AThe Gazette Montreal, Quebec, Quebec, Canada Thursday, April 20, 1972 - Page 6
Why Not Montreal?
The International Chess Federation is having a hard time staging its world championship this year. It is too bad, because the match promises to be one of the most exciting ever (for chess players), pitting Bobby Fischer, the onetime Brooklyn whizz kid now grown to possibly the greatest player of all time, against Boris Spassky, the current title holder representing the Soviet Union which has dominated the game ever since the Second World War.
First came the difficulty of choosing a site, with each contestant selecting four preferences among the hopeful host cities. Since no city appeared on both lists, Dr. Max Euwe, president of the federation, decided to hold the first half of the match in Belgrade (Fischer's first choice) and the second half in Rekjavik (Spassky's choice). The opening game was scheduled for June 22. But Belgrade wanted a $35,000 appearance bond for both players. The Russians provided one for Spassky but the American Chess Federation failed to put up one for Fischer and Belgrade backed down.
What now? For $75,000 in prize money and a bit more for arrangements for the match, Mayor Drapeau can add once again to the glory of Montreal. By charging admission and selling television rights to Europe and South America, he might even get a lot of it back — assuming that Fischer shows up. And one thing about a chess match. It doesn't need a new stadium.
