AThe Daily Herald Provo, Utah Monday, July 17, 1972 - Page 9
Fischer May Win This One
Reykjavik, Iceland (UPI) — For a final 30 seconds Bobby Fischer towered over the chess board. Then he allowed himself a rare smile, collected his pencils and walked out of the room Sunday after one of the most dramatic days in world championship chess.
Minutes earlier world champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union had completed his 41st move and left the room, pensive and worried.
The third game in the 24-match world championship was adjourned with the 29-year-old American challenger in a commanding position. The match resumes at 5 p.m. (1 p.m. EDT) today.
U.S. grandmaster Robert Byrne looked up from a pocket chess board and said “He (Spassky) is almost finished. I cannot see Bobby letting him slip out of the rope. He (Fischer) has the advantage of a pawn and is in a very strong attacking position.”
Most experts on hand gave Fischer a 70-30 chance of winning and reducing the 35-year-old Russian's 2-0 lead.
Immediately after the game Spassky jumped into a car with one of his seconds, grandmaster Nikolai Krogius, and left for their hotel to analyze the situation.
Until 90 minutes before the start of Sunday's third game Fischer kept the chess world guessing whether he would appear or continue his boycott in protest against television cameras, or “the evil eyes,” as he called them.
Only after the Icelandic organizers broke a $120,000 contract with Chest Fox Inc., a New York firm which had acquired all film and television rights, and moved the board into an adjoining table tennis room, did Fischer give in.
Hilmar Viggoson, treasurer of the Icelandic Chess Federation, said he did not know the implications of the breach of contract. ([Breech of contract with world chess, you mean! “Under agreed rules of the match, [Fischer] had the right to object and to demand removal of the cameras if they disturbed him.” -Edmondson, USCF But Soviets and Icelandic Chess had no respect for the rules!])
“We had to cancel a meeting with Mr. Fox but the matter will be straightened out later,” he said. “We heard a nasty rumor he will sue us for millions but let's see what happens.”
Fred Cramer, a U.S. Chess Federation vice president, said Fischer had been persuaded to appear because of the great number of cables he received from all over the world “begging him to sit down opposite Spassky.”
Fischer staged a 35-minute protest during Tuesday's first game by inspecting the hall for hidden cameras and subsequently resigned after 56 moves. He then boycotted Thursday's second match, sulking inside his presidential suite in protest against the cameras. German referee Lothar Schmid awarded the game to Spassky.
Drawing Depicts Chess Board
This Artist's Drawing Depicts the Chess Board in the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky World Championship chess game as it ended Sunday. Experts say the U.S. challenger appears to be headed for his first win, but game referee Lothar Schmid ordered the game back into Reykjavik's main sports hall after Spassky protest conditions in the tennis room where it was being held.
