ATampa Bay Times St. Petersburg, Florida Wednesday, August 23, 1972 - Page 10
17th Chess Game Is Adjourned; Russians Hint At Sabotage Plot
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP) — The Russians hinted Tuesday at a plot by Bobby Fischer's American supporters to sabotage Boris Spassky's chess game with “some electronic devices and chemical substances” in the playing hall.
They issued a bristling statement charging curious goings-on as the Soviet champion and the challenger from Brooklyn played through 50 moves to an adjournment of the 17th game in their world chess title match.
Spassky launched a vigorous attack in Tuesday's play, desperately needing a win when play resumes today to whittle Fischer's 9½-6½ margin as the 24-game match enters its final stage. As the Soviet news agency Tass put it: “Spassky's daring tactics are naturally explained by the fact this his position in the match entered a critical stage…”
SPASSKY'S SECOND, Efim Geller, said the Russian camp had received letters suggesting that electronic and chemical means were being using to influenced Spassky. He asked the match sponsors to have competent experts examine the hall and “the things in it” to see if anything was wrong.
Geller said the champion's failure to play up to his usual standard, and American visits to the playing hall at night, appeared to point to such seemingly fantastic suppositions as the letters suggested.
He said he had known Spassky for years and “it is the first time that I observed such unusual slackening of concentration and display of impulsiveness in his playing…”
Geller said he could not account for this by “exclusively impressive playing on Fischer's part. He said the American had made technical mistakes and sometimes “did not grasp the position.”
The Russian second, himself an international grandmaster, expressed suspicion of Fischer's insistence on his own chair — although both chairs are identical — and of the special lighting installed above the stage at Fischer's demand.
HE ADDED that Fischer's refusal to allow filming and his repeated demands to play in private could indicate anxious aversion to “the constant objective control over the behavior and physical state of the participants.”
The Russians further contended that Fischer's temperamental behavior was “deliberately aimed at exercising pressure on the opponent, unbalancing him and making him lose his fighting spirit.”
Fred Cramer, an aide to the 29-year-old challenger, called the Soviet suggestions “garbage,” an attempt to justify Spassky's three-point deficit in the match. Fischer needs but three more points to win the crown, which has been in Soviet hands since 1948.
Fischer threatened earlier Tuesday to quit the match because of spectator noise in the hall. To placate him, the Icelandic Chess Federation agreed to move out the first five rows of seats in the middle section of the auditorium.
Spassky, 35, had the white pieces Tuesday and made the first move. He played pawn to king four.
FISCHER, who had arrived only four minutes late, responded by moving his pawn to queen three — a move described as quite unusual for him.
Then Fischer bounded up and walked over to Referee Lothar Schmid and motioned toward the auditorium. The referee patted Fischer's arm in a reassuring way and the 29-year-old Brooklynite returned to his chair to resume play.
Fischer went into the 17th game leading 9½ to 6½ points over Spassky. A win counts for one point and a draw a half point.
