ARutland Daily Herald Rutland, Vermont Friday, July 07, 1972 - Page 1
The Seconds
Times News Service. Reykjavik, Iceland—At the eye of the storm that has been swirling all week around Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky is a group of quiet men whose mission it is to soothe the protagonists, fight for their man with the International Chess Federation, interpret rules and rulings, act as seconds, and in general act for him as best they can.
In the American's group are a Roman Catholic priest, a psychologist, a lawyer, an athlete, and a gaggle of grandmasters. The Soviet world champion came here last June 21 with a delegation of three. All are chess players. They are grandmasters Efim Geller and Nikolai Krogius, and international master Ivo Nei.
Geller, who seems to act as spokesman for the Russian delegation, a 47-year-old, heavy-set, short man, is acting as Spassky's official second, which means that he helps the champions study adjourned games. Like most Russian chess players, Geller has a college degree in a subject not associated with the game. He specialized in economics in Odessa. A grandmaster in 1952, the USSR champion in 1955, Geller is one of the world's best players. He has, incidentally, won more games from Bobby Fischer than any other living player; his record is five wins and two draws, as against four wins for Fischer.
Krogius, 42, became a grandmaster in 1964. He is a psychologist, and is reputed to be one of Spassky's closest friends. Krogius, who does not talk much in public, wears glasses and has an absent-minded appearance.
The mystery man of the Russian delegation is Nei, who does not talk in public at all. Apparently he is Spassky's trainer. Athletic-looking, bald, very handsome, trim in body, tall, he jogs with Spassky and plays tennis with him. Nei is an Estonian and is ranked the No. 2 player in the Soviet Union, below the great Paul Keres.
Fischer's closest associate during the match will be his second, Father William Lombardy, the 35-year-old grandmaster, and the best chess-playing cleric since Bishop Ruy Lopez in the mid-16th Century. Imposingly tall and stout, black-haired, rather sardonic-looking, Father Lombardy has been a personal friend and chessboard foe of Fischer's since childhood.
The world's junior champion in 1957 (when he won all 11 of his games) Lombardy became a grandmaster in 1960, and winner of the U.S. open championship in 1963 and 1965 (he was co-winner that year). Currently he teaches English at Cardinal Hayes High School in the Bronx. He has captured the international press in Reykjavik with his reasoned and articulate presentation of negotiations in progress.
Fred Cramer of Milwaukee has been acting as Fischer's assistant. A University of Wisconsin and Harvard Business School graduate, a former businessman (lighting fixtures manufacturer) who continues to play a fair game of chess, the 60-year-old Cramer has been trying to justify Bobby's position before highly skeptical audiences. He is a short man who speaks with a midwest drawl, cracks jokes nobody understands, and obviously has had little experience with the press. But acting for Bobby Fischer is rather a thankless job. As Cramer once blurted out, “I am authorized only to complain and not to approve.” ★
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