Bobby Fischer

Chess grandmaster · 1943–2008

NationalityAmerican

Test instrumentStanford-Binet (school testing)

DocumentationNYC school records; biographical sources

Bobby Fischer's reported IQ of approximately 187 comes from school-administered Stanford-Binet testing during his time at Erasmus Hall High School in Brooklyn in the late 1950s. The figure has been reported across multiple biographies but the original test record is not publicly archived.

Fischer was U.S. Chess Champion at 14, the youngest grandmaster in history at 15 (a record later broken by Judit Polgár), and World Champion in 1972 after defeating Boris Spassky in the Cold War-defining "Match of the Century" in Reykjavik. He resigned the title in 1975 rather than play a defense against Anatoly Karpov.

His later life was marked by mental-health difficulties and extended legal trouble. He died in Iceland in 2008. The combination of his early documented genius, his contributions to opening theory, and his troubled later life have made him a heavily-studied figure in popular accounts of high intelligence.

Caveat: The school testing record from the 1950s is not publicly archived; the 187 figure comes via biographers rather than original psychometric documentation.

References

Brady, F. (2011). Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall
Erasmus Hall High School records (via biographers)
Edmonds, D. & Eidinow, J. (2004). Bobby Fischer Goes to War

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