ATallahassee Democrat Tallahassee, Florida Wednesday, July 05, 1972 - Page 1
Chess Makes Front Page! by Malcolm Johnson
Musing and muttering over the news—
Imagine! Chess getting front page space in American newspapers—and for NOT being played, yet, in Reykjavik!
But that off-and-on world title match between our Bobby Fischer and Russia's Boris Spassky has all the elements of news — international competition, suspense, big cash pot, human contrariness. Everything but the pretty girl, and don't bet one of them won't get into the act before it ends.
Some will sneer that newsmen are accentuating the negative here. But reader demands make news, not newsmen. They only know what folks want to read (or we suppose we do.)
Anyway, this U.S.-U.S.S.R. standoff makes more sense than most of the diplomatic impasses we've had with them for the past quarter century.
It would be odd if an obscure chess player should turn out to be the one American who could beat them at their waiting game.
Chess Makes Front Page! 05 Jul 1972, Wed Tallahassee Democrat (Tallahassee, Florida) Newspapers.com
