AThe Evening Sun Baltimore, Maryland Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 2
Fischer In Retreat
Bobby Fischer, American chess champion, runs away from newsmen at New York's Kennedy Airport. He did not leave for Iceland, however, and his world chess championship match against Russia's Boris Spassky. The World Chess Federation is threatening Fischer with blacklisting after reports he is holding out for cut of receipts from match.
New York Times, New York, New York, Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 37
Media Oppose Limits On Chess-Match News
An attempt to limit news transmissions from the world chess championship in Iceland has met strong resistance from the news media, including the Associated Press, United Press International and The New York Times.
All three said last night that they had instructed their correspondents not to agree to the restrictions.
As a condition of their access to the games, reporters have been told they must sign an agreement not to file move-by-move reports of the games and to file no more than three reports in the course of a game. That would delay press reports on the action and frustrate radio and television plans to report moves as they are made.
Richard Gitter, counsel for Channel 13 here, which has planned running television commentary based on the move-by-move reports by The Associated Press, said last night: “We are willing and anxious to litigate this in a court of law.”
The Charleston Daily Mail Charleston, West Virginia Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 9
Hot Line
Q. Why doesn't one of the newspapers give the news every day of the Bobby Fischer chess match which takes place later this month?
D. N.
Sissonville
A. Bobby Fischer's match with Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union begins Sunday at Reykjavik, Iceland, and the Daily Mail plans stories this week and during the match. You may have seen the story Monday concerning Fischer's unhappiness with the lighting at the match site.
Hot Line Fri, Jun 30, 1972 – Page 9 · The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia) · Newspapers.com
New York Times, New York, New York, Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 37
Iceland, a Chess Land, Waits on Edge for Fischer by Harold C. Schonberg
NYTimes — Reykjavik, Iceland. June 29—There are about 80,000 people here, and at least that many seem concerned day and day—there is no night at this time of the year—with the saga of Bobby Fischer.
Everybody is talking about Fischer's demands, about his temperament, about some derogatory things he ALLEGEDLY has said about Iceland. And especially about his nonappearance.
When he did not arrive this morning for his world championship chess match with Boris Spassky, scheduled to start Sunday, even the hot springs that heat this city seemed to bubble more furiously.
Journalists and chess followers have been descending on Reykjavik, just below the Arctic Circle, putting a more-than-usual strain on its limited supply of hotel rooms. The match, to be played in July and August, will coincide with the tourist season, and the Icelandic Chess federation has set itself up as a clearing house for people looking for private homes in which to stay.
Iceland bid to be host to the match because of an unusual degree of chess interest among its people. It has one grandmaster, Fridrik Olafasson, and two international masters. Chess clubs abound, and every newspaper has a chess columnist.
Originally Iceland wanted the match for March and April, to get an early start on the tourist season, but the match was divided between Reykjavik and Belgrade. However, Fischer raised a series of objections, and Belgrade withdrew. The date of the start was advanced to late June and then to July 2, which is where it now stands.
A purse of $125,000 has been raised, and the Icelandic Chess Federation has spent around $200,000—close to a dollar for every man, woman and child in the country.
There is a frantic race to get the 2,500-seat Sports Hall, or Laugardalshöll, ready for the first game. A special table is being built to accommodate Fischer's very long legs. At another table on the stage will be the referee, Lothar Schmid from Germany.
Workmen and electricians are swarming all over the hall, putting in telephones and Telex machines for the press. Chairs are being clamped to the floor to maintain the mausoleum-like silence that chess champions—especially Fischer—demand.
The game is to be projected on a huge screen, together with a projection of the clocks the players use. Thus the audience will be able to see the moves, as well as who is in time trouble. Each player has two and a half hours to complete 40 moves.
It is hoped that—what, with admission charges of $5 a game (less for a season ticket) and the sale of media rights—there will not be much of a loss. If there is a loss, however, the city and federal governments have agreed to make it up to the chess federation.
At 6:15 this morning the foreign press contingent—most of whose members had criss-crossed all over Reykjavik looking for the airport to wait for the plane that was supposed to bring Fischer, at last, to Iceland.
But the only chess player to get off the plane was Larry Evans, a former United States champion who is here as a journalist. Eager reporters pinned him. What did he think?
“Oh,” said Evans, breezily, “Bobby will turn up. He is playing a war of nerves.”
Ceremony Planned
The federation has commemorated the match with a stamp cover and a series of coins in gold, silver and copper. There is to be a ceremony at the National Theater Saturday night in which the chess players are to be welcomed by Christian Eldjarn, the President of Iceland, members of his Government, the Lord Mayor of Reykjavik, the Russian Ambassador, a representative from the American Embassy and Max Euwe, a former world chess champion and current head of the International Chess Federation.
But Fischer, it was learned today, is now demanding 30 per cent of the box-office receipts in addition to his share of the purse. And he has objected to having Schmid as referee. There is still a possibility that all the preparations may come to naught.
“We knew that with Bobby we would have trouble,” said an Icelandic Chess Federation spokesman. “But we are a stubborn people.”
Fischer at Kennedy
At Kennedy International Airport in New York last night, Fischer fled from newsmen who spotted him at the Icelandic Airlines terminal.
According to an Icelandic official, he did not take any flight that left last night.
The Daily Reporter Dover, Ohio Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 3
Fischer Threatened With Blacklisting If He Fails To Show For Chess Match
Amsterdam (AP) — The president of the World Chess Federation has threatened American champion Bobby Fischer with blacklisting following reports he is holding out for a cut of the gate receipts from his World Series with Boris Spassky of Russia.
Dr. Max Euwe, the world federation president and veteran Dutch grandmaster, said Thursday night that if the 29-year-old American fails to appear Sunday for the start of the world chess championship in Reykjavik, Iceland, he stands to lose his rights to play for the world title not only this time but perhaps forever.”
Fischer was seen Thursday night at New York's Kennedy airport, but Icelandic Airlines said he did not board its flight to Reykjavik. When newsmen tried to question him, his bodyguards fended them off.
The next flight from New York to Iceland is tonight. But Fischer in the past has refused to fly on the Jewish Sabbath, between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.
