The Guardian London, Greater London, England Friday, July 07, 1972 - Page 4
Spassky and Fischer Brought to Heel for Opening Game from Michael Lake
Reykjavik, July 6 — The International Chess Federation today took a firm grip on the Spassky-Fischer world championship and issued clear instructions for the contest to begin. The relief in Reykjavik was immediate and infectious. The game of chess once more became a respectable contest between two great minds instead of a vicious tiff.
Tonight the two grand-masters met for the first time at the beautifully lit theater where they decided with little argument that the first game would not be played until Tuesday.
Then they appeared on the stage and were applauded. Fischer, in a greenish suit, immediately approached the chess board and began playing with the chess men. He behaved like a boxer dancing on his toes before the fight of his life. Spassky in a tweed jacket and white slacks was much more relaxed before the draw.
As champion, Spassky had the right to hold the two pawns and he walked away, burying them in his hands and tossing them with relish before offering Fischer the choice. The American instantly pointed to Spassky's right hand and drew black. So Spassky gets the advantage and starts first.
Once the draw was made the match became the responsibility of the referee, Herr Lothar Schmid, of West Germany, who has probably undergone as much strain as anyone during the past few days. He immediately took the floor and announced the start on Tuesday.
The decision to have the draw tonight was made after an agreement today between the Russians and Americans after Soviet demands for written apologies from Fischer and the president of the ICF, Dr. Max Euwe, had been met.
‘Carried Away”
Fischer's written apology this morning — which followed Dr. Euwe's glad admission that he had broken the rules to salvage the match — was as much as one could expect. He wrote:
Dear Boris,
Please accept my sincerest apology for my disrespectful behavior in not attending the opening ceremony. I simply became carried away by my petty dispute over money with the Icelandic chess organizers. I have offended you and your country, the Soviet Union, where chess has a prestigious position. Also I would like to apologize to Dr. Max Euwe, to the match organizers in Iceland, to the thousands of chess fans around the world, especially to the millions of fans and the many friends I have in the United States.
At this stage he could perhaps have rescued his own image by offering magnanimously to accept any official decision on whether he should forfeit the first game which he missed by not being here on Sunday. He must have known that the Soviet Chess Federation, while demanding a forfeit, expected that Spassky would not accept the point.
Instead Fischer followed his apology with an argument that if he gave away the first game he would need three straight wins to put himself back on an even keel. He called on Spassky as a sportsman and gentleman not to accept the point.
All this was unnecessary. Although the ICF said it had not properly decided this issue tonight its other actions canceled out a forfeit.
The forfeit claim was based on the understanding that the match might have begun last Saturday with the champagne opening ceremony. Sunday's game was then, indeed, forfeited by Fischer. But the ICF has declared that the match began with the draw tonight so no game has yet been open to forfeit.
Herr Schmid said the first game would begin with the punching of the clock and in the face of this mercifully clear-cut approach the Russians will have to go along with the situation or walk out and forfeit the world title.
