ANews-Journal Mansfield, Ohio Monday, September 18, 1972 - Page 1
Chess Champ Glad to Be Back — World chess champion Bobby Fischer manages a big smile as he walks from a plane to a waiting limousine following his arrival at New York's Kennedy Airport from Iceland. (UPI Photo). — Relaxed, Happy Fischer Flies Home from Iceland by Edward P. Butler, New York (UPI) — Bobby Fischer, first American to win the world chess championship, flew home Sunday night from Iceland looking rested and happy.
Fischer, wearing a plaid summer-weight suit, walked briskly from the Icelandic jet to a limousine sent by Mayor John V. Lindsay.
To newsmen who shouted questions at him during the brisk 300-yard walk, Fischer said, “It's great to be back in America.” Asked what his plans are, he replied, “I'm going to sleep.” Asked where, he said, “In a bed.”
Carrying a dog-eared wreath which was awarded him at the championship chess match, Fischer said he doesn't know whether he will attend the Chess Olympiad which starts Monday in Skopje, Yugoslavia.
Fischer's second, the Rev. William Lombardy, was on hand to greet Fischer. Lombardy said Lindsay had tentatively scheduled a reception for Fischer on Friday.
The first week or so of the Olympiad consists of qualifying matches. Lombardy said if Fischer decides to compete, he could join the team in time for the final competition.
The champion's departure from Iceland was delayed 30 minutes while Fischer and Sammy Palsson, an Icelandic policeman friend who accompanied Fischer here, drove to the National Museum in Reykjavik so the American could sign the chessboard used in the tournament.
Boris Spassky, the former world champion from the Soviet Union who Fischer defeated to win the title, signed the board before he flew home to Moscow a week ago.
The last American to be recognized as world chess champion, although there was no formal competition for the title in those days, was Paul C. Morphy in 1858-59.