Informed sources in Reykjavik said that Fischer informed the Icelandic Chess Federation that he wouldn't play unless he got 30 per cent of the gate receipts. This would be in addition to his share of the $125,000 purse and 30 per cent of the receipts from the sales of television and film rights already agreed to.
The Icelandic federation was reported seeking a compromise in negotiations with Fred Cramer, former president of the American Chess Federation, who is acting as Fischer's advance man. The Icelanders said they have already spent about $200,000 on preparations, and if they meet Fischer's demand they can't break even.
The gate receipts probably will be considerable. Matches will be played three to six days a week in a 2,500-seat sports palace with seats at $5 each. And the series is expected to last two months.
Euwe said he didn't expect the Icelandic Chess Federation to meet Fischer's demand. He added that it would have grounds for legal action against the American challenger if he didn't show up Sunday.
“I don't like Mr. Fischer in our chess world,” said Euwe. “He's a good player but every day we are getting another ultimatum from him like this.”
The young American has waged a relentless campaign to push championship chess toward the financial leagues hitherto reserved for the Namaths, the Hulls and the Seavers of professional sports. It is a campaign in which he gets no cooperation from the Soviet champions, who already enjoy the status of public heroes, well subsidized by their government.
Organizers smokescreening Bobby: “The Icelanders said they already have spent about $200,000 on preparations, and if they meet Fischer's demand they can't break even.” ([Sure, and part of the aforementioned 200K is ‘prize money’ so it wasn't ‘spent’. Second, Australia said it could pay for all preparations for a mere 25K. Thirdly, these same organizers later admit, “it would not stand to lose if the match were canceled.”])
Journal and Courier Lafayette, Indiana Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 26
Fischer Threatened With Blacklisting
Amsterdam (AP) — The president of the World Chess Federation has threatened American champion Bobby Fischer with blacklisting following reports he is holding out for a cut of the gate receipts from his World Series with Boris Spassky of Russia.
Dr. Max Euwe, the world federation president and veteran Dutch grandmaster, said Thursday night that if the 29-year-old American fails to appear Sunday for the start of the world chess championship in Reykjavik, Iceland, he stands to lose his rights to play for the world title “not only this time, but perhaps forever.”
Fischer was seen Thursday night at New York's Kennedy airport, but Icelandic Airlines said he did not board its flight to Reykjavik. When newsmen tried to question him, his bodyguards fended them off.
The next flight from New York to Iceland is tonight. But Fischer in the past has refused to fly on the Jewish Sabbath, between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.
Informed sources in Reykjavik said that Fischer informed the Icelandic Chess Federation that he wouldn't play unless he got 30 per cent of the gate receipts. This would be in addition to his share of the $125,000 purse and 30 per cent of the receipts from the sales of television and film rights already agreed to.
The Icelandic federation reportedly was seeking a compromise in negotiations with Fred Cramer, former president of the American Chess Federation, who is acting as Fischer's advance man. The Icelanders said they already have spent about $200,000 on preparations, and if they meet Fischer's demand they can't break even.
The gate receipts probably will be considerable. Matches will be played three to six days a week in a 2,500-seat sports palace with seats at $5 each. And the series is expected to last two months.
Euwe said he didn't expect the Icelandic Chess Federation to meet Fischer's demand. He added that it would have grounds for legal action against the American challenger if he didn't show up Sunday.
“I don't like Mr. Fischer in our chess world,” said Euwe. “He's a good player but every day we are getting another ultimatum from him like this.”
The young American has waged a relentless campaign to push championship chess toward the financial leagues hitherto reserved for the Namaths, the Hulls and the Seavers of professional sports. It is a campaign in which he gets no cooperation from the Soviet champions, who already enjoy the status of public heroes, well subsidized by their government.
Organizers smokescreening Bobby: “The Icelanders said they already have spent about $200,000 on preparations, and if they meet Fischer's demand they can't break even.” ([Sure, and part of the aforementioned 200K is ‘prize money’ so it wasn't ‘spent’. Second, Australia said it could pay for all preparations for a mere 25K. Thirdly, these same organizers later admit, “it would not stand to lose if the match were canceled.”])
The Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 21
Man To Beat
Boris Spassky, hero of Russia's national sport with “a great deal more to lose than Fischer” in Iceland, meets the press with Soviet international chess master Jivo Nei, left, and interpreter.
The Pittsburgh Press Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 21
Fischer Hides, May Seek Bigger Purse
By Philip Finn
New York — Bobby Fischer, the 29-year-old grand master of chess and mystery, has been in “hiding” in New York while a row about him boils in Iceland.
The Brooklyn-born genius booked into room 1003 at the elegant Yale Club on Tuesday and has rarely ventured out.
He has refused to comment or say anything about his forthcoming world championship match against Russia's Boris Spassky, scheduled to start in Reykjavik Sunday.
He canceled scheduled flights there Tuesday and again Wednesday, and gave rise to speculation it was part of a war of nerves. But friends in New York and sources in Iceland indicate the chess man with the love of seclusion is hoping to get a better deal.
He and Spassky are to share a purse of $125,000, the winner getting five-eighths after the 24-game match in a 2,500-seat sports arena where tickets sell for $5.
Fischer is believed to be seeking 30 per cent from receipts from sales of television and film rights for the match.
Asked whether Fischer would keep his appointment with Spassky, a friend said: “I have no idea—no one knows.”
London Express Service
Pensacola News Journal Pensacola, Florida Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 23
Fischer Demands More Cash To Play Chess Champion
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP) — Bobby Fischer has made a last-minute demand for more money to play in the world chess championship against Russian Boris Spassky, informed sources said Thursday.
They reported that the 29-year-old American challenger has sent an ultimatum to the Iceland Chess Federation “two or three days ago,” saying he would not show up unless he got 30 per cent of the gate receipts on top of the unprecedented sums already guaranteed.
Under the agreement Fischer and Spassky signed with the federation, the players will share a purse of $125,000, with the winner getting five-eighths of it. In addition it was agreed that they would each get 30 per cent of receipts from sales of television and film rights for the match.
