The Morning Call Allentown, Pennsylvania Tuesday, April 04, 1972 - Page 31
Chess Fuss Discussions Suggested
New York (AP) — A senior U.S. chess official proposed Monday that the president of the International Chess Federation sit down with American chess champion Bobby Fischer to resolve the world championship conflict.
E. B. Edmondson, executive director of the U.S. Chess Federation, said that only by a face-to-face meeting can the tangled negotiations be worked out.
Fischer has demanded a share in the profits from the 24 game match with current champion Russian Boris Spassky. The championship had been scheduled to begin in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, June 22, and to be completed in Reykjavik, Iceland. Both these nations refused to give Fischer anything in addition to the prize money.
Dr. Max Euwe, the International Federation president, said in Canberra, Australia, Sunday that Fischer will be disqualified automatically if the U.S. Chess Federation does not guarantee his appearance.
Last Friday the federation warned that if Fischer's participation was not guaranteed by Tuesday, April 4, it would be construed as a refusal to play the match.
Edmondson, who up to last week was Fischer's negotiator, said here Monday that one of the main participants, the Belgrade organizers, withdrew from the initial agreement last week. “How can Mr. Fischer be asked to comply with an agreement already apparently invalidated by the withdrawal of one of the parties?”
Edmondson said, “The next step should be contact, and I mean full contact, between the president and the players.”
