Supporters of fugitive chess legend Bobby Fischer said Thursday in Tokyo that they are asking several nations, including Germany, to offer the American political asylum.

John Bosnitch, head of the Committee to Free Bobby Fischer, told a news conference at the Foreign Correspondents' Club of Japan that Germany may be able to grant Fischer citizenship and issue him a passport because his father was a German citizen.

Fischer, 61, was detained on July 13 after trying to board a flight to the Philippines at Narita International Airport. He was traveling with a revoked U.S. passport.