The Gift of Chess

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Best of Chess Fischer Newspaper Archives
• Robert J. Fischer, 1955 ➦
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• Robert J. Fischer, 1971 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1972 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1973 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1974 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1975 ➦
• Robert J. Fischer, 1976 ➦
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• Robert J. Fischer, 1978 ➦
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• Robert J. Fischer, 1980 ➦
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Showing posts with label Chess Popularity. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chess Popularity. Show all posts

Special: The Fischer-Spassky Chess Championship

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The San Francisco Examiner San Francisco, California Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 27

Special: The Fischer-Spassky Chess Championship
Spassky Chess Championship: chess master George Koltanowski previews upcoming match between USSR champion Boris Spassky and America's challenger Bobby Fischer to be televised on Channel 9 Sunday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. (30 min.)

The Fischer-Spassky Chess ChampionshipThe Fischer-Spassky Chess Championship Fri, Jun 30, 1972 – 27 · The San Francisco Examiner (San Francisco, California) · Newspapers.com
Duplicates ★ · ★ · ★

Hot Line

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The Charleston Daily Mail Charleston, West Virginia Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 9

Hot Line
Q. Why doesn't one of the newspapers give the news every day of the Bobby Fischer chess match which takes place later this month?
D. N.
Sissonville

A. Bobby Fischer's match with Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union begins Sunday at Reykjavik, Iceland, and the Daily Mail plans stories this week and during the match. You may have seen the story Monday concerning Fischer's unhappiness with the lighting at the match site.

Hot LineHot Line Fri, Jun 30, 1972 – Page 9 · The Charleston Daily Mail (Charleston, West Virginia) · Newspapers.com

Who Is Chess 'Bad Guy?'

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Sioux City Journal Sioux City, Iowa Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 4

Who Is Chess 'Bad Guy?'
The forthcoming chess match for the world championship between Bobby Fischer, the U.S. whiz, and Boris Spassky, the Soviet expert, is receiving what politicians would call a “good press.” At least, there has been a lot of coverage of the big event well in advance, much of it centering around Fischer's chest-beating over the playing site and so on.
We noted the other day a news article written from Moscow by an American correspondent for an Eastern newspaper. It was an interview with Spassky, whom the writer described as “quiet in manner and laconic of speech,” while portraying Fischer as the 28-year-old “enfant terrible” of the chess board.
“Bobby Fischer,” the writer explained, “is known for his brashness and bombast, and his squabble over the venue of the match and over the television and film rights has done nothing to enhance his popularity.”
Something like the old horse operas and “rassling” matches, where there's always a “good guy” and a “bad guy.” But — and this worries us a little — the good guy is supposed to win. Hopefully, this traditional pattern won't preclude the U.S. champion from check-mating the “good guy” from the U.S.S.R.

Who Is Chess 'Bad Guy?'

Television Highlights

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Oakland Tribune Oakland, California Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 24

Television Highlights
SPECIAL—“The Fischer-Spassky Chess Championship: A Weekly Review.” Play-by-play account of the World Championship Chess Match between American challenger Bobby Fischer and present world champion Boris Spassky of Russia. Channels 9, 32; 7:30 p.m.

Television Highlights

Channel Hopping

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Dayton Daily News Dayton, Ohio Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 30

Channel Hopping
If all goes well in that world chess championship between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky this week end, you can watch the games on “Wide World of Sports” … First match is scheduled to air next Saturday at 5 …

Channel HoppingChannel Hopping Fri, Jun 30, 1972 – 30 · Dayton Daily News (Dayton, Ohio) · Newspapers.com

TV-Radio Briefs: Chess Match

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The Cincinnati Enquirer Cincinnati, Ohio Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 8

TV-Radio Briefs: Chess Match
The world chess tournament (Boris Spassky vs. Bobby Fischer), due to be colorcast over Channel 48 Sunday from 1 to 6 p. m., has a unique story behind it.
The action will take place in Reykjavik, Iceland. The telecast, however, will originate from New York.
Shelby Lyman, a master chess player and instructor, will receive the play-by-play in New York via teletype. He will then duplicate the moves on a demonstration chess board. On a second board, he will demonstrate alternate and counter moves to clarify what is going on.
The game—the first of the series—could go on for five hours, or it could be somewhat shorter. Experts will also be on hand to provide commentary and further clarifications.

