Tucson Daily Citizen Tucson, Arizona Thursday, July 20, 1972 - Page 1
'The Big Game' Ain't Baseball by Judith Terlizzi, Citizen Staff Writer
When your neighbor asks about today's game, chances are good that the contest he's referring to was played in Iceland, not Yankee Stadium.
The Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky world chess championship tournament has local tongues tripping over “Reykjavik,” and local hands dusting off chess boards and sweeping chess books off store shelves.
“We've been having problems keeping popular chess books in stock since the whole thing (the tournament) began,” said Mary Scheeler, a Book Mart employee.
Morris Rosenthal, owner of Focus on Books, said his usually large supply has dipped low in the last few weeks.
Although several stores reported increases in chess book sales, few have noticed change in the sale of chess sets. However, Jim Davis, owner of Toy Mart, said: “We've sold as many sets in the last couple of days as we usually do in a couple of months.”
Tucsconians whose chess games, have become rusty and people who don't know a castle from a condominium are taking their questions to members of the Tucson Chess Association and University of Arizona Chess Club.
“The Fischer-Spassky match has drawn a great deal of interest,” said Chester Czerniak, spokesman for the local chess association. Interest generated by the American and Russian forced the association to move to a larger meeting hall a couple of weeks ago in order to accomodate visitors and members.
CAPTION: 'What Would Fischer Do?'
Ten-year-old Patrick Czerniak, a member of the Tucson Chess Association, mulls over his next move. He is four years older than the youngest association member. The group, which meets weekly, plans to replay the Fischer-Spassky games.
