The Chico Enterprise-Record Chico, California Friday, July 07, 1972 - Page 6
Fischer, Spassky Agree: Chess Competition to Begin Tuesday
Reykjavik, Iceland (UPI) —After two weeks of behind-the-scene diplomacy and much talking, Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky have agreed to get down to their real business —playing chess.
The match for the world title now held by the 35-year-old Russian will begin Tuesday in the Icelandic capital. The winner gets $150,000 and the loser $100,000.
Spassky, a handsome Leningrad journalist who makes a living playing chess the year around, will make the first move. He won the draw Thursday night and will play white, meaning he will make the first move. The 29-year-old American will play Black in the first game. In succeeding games they alternate.
Despite the charges and counter-charges exchanged between the two camps there was no sign of personal animosity between the two.
When Spassky was introduced at the draw, Fischer applauded. And when the challenger, dressed in a green suit and red tie, was presented, Spassky gave him a big hand.
As they shook hands at the end of the ceremony, Spassky held on to Fischer's hand and said, “And good luck.”
The ceremony confirmed that all the problems that delayed the match for nine days finally had been settled.
It began with Fischer refusing to come to Iceland for the originally scheduled start July 2 because he was not happy with the financial terms.
Jim Slater, a wealthy British banker, saved the match when he offered to double the prize money from $125,000 to $250,000.
Fischer finally turned up July 4—but by then, Spassky was upset and threatened to pull out. He first demanded that Fischer forfeit the first game, then asked for an apology from the American and finally asked Dr. Max Euwe, president of the International Chess Federation (FIDE), to admit that he violated the rules when he postponed the match in Fischer's absence instead of disqualifying the American.
Euwe, himself a former world champion and the last non-Russian to hold the title, promptly penned a declaration admitting that he had made a mistake.
Thursday, Fischer broke the ice when he wrote a letter to “Dear Boris” apologizing for his “disrespectful behavior.” Fischer admitted he had “offended you and your country, the Soviet Union.”
“I simply became carried away by my petty dispute over money with the Icelandic chess organizers,” Fischer wrote in his letter.
Spassky accepted the apology, although it was not delivered directly to him by Fischer.
In the end, the Russians appeared to have dropped their demand that Fischer forfeit the first game.