TV-Radio Briefs: Chess Match
Duplicates ★ · ★

Serious Fischer

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Hattiesburg American Hattiesburg, Mississippi Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 1

Serious Fischer — A serious-faced Bobby Fischer is shown in a New York Kennedy Airport coffee shop about midnight as he apparently was preparing to fly to Iceland for his world championship chess series with Russian champion Boris Spassky. Seconds later Fischer broke away from the group of photographers and reporters and raced out into a driving rain. Icelandic airlines said he did not board a plane. Story on page 15. (AP Wirephoto)

Serious Fischer

Chess Goes Other Way

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The Windsor Star Windsor, Ontario, Canada Friday, June 30, 1972 - Page 22

Chess Goes Other Way
IN GOLF SOME PLAYERS do better at match, rather than stroke play. However, almost all prominent competition today is conducted at stroke play which has two main features - it rewards consistency and hurts the hot and cold competitor, and it keeps the field and more major names around longer.
Chess has gone the other way, in part at least because Bobby Fischer demanded it. And this is the principal reason Fischer, the 29-year-old American, is favored in many circles to dethrone Russia's Boris Spassky in a 24-game match starting Sunday at Reykjavik. Iceland.
Fischer, conceded by his peers the most exciting chess player in the world, decreed several years ago he would never again compete in tournament play against force of Russian numbers. He argued, and so did others, that no single Westerner could hope to win the world championship because the Russians were able to exert so much massive candidacy.
It is a simple fact that Russia mass produces more chess masters than any other country or even any group of nations. For that reason they have owned the world title for 45 years, a crushing domination broken only for three years in the middle thirties when Dr. Max Euwe, a Hollander and now head of FIDE, the ruling body, intervened between tenures of the first of great modern Russian champions, Alexander Alekhine.

FISCHER HAS LONG considered himself the best chess player in the world. It enraged and frustrated him that his ambitions for world supremacy were stymied by the FIDE system of round-robin competition which served to perpetuate Russian dominance. He called it a Communist plot hatched in Moscow.
FIDE has finally capitulated to his pleas. It allowed him to challenge through match play. Head to head, he knocked off six major qualifiers in a devastating display of mastery.

HIS FINAL OBSTACLE to getting to Spassky was Tigran Petrosian, a Russian and world champion from 1963 to 1967. He blew Petrosian off the boards last fall at Buenos Aires without difficulty.
So now it is not Russia versus Fischer, but Spassky versus Fischer. The odds have swung to Fischer, a brilliant player at the height of his powers. Spassky is 35, and in five games against Fischer has won three and drawn two. But, chess experts don't take much stock in that. In head-to-head play, Fischer is rated unbeatable by more disciples than himself.
Fischer can become the first official American world champion. The strongest American of the past was Paul Morphy who performed in the 19th century. Morphy was unofficial world champion of his time. He quit serious chess before he was 25.
The first world champion, so recognized, was William Steinitz of Vienna. Steinitz ruled for 27 years through 1893. He died in poverty, insane, on Ward's Island in 1900, having moved from Europe to the United States while still champion.

A GERMAN, DR. EMANUEL LASKER defeated Steinitz and held the crown for another 27 years. A Cuban, the all-time great Jose Capablanca succeeded Lasker. After that it was the Russians from Alekhine to Spassky with Mikhail Botvinnik, Vassily Smyslov, Mikhail Tal and Petrosian in between.
Nerves will play a major role in the matches at Reykjavik. They will play three games a week, using three other days in the week for adjourned games. The rules call for 40 moves in two and a half hours, 16 moves per hour in adjourned play. The clock is a merciless taskmaster in match chess. The unsure player often blunders against time, and if the blunder doesn't get him, the clock does by way of forfeit.

