AAlbany Democrat-Herald Albany, Oregon Thursday, July 06, 1972 - Page 4
Even Chess Is Bloody
Eugene's U.S. Olympic Track and Field Trials aren't the only big athletic events this week. Just look at what's happening in Iceland. Yes, the jousting and warm-ups there apparently give almost as good as show as the Olympic trials.
The chess match won't begin until Sunday at the earliest. But it seems American chess champ Bobby Fischer has been prepping like an Olympian for his series with world titleholder Boris Spassky of Russia.
Fischer drank nothing stronger on his flight from New York City than a glass of milk. Upon his arrival in Iceland, he promptly went to bed.
Spassky canceled the first game. But was Fischer awakened to hear this surprising news? No. A chess official said, “I didn't want to upset Bobby's metabolism by waking him up.”
The official probably knew of Fischer's daily routine of calisthenics, swimming, tennis and bowling. And he probably was aware of a study Temple University made a few years ago.
Researchers hooked up 12 chess players to fancy medical gear. They measured pulse rates and a lot of other things supposed to show how much energy the chess nuts expended. They found a chess match to be as strenuous as boxing or football.
Of course Fischer's big interest in the Iceland series is money. He wouldn't play until he was guaranteed more than a generous cut. Spassky appears to be steering the match into a diplomatic contest between the Soviet Union and the United States.
But this pregame tension can't go on for long. Any Olympic starter knows you can't keep runners at the starting line indefinitely without someone jumping the gun. It should be no surprise to see Fischer and Spassky squeeze real blood from their pieces once their duel gets under way.
Even Chess is Bloody 06 Jul 1972, Thu Albany Democrat-Herald (Albany, Oregon) Newspapers.com
