REYKJAVIK, Iceland - It may be hard for some to understand why Iceland would offer a residency permit to Bobby Fischer, the surly former chess champion now detained in Japan and wanted in the United States.

But Fischer put this small, isolated country on the map during his career, and some Icelanders say it's time to repay the favor.

"When Fischer came here in 1972 to play chess with Soviet Boris Spassky, it was the biggest international event to take place in Iceland in the then 28-year history of the republic," said Hrafn Jokulsson, chairman of the chess club Hrokurinn, or the rook.

The next year, President Richard Nixon and French President Georges Pompidou visited Iceland, and the 1986 meeting between President Ronald Reagan and Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev would not have taken place without Fischer, Jokulsson said.

"He put Iceland on the map, and we don't forget our friends," said Jokulsson, who has campaigned on Fischer's behalf.

Fischer - believed by many to be the best chess player ever - has been sitting in Japanese immigration detention since July, after he was caught trying to board a flight for the Philippines with an invalid passport.

He is fighting a deportation order to the United States, where he is wanted on charges of violating international sanctions against Yugoslavia for playing chess matches there, a 1992 rematch against Spassky, which Fischer also won.

On Wednesday, Iceland approved a residency permit for Fischer