds of thousands of American Jewish leaders”, “arrest all the Jews” and “close all synagogues”.
Subsequent to that interview, Fischer’s “right to membership in the United States Chess Federation [was] cancelled” by a unanimous 7-0 decisionof the USCF Executive Board, taken on October 28 2001. In 2006, that decision was subsequently “vacated” by the same Board.
Detention in 2004 and 2005
Fischer being arrested in Japan in July 2004.After years of evading arrest, on July 13, 2004, Fischer was arrested at Narita International Airport in Narita, Japan near Tokyo for allegedly using a revoked U.S. passport while trying to board a Japan Airlines flight to Ninoy Aquino International Airport near Manila, Philippines. Fischer used a genuine passport that the United States Embassy in Bern, Switzerland issued to him in 1997. This passport was allegedly revoked in 2003, although Fischer denies this [15].
Fischer has been wanted by the United States government since his 1992 match with Spassky in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia. The match violated President George H. W. Bush’s Executive Order 12810 that implemented United Nations sanctions against engaging in economic activities in Yugoslavia. Fischer’s supporters have stated that other U.S. citizens were present at the match, specifically reporters, and were not prosecuted. They also have stated that although Japan and the United States have a mutually binding extradition treaty, Fischer should not have been deported, as violating a U.S. executive order is not a violation of Japanese law. Tokyo-based Canadian journalist and consultant John Bosnitch set up the “Committee to Free Bobby Fischer” after meeting Fischer at Narita airport and offering to assist him. Bosnitch was subsequently allowed to participate as a friend of the court by an Immigration Bureau panel handling Fischer’s case. He then worked to block the Japanese Immigration Bureau’s efforts to deport Fischer to the United States and coordinated the legal and public relations campaign to free Fischer until his eventual release.
According to the Agence France-Presse, Fischer renounced his United States citizenship. A month later, it was reported that Fischer was marrying Miyoko Watai, the President of the Japanese Chess Association, with whom he had been living since 2000. Fischer also appealed to United States Secretary of State Colin Powell to help him renounce his citizenship. Under pressure from the United States, Japan’s Justice Minister rejected Fischer’s appeal that he be allowed to remain in the country and ordered him deported.[9]
Political asylum in Iceland
Seeking ways to evade deportation to the United States, Fischer wrote a letter to the government of Iceland in early January 2005 and requested an Icelandic citizenship. (Fischer also attempted, unsuccessfully, to receive Serbian citizenship. [citation needed]) Sympathetic to Fischer’s plight – but reluctant to grant him the full benefits of citizenship – Icelandic authorities granted him an alien’s passport. When this proved insufficient for the Japanese authorities, the Alþingi agreed unanimously to grant Fischer full citizenship in late March for humanitarian reasons, as they felt he was being unjustly treated by the U.S. and Japanese governments [16]. Meanwhile, the U.S. government filed charges of tax evasion against Fischer in an effort to prevent him from traveling to Iceland.
When Japanese authorities received confirmation of Fischer’s new citizenship, they agreed to release him and allow him to fly to Iceland. Although Iceland has an extradition treaty with the United States, Icelandic law does not permit its own citizens to be extradited. Icelandic officials reiterated their belief that the United States government had singled Fischer out for his political statements.
Shortly before his departure to Iceland on March 23, 2005, Fischer and Bosnitch appeared briefly on the BBC World Service, via a telephone link to the Tokyo airport. Bosnitch stated that Fischer would never play traditional chess again. Fischer denounced President Bush as a criminal and Japan as a puppet of the United States. He also stated that he would appeal his case to the U.S. Supreme Court and said that he would not return to the US while Bush was in power. Upon his arrival in ReykjavÃk, Fischer was welcomed by a crowd.
In May 2005, a delegation, including Boris Spassky, visited Iceland with the intent of “drawing Fischer back to the chessboard.” Fischer appeared interested in playing a Chess960 match against a “worthy opponent.” Spassky said that he was not planning to play Fischer. [17]
On Dec. 10, 2006, Fischer phoned in and pointed out a clever winning combination which was missed in a chess game which was televised in Iceland.[18]
Contributions to chess theory
Fischer was renowned for his opening preparation, and made numerous contributions to chess opening theory. He was considered the greatest practitioner of the White side of the Closed Ruy Lopez and the Black side of the Najdorf Sicilian, as well as being one of the greatest theoreticians of the King’s Indian Defense.
Fischer established the viability of the so-called “Poisoned Pawn” variation of the Najdorf Sicilian (1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6!?). Although this bold queen sortie, snatching a pawn at the expense of development, had been considered dubious, Fischer succeeded in proving its soundness, a claim supported by contemporary theory. Fischer won many games with this line; his only loss was in the 11th game of his 1972 match with Spassky.
In 1961, prompted by a painful loss to Spassky, Fischer wrote an article entitled “A Bust to the King’s Gambit” for the first issue of Larry Evans’ American Chess Quarterly, in which he recommended 1.e4 e5 2.f4 exf4 3.Nf3 d6. This variation has since become known as the Fischer Defense to the King’s Gambit. After Fischer’s article was published, the opening was seen even less frequently in master-level games.
Fischer revived the Exchange Variation of the Ruy Lopez at the Havana Olympiad 1966, and had great success with it, prompting many other top players to start playing this line.
Other contributions to chess
Fischer clock
In 1988, Fischer filed for U.S. Patent 4,884,255 for a new type of digital chess clock. Fischer’s clock gave each player a fixed period of time at the start of the game and then added a small increment after each completed move. The Fischer clock soon became standard in most major chess tournaments. The patent expired in November 2001 because of overdue maintenance fees.
Fischer Random Chess
On June 19, 1996, in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Fischer announced and advocated a variant of chess called Fischer Random Chess, also known as Chess960, that is intended to allow players to contest games based on their understanding of chess rather than their ability to memorize opening variations. Chess960 has gone on to be moderately popular.
In popular culture
– Law & Order: Criminal Intent used his story as inspiration for the 2004-05 episode “Gone”.
– Story used in the major motion picture Searching for Bobby Fischer.
– Sydney Band Lazy Susan have written a song about him on their 2002 album Long Lost
– British Band Prefab Sprout mention them in their song “Cue Fanfare” on their 1984 album Swoon
– British Band iLiKETRAiNS wrote two songs “A Rook House For Bobby” and “Citizen” about him on their EP “PROGRESS/REFORM”
– Rap group Dilated Peoples released a song dissing Eminem titled Search 4 Bobby Fischer
– The Saturday Night Live skit, The Spartan Cheerleaders, once featured the pair cheering at a high school Chess Tournament and referenced Fischer in a cheer.
– “One thing’s for certain, you ain’t no Bobby Fischer. Bobby Fischer. Where is he? I don’t know, I don’t know. Bobby Fischer. Where is he? I don’t know, I don’t know. But one thing is for certain – Bobby Fischer’s missing.”
Source page: Wikipedia under Wikipedia license