Fischer canceled scheduled flights to Reykjavik, Tuesday and Wednesday. This had led to speculation that he was waging a war of nerves with titleholder Spassky.
The 24-game match is due to start on Sunday in a 2,500-seat sports palace where seats are sold for $5 a game.
Since receiving Fischer's new demand, Icelandic Chess Federation officials have been in almost constant touch with Fred Cramer, a former president of the American Chess Federation, acting as Fischer's advance man, the informants said.
It was learned that the Icelandic federation wanted to avoid a rupture and was seeking a compromise. Officials were said to feel the federation could not afford any additional expenses.
However, the sources said that while the federation might have trouble breaking even if the match went on as scheduled, it would not stand to lose if the match were canceled.
Lothar Schmidt, the West German chosen to referee the match, expressed shock when he was told of the stand off shortly after his arrival Wednesday, informants said. The news was conveyed to him by Fridrik Olafsson, an Icelandic grandmaster, they added.
The sources contended the deadlock over money was the main reason Fischer did not arrive from New York as expected.
One ranking American chess expert, who knows Fischer—but may not have known about the financial dispute—said he felt Fischer was waging a war of nerves against Spassky ([Evans was wrong. Again.]).
The Atlanta Constitution Atlanta, Georgia Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 42
Absent Fischer Playing 'Nerves'?
Reykjavik, Iceland. (NYT) — American chess grandmaster, Bobby Fischer, expected here Thursday, again failed to show up. His championship match with Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union is scheduled to begin on Sunday, but although Fischer had been booked on a flight from New York, he never boarded the plane.
There was hope, however, that he would arrive on Friday. The worried members of the Icelandic Chess Federation, who have put considerable time and money into the match, are working on that hope. In any case, Fischer will have very little time to adjust his biological clock. Spassky, for instance, arrived here June 21.
Although Fischer did not arrive on the 9 a.m. plane, another American grandmaster did. He was Larry Evans, a former U.S. champion, here as a journalist. He said that he had not been in communication with Fischer, but he expressed confidence that he would show up for the match.
“Fischer is playing a war of nerves,” Evans said. “That is my personal theory. I would not even be surprised if Fischer does not turn up until Sunday, just before the game.” ([Theory? Evans wasn't as “close” to Fischer as he too often let on in public. His “theories” usually turned out to be wrong. That's why Bobby didn't need him as a second in Buenos Aires, witnessed testifying the same when Evans walked out halfway through the tournament and returned home. Then, in 1972, whilst training for the tournament with Spassky, Miguel Quinteros, it was reported was the close friend with Fischer at Grossinger's acting as a sparring partner for Fischer's training. Evans grieved himself green over not being chosen as Fischer's #1.])
Whether or not Evans is correct, there is no doubt that Fischer's tactics have built interest in the match almost to unbearable tension.
Even the normally suave and apparently unflappable Boris Spassky may be feeling the strain.
Wednesday, he snapped at photographers and for a while there was a yelling match, in the process, Fischer is assuming mythic proportions. His name is on the lips of everybody in Reykjavik.
In the meantime, many details of the match still remain to be settled. Fred Cramer of Milwaukee, Fischer's representative here, said that Fischer and his attorney were still negotiating with the Icelandic Chess Federation and the International Chess Federation over certain demands.
For example, Fischer has asked for 30 per cent of box office receipts. The Icelandic Chess Federation is not happy about this. If Fischer gets 30 per cent, Spassky is entitled to the same, and that would not leave much for the federation, which by the time the match is over will have put up nearly $200,000. That is about a dollar for every man, woman and child in the country.
With three days to go, everything is nearly ready. But will Bobby Fischer come? Or, having come, will he play?
Courier-Post Camden, New Jersey Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 12
Fischer Has Dreams of World's Chess Title By Ian Westergren
Reykjavik (UPI)—Bobby Fischer's big dream comes true Sunday when he sits down at the checkered board to play world chess champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
The American chess genius considers the 24-game world championship match a mere formality.
He has said time and again that if he just gets a shot at the 35-year-old champion, he is certain of defeating him.
Ever since he learned to play chess in Brooklyn at the age of six, the lanky American grand master, now 29, has cherished one big dream —to become the world champion in the oldest and most sophisticated of games.
If he succeeds—and there are many experts who believe he will—he will become the second American world champion in the long history of chess and the first non-Russian to rule as champion since Max Euwe of the Netherlands held the title briefly in the 1930s.
He would also pocket five-eighths of the prize money, which totals $125,000. The money was put up by the Icelandic government and the city of Reykjavik to win the right to stage the match in this unlikeliest of settings—on an island in the storm-tossed North Atlantic.
To Fischer, chess comes first. But money follows closely behind and the question of money almost ruined the championship.
Eight cities offered to stage the match: The International Chess Federation (FIDE), now run by Euwe, asked the two players to select their candidate cities. Spassky picked Reykjavik, Fischer picked Belgrade, Yugoslavia, which offered $43,000 more than Iceland.
TV Rights
FIDE then decided to compromise, playing 12 games in Belgrade and 12 in Reykjavik. Fischer objected and said he and Spassky should also get the money from the TV rights.
In the end, Belgrade organizers got tired and made a request ([an illegal demand which the USCF refused to pay]) for a guarantee of $30,000 to ensure that Fischer would turn up.
Finally FIDE presented an ultimatum to Fischer: Accept Reykjavik or lose the right to a world championship match.
At that stage, with his big dream threatened, Fischer agreed to the conditions offered by the Icelandic Chess Federation. The Icelanders, although there are only 200,000 of them, are chess-mad and the organizers say they are assured of sellout crowds of 5,000 in the Laugardals-Hoellin indoor sports arena.
Leaves Games
The crowd is another potential cause of trouble with the American challenger, who has been known to leave games because the noise of the crowd irritated him.
Fischer and Spassky, at a chess board made of white and green Icelandic stones and seated in specially constructed chairs, will be placed on the stage in the hall.
The organizers, aware of Fischer's hot temper, first suggested that a glass wall be erected between the players and the crowd. But Fischer rejected the proposal.