MASTER CHESS PLAYERS are notorious for the size of their egos, also for the depth of their apprehension.
The classic story on self-confidence concerns the Russian master, Efim Bogolyubov. When an admirer asked him whether he preferred the white or black pieces, he answered, “I have no preference. When I play white, I win because I have the first move. When I play black, I win because I am Bogolyubov.”
One of the best tales on apprehension would be the cigar smoking of Lasker. During a tournament, one of Lasker's opponents got him to promise he wouldn't smoke during the game. Lasker had a habit, apparently, of blowing smoke in his opponent's face.
After a few moves, Lasker took a cigar from his pocket and put it in his mouth. His opponent protested to the tournament director, saying, “Lasker agreed not to smoke.” The umpire responded. “But, he isn't. His cigar is not lit.”
Whereupon the man said. “Ah, but he threatens to smoke, and you know very well how he values a threat.”

SPASSKY IS REPUTED to possess an excellent set of nerves. No hangups are reported about him. On the contrary, Fischer has a history of wild reaction to distraction. He is wont to make all kinds of demands concerning arrangements.

THIS DOESN'T MEAN Fischer is likely to lose his cool in a tight game situation. On the contrary, his recent opponents have been the ones to lose their cool. Petrosian and two others he defeated in the eliminations wound up in hotel or hospital room seclusion suffering from nervous exhaustion.
Fischer has done nothing in his life except study chess from the age of nine. When he was 14 he actually had more experience than most chess masters twice his age.
Some observers figure Spassky is in for a nervous breakdown.

Chess Goes Other Way

Chess Matches

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News-Journal Mansfield, Ohio Thursday, June 29, 1972 - Page 8

Chess Matches
Q — Will the chess championships be on television, and who will he playing? — K. M., South Diamond St.

A — Your question came just in time. The title matches, featuring Bobby Fischer of the United States and Boris Spassky of Russia, will be seen Saturday, July 8 from 5-6:30 p. m. on the Wide World of Sports. The show will be presented from Reykjavik, Iceland, the first time in history that the matches have been held outside the Soviet Union. Spassky has held the world title for the past 23 years and has faced Fischer five times, winning three times and tying twice. Yet Fischer, a prodigy who won the U. S. national championship at the age of 14, is a favorite to many to win the world championship following his relatively easy succession of wins in preliminary competition. A maximum of 24 games will be held with Spassky needing only a tie to retain his title.

Chess MatchesChess Matches Thu, Jun 29, 1972 – 8 · News-Journal (Mansfield, Ohio) · Newspapers.com

Fischer Gets Chess Title Shot Sunday

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Dayton Daily News Dayton, Ohio Thursday, June 29, 1972 - Page 87

Fischer Gets Chess Title Shot Sunday
Reykjavik — (UPI) — Bobby Fischer's big dream comes true Sunday when he sits down at the checkered board to play world chess champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
The American chess genius considers the world championship match a mere formality.
HE HAS SAID time and again that if he just gets a shot at the 35-year-old champion, he is certain of defeating him.
If he succeeds — and there are many experts who believe he will — he will become the second American world champion in the long history of chess and the first non-Russian to rule as champion since Max Euwe of the Netherlands held the title briefly in the 1930s.
He would also pocket five-eighths of the prize money, which totals $125,000. The money was put up by the Icelandic government and city of Reykjavik to win the right to stage the match in this unlikeliest of settings — on an island in the storm-tossed North Atlantic.
The games will be played Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays with adjourned games being finished on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays.
THE MATCH is scheduled for 24 games, but as is customary in world championship play, the remaining games will be canceled when one of the two has reached 12.5 points or more. The players get one point for a win and half a point for a draw.
To retain his title, Spassky needs only 12 points — a draw. To win the title, Fischer will have to score 12.5 points or more.

