The Amarillo Globe-Times Amarillo, Texas Thursday, July 20, 1972 - Page 1
The psychological warfare at the Fischer-Spassky chess match in Iceland is mild ([says who? So far threats have been made on the lives of Fischer, his entourage and the “foreign” press. Underhanded tricks and malicious schemes by Soviets have scarcely been mentioned in press, albeit, real as they are. The location cherrypicked by the Soviet is notoriously Anti-American and Racist for starters, and certainly no “accident” The underhanded contract suppressing fair coverage, and inhospitality toward all world media is no mere “coincidence”]) compared to some encounters in the history of the game.
Chess buffs say the mental combat occasionally becomes physical.
The 19th century English chess player Joseph Henry Blackburne once became so enraged during a game with the Austrian master Wilhelm Steinitz that he picked his opponent up and almost threw him out the window. — BARBARA BOONE.
([Perhaps Steinitz had asked for retaliations as he had made a career of rubbing others the wrong way, namely, his petty jealousy, scathing mockery and personal scheming against the legacy of Paul Morphy. As reiterated in 1897 by the “Rochester Post Express” the following anecdotes of the great master's little peculiarities:— … The happiness of “the Bohemian Caesar,” as Steinitz fondly called himself, was not unalloyed. Paul Morphy was his bête noire. He attempted to undermine the pedestal upon which Morphy's glory is everlastingly established. But he did not succeed. If Blackburne makes a brilliant combination, he calls it a “bit of Morphy.” But no one ever heard anybody call a brilliant finish a bit of Steinitz…”
Psychological Warfare 20 Jul 1972, Thu The Amarillo Globe-Times (Amarillo, Texas) Newspapers.com
Poor Sportsmanship:— on the contrary, it seems many of Fischer's critics ail from a “bit of Steinitz” —:
The Reported Death of Steinitz 19 Jun 1897, Sat The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Newspapers.com