Other things which have come under fire from Fischer are the lighting and the ventilation in the hall and the choice of German grand master Lothar Schmid as umpire.
24 Games
However, Icelandic chess officials are satisfied that Fischer will accept the arrangements. They were not even worried when Fischer abruptly decided to change his arrival date. “We are satisfied he will be here in time,” they said.
The games will be played Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with adjourned games being finished on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
The match is scheduled for 24 games, but as is customary in world championship play, the remaining games will be canceled when one of the two has reached 12.5 points or more. The players get one point for a win and half a point for a draw.
To retain his title, Spassky needs only 12 points—a draw. To win the title, Fischer will have to score 12.5 points or more.
Under the FIDE rules, Fischer and Spassky must make 40 moves in two and a half hours. If the game is still undecided then, it will be adjourned and finished later with both required to make 16 moves an hour. A player running out of time forfeits the game.
While Fischer has predicted an easy victory, Spassky has refused to speculate about the match.
Spassky, who won the title in 1969 from fellow countryman Tigran Petrosian, is the favorite of Danish grand master Bent Larsen.
Larsen, who was defeated by Fischer in the elimination for the Reykjavik match and served as Fischer's adviser at one time, feels Spassky's experience from two previous world championship games and his better nerves will be decisive.
Aggressive Player
“Fischer is a genius, an aggressive player who fights as long as there is a pawn left on the board,” Larsen said. “But if I have to pick a favorite, I would pick Spassky because of his routine and better nerve control.”
Spassky has paid tribute to Fischer, whom he described as “a remarkable chess player. Without him the world of chess would be very dull.”
While Fischer goes on attack to win every game and is thrown off balance by a draw, Spassky has proved in previous matches that he can come back from a series of drawn games to score decisive wins.
They have met five times before, with Spassky winning three games and drawing two.
But the Russian, who leads a comfortable life on his earnings as a professional chess player, agrees that Fischer has got more fire.
Spassky told Western correspondents he would rather be at home in Moscow with his family and friends “sharing some wine and playing chess for fun” than competing for the world title in Reykjavik.
To Fischer chess is almost everything, and Spassky says he does not understand his obsession. “I would like to teach Bobby that there are other things than chess in life.”
The Capital Times Madison, Wisconsin Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 21
State Champ to Analyze World Chess Match by Peter Dorman
(Editor's Note: Peter Dorman, a U.W. graduate who now lives in Madison, is the Wisconsin state chess champion. He will contribute occasional articles to The Capital Times sports pages analyzing the world chess championship match that starts Sunday between Bobby Fischer of the U.S. and Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.)
(Wisconsin State Chess Champion)
Sunday, July 2 is the scheduled beginning of the most dramatic contest in chess history: Bobby Fischer, former child prodigy whose play sometimes approaches absolute perfection, finally gets his crack at the world championship.
It's been a long time coming. Fischer first gained national attention in his early teens, when he won a spectacular game from Robert Byrne, one of America's best. Bobby, just 13 at the time, gave up his queen for a knight and a bishop in a long forced series of moves. A year later he won his first U.S. Championship.
Fischer's first stab at the world championship was back in 1958, when he was 15. With the death of the legendary Alexander Alekhine at the end of the Second World War, FIDE, the international chess federation, established a regular 3-year cycle for the world title. They divided the world into zones, each to hold its own championship. Then the top players would play in a worldwide interzonal tournament. The finalists from this event, plus the runners-up from the previous cycle. would compete in a candidates' tournament, and the winner of the final contest would play the reigning world champion in a 24-game match.
Mikhail Botvinnik, a Russian, became the world champion after a special tournament in 1948. He successfully defended his title against David Bronstein and Vassily Smyslov, both Russians, in 1951 and 1954. Botvinnik lost to Smyslov in 1957, but won his title back a year later in a return match.
Since the U.S. Championship suits as a zonal tournament, Fischer played in the 1958 interzonal. He qualified, but fell short in the candidates tournament, which was won by Mikhail Tal—another Russian. Tal's brilliant attacking style gave him the world championship in 1960, but Botvinnik took it back with another return match.
As the next cycle began, it looked like Fischer was destined to break the Soviet spell. He was regularly clobbering his rivals in the U.S., and he placed a clear first in the 1962 Stockholm interzonal. But he could only take fourth place in the candidates' tournament in Curacao that year, finishing behind three Russians.
This defeat provoked his famous charge that the Russians were “fixing” international chess. He claimed that they arranged to draw with each other, and then ganged up to defeat the only serious non-Russian challenger, Fischer.
There may be some truth to this accusation. Some of the games played between the Soviet masters show little indication of a fight; some games were drawn in the opening. But the real cause of Fischer's set-back was that the top Russian players could still beat him more often than he could beat them. Bobby was good, but not yet good enough.
Behind his public posturing, Fischer came to this conclusion himself. His appearances became less frequent; for a while, he disappeared altogether. He was boning up for a comeback.
Meanwhile, there was a new world champion, Tigran Petrosian. His was a bloodless style of chess, relying on slow maneuvering. He rarely took any risks. He rarely lost. In addition, FIDE, acting on a recommendation of Fischer's, scrapped the candidates' tournament and replaced it with a series of elimination matches.
Then Fischer came back. With one victory after another, he seemed to be on his way to the top. But he got into a personal quarrel with the directors of the Interzonal tournament in Tunisia in 1967 over scheduling questions. Even though he was far ahead of the rest of the field, Bobby dropped out. Before long, he was in seclusion once again.
Fischer surfaced in 1970 to play in a team match that pitted the best players from the Soviet Union against the best from all the other countries combined. By this time, Petrosian had lost his title to Boris Spassky, but it was Petrosian that Fischer played. Bobby won two games and drew the other two, a decisive victory against the former world champion.
Then Fischer took the interzonal tournament at Palma De
(Continued on 2nd Sports Page)
Chess Match
(Continued from Page 1, Sports)
Mallorca, winning the last seven games in a row and finishing far ahead of everyone else. Then the elimination matches: Fischer plays Mark Taimanov, a leading Russian master, and wins six out of six. Next in line was Bent Larsen, second only to Fischer among non-Soviet players. Again, Bobby wins six out of six. Finally, Fischer faces Petrosian again, and, after a shaky start, takes the match with five wins, one loss, and three draws. These scores are particularly impressive in view of the fact that most games between the strongest players end in draws.