Fischer Gets Chess Title Shot Sunday

Here's How To Get In Shape For a Chess Championship

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The Evening Sun Baltimore, Maryland Thursday, June 29, 1972 - Page 26

Here's How To Get In Shape For a Chess Championship
They say chess is a great mental game, but you'd never know it from the way U.S. king Bobby Fischer prepares. Fischer meets Russia's Boris Spassky beginning July 2 in Reykjavik, Iceland, and he's been playing tennis and punching the bag at Grossinger, N.Y., for the past month. Maybe he figures the Russian will tire just watching.

Here's How To Get In Shape For a Chess ChampionshipHere's How To Get In Shape For a Chess Championship Thu, Jun 29, 1972 – 26 · The Evening Sun (Baltimore, Maryland) · Newspapers.com

Chess Master On The Court

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The Greenwood Commonwealth Greenwood, Mississippi Thursday, June 29, 1972 - Page 9

Chess Master On The Court
Russian chess champion Boris Spassky returns volley, Wednesday, as he works out in Reykjavik for upcoming world chess title against American Bobby Fischer. Earlier, Spassky stormed off the court after photographers began taking pictures. “You are ruining our program,” Spassky said. “This is a daily routine which I must get on with.” —AP Wirephoto via cable from Reykjavik

Chess Master On The Court
Duplicates ★ · ★

Limit Coverage Of Chess Match

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Democrat and Chronicle Rochester, New York Thursday, June 29, 1972 - Page 17

Limit Coverage Of Chess Match
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP) — Organizers of the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky world championship chess match will restrict move-by-move coverage and photographs of the contenders inside the contest hall, it was announced yesterday.
The announcement brought protests from news wire services and from two television outlets which are planning in-depth accounts of the 24-game match based on move-by-move reports from The Associated Press. The first game is scheduled for Sunday.
WXXI said it plans to carry the world chess championship matches between Fischer and Spassky beginning Sunday at 10 a.m. Commentary will be provided by American Chess Master Shelby Lyman, who will monitor the championships (transmitted from Reykjavik, Iceland) from a studio in Albany.
Lyman will analyze the potential course of the game using a demonstration chess board. On Sunday, WXXI will broadcast the matches from 10 a.m. until completion. During the week, telecasts of the matches begin at 1 p.m., with periodic bulletins after 4 p.m., when regular programming starts.

Limit Coverage Of Chess MatchLimit Coverage Of Chess Match Thu, Jun 29, 1972 – Page 17 · Democrat and Chronicle (Rochester, New York) · Newspapers.com

Taking Pawns Takes Brawn

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Philadelphia Daily News Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 2

Taking Pawns Takes Brawn
If Bobby Fischer should beat Russia's Boris Spassky in the world's chess championship tournament next month, Fischer could try checkmating Joe Namath or Joe Frazier next. He'll certainly be in condition for it.
According to an experiment at Temple University, chess is every bit as physically taxing as a rugged session of football or boxing.
THE EXPERIMENT was conducted at Temple in 1970 by Charlotte Leedy, a chess player herself who was then a teaching fellow working on her doctorate. Now she is an assistant professor of recreation at the University of Maryland.
And, the professor insists, one must be in good shape to push those queens, castles and bishops around.
“My tests showed that the heart of a man running hard beats at the rate of 180 a minute,” she said. “That same heartbeat rate showed up in those concentrating on a tough game of chess.”
FISCHER, 29, has trained as physically hard for the match, set to begin Sunday in Reykjavik, Iceland, as any athlete. His daily regimen includes morning calisthenics in front of his television set, followed by swimming, tennis and bowling.
Though Fischer canceled his flight to Iceland last Monday and had the chess world wondering if he would show up for the event, an adviser yesterday promised the star would be there. The adviser, Fred Cramer, said Fischer objected to the umpire, Lothar Schmidt of Germany.
Despite the need for brawn as well as brain, chess gets the ho-hum treatment from most Americans. Russia has about 4 million chess players who compete in tournaments, America about 25,000.
But Fischer is our big hope to win the world championships. He's Muhammad Ali of the chess board.

