ANew York Times, New York, New York, Sunday, June 18, 1972 - Page 38
Spassky's Training Is a 'Secret' As He Prepares to Play Fischer —
Chess Champion Is Confident — Sees Defense of Title as 'Great Big Holiday' by Theodore Shabad
Moscow, June 17—Boris Spassky, the world chess champion, declined to reveal yesterday how he was training for his match against Bobby Fischer of the United States, which begins July 2 in Iceland.
“Professional secret,” Spassky said, looking fit and tanned at a news conference. He plans to fly to Reykjavik Wednesday.
Composed and confident, the 35-year-old champion appeared to take a tolerant view of the complex maneuverings for a mutually acceptable site for the match, but said “Thank God it's all over.”
He seemed in good spirits as he parried questions in a half-hour session at the Journalists Club and said he looked upon his forthcoming defense of the title as “one great big holiday.”
Sees 'Interesting Match'
“I don't know how it is going to end,” he said. “Maybe he will win, maybe he will lose. But I am sure of one thing—it will be a highly interesting match in terms of the art of chess.”
Although Spassky appeared in no mood to engage in personalities, he made some comments about the American challenger when pressed by newsmen.
“I have a very high opinion of Fischer as a chess player,” Spassky said. “He is a great player. The world of chess would be very boring without him.”
At another point, he said he would have picked Fischer as the challenger if the world champion still had the right to select his opponent, as was once the practice.
Discusses Chess Fees
Asked to comment on the challenger's avowed interest in making money from chess, Spassky said:
“If you want my personal judgment, I think that his interest in money reflects an effort to assert himself as a person. It may also be the importance that is generally attached in the United States to the size of fees.”
Although Spassky refused to be specific about his training methods, he said he had given equal attention to physical fitness and to the study of chess. In another contest, he added that he had become interested in tennis recently.
The champion said he would be accompanied to Reykjavik by Yefim Geller, a Soviet grandmaster, who has replaced Igor Bondarevsky as Spassky's trainer.
“We had professional and personal differences,” Spassky said of his former coach.
Also going along will be two friends — Nikolai Krogius, a grandmaster and professional psychologist, and Ivo Nei, an international master from Estonia.
