AStar Tribune Minneapolis, Minnesota Saturday, July 15, 1972 - Page 6
Chess Officials May Bar TV to Save Match
The Rev. William Lombardy, Fischer's second, discounted rumors that the American chessmaster was flying home.
“I haven't heard anything about that and I hope it's not true,” Father Lombardy said. “Everything is still up in the air. We have settled nothing so far.”
In a seven-page letter to Schmid, Fischer said he was told that the cameras would be silent and invisible but “nothing could have been farther from the facts.”
In his letter, he asserted: “The bungling unknowns who claimed to be professional cameramen were clumsy, rude and deceitful. The only thing invisible, silent and out of sight was the fairness on the part of the organizers.
“I have never compromised on anything affecting playing conditions of the game itself, which is my art and my profession.
“It seemed to me that the organizers deliberately tried to upset and provoke me by the way they coddled and kowtowed to that camera crew.
“I am keen to play this match, and I hope game two will be scheduled for Sunday, July 16 at 5 in the afternoon.”
Fischer declared that when all the camera equipment had been removed “I will be at the chessboard.”
The match committee met for two hours yesterday before announcing that the protest had been ([illegally]) rejected. The committee said its decision had no bearing on the presence of the cameras.
Schmid said Dr. Max Euwe, president of the International Chess Federation, is returning to Iceland to take charge of the match.
The organizers, bound by a contract with Chester Fox Inc., had refused to remove all the cameras, but did take out one and relocated two others so that Fischer could not see or hear them.
Fischer's aides approached Spassky and his seconds yesterday seeking a settlement of the impasse. Russian informants said Fischer's representatives asked Spassky to agree to cancel the forfeiture of the second game and replay it but Spassky refused.
The Icelandic organizers fear that the match is already over, chess informants said, and they are now making contingency plans to save themselves from a total financial disaster.
Robert Fischer Boycotts Second Match in Protest Against Men Hired to Disruptively Operate Cameras 15 Jul 1972, Sat Star Tribune (Minneapolis, Minnesota) Newspapers.com