Taking Pawns Takes BrawnTaking Pawns Takes Brawn Wed, Jun 28, 1972 – Page 2 · Philadelphia Daily News (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) · Newspapers.com

It's $5 a Game To See Champs

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Springfield Leader and Press Springfield, Missouri Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 13

It's $5 a Game To See Champs
By Ann Hencken
New York (AP) — Promotional aspects of the Fischer-Spassky world championship chess match are becoming as important as they are in any big league sport.
Chess matches are not usually world happenings. But with the keen interest sparked by American Bobby Fischer challenging Russian Boris Spassky for the world title, its a different situation.
The Icelandic Chess Federation has put up close to $200,000 for the 24-game match to be held for two months in Reykjavik, Iceland, starting July 2.
The games will be played in the Reykjavik Sportshall, which seats about 3,000 people. The match will be open to the public and tickets will cost $5 a game or $75 for the 24 scheduled games.
Of the $200,000 put up, some $125,000 will be paid in prizes to the players, according to the federation.
Fischer, 29, and Spassky, 35, will also divide 60 per cent of the income from films and television.
The federation has signed a 99-year contract with Chester Fox and Co., Inc. for exclusive worldwide visual rights, including rights to film the match and still photos of the match taken inside the Sportshall.
Fox and the federation will split the profits equally.
The price Fox paid for the rights is undisclosed. But he did say he would have to spend some $200,000 for the color filming.
“I guess it's a coup, but it's quite an undertaking,” Fox said in New York.
He has asked for bids from interested television stations in countries throughout the world. He is concerned with the highest bidders in each country, and if a contract is signed, he will send them film clips as the match progresses.
“We'll be negotiating straight through Sunday and beyond. It's been very hectic. There's a lot of interest in it, more so in the rest of the world than in the U.S.,” said Fox, who adds that the only two countries which have sent cables saying they would not bid are Kuwait and Jordan.
“We've spoken with Tass, briefly… There hasn't been that much interest from the Russians.” says Fox, adding that he will not name countries negotiating, or those which have signed contracts, until negotiations are finalized.
In the United States, ABC has contracted for exclusive film rights. The Fox film segments will be shown Saturdays on the ABC program “Wide World of Sports.”
Fox declined to say how much ABC paid for the rights. He did comment that he has not suggested bid prices for those interested.
“I find the news media have their own way of evaluating this. They're immensely fair,” said Fox, adding he has used a sliding scale depending on the country.

However, in the United States, Channel 13—WNDT. New York, and Teleprompter Cable T.V. have planned programs discussing the action at the match, without the use of the Fox film.
Channel 13 plans a move-by-move commentary and analysis on the match, by chess master Shelby Lyman, who will work from a studio in Albany, N.Y. using vertical boards to illustrate the moves.
The extensive coverage would start Sunday, July 2 and run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., nationally. It would continue three times a week throughout the match, with shorter broadcasts Tuesday and Thursday for cities on the Eastern seaboard.
Richard Gitter, lawyer for Channel 13—WNDT, said Fox and the federation threatened to go to court, if these plans were not abandoned.
He told them that plans were being continued and that he was authorized by Teleprompter to similarly inform.
“There's something outrageous about the Chess Federation and Fox trying to limit coverage,” said Gitter, “It could have been any kind of major news event.”
“I think the people who'll be watching us will not be the same people who're watching Wide World of Sports. I don't think we're competitive,” said Frank Leicht, vice president and director of programming and administration at Channel 13—WNDT.
“We have stated that we are in favor of absolute the total dissemination of the news. However where a device is used to recreate or simulate private property, well, that is not the use of news but an abuse,” said Richard C. Stein, lawyer for Fox.
He further added, “Mr. Fox has exclusive film rights granted to him by the federation and those are his rights. Any reproduction would appear to infringe on those rights to the detriment of the Federation and Mr. Fox.
James Halperin, lawyer for the Icelandic Chess Federation, denied a report they were served an injunction.
“Our law office hasn't served anyone with a restraining order, he said, adding he would not comment on future plans.
Roone Arledge, president of ABC Sports, has no objections to the proposed plans for outside program on the match.
“I think that would be excellent programming and a good thing for them to do… We're going to do it in a condensed, limited way. As long as we can do what we want to do, we'd be delighted to cooperate,” said Arledge.
“If they do a move-by-move thing, I'll be watching,” he said.