Now only one player stands between Fischer and the world championship: Boris Spassky. The world champion has done well against Fischer in the past: of the five games they have played, Spassky has won three and drawn two. So far, just pulling together the details of the match has been a formidable problem. Fischer wanted to play in Belgrade, Yugoslavia where he is idolized by thousands in that chess-crazy country. Belgrade had also put in the highest bid, offering cash prizes of $152,000, an unprecedented figure in tournament chess. Spassky wanted to play in Reykjavik, Iceland, where the climate is similar to that of the champion's native Leningrad.
The FIDE decision was a compromise: half of the match in Belgrade, the other half in Reykjavik. But Fischer got into a dispute with the Belgrade organizers, and the Yugoslavs pulled out. Now the entire match is slated for Iceland, with the total prize fund slightly under $100,000.
The best-of-24 game match is due to begin Sunday. Spassky is in Reykjavik, accompanied by his official “second”, Evim Geller. (In the past, Spassky's second has always been the veteran Bondarevsky. The switch is said to be caused by “difficulties”. What are they? The Russians aren't talking.) Two other companions are chess experts Krogius and Nei. Nei is also a psychologist.
Fischer complains about the lighting, which was installed to facilitate the television crews from different countries.
As of now, the match is officially on. but no one knows for sure if Fischer will blow his big chance by refusing to play at the last moment. If he does play, millions of chess fans around the world will see ten years of suspense resolved in a two-month display of unparalleled mental combat.
The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 22
Chess Goes Other Way
IN GOLF SOME PLAYERS do better at match, rather than stroke play. However, almost all prominent competition today is conducted at stroke play which has two main features - it rewards consistency and hurts the hot and cold competitor, and it keeps the field and more major names around longer.
Chess has gone the other way, in part at least because Bobby Fischer demanded it. And this is the principal reason Fischer, the 29-year-old American, is favored in many circles to dethrone Russia's Boris Spassky in a 24-game match starting Sunday at Reykjavik. Iceland.
Fischer, conceded by his peers the most exciting chess player in the world, decreed several years ago he would never again compete in tournament play against force of Russian numbers. He argued, and so did others, that no single Westerner could hope to win the world championship because the Russians were able to exert so much massive candidacy.
It is a simple fact that Russia mass produces more chess masters than any other country or even any group of nations. For that reason they have owned the world title for 45 years, a crushing domination broken only for three years in the middle thirties when Dr. Max Euwe, a Hollander and now head of FIDE, the ruling body, intervened between tenures of the first of great modern Russian champions, Alexander Alekhine.
FISCHER HAS LONG considered himself the best chess player in the world. It enraged and frustrated him that his ambitions for world supremacy were stymied by the FIDE system of round-robin competition which served to perpetuate Russian dominance. He called it a Communist plot hatched in Moscow.
FIDE has finally capitulated to his pleas. It allowed him to challenge through match play. Head to head, he knocked off six major qualifiers in a devastating display of mastery.
HIS FINAL OBSTACLE to getting to Spassky was Tigran Petrosian, a Russian and world champion from 1963 to 1967. He blew Petrosian off the boards last fall at Buenos Aires without difficulty.
So now it is not Russia versus Fischer, but Spassky versus Fischer. The odds have swung to Fischer, a brilliant player at the height of his powers. Spassky is 35, and in five games against Fischer has won three and drawn two. But, chess experts don't take much stock in that. In head-to-head play, Fischer is rated unbeatable by more disciples than himself.
Fischer can become the first official American world champion. The strongest American of the past was Paul Morphy who performed in the 19th century. Morphy was unofficial world champion of his time. He quit serious chess before he was 25.
The first world champion, so recognized, was William Steinitz of Vienna. Steinitz ruled for 27 years through 1893. He died in poverty, insane, on Ward's Island in 1900, having moved from Europe to the United States while still champion.
A GERMAN, DR. EMANUEL LASKER defeated Steinitz and held the crown for another 27 years. A Cuban, the all-time great Jose Capablanca succeeded Lasker. After that it was the Russians from Alekhine to Spassky with Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal and Petrosian in between.
Nerves will play a major role in the matches at Reykjavik. They will play three games a week, using three other days in the week for adjourned games. The rules call for 40 moves in two and a half hours, 16 moves per hour in adjourned play. The clock is a merciless taskmaster in match chess. The unsure player often blunders against time, and if the blunder doesn't get him, the clock does by way of forfeit.
MASTER CHESS PLAYERS are notorious for the size of their egos, also for the depth of their apprehension.
The classic story on self-confidence concerns the Russian master, Efim Bogolyubov. When an admirer asked him whether he preferred the white or black pieces, he answered, “I have no preference. When I play white, I win because I have the first move. When I play black, I win because I am Bogolyubov.”
One of the best tales on apprehension would be the cigar smoking of Lasker. During a tournament, one of Lasker's opponents got him to promise he wouldn't smoke during the game. Lasker had a habit, apparently, of blowing smoke in his opponent's face.
After a few moves, Lasker took a cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth. His opponent protested to the tournament director, saying, “Lasker agreed not to smoke.” The umpire responded. “But, he isn't. His cigar is not lit.”
Whereupon the man said. “Ah, but he threatens to smoke, and you know very well how he values a threat.”
SPASSKY IS REPUTED to possess an excellent set of nerves. No hangups are reported about him. On the contrary, Fischer has a history of wild reaction to distraction. He is wont to make all kinds of demands concerning arrangements.
THIS DOESN'T MEAN Fischer is likely to lose his cool in a tight game situation. On the contrary, his recent opponents have been the ones to lose their cool. Petrosian and two others he defeated in the eliminations wound up in hotel or hospital room seclusion suffering from nervous exhaustion.
Fischer has done nothing in his life except study chess from the age of nine. When he was 14 he actually had more experience than most chess masters twice his age.
Some observers figure Spassky is in for a nervous breakdown.
Arizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 17
Chess Pros Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer
Chess pros Boris Spassky, left, of the Soviet Union and Bobby Fischer of the United States ponder moves at matches.
The Times Munster, Indiana Sunday, July 02, 1972 - Page 46
World Title Match in Secret
New York (UPI)—The more Bobby Fischer thinks about it the more it bugs him.
Why Reykjavik, Iceland?
“Why not Rome?” Fischer would like to know.
“Why not Paris, Oslo, Zurich, Dallas or New York? Or even Moscow? Any large city where there's people, activity and decent restaurants would be fine. Some place at least where there's something to do at night.”
Bobby Fischer, America's 29-year-old chess genius, has a theory about why Reykjavik was picked as the site of the world championship which starts this Sunday.
The Russians are the ones who picked Reykjavik.
Fischer thinks the Russians have a motive.
HE THINKS they want to “hide” the championship because he feels he's going to take it from the Soviet Union's Boris Spassky. What's more, Fischer thinks the Russians know he's going to do it.
In this own way, Fischer is a demonstrator.
He has been demonstrating the way he feels about having to play in Reykjavik by taking his good old time getting there.
This has shaken up a lot of people but Fischer had a reason for his actions. Call it oneupsmanship if you like.
Boris Spassky needn't worry about Fischer not making it for their first match though.
Mainly because he thinks he's going to win.
I wouldn't be at all surprised if he's right, and that has nothing to do with chauvinism.
Spassky is good, but Fischer is better, and when the tall, curly-haired New Yorker is right, he's like Joe Frazier and Tom Seaver when they're right. Meaning nobody's going to beat him.
Fischer doesn't hold back.
He is exceptionally outspoken and honest, and when you hear his objections to playing in Reykjavik, they do make a good deal of sense.
Fischer has been there, so when he talks about Reykjavik he isn't doing so from hearsay but from personal experience. He says there is so little to do there, particularly at night, a guy can go out of his ever-loving mind.
NOT THAT Fischer is a rounder. If anything, he's much more of a loner, but there are times he would like to become part of the general mix, or at least observe it, and how can he possibly do that when there is no general mix?
He also says the television coverage will be limited. If he beats Spassky, he doesn't see why it should be some kind of secret.
Fischer originally planned to go to the world championships with only one
other person; Spassky is already in Reykjavik with what amounts to an entourage. Fischer reads significance into that also because the championship goes on for some time and while Spassky will have people to talk to and help him relax, Fischer won't.
Fischer doesn't think any of these things are pure accidents. He sees them all as part of a general program by the Soviets to try to beat him psychologically.
“THE WORLD champion has the right to pick the site of the championships,” says Fischer.
“Spassky wasn't even there when the international governing body chose the site. A Russian delegation was there and they picked the site.”
Fischer feels the championships have become a political matter. That annoys him.
But it hasn't lessened any of his desire to beat Spassky. Fisher has a lot of that same “killer instinct” Jack Dempsey had when he was fighting. Some of that instinct shows up even when he's not sitting at the chess board.
Earlier this month, for example, he competed with 15 other top athletes in the Dewars Sports Celebrity tennis championships at LaCosta, Calif., and it was a little funny to watch such headliners as Rick Barry, Deacon Jones and Elgin Baylor all ask Fischer for his autograph.
IN THE FINALS of the tournament, Hank Greenberg, the baseball Hall of Famer, and Bob Boyd, the basketball coach at Southern California, beat 0. J. Simpson and Gail Goodrich for the title. Bobby Fischer was among the losers. “Next year,” he said. “I'm going to win.” He said it as if he meant it, too.
Daily News New York, New York Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 5
It Takes 2 to Play Chess & Bobby Hasn't Moved
By Gene Spagnoli
The continued absence of U.S. chess genius Bobby Fischer in Reykjavik, Iceland, where on Sunday he is due to begin his match against Russia's Boris Spassky for the world championship — at first attributed to temperament—might realistically be blamed on Fischer's last - minute demand for more money, informed sources said yesterday.
Fischer, 29, who canceled flight reservations last Sunday and again Wednesday, is reported to have issued an ultimatum to the Iceland Chess Federation several days ago for 30% of the gate receipts on top of the unprecedented pay-off to which he has already agreed.
Under the agreement, Fischer and Spassky will share a purse of $125,000, with the winner getting five eighths, in addition to receiving 20% apiece from the sale of television and film rights of the match.
Seemingly oblivious to Fischer's absence in Reykjavik, Spassky, who has been on the scene for the past 10 days, shrugged off the unexplained ramifications with a noncommittal, “If he doesn't come we will all go home. It's as simple as that.”
If and when he shows up, Fischer, who has been seeking the match for years, would be the first American ever to play in an official match for the world championship.
Asked precisely where Fischer was, Edmund Edmondson, executive director of the United States Chess Federation, said: “He's somewhere in the metropolitan area, but where I have no idea. I don't think that anyone will know if he will play until game time, 5 p.m. Icelandic time. He's putting on some kind of an act—for what I don't know.”
A scheduled Icelandic Airlines flight to Reykjavik left New York early today but an airline spokesman said Fischer was not aboard. Fischer was seen at the airport late last night but refused to talk to newsmen.
In Reykjavik, Chester Fox, who has the television and film rights to the championship, said: “I think Bobby will come here and I think he'll win. I saw him a couple of days ago and he's really ready—relaxed, calm and sure of himself.”
Fred Kramer of Minneapolis is acting for Fischer in Iceland. The Russians, who take their chess seriously, have sent a small squad to aid Spassky. His entourage includes two grand masters, an international master and a psychologist.
Spassky was asked recently about reports that he was demanding a room temperature of 21 degrees Centigrade —about 70 degrees Fahrenheit—while Fischer wanted 24 degrees.
Spassky said one solution would be to add 24 and 21 and divide by two.
The 24-game match—three games a week—could take two months if it runs its full course. The winner needs 12½ points.
