TOKYO, Dec 28: Japanese Justice Minister Chieko Nohno agreed on Tuesday to consider fugitive US chess legend Bobby Fischer's plea to go to Iceland to avoid deportation and potential jail in the United States.

Fischer and his lawyers last week asked Japanese authorities to send him to Iceland, which has offered the maverick chess master residency three decades after he played his most famous match there.

"Generally speaking, the destination of his deportation will be the United States but we will consider his wishes and whether he has a country willing to accept him as we decide where to deport him," Nohno said.

Fischer, 61, has been detained in Japan since July when he tried to fly out of the country on his revoked US passport. -AFP