ANew York Times, New York, New York, Sunday, March 26, 1972 - Page 33
Fischer Reported Quitting an Accord On Site for Match
Reykjavik, Iceland, March 25 (AP) — Bobby Fischer was reported today to have withdrawn from an earlier agreement to play the second half of his world title chess match here with the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky the current champion.
Gudmunder G. Thorarinsson, president of the local chess association, said that Mr. Fischer's refusal would now require attention by the International Chess Federation, which originally handled the delicate negotiations that led to the selection of Reykjavik as the site for the second half of the match.
The first 12 games between Mr. Fischer and Mr. Spassky are scheduled to begin June 22 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia. It was not immediately clear whether these would begin on schedule. Under International Chess Federation rules, the match must begin by July 1.
The second half of the world match, which could last another 12 games, was supposed to begin here August 6.
The reasons for Mr. Fischer's decisions were reportedly financial. The 28-year-old native New Yorker was said to have requested a change in financial conditions for the match but was turned down by both Reykjavik and Belgrade.
The conditions agreed upon last month were that the prize money of $138,000 offered by the two cities would be split, with 62.5 per cent for the winner and 37.5 per center for the loser. This was a compromise settlement — Mr. Fischer had favored holding the entire match in Belgrade, which had offered $152,000, and Mr. Spassky had wanted Reykjavik, which had offered $125,000.
Mr. Fischer's request reportedly was that all profits from the match be divided between himself and Mr. Spassky. But organizers argued that, since they bore a financial risk, they were entitled to the profits.
— NYTimes—Bobby Fischer was unavailable for comment at Grossinger's, in Monticello, N.Y., where he was appearing in an exhibition match. Edmund Edmondson, executive director or the United States Chess Federation, was also unavailable for comment.