It's $5 a Game To See Champs
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Physical Training for Chess

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Albuquerque Journal Albuquerque, New Mexico Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 4

Physical Training for Chess
Many persons smirked when they read about Bobby Fischer's physical fitness program as he prepared for the world championship chess match against Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
Fischer's daily regimen includes morning calisthenics in front of his television set, followed by swimming, tennis and bowling. (Close-lipped Spassky won't disclose his own training program, although it is known he likes to play tennis.)
All this for a game in which the opponents mostly sit, wait, cerebrate and occasionally move a pawn, bishop or queen?
Science has proved, however, that Fischer isn't merely a health nut.
A bio-kinetic experiment was conducted at Temple University to determine how much energy is actually expended by a chess player in a tournament game. Pulse, heartbeat and other physiological measurements were taken on 12 volunteers during play.
The surprising result: Chess is as physically taxing as a strenuous session of boxing or football.
Bobby seems to have the last laugh.

Physical Training for Chess

Sports Angles: You'd Never Guess This About Chess

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Asbury Park Press Asbury Park, New Jersey Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 29

Sports Angles: You'd Never Guess This About Chess
Want to be a good chess player?
Then start a weightlifting program, jog 10 miles a day, do calisthenics, climb mountains, get in shape, get physical.
I know.
“This guy is nuts,” you're muttering to yourself. “Chess isn't even as strenuous as tiddlywinks.”
We've all maybe played a little chess on rainy days and watched others play it — old codgers who couldn't see the men without glasses and tender tykes not suited to contact sports.
Trouble with us, though, is we just didn't know what we were watching. We always looked at two guys playing chess as just sitting there with their brains going a mile a minute. One guy would frown if the other guy shuffled his feet too much or drummed his fingers too loudly or scratched himself.
It's impolite in chess, we always thought, to indulge in any little mannerisms which might distract your opponent. We have seen some of the hot shots who play 20 or 30 people at a time and figured they put in a little walking from board to board, but usually their evenings didn't last long — they would whip everyone in a few moves.

JUST SHOWS YOU how dumb you can be.
Now we learn from researchers a game of chess is as tough physically as a go at football or boxing. Something called a “bio-kinetic” experiment at Temple University in 1970 proved all of this we are advised.
Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, who are going to square off in Iceland for the world championship, are both physical persons, we are informed. Spassky, being Russian, won't divulge his training regimen, but we know it probably includes tennis.
Fischer, being American, tells all of the details of his training. He does calisthenics in front of a television set, in the morning and follows it up with tennis, swimming and bowling.

THE MATCH, to consist of no more than 24 games, will begin Sunday. Just like in boxing, a draw means Spassky will retain his title. He has beaten Fischer in five previous meetings, but the American feels he is in better form now and is predicting he'll take the Russian master out in less than the 24-game distance. Maybe he feels Spassky is over the hill, or maybe he has developed a new punch since the last match.
The match will be judged on the point system — one for a win and a half for a draw. Fischer has to score 12½, to win, while Spassky needs only to 12 to retain his title.

