AThe Morning Call Allentown, Pennsylvania Wednesday, April 12, 1972 - Page 25
Chess Match Called Off By Yugoslav Officials
Belgrade (AP) — Yugoslav chess officials said Tuesday they would definitely not set up the Fischer-Spassky championship match here.
The statement followed an announcement by FIDE, the International Chess Federation, that the U.S. Chess Federation had not give a final answer on a requested $35,000 guarantee that Fischer would appear in Belgrade.
The bond was set by Yugoslav authorities after American grandmaster Bobby Fischer demanded a share in any profits organizers might accrue, in addition to the $138,500 prize money. He was turned down by both Belgrade and by Reykjavik, Iceland, the other match site.
The American chess group said initially that it did not have $35,000 to put up. Soviet chess authorities, however, had agreed to furnish a similar bond to guarantee the appearance of its world champion, Boris Spassky.
A FIDE official said American chess authorities had not responded to a telegram 24 hours after he had asked for a final answer on the $35,000 bond.
Fischer and Spassky had agreed March 20 to play the 24-game match, beginning in Belgrade June 22 and continuing in Reykjavik. Fischer announced eight days later he had changed his mind.
The San Francisco Examiner San Francisco, California Wednesday, April 12, 1972 - Page 54
Even Chess Has a Strike Problem
Los Angeles — By what cerebral processes editors arrive at decisions long has been a matter of bafflement to those who study the human scene.
A case in point was the big commotion in print over the baseball strike, while a matter of vital international concern was being consigned to obscure corners in the back of the editorial bus.
Alas, the long-awaited match for the chess championship of the world was jeopardized. The American titleholder, Mr. Bobby Fischer, was accused of striking because he demanded a share of the profits from his meeting in June with the champion of the Soviet Union, Mr. Boris Spassky.
The first half of the competition is scheduled for Belgrade, Yugoslavia, after which the principals will shift to Reykjavik, Iceland, for the finish.
For years we have been hammering at authorities to anchor such events as the World Series and the chess championship, but, mulishly, they insist upon floating them. It isn't easy to get from Belgrade to Reykjavik in time for the second half, just as it's a pain when the World Series is yo-yo'ed between Los Angeles and Baltimore.
Both Belgrade and Reykjavik have made it clear to Fischer that if he wants to play for the title, he will be going only for the purse and not for a piece of the gate receipts. Apparently, the player has acceded and the match will go on, but you can see the frustration on the part of any American athlete trying to explain to foreigners the way things should be done.
To start with, every chess player must have an agent, a lawyer and a tax consultant, the last arranging shelters so that his client isn't moving pawns, knights and bishops entirely for the benefit of the government.
To his opponent, Spassky, Fischer may whisper helpfully, “Boris, the first thing you do when you get back to Moscow is get yourself a good tax man. Maybe he will put you into raw land, or an apartment house deal.”
Next, the established player, leveling an eye on international matches, must tie up the ends in relation to television. If the Super Bowl brings 23 million dollars for a lousy three - hour show, you can imagine the TV value of a chess match. Games have taken 20 hours and more.
According to the Guinness Book of World Records, two gentlemen in Sydney, Australia, are still playing a match that began on Nov. 24, 1926. They make one move every Christmas. A result is expected about 1976.
Of course, if TV is to do the world match, beginning in Yugoslavia, a decision must be made whether Belgrade will be blacked out. Already, a politician there has proclaimed that if all the tickets are sold, it would be a crime to deprive the rest of the populace the pleasure of seeing the game.
To try to introduce his colleagues to the U.S. way of doing sports business, Fischer must teach them something about endorsements. For instance, the autographed shirt bearing the Queen's Bishop over the pocket is a lively item in any pro shop. The chess player also shaves, eats chili, uses deodorant and takes aspirin — all endorsable products.
Chess is such an old game that its origin actually is lost in obscurity. Some fix its beginning at about 200 B.C., meaning its players now have been performing well over 2000 years without a cut of the gate. Clearly, today's chess player wants to be no promoter's pawn.
The Spokesman-Review Spokane, Washington Wednesday, April 12, 1972 - Page 20
Chess Match Not Backed by Yugoslavs
Belgrade (AP) — Yugoslav chess officials said Tuesday they would definitely not set up the Fischer-Spassky championship match here.
The statement followed an announcement by FIDE, the International Chess Federation, that the U.S. Chess Federation had not give a final answer on a requested $35,000 guarantee that Fischer would appear in Belgrade.
The head of the U.S. Chess Federation, E.B. Edmondson, denied that his organization had failed to respond. He said it replied, turning down the demand for bond.
