New York Times, New York, New York, Wednesday, July 06, 1972 - Page 31
Some Fans in U.S. Deserting Fischer by Peter Kihss
An American professor who developed the system of ranking the world's chess players said yesterday that Bobby Fischer appeared to be losing fellow players' sympathy in what he called “a war of nerves” between Fischer and the delegation of his Soviet opponent, Boris Spassky, the world champion.
Prof. Arpad E. Elo, whose system has been accepted officially by the International Chess Federation, said in Brookfield, Wisconsin, that “the chess world is getting a little fed up,” based on reactions he found during the Fourth of July Western Open Tournament in Milwaukee.
There was “a general attitude of impatience” with Fischer among the 120 participants, Professor Elo said.
Lubomir Kavalek, one of three masters currently tied for the United States championship, said in Washington that Fischer and Spassky “have to sit down and play because there is nothing to discuss any more.”
Protest Called Too Late
Kavalek said the Soviet delegation “missed all rights” by not protesting Sunday when Fischer failed to show up for the first match. He said the Russians apparently thought Fischer would not appear at all and were thus “too clever on their side,” but, he added, he believed Spassky wanted to play and “I think everything going from the Soviet side is not Spassky's opinion.”
Professor Elo, who is now lecturing at the University of Wisconsin after retiring from Marquette University's physics department, developed a four-digit numerical ranking of players based on results in tournament and match play, which for the last two years has put Fischer first in the world's top 20—2760 to Spassky's 2690.
He said the 1972 rankings due shortly would widen the margin even more, including recent Fischer victories while Spassky had not done as well as expected in Moscow and Gothenburg, Sweden, play. If the championship match goes on in normal fashion, he said, he predicted Fischer would win in 21 games, 12½ to 8½, not needing the full 24-game series.
Computer Charge Discussed
Prof. Monroe Newborn of Columbia University's electrical engineering and computer science department, who is a developer of programming computers for chess, scouted a Soviet news report that Fischer might seek computer aid. Professor Newborn is participating in the nation's third computer chess tournament in Boston, Aug. 13 to 15.
A computer, he said, can analyze a situation and make a play in one to three minutes, but would need a whole day “to come close” to the quality of the decisions by champion players. If Fischer resorted to a computer, he added “it would be the best thing Spassky could hope for.”
Professor Newborn, like others, said Fischer had fought hard for recognition, but “I can't admire Fischer for having done what he did” in the current maneuvers. ([Under the circumstances I fully appreciate what Fischer did in retaliation for the years of Soviet meddling and their months of pre-arrangement drama.])
Sammy Reshevsky, eight-time American champion and now tied with Kavalek and Robert Byrne, said tersely, “I have some thoughts, but I don't want to say.” ([Reshevsky should recall the dissenting voices of the 1950s, when he felt the squeeze of sheer Soviet numbers pushing him out of the running, all hope qualifying for the world title challenge was regarded an impossibility for a non-Soviet.])
Leonard Marcus assistant director of another membership club, the Manhattan, predicted a Fischer victory after what he decried as “politics in chess.” He suggested “the Russians went there with the idea Fischer would not show and they could sit back and be nice guys.”
At the Chess and Checker Club, open to public play by the hour, John Fursa, proprietor, said nightly arguments have found “pros and cons about even.”
One side, he said, has been arguing that Fischer has given chess everything he has, and deserves to make the most of his first chance for “real money.” The other view, including his own, he said, is that Fischer is so certain to win that he should have played by the rules to become champion and then “write his own ticket.”
[Caption] THE SUBJECT WAS CHESS: Dr. Max Euwe, left, president of the International Chess Federation, with Yefim Geller, Boris Spassky's second, and an interpreter, right, at a news conference in Reykjavik yesterday. Mr. Geller presented Soviet match demands.
