Tucson Daily Citizen Tucson, Arizona Friday, July 07, 1972 - Page 7
Fischer Hopes To Pass Spassky Some Bad Checks
Reykjavik (UPI)—Bobby Fischer's big dream comes true Tuesday when he sits down at the checkered board to play world chess champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
The American chess genius considers the 24-game world championship match a mere formality.
He has said time and again that if he just gets a shot at the 35-year-old champion, he is certain of defeating him.
Even since he learned to play chess in Brooklyn at the age of six, the lanky American grand master, now 29, has cherished one big dream — to become the world champion in the oldest and most sophisticated of games.
If he succeeds — and there are many experts who believe he will — he will become the second American world champion in the long history of chess and the first non-Russian to rule as champion since Max Euwe of The Netherlands held the title briefly in the 1930s.
He would also pocket five-eights of the prize money, which totals $125,000. The money was put by the Icelandic government and the City of Reykjavik to win the right to stage the match in this unlikeliest of settings — on an island in the storm-tossed North Atlantic.
While Fischer has predicted an easy victory, Spassky has refused to speculate about the match.
Spassky, who won the title in 1969 from countryman Tigran Petrosian, is the favorite of Danish grand master Bent Larsen.
Larsen, who served as Fischer's adviser at one time, feels Spassky's experience from two previous world championship games and his better nerves will be decisive.
“Fischer is a genius, an aggressive player who fights as long as there is a pawn left on the board,” Larsen said. “But if I have to pick a favorite, I would pick Spassky because of his routine and better nerve control.”
Spassky has paid tribute to Fischer, whom he described as “a remarkable chess player. Without him the world of chess would be very dull.”
While Fischer goes on attack to win every game and is thrown off balance by a draw, Spassky has proved in previous matches that he can come back from a series of drawn games to score decisive wins.
They have met five times before, with Spassky winning three games and drawing two.
Spassky told western correspondents he would rather be at home in Moscow with his family and friends “sharing some win and playing chess for fun” than competing for the world title in Reykjavik.
To Fischer chess is almost everything, and Spassky says he does not understand his obsession.
