AThe Sacramento Bee Sacramento, California Wednesday, March 29, 1972 - Page 33
U.S. Chess Champ Rejects Belgrade For Title Play
Belgrade (AP) — American chess wizard Bobby Fischer rejected Belgrade yesterday as one of the two sites in which he is willing to meet the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky for the world chess championship.
The Yugoslav organizers said they received a telegram from the challenger saying he no longer intended to play in Belgrade.
The Yugoslav capital and Reykjavik, Iceland were selected by the International Chess Federation—FIDE—as locations for the two-city match after months of negotiations.
Earlier this week, the organizers in Reykjavik said they had received a telegram from Fischer asking a share of the profits from the part of the match to be played in Iceland.
Fischer also wanted a share in the profits from the Belgrade match. The organizers in both capitals, who have been in constant touch, rejected his request.
The Yugoslavs, who offered the highest purse of $152,000, send a telegram to FIDE demanding a guarantee from Fischer that he will abide by the federation's original decision.
If Fischer is not willing to provide a guarantee, the Belgrade organizers said they will have to reconsider the plans to host the first half of the match—scheduled to take place June 22-July 19.
They apparently believe Fischer's telegrams are part of a campaign to gain more publicity and a bigger purse for the match.
