The Daily Messenger Canandaigua, New York Wednesday, February 02, 1972 - Page 4
The Lighter Side: Tension Is Mounting Over Chess Tournament
WASHINGTON (UPI) —Although the event is still some six months away, excitement over next summer's world championship chess match already is reaching fever pitch.
According to the World Chess Federation, 10 countries and five cities have submitted record bids as high as $152,000 for the right to play host to the title duel between Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union and Bobby Fischer of the United States.
And that probably is only a drop in the bucket. There also is in prospect “vast gross income from television and film rights.”
Having never seen a televised chess match myself, I approached a network official and asked how he would go about covering the 24-game encounter.
Cosell Plus Analysts
“I would hire Howard Cosell to handle the move-by-move commentary,” he said, “and then I would sign up a team of analysts including Don Meredith, Bill Russell, Byron Nelson, Jack Kramer, Leonard Bernstein, Billy Graham, Bud Wilkinson, Elizabeth Taylor, Alfred M. Landon, Jack Anderson, Henry Kissinger, Lawrence Welk, Howard Hughes, David Eisenhower, Jimmy Hoffa and Billie Sol Estes.”
“Why so many?”
“When you are covering a match that may last more than two months, you need a lot of analyses to fill in the time between moves,” he explained.
In addition, he continued, many technical innovations would be employed to bring the home audience all of the suspense, tension and thrills experienced by spectators on the scene.
“We would arrange for a Goodyear blimp to hover over the chess board and provide interesting and unusual camera angles,” he said.
Mike-Equipped Players
“Each player would be equipped with a portable mike so the audience could hear them muttering to themselves as they mulled over their next moves.
“We also would assign a board level camera to isolate on Fischer, who is noted for his daring style of play, and we would have instant-replays of all the vital moves, such as checkmates and castlings.
“Moreover, part of the match would be presented on prime time, live and in color, possibly in the 9-to-11 slot on Monday evenings.”
“That sounds breathtaking,” I said, “but what would happen if neither player made a move during that period?”
“In that case,” he said, “we would spellbind the audience with a rerun of the 1956 Republican Convention.”
