AThe Ottawa Citizen Ottawa, Ontario, Canada Thursday, July 20, 1972 - Page 3
Fischer, Spassky Spats Spark Local Moves: Chess Sales Climb by Patricia Cote
([Public hysteria, hostilities developed between the world's two most powerful, armed to the teeth nuclear superpowers led by the U.S.-Russian White Supremacist Empires who have kept the world gripped by the hair of their head and suspended in a state of panic of an imminent WWIII and now, political ideologies come down to a clash of intellectualism over a chessboard in a Soviet stronghold. That couldn't possibly have anything to do with the mounting tension… could it?])
The ERRATIC WORLD-CHESS CHAMPIONSHIP in Iceland may be responsible for the increase in sales of chess sets in some Ottawa stores.
Nothing like in Iceland, mind you, where the sudden enthusiasm for chess finds people playing in the streets, but at least three Ottawa stores have had anywhere from a slight to a 50-per-cent increase in sales.
The store that seems to have benefited most is the Davis Agency on Sparks Street, which reports a 50-per-cent increase in sales. Buyers are spending an average of $50 for a set. The carved wood sets appear to be the most popular.
Freiman's on Rideau Street also reports an increase in the number of people buying sets during the last two to three weeks. An equal number of people come in just to look.
John Thompson of the Simpson-Sears store at Carlingwood reports that many people are purchasing travel chess sets. “I don't know whether it's the chess championship or whether they just want something to keep them occupied while they are traveling on vacation,” he said.
Seven other stores that sell chess sets say they have experienced no increase in sales lately.
Salesmen at Evans and Kert at Carlingwood and Green Dragon gift shop on the Sparks Street Mall say chess has enjoyed increasing popularity in recent years. Both stores sell a good average of chess sets every day. The Green Dragon reports it sells five to seven sets a day.