The Tampa Times Tampa, Florida Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 12
Fischer Wants Profit Cut
Springfield Leader and Press Springfield, Missouri Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 1
Tass Blames Bobby Fischer for Situation Created by Soviets & Icelandic Chess Federation
The Soviet news agency Tass said there is no certainty that the world championship chess match will be held at all and it blamed the situation on Bobby Fischer, the American challenger to Russian Boris Spassky.
Further examples of Bobby Fischer being blamed for Soviet meddling…
Sun Sentinel, August 08, 1985: “While Fischer's feud with chess authorities made headlines, Spassky warred with Soviet officials in private. Among other points of dispute, they told him to leave Iceland and reclaim the title by default after Fischer violated some conditions. Spassky replied that he had no interest in winning on technicalities, only on the board. When Fischer boycotted the second game, the winner by default murmured, “It is a pity.”
Many observers thought Fischer's furor sapped Spassky's concentration, but Spassky says the job was done by Moscow. At any rate, Fischer beat him seven games to three with 11 draws. “I was very kind to Bobby,” Spassky jokes. More seriously, he says Fischer was the stronger player at that point in their careers, but “I could have resisted better.”
Spassky says Fischer invited him for a swim after the match but had to cancel at the last moment. Later, Fischer kept a promise to offer a rematch, but the Soviets would not let Spassky travel for it.”
Tampa Bay Times St. Petersburg, Florida Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 46
Organizers Seek To Restrict Coverage Of Chess Match
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP) — Organizers of the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky world championship chess match will restrict move-by move coverage and photographs of the contenders inside the contest hall, it was announced Wednesday.
The announcement brought protests from news wire services and from two television outlets which are planning in-depth accounts of the 24-game match based on move-by-move reports from The Associated Press. The first game is scheduled for Sunday.
Gudmundur Thorarinsson, chairman of the Icelandic Chess Federation, said the restrictions were decreed because photographic and move-by-move coverage rights had been sold.
Thorarinsson said journalists would be allowed to transmit move-by-move reports only three times during each game between the Soviet world champion, Spassky, and the American challenger. He said newsmen would be required to sign a pledge to abide by the agreement in order to obtain accreditation.
Spokesmen for AP and United Press International said they were lodging protests against any curtailment of news coverage. Joseph G. Groth, general manager of the TelePrompTer Manhattan Cable TV, said in New York: “If this capricious move succeeds, a large and interested segment of the public served by TelePrompTer Manhattan CATV will be deprived of one of the most exciting show-downs in the history of chess.”
The firm has announced plans for a move-by-move analysis of each of the matches, utilizing the AP service and comment from a U.S. chess grand master.
The Icelandic Chess Federation contends that TelePrompTer's use of the AP reports infringes on its property rights, the company said. The federation has sold U.S. broadcast television rights to the American Broadcasting Company.
Spokesmen for Channel 13-WNDT New York, which also has announced plans for telecasts based on move-by-move reports, said it was “absolutely outrageous to attempt to stop the free dissemination of news.”
“We are performing a service for the chess devotee,” the Channel 13 spokesmen said. The station's plans call for five hours of continuous coverage on each day of the match.
ABC plans to use the film to which it has acquired rights on the network's “Wide World of Sports” program.
Roone Arledge, president of ABC Sports, indicated he has no objections to the proposed plans for outside programs on the match.
“I think that would be excellent programming and a good thing for them to do … We're going to do it in a condensed, limited way. As long as we can do what we want to do, we'd be delighted to cooperate,” Arledge said.
Sioux City Journal Sioux City, Iowa Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 4
Who Is Chess 'Bad Guy?'
The forthcoming chess match for the world championship between Bobby Fischer, the U.S. whiz, and Boris Spassky, the Soviet expert, is receiving what politicians would call a “good press.” At least, there has been a lot of coverage of the big event well in advance, much of it centering around Fischer's chest-beating over the playing site and so on.
We noted the other day a news article written from Moscow by an American correspondent for an Eastern newspaper. It was an interview with Spassky, whom the writer described as “quiet in manner and laconic of speech,” while portraying Fischer as the 28-year-old “enfant terrible” of the chess board.
“Bobby Fischer,” the writer explained, “is known for his brashness and bombast, and his squabble over the venue of the match and over the television and film rights has done nothing to enhance his popularity.”
Something like the old horse operas and “rassling” matches, where there's always a “good guy” and a “bad guy.” But — and this worries us a little — the good guy is supposed to win. Hopefully, this traditional pattern won't preclude the U.S. champion from check-mating the “good guy” from the U.S.S.R.
Edmonton Journal Edmonton, Alberta, Canada Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 29
Fischer At Kennedy Airport
Fischer was seen Thursday night at New York's Kennedy airport, but Icelandic Airlines said he did not board its flight to Reykjavik. When reporters tried to question him, his bodyguards fended them off.
Bobby Fischer pushes past admirers and away from newsmen at a Kennedy Airport coffee shop shortly before he was scheduled to fly to Iceland. Fischer “castled” himself from the newsmen by rushing out into a rainstorm. (AP Wirephoto)
The Times Shreveport, Louisiana Saturday, July 01, 1972 - Page 12
Fischer's Chance in Chess Tilt Periled
Hamburg, Germany (UPI) —U.S. Chess Grandmaster Bobby Fischer may lose his rights as challenger for the world title if he doesn't show up for his Sunday match with Russian World Champion Boris Spassky, the president of the World Chess Federation said Friday.
“If he doesn't show up, he will lose his rights to play in the world championship,” said federation head Max Euwe of Holland. “It won't be my decision alone, but the rules of the game.”
Euwe, World Chess Champion in 1935-37, was here on a business visit and said he planned to fly to the match site in Reykjavik, Iceland, Saturday.
Fischer, canceled or missed three flights to Reykjavik this week from the United States, was last seen Thursday night in a restaurant at Kennedy International Airport in New York.
When discovered by reporters and fans, he ran into a parking lot and disappeared. A spokesman for Icelandic Airlines later said Fischer was not aboard a flight for Reykjavik that night although he apparently had a reservation.
Icelandic Airlines said in New York it had “no information” about whether Fischer would be on one of its three flights Friday night to Reykjavik from Kennedy.