CHESS HAS never ranked very high in the United States. Nothing at all like horse racing, demolition derbies, or even soccer, a game invented by some South Americans who got hold of a basketball and thought you kicked it. Probably it is because we Americans always only saw two guys sitting across from each other looking down at some carved figures. We always missed all of the physical action in the game.
But for a long while I've been trying to figure out why chess was carried on sports pages and when I was young enough to keep asking all I got was grunts and dirty looks from sports editors. Then I became ashamed of showing my ignorance by asking such a question.

NOW I KNOW. Temple University says chess is as tough as football or boxing. Maybe that's why Ron Johnson and Bob Tucker of the New York Giants play it all the time — to get in shape for football. And come to think of it, I remember seeing the New York Giants Dick Barnett playing chess during the NBA play-offs.
I was so dumb I thought he was relaxing after a tough game the night before. I didn't know he was working strenuously to get in shape for the next game.
Maybe we ought to send Yancy Durham or Ray Arcel over to work in Fischer's corner during the matches. They're the best cut men in the business.

Sports Angles: You'd Never Guess This About Chess

Fischer Leaves For Chess Match

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Reno Gazette-Journal Reno, Nevada Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 2

Fischer Leaves For Chess Match
Los Angeles (AP)—American challenger Bobby Fischer has left Los Angeles after a final round of training for his world champion chess series in Iceland and is scheduled to leave New York tonight for Reykjavik, local sources said today.
The secretive Fischer spent about a week in California preparing for his series of 24 matches, set to start Sunday with the recognized champion, Boris Spassky of Russia, the sources said. They said Fischer attended a local chess tournament and visited his sister in San Francisco during his stay.
Meanwhile promotional aspects of the match are becoming as important as they are in any big league sport.
Chess matches are not usually world happenings. But with the keen interest sparked by American Bobby Fischer challenging Russian Boris Spassky for the world title, it's a different situation.
The Icelandic Chess Federation has put up close to $200,000 for the match.
The match will be open to the public, and tickets will cost $5 a game or $75 for the 24 games. Of the $200,000 put up, some $125,000 will be paid in prizes to the players, according to the federation. Fischer, 29, and Spassky, 35, will also divide 60 per cent of the income from films and television.
The federation has signed a 99-year contract with Chester Fox and Co., Inc. for exclusive worldwide visual rights, including rights to film the match and still photos of the match taken inside the Sportshall.
In the United States, ABC has contracted for exclusive film rights. The Fox film segments will be shown Saturdays on the ABC program, “Wide World of Sports.”
In the United States, Channel 13—WNDT, New York, and Teleprompter Cable T.V. have planned programs discussing the action at the match, with-out the use of the Fox film.
Channel 3 plans a move-by-move commentary and analysis on the match, by chess master Shelby Lyman, who will work from a studio in Albany, N.Y., using vertical boards to illustrate the moves.
The extensive coverage would start Sunday, July 2 and run from 1 p.m. to 6 p.m., nationally. It would continue three times a week throughout the match, with shorter broadcasts Tuesday and Thursday for cities on the Eastern Seaboard.

Fischer Leaves For Chess Match

Fischer-Spassky Duel Becoming 'Big League'

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Austin American-Statesman Austin, Texas Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 53

Fischer-Spassky Duel Becoming 'Big League'
…He has asked for bids from interested television stations in countries throughout the world. He is concerned with the highest bidders in each country, and if a contract is signed, he will send them film clips as the match progresses.
“We'll be negotiating straight through Sunday and beyond. It's been very hectic. There's a lot of interest in it, more so in the rest of the world than in the U.S.,” said Fox, who adds that the only two countries which have sent cables saying they would not bid are Kuwait and Jordan.
“We've spoken with Tass, briefly… There hasn't been that much interest from the Russians,” says Fox, adding that he will not name countries negotiating, or those which have signed contracts, until negotiations are finalized.
In the United States, ABC has contracted for exclusive film rights. The Fox film segments will be shown Saturdays on the ABC program, “Wide World of Sports.”