“Not only did we respond,” said Edmondson from the U.S. federation headquarters in Newburgh, N.Y. “we got a message from FIDE today acknowledging our response.”
Demand Rejected
The bond requirement was made by the Yugoslavs after the American grandmaster, Bobby Fischer demanded a share in any profits match organizers might realize in addition to the $138,500 in prize money. Both Belgrade and Reykjavik, Iceland, the two sites agreed upon for the match, turned Fischer down, putting in doubt whether the American champion would show up.
Edmondson reiterated that the U.S. federation was neither wealthy no government supported and criticized what he called the breakdown of communications during the negotiations.
He asked why the Yugoslavs have not tried to talk to Fischer directly to avoid “this farce that has been going on for a couple of weeks.”
Edmondson said the U.S. federation's position on the bond was that Belgrade's demand for a guarantee was illegal. No such bond is provided for in FIDE regulations, is contrary to any agreements so far governing the proposed match and contrary to Fischer's rights, he said.
When FIDE acknowledged the response, Edmondson said, it asked “us by Thursday this week to try to get together with an insurance company to cover the probabilities concerning this match — in other words an insurance policy” which the Americans would take out to protect Belgrade from financial loss should Fischer fail to appear for the match.
Soviet chess authorities have agreed to post $35,000 guaranteeing Spassky's appearance to defend his world championship against Fischer.
Fischer and Spassky had agreed March 20 to play the 24-game match, beginning in Belgrade, June 22 and continuing in Reykjavik. Fischer announced eight days later he had changed his mind.
The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Wednesday, April 12, 1972 - Page 32
Chess Match Strikes Snag
Belgrade — Belgrade organizers of the world title chess match between Boris Spassky and Robert Fischer have definitely refused to stage their half of the match because the American Chess Federation has not deposited the required guarantee, informed sources said Tuesday.
The sources said the organizers have sent cables to the International Chess Federation and to the Soviet Chess Federation informing them of the decision.
The Soviet Chess Federation already had deposited their part of the guarantee, $35,000, but the latest development apparently diminishes the chances of the match taking place at all, according to the sources.
The dispute arose over Fischer's reported refusal late last month to play under financial arrangements concluded in Amsterdam earlier in March. Belgrade organizers felt unable to make adequate preparations for the match, scheduled in June, because of the uncertainty and the shortness of time.
Pacific Daily News Agana Heights, Guam Wednesday, April 12, 1972 - Page 23
Fischer Sees More To Meet Than Spassky
New York (AP) — I don't care two pennies about Boris Spassky as a man, one way or another, but by defeating him I can beat the Russians, who have tried to run me down for years.
Bob Fischer, the self-confident 29-year-old American who challenges Russian Spassky for the world championship this summer, said in a nation-wide television interview Sunday that he aimed to crush Spassky.
Fischer, interviewed by the Columbia Broadcasting System on his 29th birthday, went through a filmed training routine like that of a professional boxer--in gymnasium and bowling alley. He freely discussed his reputed arrogance and his tigerish attitudes toward opponents, even juvenile prodigies. He ruled out only discussing his family, and a father who left when Bobby was two years old, and his religion, born atheistic turning fundamentalist Christian) and girls.
Bachelor Fischer was filmed living alone in a hotel room with chess boards and television set his most constant companions—next to a red book on Spassky that was said to contain every move made by Spassky in every recorded match the Russian ever played.
New York Times, New York, New York Wednesday, April 12, 1972 - Page 41
Yugoslavia Says No To Top Chess Match
Belgrade, April 11 (AP)—Yugoslav chess officials said today that they would definitely not set up the championship match here between Bobby Fischer of the United States and Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
The statement followed an announcement by the International Chess Federation that the United States Chess Federation had not given a final answer on a requested $35,000 guarantee for Fischer to appear in Belgrade.
Col. Edmund E. Edmondson, head of the United States Chess Federation, said at his home in Newburgh, N.Y., last night that his federation had replied to the request for the guarantee and that the reply had been negative.
“We stated that the guarantee was illegal,” Colonel Edmondson said. It was not, he added, provided for in any regulations of the International Chess Federation or in any of the agreements made regarding the match. It also “denied the rights of the challenger [Fischer],” the colonel contended.
He said he had not received word from Yugoslavia that match officials there were definitely refusing to be host to the encounter.
“I've heard nothing from Yugoslavia in at least two weeks,” he said.
If the report of noncooperation is true, he added, “I would expect the next thing called for is further negotiations” between the players and the International Chess Federation.
