Courier-Post Camden, New Jersey Thursday, August 17, 1972 - Page 3
Fischer Protests on Conditions Are Rejected by Chess Arbiter
ARRIVING IN NEW YORK from Iceland is Chester Fox who plans to sue Bobby Fischer, U.S. chess grandmaster, for refusing Fox's company to film chess matches with Boris Spassky. With Fox are his wife, Joy, and son, Gregory.
Reykjavik (UPI)—Arbiter Lothar Schmid today rejected all of Bobby Fischer's protests and demands about playing conditions at the world chess championship against Boris Spassky. Fischer said he may demand future games be played in a private room.
Schmid met Icelandic organizers to discuss the latest in a series of protests from the American challenger about noise in the playing hall. The latest outburst, written by Fischer aide Fred Cramer and sent yesterday, again demanded seven rows of seats be removed and said it was “not enough that you (Schmid) piously wave your hands to the crowd.”
The 15th game of the $250,000 “match of the century” was scheduled for 1 p.m. EDT.
“I have discussed these various letters and cables (from Fischer) with the organizers and rejected them.” Schmid said today after the meeting. “Playing conditions in my belief are wonderful. Never before has there been so little noise.”
“What does Mr. Cramer want me to do? Go down and hit someone?” Schmid asked.
Cramer said Fischer may ask that the remaining games be played in a private room. The third game of the match was played in a table-tennis room with only Schmid present, but that was because of Fischer's protest against television cameras.
The president of the International Chess Federation, of which Cramer is a U.S. vice president, also rejected charges that Schmid was arrogant, incompetent and unwilling to improve playing conditions.
FIDE President Max Euwe, a former world champion, phoned Schmid from Amsterdam and notified the German arbiter of a cable he had received from Fischer-aide Cramer protesting Schmid's “arrogance, incompetence and unwillingness to improve playing conditions.”
“I told Euwe conditions were in full agreement with the rules and he asked me to reject the charges,” Schmid said.
Cramer, a FIDE vice president, said his cable was “the latest attempt in a week-long fight to improve playing conditions and control excessive noise in the hall.”
The rumpus started Aug. 9 when Fischer signed a letter to Schmid asking that seven rows be removed and all children banned from the round floor of the 3,000 seat exhibition hall where the match is being played.
“I could hear candy being unwrapped, coughing, laughing and pieces of conversation,” Fischer said.
THE ORGANIZERS refused to remove the first rows of chairs and they were backed by Schmid, who said there was no real disturbance.
Cramer said he wrote another letter of complaint to Schmid last Monday and finally cabled Euwe after Fischer brought up the subject following Tuesday's drawn game.
