AThe Baltimore Sun Baltimore, Maryland Wednesday, July 05, 1972 - Page 1
Russian Russian Delays Chess Match
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP)—Now it's Boris Spassky's turn to say no—and the world chess championship is off again.
The Russian titleholder launched his counterattack yesterday with a stern protest, some sharp criticism, a walkout and a demand for a two-day postponement of the start of the match with American Bobby Fischer.
Mr. Fischer slept through it all.
He arrived in the morning from New York and went straight to bed to rest up for the first game, set for 5 P.M.
When Mr. Fischer woke up he found that the title series was put off until tomorrow at the earliest. It was to have begun last Sunday.
Summing up the day, Max Euwe, president of the International Chess Federation, said: “When Mr. Spassky is here Mr. Fischer doesn't come. As soon as Mr. Fischer comes Mr. Spassky runs away.”
The Russians turned up in force at noon for what was to be a drawing of lots to decide who would play white, and have the first move, in the opener.
They refused to draw with Mr. Fischer's second, the Rev. William Lombardy, a Catholic priest, and read a statement calling Mr. Fischer's delaying holdout intolerable. They protested Mr. Euwe's decision to tolerate it.
When Mr. Fischer failed to appear Sunday as he should have, Mr. Euwe allowed him until noon yesterday to show up in Reykjavik or forfeit his shot at Mr. Spassky.
Original dispute
Mr. Fischer's refusal to come by Sunday was based on a dispute with the organizers over money. The argument was settled Monday when James Slater, a British financier, offered to sweeten an already record pot with a donation of $130,000. Mr. Fischer said he would play.
The organizers were offering a purse of $125,000, five-eighths or $78,125 going to the winner and three-eighths of $46,375 to the loser. Mr. Slater's donation is in addition to this. Each player also is to get 30 per cent of the $250,000 paid for television and movie rights to the match.
The Russians said yesterday that Mr. Fischer had violated the rules of the match. They wanted an apology. Mr. Euwe reported they had some harsh words for him as well.
“I'm a bad boy,” the 71-year-old Dutchman said with a smile.
Mr. Spassky read his statement from what looked like an official document in Russian. It created the impression that he was acting on Moscow's orders.
A dispatch by Tass, the official Soviet news agency, said Mr. Spassky had demanded that the International Chess Federation take some punishing measures against Mr. Fischer on the grounds that he had violated the rules for the match. It did not specify what sort of measures should be taken.
During the days of dispute and bad temper which preceded Mr. Fischer's arrival, Mr. Spassky had been the picture of courtesy and understanding. When approached by newsmen he had no bad words for Mr. Fischer, a man he respects as a chess player. All he would say was that “I came to play.”
There was another indication that Mr. Spassky's moves were being plotted from Moscow. After an attempt to come to terms with Mr. Fischer's people at a private meeting yesterday afternoon, Mr. Spassky and his second, Yefim Geller, drove grimly to the Soviet embassy, presumably for consultations.
Asked what Mr. Fischer's opinion of the new dispute was Mr. Euwe told newsmen, “Mr. Fischer is asleep and is not aware of this.”
He was in a new two-story villa on the edge of town sound asleep in the back bedroom. Fred Cramer, a United States Chess Federation official, said, “I didn't want to upset Bobby's metabolism by waking him up.”
In New York, meanwhile, Col. E.B. Edmondson, director of the U.S. Chess Federation, said if Mr. Fischer or Mr. Spassky fails to show up for tomorrow's match the title should go to the other by default. He said that if neither showed up, “The title should be declared vacant and they should start all over.”
He said he was expressing his opinion as a member of the five-man advisory board of the federation.
“This has gone far enough,” Mr. Edmondson said. “You cannot go on with this kind of charade.”
The waiting for Mr. Fischer ended at 6:48 A.M. yesterday when his Icelandic Airlines plane taxied to a stop at the airport five hours and 12 minutes before Mr. Euwe's disqualification deadline.
He stayed out of sight in the plane until two lines of police formed a wall to seal him off from newsmen so he would not have to answer questions before he got into a waiting car.
Caption: Bobby Fischer, accompanied by a friend, Icelandic chess player, Fridrik Olafsson, arrives in Reykjavik, Iceland to play Boris Spassky, a Russian, for the world chess title.
