NEW YORK, NY January 19, 2008 —Fans of Bobby Fischer are remembering the chess icon over chess boards around the five boroughs.

REPORTER: Fischer died on Thursday, leaving behind a legacy that includes being the only American to win the world championship. Fischer was raised in Brooklyn and attended Erasmus High School before dropping out at sixteen to pursue chess full time. Avid chess player Michael Bloom says his uncle, a former math teacher at Erasmus, had the rare opportunity to play against Fisher a couple of times:

BLOOM: To play someone of Bobby Fisher's stature was quite something for my uncle -- it stayed with him all his life. it was something he always took pride in.

REPORTER: Fischer had a reputation for eccentricity and outlandish behavior. He died in Reykjavik, Iceland on Thursday. He was sixty four.