The Sydney Morning Herald Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Monday, April 03, 1972 - Page 1
Fischer Near To Self-Checkmate
U S grandmaster Bobby Fischer will be automatically disqualified tomorrow from the final of the world chess championship unless the US Chess Federation can guarantee his appearance in the contest.
The president of the International Chess Federation, Dr Max Euwe, said this in Canberra last night.
Dr Euwe said that Fischer “cannot keep fooling around.” Overseas reports say Fischer is baulking at the terms of the agreement for his match with the world champion, Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, and is demanding that he and Spassky share in the profits of the match, beyond the prize money.
Dr Euwe said he had sent a telegram through his office in The Hague late last week asking the US Chess Federation to “clear up the situation.”
If there was no reply on his desk tomorrow the matter would be considered negative. It was up to all national chess federations to guarantee their players' presence, or withdraw.
He said that the rules provided that a player's presence must be guaranteed three months before a match.
The world championship, scheduled for June 22, was now less than three months off.
If Fischer was disqualified it would be through application of the rules.
If the US federation could not guarantee that Fischer would play he would be replaced.
The agreement to which the US body was a signatory was valid and Fischer would “have to stick to it.”
“It will be a great pity if he does not play, but it will be his own fault.
“It makes it impossible for us all,” Dr Euwe said.
Dr Euwe is in Australia to meet chess officials, give exhibitions and lecture.
The Australian Associated Press reported from New York yesterday that the executive director of the US Chess Federation, Mr E. B. Edmondson, would discuss the problem with Fischer at the weekend.
The report said that if Fischer was disqualified, the match would be between Spassky and another Russian, Tigran Petrosian, a former world champion, whom Fischer defeated in the semi-finals.
Fischer was set to play Spassky in a 24-game match beginning on June 22 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, and continuing in Reykjavik, Iceland.
The two host countries refused Fischer's demand for a share in the match profits. Fischer responded by refusing to play there.
Fischer Near To Self-Checkmate Mon, Apr 3, 1972 – Page 1 · The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, New South Wales, Australia) · Newspapers.com
