The Guardian London, Greater London, England Wednesday, July 05, 1972 - Page 11
Pawns In A Panto from Michael Lake
Reykjavik, Tuesday — Bobby Fischer's arrival in Iceland to play for the World Chess Championship was not the sort of stuff for which Handel wrote, “See the conquering hero comes.”
The television team with the exclusive world rights to film, missed his leap from the aircraft steps into his car because the cameraman was doing up his jacket. Then Fischer found that someone had removed many of the curtains from his private villa where he was to sleep. In the harsh permanent Icelandic daylight this was not good.
When Fischer's plane landed at Keflavik, his representative here, Mr. Fred Kramer, Vice-President of the International Chess Federation, became extremely agitated about the lack of protection for his charge. He pointed this demand at Mr. Chester Fox, who owns the exclusive film rights: Mr. Fox declared with equal agitation that he was not responsible for security.
While this altercation was going on Mr. Fischer sped away with a police escort, followed by a television set and a lot of food. Unfortunately Icelandic television is suspended until August 1 for annual holidays but he will be able to see re-runs of canned programmes from the NATO base at Keflavik. Mr. Fischer is a television and transistor radio addict.
At the villa set aside for him — soon to be a lottery prize in support of retired seamen — police set up a road block. But since the building stands on a new housing estate open to the world everyone simply threaded their way through the bricks and over mounds of earth to his front door.
There the ubiquitous Mr. Kramer was complaining in ear-piercing whispers that the challenger could not sleep because of the disappearance of the curtains and with all these people shambling about. He whispered to a policeman that it was private property and would he get these people out of here. The policeman waved vaguely at the surrounding landscape in a gesture of helplessness.
Mr. Kramer then confronted the President of the Icelandic Chess Federation, Mr. Gunnar Thorarinsson, from a distance of six inches and whispered to him that he had to have more curtains. Mr. Thorarinsson said if Fischer wanted more curtains he would get them. “Don't worry” he said. “Don't worry?” roared Mr. Kramer, sill managing to whisper.
Fischer appeared at the door in red pants and a white shirt. He liked the house, but it was kinda small.
Fischer managed to get to sleep, however, by the time the draw was announced at noon. The Russian champion, Boris Spassky, waited 20 minutes for Fischer refusing to accept his seconds as substitutes and walked out. The Soviet Chess Federation sent a vitriolic cable to the president of the International Chess Federation, Professor Max Euwe, accusing Fischer and himself of wrecking the championship.
The imperturbable Dr. Euwe, who has been making up his own rules since Sunday to save the match, declared that he did not know any longer what was going on, and he was pessimistic.
The Soviet tactics appeared by now to have a cutting edge. Having complained vaguely at Sunday's two-day postponement of the match in defiance of the rules they had awaited Fischer's arrival before threatening to walk out.
Over lunch Spassky ruled out any play tonight but he said he was not yet leaving the country. If he did, however, and Fischer was ready to play, both sides could have accused the other of defaulting. The question arose again about the distribution — if any — of the prize money. Dr. Euwe has no suggestions about this either.
Amid all this unbelievable confusion only Dr. Euwe appeared still to have his head above water — and this was perhaps only because he could express the confusion most clearly. A rumour grew that he himself had to leave Reykjavik tomorrow. A battle-scarred reporter from the Daily Mirror announced that if Dr. Euwe was leaving, then he was leaving too.
This evening, however, the Americans and Russians have got together and it appeared that there was a good chance of everyone's becoming mates again. Fischer stayed asleep.
