The Times Herald Port Huron, Michigan Sunday, March 26, 1972 - Page 8
Fischer Refuses Chess Title Game
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP) — U.S. chess wizard Bobby Fischer has informed local officials he will not play the second half of his world title match against the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky in Iceland, the president of the local chess association said Saturday.
Gudmundur G. Thorarinsson said the International Chess Federation should tackle the problem.
Fischer has requested a change in financial conditions for the match and was turned down by both Reykjavik and Belgrade, Yugoslavia. The two cities have been named as sites for the match.
In a second telegram to Iceland Friday, Fischer said that because of “unacceptable financial terms” he refused to play Iceland at all.
Fischer had asked in a cable to the Icelandic organizers that all money left over after the cost of the match should be divided between Spassky and himself.
The organizers in Belgrade on Thursday followed the lead of their colleagues in Reykjavik by refusing altered financial conditions.
These developments followed reports from Amsterdam that an agreement on financial matters had been reached by representatives of the players and the organizers.
The Yugoslav organizers on Thursday cabled the chess federations of Iceland, the Soviet Union and the United States, and Dr. Max Euwe, president of the international organization, saying they would not accept any change.
They said that the organizers, bearing the financial risk, were entitled to any profits that ensued.
In Amsterdam, top officials of the International Chess Federation —FIDE— conferred on Fischer's refusal to play in Iceland.
Secretary Henrik Slavenkoorde of the Netherlands said he could not comment on FIDE's future plans but added that he was in contact with the federation's deputy president Rabell Mendez, in San Juan, Puerto Rico. President Euwe is traveling abroad.
Mendez chaired the Amsterdam meeting last weekend in which Ed Edmondson represented Fischer in signing an agreement covering all financial details of the match, a FIDE spokesman said.
