The Atlanta Constitution Atlanta, Georgia Monday, July 03, 1972 - Page 4
Drama
Not many years ago a chess tournament was a perfect place to be if you wanted to be completely ignored by the press and the other media. Nobody but chess players was interested.
Terrible-tempered and money conscious Bobby Fischer, America's chess champion and quite possibly one of the great players in the history of the game, has changed all that. The tournament scheduled in Iceland Sunday between Fischer and Russia's world champion Boris Spassky is getting more publicity than any in recent history, thanks to Fischer. Before he moved his first pawn on the board, he caused an uproar by not appearing in Reykjavik when expected and stirring rumors about demanding 30 per cent of the gate over his share of the $125,000 purse.
If the drama on the chess board is as intense as the drama around it, chess enthusiasts are in for an exciting tournament indeed.