The next flight to Iceland from Kennedy was Friday night — and in the past Fischer, a Brooklyn resident, has refused to fly between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday—the Church of God sabbath.
Meanwhile, a Tass news agency dispatch from Moscow said Fischer's actions made it uncertain whether the series with Spassky “will begin on time or whether it will be held at all.”
Tass also said Fischer was motivated by a “disgusting spirit of gain” ([So is the Soviet. To monopolize all titles in sports, by “any means necessary” and lack of sportsmanship.”]) and confided in lawyers rather than other chess players. ([Trust the Soviet government? Madness.]) “Whenever the matter concerns Fischer, money comes first while sports motives are relegated to the background,” ([Soviet players were subsidized, giving them an unfair advantage by the government, but nobody is complaining about that.]) the dispatch added.
Earlier, sources in Iceland reported Fischer had given an ultimatum to the Icelandic chess Federation that he wouldn't show up unless it agreed to guarantee him 30 per cent of the gate receipts on top of the existing contract giving the winner five-eighths of the prize money.
Euwe said Fischer had “no legal right” to make the demand. ([Nor did Belgrade have a “legal right” to demand a $35,000 guarantee. Fischer forced to agree to a contract he had neither seen nor read.]) “Besides other rights, Fischer was given 30 per cent of all television rights, which will amount to about. $70,000,” Euwe added.
He also said Fischer could be held financially responsible for the cost of setting up the Iceland match if he does not show up. ([Really? According to organizers, they wouldn't stand to lose anything IF the match were cancelled.])
The Cincinnati Enquirer Cincinnati, Ohio Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 8
TV-Radio Briefs: Chess Match
The world chess tournament (Boris Spassky vs. Bobby Fischer), due to be colorcast over Channel 48 Sunday from 1 to 6 p. m., has a unique story behind it.
The action will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland. The telecast, however, will originate from New York.
Shelby Lyman, a master chess player and instructor, will receive the play-by-play in New York via teletype. He will then duplicate the moves on a demonstration chess board. On a second board, he will demonstrate alternate and counter moves to clarify what is going on.
The game—the first of the series—could go on for five hours, or it could be somewhat shorter. Experts will also be on hand to provide commentary and further clarifications.
Oakland Tribune Oakland, California Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 24
Television Highlights
SPECIAL—“The Fischer-Spassky Chess Championship: A Weekly Review.” Play-by-play account of the World Championship Chess Match between American challenger Bobby Fischer and present world champion Boris Spassky of Russia. Channels 9, 32; 7:30 p.m.
Daily News New York, New York Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 71
WNET Doubts Presentation of Re-Creation of the World Championship
Station WNET (Ch. 13) said yesterday there was some doubt as to whether it would be able to present a re-creation of the world championship chess match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky as it planned. The match is scheduled to begin Sunday in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The station said the Icelandic Chess Federation was seeking to bar the Associated Press from transmitting move-by-move reports of the event. Channel 13 and several other public TV stations had planned to use these reports for re-creating the match on a chess board in a TV studio.
But TelePrompter, which operates a cable-TV system in upper Manhattan, said it was going ahead with plans to re-create the chess match. Meanwhile, ABC said it had exclusive TV rights to the chess championship and would present filmed highlights on its Wide World of Sports each Saturday, beginning July 8.
The San Francisco Examiner San Francisco, California Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 27
Special: The Fischer-Spassky Chess Championship
Spassky Chess Championship: chess master George Koltanowski previews upcoming match between USSR champion Boris Spassky and America's challenger Bobby Fischer to be televised on Channel 9 Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (30 min.)
The Fischer-Spassky Chess Championship Fri, Jun 30, 1972 – 27 · The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) · Newspapers.com
Hattiesburg American Hattiesburg, Mississippi Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 1
Serious Fischer — A serious-faced Bobby Fischer is shown in a New York Kennedy Airport coffee shop about midnight as he apparently was preparing to fly to Iceland for his world championship chess series with Russian champion Boris Spassky. Seconds later Fischer broke away from the group of photographers and reporters and raced out into a driving rain. Icelandic airlines said he did not board a plane. Story on page 15. (AP Wirephoto)
Dayton Daily News Dayton, Ohio Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 30
Channel Hopping
If all goes well in that world chess championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky this week end, you can watch the games on “Wide World of Sports” … First match is scheduled to air next Saturday at 5 …
Channel Hopping Fri, Jun 30, 1972 – 30 · Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) · Newspapers.com
Ellwood City Ledger Ellwood City, Pennsylvania Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 7
News in Sports: World Chess Title Competition by Turk Pierce
Chess may not be considered a sport, but some very intense competition will begin Sunday in the unlikely locale of Reykjavik, Iceland, when Bobby Fischer of the U.S. will challenge Boris Spassky of the U.S.S.R. for the world title.
Fischer, a chess prodigy since he was a young teenager about 15 years ago, has had an erratic career, ([Fischer himself was not “erratic”, if anything, Fischer's personal lifestyle would be considered “boring”, a sentiment Bobby agreed with, but his career may have been viewed as “erratic,” just as Reshevsky's was, when he too had no illusions about butting his head against the brick wall of Soviet “Grandmaster Draws” and pre-arranged games during the 1950s. Many a chess columnist and enthusiast knew, Reshevsky had the talent and skill to take the title, but that the Soviet would never permit it.]) but this time he is given a better than even chance to defeat Spassky and wrest the title from the Soviets, who have had it locked up since 1948.
Spassky has advantages in that he must score only 12 points to defend the title (over a 24-game series) while Fischer needs 12½ to become the new champion, and that Spassky is 5-0 in head-to-head play against Fischer. Fischer, however, in gaining the finals, has played superlative chess, at one point winning 12 games in a row (most world-class chess games are tied and this feat was compared to pitching 12 no-hitters in a row).
Fischer is an avid bowler, and bowled for four hours after gaining the finals by winning a match that ended at 2 a.m.
Highlights of the matches will be on television, and even if you have little knowledge of chess, ([it is important to note, that the term in its full context, does not necessarily denote gender bias. In the given context, “chauvinism” denotes strong national or political biases.]) chauvinism should have you interested in the outcome.
