ANew York Times, New York, New York, Sunday, July 02, 1972 - Page 31
Iceland Chess Unit Tries To Curb News Coverage, Special to The New York Times
Reykjavik, Iceland, July 1 — The Icelandic Chess Federation pressed its efforts today to prevent television stations and chess clubs around the world from staging play-by-play reconstructions of the world chess championship matches while they are under way.
Some television stations had planned to offer simultaneous recreations and analyses, using news agency accounts filed during the course of the matches.
Virtually all 85 newsmen as signed to cover the matches here, except for correspondents of The New York Times and The Associated Press, have signed an agreement declaring that they will limit their coverage to three reports during each game.
However, The Associated Press has made an oral agreement with the federation to limit dispatches to five during each game. Officials of the news service declined to discuss the issue.
The New York Times refused to sign the federation proposal on the ground that it would involve prior restraint on reporting, even though in practice the proposal would not have had any practical impact on coverage.
Failure to conform to the federation's restrictions on coverage means denial of access to press facilities.
Harold C. Schonberg and Al Horowitz, who are covering the matches for The Times, will purchase spectator tickets instead of using the press facilities provided by the federation. They were assured by telephone officials here that they would be able to use telephones with out restriction.
The Icelandic Chess Federation took the position that it had put up the highest purse in chess history, $125,000, for the players, and incurred other costs that would bring its expenses above $200,000.
To recoup, the federation said, it entered into a contract to grant exclusive film rights to Chester Fox, Inc., and also made an agreement to let the World Chess Network have all move-by-move broadcasts.
Newsmen were asked by the federation to sign the following statement before receiving press credentials:
“We hereby request permission for our duly authorized representative to attend the world chess championship matches between Boris Spassky and Robert Fischer, which are to be staged in Reykjavik commencing on or about July 2, 1972.
“In return for your granting this license to us to cover the championship matches, we agree to be bound by the following limitations:
“1. Our reports will be news reports and will be used only for bona fide news purposes.
“2. Our reports will not be the basis for any recreation, reproduction or other unauthorized use of the play-by-play of the match.
“3. We will only make three reports per game and each report will be at least five minutes after either player makes a move.
“This above document will be used and no reporters or news agencies will get press accreditation unless signing.”
Photographers Protest The proposal drew considerable opposition from newsmen on the scene. Photographers in particular protested when they were told they would not be allowed even to take cameras into the hall where the match was to be held.
Reykjavik's leading news paper, Morgunbladid, contended that the restrictions were unconstitutional and said it would fight them.
Tass, the Soviet press agency, said: “The Americans have paid a lot of money for the monopoly rights to transmit the moves from the hall with the corresponding ban on other journalists to report the moves to their agencies earlier than five minutes after it is made.
“The Icelandic journalists' union protested to the organizing committee over the restrictions in reporting the moves,” Tass added. [Tass comment on it own view of how the accreditation agreement will affect its coverage was not available in New York.]
WNET to Proceed Today
In New York, WNET-TV, Channel 13, said it would go on the air at 1 P.M. today with whatever plays it could get, and with analyses by Shelby Ly man, a chess master. If the match is put off for any reason, some of their past plays would be described.
A cable television station, Teleprompter Manhattan Cable TV, serving 45,000 subscribers in northern Manhattan, has planned play-by-play descriptions and analyses by the Rev. William Lombardy, one of 10 American chess grandmasters. Joseph C. Groth Jr., its general manager, said it had contracted with The Associated Press for reports.
United Press International refused comment and declined to confirm whether it had made any agreement. UPI had planned play-by-play reports.
The Soviet is certainly not “protesting”. No, it would like to blame Bobby Fischer for its deliberate censorship and has made ‘advance preparations,’ so that it may lay blame on its willing pawn, its accomplice, the Icelandic Chess Federation, for fulfilling on Moscow's dictate of censorship… but Bobby Fischer told America, long before this censorship circus is now, coming to light in the press, the Soviet would spare no effort to hide their devastating defeat from the world via censorship.
