ANew York Times, New York, New York, Saturday, April 01, 1972 - Page 25
Armed With 'Big Red Book,' Fischer Trains to Meet Spassky by Martin Arnold
Ferndale, N.Y., March 31—Nearly always, when he is seen, he is carrying or reading what is jokingly called “the big red book” to distinguish it from “Quotations From Chairman Mao,” which is a little red book.
Bound in red velvet, the big book contains the chess games of Boris Spassky, the Russian, who is the world champion, and for Bobby Fischer it is every bit as important as the sparring partners boxing champions drag up to this 1,000-acre resort when they are in training.
For a month now, Fischer has been in training at Grossinger's just as hundreds have trained here before for a world championship.
Nonetheless, all over the world except perhaps in the Soviet Union, chess “patzers” — woodpushers, or chess duffers — are afraid that Fischer, who is already considered the terror of international chess, has talked himself out of a crack at the championship.
Today, for instance, the Yugoslavian sponsors of the first half of the tournament said that they could not possibly organize the match to start June 22 as scheduled because of Fischer's sudden objections to the financial arrangements.
And, they added, they would pledge no more money beyond their share of the $138,500 purse, which has been put up by the sponsors in Belgrade, where the match was scheduled to start, and the sponsors in Reykjavik, Iceland, where it was scheduled to continue on Aug. 6.
In Newburgh, N.Y., the head of the United States Chess Federation said tonight that the International Chess Federation had notified him and Fischer that unless Fischer agreed by Tuesday to guarantee his appearance at the matches beginning June 22, under current financial agreements, he will be disqualified as a challenger for the world title.
Despite all this, old-timers here, who catch only a fleeting glimpse of this champion in training, remember the days when the great Sugar Ray Robinson regularly threatened to withdraw from prize fights because of money disputes.
The day of the fight, they remember, Sugar Ray was usually on hand, and so they expect Bobby to be on hand this summer, even if the dates now have to be changed.
Fischer refused to be interviewed on the subject.
Last week Fischer wired the tournament sponsors in Belgrade and Reykjavik that he felt he and Mr. Spassky deserved a share of the profits from the tournament beyond the $138,500 purse and that he would, from now on, personally negotiate new terms. In the process he ousted Edmund B. Edmondson, executive director of the United States Chess Federation, as a negotiator.
Under the terms of the original agreement, the winner of the championship would get 62.5 per cent of the purse and the loser 37.5 per cent. The agreement had been approved by the World Chess Federation.
Asked today whether Fischer had “talked himself” out of the championship match, Mr. Edmondson said: “It certainly is possible. I would hope not, of course, but it is possible.”
A New Contention
The contention by Fischer that chess championships, like a Muhammad Ali fight or the Sugar Bowl, actually attract money to a city is a new one — and one that the Yugoslavs, at least, are not able to accept.
Despite the disagreement, most people expect that a Fischer-Spassky meeting will take place some time this summer. The world championship consists of 24 games with a point going to the winner of each game and a half point to each contestant for a draw. The first player to get 12½ points wins.
Fischer, despite the furor, has not broken off his training. Every sort of contender and champion, from prizefighters to mah-jongg players, have trained at Grossinger's, but Joel Pomeranz, the resort's director of public relations, said that despite Bobby Fischer's reputation for being sudden and unpredictable, had given management few problems than any past contender or champion.
“His request have been very modest,” Mr. Pomeranz said. “I think the only things he's asked for have been a fluorescent lamp, so he could study easier, and a color television set.”
Mostly Fischer stays to himself. Once he agreed to spend time with Leon Cohen, a youthful chess champion.
Training for the 6-foot, 2-inch, 29-year-old challenger consists of studying the Spassky red book, which he takes with him to the Grossinger dining room. He normally eats alone at a table while studying the book or playing with a chess set.
When he checked in here, an official of the hotel asked him how he thought he would do against Spassky. “I'll take him in 13,” was the confident answer.
