Austin American-Statesman Austin, Texas Thursday, April 20, 1972 - Page 6
Soviets Like Paris For Chess
Moscow (AP) - Soviet chess officials declared today that world champion Boris Spassky is willing to meet American challenger Bobby Fischer in Paris this summer.
Viktor D. Baturinsky, chairman of Moscow's chess club, said Paris was proposed by the Russians earlier this year as a site for the world championship match. But the suggestion was made with understanding the entire match would be held in Paris, he added.
Baturinsky said the Soviet Union has received no new proposal from the International Chess Federation—Organizers of the match—declared Spassky would have to make the decision on Paris.
In Paris, a spokesman for the French Chess Federation said it had no information about the possibility of organizing the match.
The original Paris offer of $50,000 to stage the match was turned down in favor of bigger purses pledged by Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and Reykjavik, Iceland. The French federation has made no move since its offer was rejected.
The spokesman said it would be extremely difficult to find facilities for staging the match at short notice.
The matter of where and whether the match will be held is uncertain because of Fischer's refusal to accept the original financial arrangements.
The 24-match game originally was to be split between Belgrade and Reykjavik, starting June 22 in Belgrade.
But Belgrade withdrew as a host for the match, saying it could not be sure Fischer would appear. Amsterdam has been mentioned as an alternative site but there is opposition to that plan.
