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Bobby Fisher, dead at age 64 in Iceland. The chess genius became known in his later years for his highly "eccentric" views, including the delusion that there was a worldwide Jewish conspiracy controlling the US, and praising the September 11th attacks. At his peak in the 70s, however, he was the best chess player in the world, bar none. A Grandmaster at age 15, World Champion in 1972 by defeating the Russian Spassky. Unfortunately, his talent went to his head and his egotism would become the stuff of legends. After it was suggested that he see a shrink, he remarked that a psychiatrist ought to pay him for the privilege of working on his brain. In 1975 he was stripped of the title of World Champion after refusing to play a rightful challenger.
It is interesting to attempt to imagine what the chess world would look like today if Fisher had remained sane; how would he have fared against Garry Kasparov or the great chess programs like Deep Blue, for instance? But such speculation overlooks the fact that Fisher's mental illnesses likely went hand-in-hand with his genius on the chessboard. The great icons of chess have always been different than the rest of humanity, be it a great aloof distance or more obvious mental problems. They're wired differently than we are at some fundamental level that allows them the great planning and forethought needed to succeed in a game that has at least 10^120 possible outcomes. In the end, Bobby Fisher will be remembered for both his meteoric rise and terrible fall; the arc of which will be discussed for years to come.