Asbury Park Press Asbury Park, New Jersey Friday, March 31, 1972 - Page 18
Fischer Seen Still Set to Play Match
New York (AP) — E.B. Edmondson, head of the U.S. Chess Federation, who has been negotiating arrangements for Bobby Fischer's world championship match with Boris Spassky, said yesterday Fischer had informed him that he would conduct his own negotiations.
Edmondson denied, however, that he expressed any opinion that Fischer may have changed his mind about meeting Spassky, the Russian world champion.
A Belgrade newspaper reported earlier yesterday that Fischer had repudiated an agreement Edmondson reached for the players' share of the 24-game match to be played in Belgrade and Reykjavik, Iceland. The newspaper said the agreement would have given the winner of the match 72 per cent of the $138,000 purse, with the rest going to the loser.
The newspaper, the Daily Politika, also said its editor had been told by Edmondson by telephone that Edmondson believed Fischer had no intention of playing Spassky for the title.
Edmondson denied the latter report, saying it was completely false.
As for the repudiation of the agreement Edmondson said he could not comment on the report because since receiving a cable Monday from Fischer taking the negotiations out of his hands, he has had no contact with Fischer and “since then I haven't been involved.”
“As far as I'm concerned,” Edmondson said, “I hope the match still comes off between Fischer and Spassky.”
Fischer declined to comment on the reports.
