The Chico Enterprise-Record Chico, California Thursday, July 13, 1972 - Page 3
Fischer Forfeits Second Chess Match to Spassky
Reykjavik, Iceland (UPI)—Bobby Fischer forfeited the second game of his world championship chess match with Russian Boris Spassky today.
Fischer failed to show up for the game and an aide said he was asleep.
The forfeit give Spassky a 2-0 lead in the match. He needs only 12 points to retain his title while Fischer needs 12½ to win. The next Scheduled game is Sunday.
Spassky arrived about two minutes before the scheduled starting time and walked slowly around the stage with referee Lothar Schmid, waiting for Fischer. The audience sat silently in the hall watching the empty stage and Fischer's black swivel chair which he had flown in from New York for the match.
Fischer boycotted today's game in protest against the use of closed circuit television to give spectators a better view of the play. Organizers said earlier they would remove one of the cameras if Fischer would play.
The 29-year-old New Yorker walked out for 35 minutes Wednesday to protest two television cameras hidden above the stage where the players sit at the chess board for their championship match, scheduled to run a maximum of 24 games. ([Is the UPI reporter claiming all these cameras operated themselves, when Fischer, and confirmed by Harold C. Schonberg of the New York Times, that Fischer's complaint was against the human operators of the cameras who made a lot of noise, and you could visually see those men, making a nuisance of themselves?])
Although he went into the much-postponed first game a heavy favorite, Fischer made what appeared to be a beginner's error and went down to defeat at the hands of the 35-year-old Soviet world champion.
The moment of truth was painful. Fischer rose from the massive mahogany chess table, made a helpless gesture and resigned at the 56th move. Before walkout out of the hall, he reached over to shake Spassky's hand.
Fischer obviously was upset but Cramer, who is a member of the American's camp, said “he is a pro and this is part of the game. I believe he has got enough to come back in the match. After all, there are 23 possible games left.”
Fischer locked himself into his hotel suite with his second, Father William Lombardy, a Catholic priest who is a grandmaster, to analyze the lost game and prepare for today's encounter.
The challenger lost the first game at the 29th move when in taking one of Spassky's pawns he allowed his bishop to be trapped. By doing this he in effect exchanged one bishop for two pawns—an action which favored the champion.
Although Fischer made a desperate attempt to turn the game into a draw, it became obvious that Spassky could not be kept from promoting a pawn to a queen, thus making an eventual checkmate a certainty.
