AThe Salt Lake Tribune Salt Lake City, Utah Monday, July 10, 1972 - Page 18
Television Today
And in far-off Iceland, Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky are beginning to circle the chessboard for the kill. Bobby is confident, and the world waits for the answer: Is Boris good enough?
Makes First Move
Match play begins Tuesday with Spassky making the first move. ABC will cover the battle of intellects on Wide World of Sports next Saturday and each succeeding Saturday until one of the two grandmasters has been defeated. KUED, which earlier announced the PBS would be summarizing play on the Sunday of each week, received word that because of complications involved, the educational network would pass. So don't telephone the station next week with complaints, because it would be foolish for PBS to duplicate that which a commercial network will have carried the day before.
And about young Mr. Fischer. Ten years ago, he was living in nearly total isolation, known only to a limited audience of aficionados. No one in America, least of all television, leaped to his aid in lifting chess above its ninth rate entertainment atmosphere … even Minnesota Fats and his pool cues got a better break than Fischer.
Accused of Greed
Now that he has single-handedly put chess in the entertainment field (with a cash prize nearly one one-hundredth of that paid Mohammed Ali and Joe Frazier for hitting each other), some critics have accused him of being greedy.
If the cash prize, including a rather small fee for television rights, seems large for two men to divide, ask how many other competitors must play so long for a prize. Jack Nicklaus wins as much in three days of the World Series of Golf. Fischer may have to play for a month.
Television Today 10 Jul 1972, Mon The Salt Lake Tribune (Salt Lake City, Utah) Newspapers.com
