The Boston Globe Boston, Massachusetts Saturday, July 08, 1972 - Page 8
The Chess Match (Yawn) Is Set
The world championship chess match at long last is set to start Tuesday ([these arrangements would have been worked out long before, if Eastern and European organizers had bothered to consult, man-to-man, with Bobby Fischer during the Spring season of 1972, but they refused]), and one wonders how even the greatest chess enthusiasts, by now can really much care.
The match was supposed to start a week ago, but the preliminaries unfortunately resembled the hassles to which one is accustomed before, say, a Muhammad Ali fight. ([Coincidental, what is not however, is the sore loser approach {and the Soviet KNEW, months in advance, they were going to lose} the “winning is everything” attitude of the Soviet federation whose actions jeopardized the tournament and put the challenger in a forced position to react just as he did, the challenger, “Robert J. Fischer” being the sole reason the entire world had their eye on the match, in the first place! Everything calculated by the Soviets who could not care less if they damaged the world's perception of Chess in their attempts to retain the title through scurrilous means; for years, flooding the press with negativity to demoralize Fischer, for all that matters in Moscow, is that the home team wins at all costs]). This has been a little disconcerting to those who had been fooled into thinking that chess was as genteel as, well, ladies' tennis, although, come to think of it, ladies' tennis isn't half so genteel as it once was, either.
Maybe that's the rub. It isn't how you play the game, son, it's whether you win or lose. In this case, the moves started long before the rivals, the Russian champ, Boris Spassky, and the American genius, Bobby Fischer, even agreed on terms. They resembled Paris peace negotiators in their early inability to agree even on the shape of the table and the lighting. It is fitting that most of the arrangements were made for them by their seconds, as in old-fashioned duels.
Mr. Fischer, it has been said, has acted in the best tradition of American athletes in demanding, and getting, more prize money than he had agreed to in the beginning {[with Australia bidding $225,000 before the Soviet Union twisted Euwe's arm into reneging on his promise, “first come, first serve” bids?]), with the pot now raised to the nice level of around $300,000. Well, if you're going to play chess for money, we always say, you might as well make it worthwhile. We just hope the British chess enthusiast who put up additional $125,000 out of his own pocket gets his money's worth.
On your marks, Boris and Bobby, and may the best man win. But remember, the one who douses the lights when the other is making his move will be disqualified.
The Chess Match (Yawn) Is Set 08 Jul 1972, Sat The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) Newspapers.com
