DNA tests have shown that chess genius Bobby Fischer was not the father of a 9-year-old girl from the Philippines, bringing a paternity claim against his estate to a close, two lawyers familiar with the case said. The test result was announced in Reykjavik District Court, lawyer Gudjon Olafur Jonsson, who represents Fischer's two American nephews in their own claim on his estate, said Tuesday. Fischer's remains were exhumed in July so samples could be taken to determine if he had fathered Jinky Young, whose mother Marilyn said she had a relationship with the chess icon. Jinky, who lives in the Philippines with her mother, flew to Iceland last year to provide her own sample. Marilyn had claimed that he fathered her daughter while living in the Philippines in 2001. Iceland's Supreme Court agreed in June to her demand that his remains be exhumed to obtain tissue samples and settle the paternity suit. A lawyer representing Fischer's two nephews, who are also involved in the inheritance dispute, as saying that Fischer was not the biological father. Among evidence produced during the court proceedings was a 2004 photo of Fischer with Jinky and her mother and a postcard to Jinky from Fischer, signed “Daddy”. The lawyer said that the dispute – over who will inherit an estate estimated at around $2 million – was now between Fischer's nephews and a Japanese woman who claims she was his wife. “I can confirm that the result of the DNA report excluded Bobby Fisher from being the father of Jinky Young, and therefore the case has come to a close,” said lawyer Thordur Bogason, who represents Jinky. Though the paternity case has ended, the wrangling over Fischer's estate continues. He died aged 64 in Iceland in January 2008, leaving no will. Jonsson said the elimination of the paternity claim simplifies the case between Fischer's nephews and the Japanese woman who was his long-term partner. The case is scheduled to be heard in Reykjavik next month, Jonsson said, adding he hopes for a result by the end of the year. Fischer was born in Chicago and raised in Brooklyn, New York. His 1972 defeat of Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union for the world chess championship – a tournament that was played in Reykjavik – made him world-famous and an American hero. But later, Fischer would become an erratic figure, losing his world title in 1975 after refusing to defend it and then dropping out of competitive chess. He spent time in the Philippines and Hungary, and was arrested in Japan in 2004. Fischer was threatened with extradition to the US to face charges of breaking international sanctions against the former Yugoslavia by playing a chess match there in 1992. Fischer renounced his American citizenship, and was then taken in by Iceland in 2005, a chess-loving nation, which gave him citizenship. Fischer is buried about 30 miles (50 kilometers) east of the capital, Reykjavik.