Fischer-Spassky Duel Becoming 'Big League'

Players Can Follow Games On Own Boards

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The Los Angeles Times Los Angeles, California Wednesday, June 28, 1972 - Page 27

Players Can Follow Games On Own Boards
Each game of the world chess championships will be reported in a form called the Descriptive Notation, which enables other players to follow the game by duplicating each move on their own boards.
Each chess piece has its own letter symbol: K-king, Q-queen, R-rook, N-knight, B-bishop, and P-pawn.
Pieces on the king's side of the board (the right side, when the white pieces are at the bottom) have the letter K preceding the name of the piece itself (i.e., KP, king's pawn, KR, king's rook, KN, king's knight). Pieces on the queen's side (left) are designated queen's rook, knight, pawn, bishop, etc.
Each file takes the name of the piece that stands on it when the game begins and ranks are numbered from 1 to 8, from the side of the board making each move.
Each move is recorded by identifying the piece moved, following it by a hyphen and then naming the square on which it has been placed. Thus, a king's pawn opening is: KP-K4. Black's countermove is recorded opposite, in a separate column.

Players Can Follow Games On Own Boards

Recommended Books

Understanding Chess by William Lombardy Chess Duels, My Games with the World Champions, by Yasser Seirawan No Regrets: Fischer-Spassky 1992, by Yasser Seirawan Chess Fundamentals, by Jose Capablanca Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, by Bobby Fischer My 60 Memorable Games, by Bobby Fischer Bobby Fischer Games of Chess, by Bobby Fischer The Modern Chess Self Tutor, by David Bronstein Russians versus Fischer, by Mikhail Tal, Plisetsky, Taimanov, et al

'til the world understands why Robert J. Fischer criticised the U.S./British and Russian military industry imperial alliance and their own Israeli Apartheid. Sarah Wilkinson explains:

Bobby Fischer, First Amendment, Freedom of Speech
“What a sad story Fischer was,” typed a racist, pro-imperialist colonial troll who supports mega-corporation entities over human rights, police state policies & white supremacy.
To which I replied: “Really? I think he [Bob Fischer] stood up to the broken system of corruption and raised awareness! Whether on the Palestinian/Israel-British-U.S. Imperial Apartheid scam, the Bush wars of ‘7 countries in 5 years,’ illegally, unconstitutionally which constituted mass xenocide or his run in with police brutality in Pasadena, California-- right here in the U.S., police run rampant over the Constitution of the U.S., on oath they swore to uphold, but when Americans don't know the law, and the cops either don't know or worse, “don't care” -- then I think that's pretty darn “sad”. I think Mr. Fischer held out and fought the good fight, steadfast til the day he died, and may he Rest In Peace.
Educate yourself about U.S./State Laws --
https://www.youtube.com/@AuditTheAudit/videos
After which the troll posted a string of profanities, confirming there was never any genuine sentiment of “compassion” for Mr. Fischer, rather an intent to inflict further defamatory remarks.

This ongoing work is a tribute to the life and accomplishments of Robert “Bobby” Fischer who passionately loved and studied chess history. May his life continue to inspire many other future generations of chess enthusiasts and kibitzers, alike.

Robert J. Fischer, Kid Chess Wizard 1956March 9, 1943 - January 17, 2008

The photograph of Bobby Fischer (above) from the March 02, 1956 The Tampa Times was discovered by Sharon Mooney (Bobby Fischer Newspaper Archive editor) on February 01, 2018 while gathering research materials for this ongoing newspaper archive project. Along with lost games now being translated into Algebraic notation and extractions from over two centuries of newspapers, it is but one of the many lost treasures to be found in the pages of old newspapers since our social media presence was first established November 11, 2017.

Special Thanks