A 1971 file picture of Bobby Fischer, who faces upto 10 years in prison

The hunt for Bobby Fischer, the unpredictable chess legend, ended this week when he was detained in Japan, where he awaits deportation on charges that he attended a 1992 championship match in Yugoslavia in violation of a US ban.

The Japanese immigration bureau detained the 61-year-old Fischer Tuesday at Narita International Airport in Tokyo at the urging of US immigration and customs enforcement, which had recently stepped up efforts to track the fugitive, US authorities said Thursday.

“He’s in custody in Japan, and we are awaiting adetermination whether he’ll be deported back to the US to face charges,” said Allan Doody, special agent in charge of the immigration agency’s Washington field office.

The arrest capped a cat-and-mouse game between US authorities and Fischer, who shuttled among several nations, including Japan, the Philippines and Hungary, to avoid arrest. A grand jury in Washington charged him with violating the International Emergency Economic Powers Act by going to Yugoslavia for the chess match against Boris Spassky. The charge, handed up in 1992, carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison.

US authorities, acting on the outstanding warrant, recently cancelled Fischer’s US passport after discovering that he had a 90-day visa to visit Japan. Authorities there detained him at the airport for failing to possess valid travel documents, US authorities said.

In August 1992, the treasury department sent Fischer a letter warning him not to go to Yugoslavia to play Spassky for the World Championship chess match. It explained that US citizens were forbidden to get involved in “business or commercial activities” with Yugoslavia because of its role in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

“We consider your presence in Yugoslavia for this purpose to be an exportation of services to Yugoslavia in the sense that the Yugoslav sponsor is benefiting from the use of your name and reputation,” the letter said.

Fischer ignored the letter and headed off to Yugoslavia to reclaim the championship he had surrendered in 1975 after refusing to defend it against Anatoly Karpov of Russia.

At a news conference in Yugoslavia in September 1992,Fischer held up the letter and spat on it. He went on to beat Spassky and receive $3.3 million.

In subsequent interviews overseas, Fischer said he no longer played the “old chess.” In 1996, he launched his own form of chess, Fischerandom Chess, in which the major pieces are arranged on a traditional board in an unorthodox way.

Fischer, whose mother is Jewish, became well known for his ranting and raving and anti-Semitic remarks. In a radio interview May 24, 1999, in Baguio, the Philippines, Fischer remarked: “America is totally under control of the Jews, you know. I mean, look what they’re doing now in Yugoslavia. ...The secretary of state and the secretary of defence are, are dirty Jews.”

After the September 11, 2001, attacks, Fischer remarked on Philippine radio: “This is all wonderful news. It’s time... to finish off the US once and for all ... This just shows what comes around, goes around.”

Fischer became the first American world chess champion in 1972 when he beat Spassky. His title was taken away in 1975.