The Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Friday, July 07, 1972 - Page 18
Your Move, Boris
Bobby Fischer, the chess wizard from Brooklyn, is catching a lot of flak these days.
He's being called a “money-grubber” for demanding a bigger cash prize for his world championship match with the title-holder, Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
Also, he is being put down for “bad sportsmanship” and “sullying the lofty game of chess” by arriving two days late for the contest in Reykjavik, Iceland, which upset Spassky [to] no end.
The outraged tone being used on poor Bobby seems humorless and a bit h*p*cr*t*c*l.
First, he is a genius at chess and absolutely nothing else. It's simply not realistic to expect him to be able to find Iceland, out there all alone in the Atlantic, on the appointed day.
Second, Bobby has been playing tournament chess for most of his 29 years and never had a big payday. Now his antics have got a British millionaire to double the purse to $250,000. It's hard to see why it is perfectly acceptable for Vida Blue to hold out but terrible when Mr. Fischer does.
Fundamentally, a young man who may be the finest chess player in history is asking to be paid as much as a hulking linebacker or a rock singer. Why all the shouting?
Russia's propagandists are charging that Mr. Fischer's desire for money is a black mark on American society. That's too funny! Like every other Soviet grandmaster, Spassky is a chess professional—subsidized, supported and coddled by the state. He never has and never will have to work at anything but chess, so he can afford to feign disinterested in prize money.
The Russians have accepted Mr. Fischer's apology and will permit the 24-game series to begin Tuesday, instead of trying to keep the title by default.
Soon the chess world will know who really is The Greatest.
