ADayton Daily News Dayton, Ohio Thursday, June 29, 1972 - Page 87
Fischer Gets Chess Title Shot Sunday
Reykjavik — (UPI) — Bobby Fischer's big dream comes true Sunday when he sits down at the checkered board to play world chess champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
The American chess genius considers the world championship match a mere formality.
HE HAS SAID time and again that if he just gets a shot at the 35-year-old champion, he is certain of defeating him.
If he succeeds — and there are many experts who believe he will — he will become the second American world champion in the long history of chess and the first non-Russian to rule as champion since Max Euwe of the Netherlands held the title briefly in the 1930s.
He would also pocket five-eighths of the prize money, which totals $125,000. The money was put up by the Icelandic government and city of Reykjavik to win the right to stage the match in this unlikeliest of settings — on an island in the storm-tossed North Atlantic.
The games will be played Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with adjourned games being finished on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
THE MATCH is scheduled for 24 games, but as is customary in world championship play, the remaining games will be canceled when one of the two has reached 12.5 points or more. The players get one point for a win and half a point for a draw.
To retain his title, Spassky needs only 12 points — a draw. To win the title, Fischer will have to score 12.5 points or more.
