The Central New Jersey Home News, New Brunswick, New Jersey, Saturday, July 01, 1972 - Page 1
Progress Seen in Negotiations For Fischer Chess Matches
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP) — Considerable progress was reported Friday night in 11th hour negotiations over Bobby Fischer's demand for more money from the world chess championship with Boris Spassky of Russia.
Officials of the sponsoring Icelandic Chess Federation met with Andrew Davis. Fischer's lawyer and confidant, but said there was still no guarantee that the 29-year-old American would show up. The 24-game match starts Sunday.
Meanwhile, Fischer missed a flight Friday to Reykjavik. He booked a reservation and checked his baggage, but after holding the plane up for two hours demanded his luggage back and disappeared from New York's Kennedy International Airport.
This apparently leaves only one flight late tonight which would put Fischer in Reykjavik in time for the start of the match.
Fischer's faith, the Church of God, observes Saturday as the Sabbath and Fischer will not fly between sundown Friday and sundown Saturday.
The financial dispute with the Icelandic Chess Federation involves Fischer's demand for 30 per cent of the gate receipts at the 2,500 Sports Palace where the matches will be held. Tickets are $5 apiece.
A federation spokesman said Davis was seeking a compromise over the money snarl.
But Gutmunder Thorarisson, ICF president who talked with Fischer's representatives in the United States for much of Friday night, said later that “nothing had been settled.”
By previous agreement, Fischer and Spassky are to divide the $125,000 purse, with the winner getting five-eighths, and receiving 30 per cent of the sales of television and film rights.
The Soviet news agency Tass blamed the uncertain condition on Fischer and said, “Wherever Fischer is, money ranks first, pushing aside all sporting motives.” ([Spoken in the true spirit of the overly ambitious Soviet empire that subsidizes its players, to achieve total monopoly, by unfair advantage, on all world sports titles to prove its “superiority,” reinforcing an illusion on the Russian people, of an almost Hitleresque “Übermensch” quality, or as they say, “It takes one, to know one.”.])
Caption: “ANGRY FISCHER— An angry Bobby Fischer rushes past admirers and away from newsmen at Kennedy Airport last night. Fischer held a reservation for a flight to Reykjavik, Iceland, but missed the flight.”
