The Indianapolis Star Indianapolis, Indiana Thursday, March 16, 1972 - Page 35
Donald Byrne, Authors “Big Burden Boris Bears” in Sports Illustrated
An Indianapolis Man, Robert Byrne, is probably as qualified as anyone in the world to evaluate the upcoming world championship chess match between Russia's Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer of the United States.
The match, which is certain to be the first chess match in history to rate headline coverage because of the political overtones, was discussed by Byrne in an article he penned for Sports Illustrated magazine last week.
Byrne, one of only seven International Grand Chess masters in the U.S., has beaten Fischer twice and has registered a draw with Spassky as recently as last May.
Byrne said preparation for the coming world championship match is unprecedented. Fischer is supposed to be studying films of Spassky in action in order to see how the Russian reacts to various situations on the board and which ones he finds the most difficult.