The Big Book of World Chess Championships by Andre Schulz

Author:Andre Schulz
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: New in Chess

After the very first move of the opening game Fischer had complained to the arbiter Lothar Schmid about the presence of the cameras on the stage and the noise they made. During the game Fischer repeated his complaint several times. The film rights had been granted to the American film maker Chester Fox and, as reported, the players were to receive 30% of the revenues from these film rights. The game was resumed on the following day, but Fischer had to resign after a further 16 moves. He had previously given Schmid an ultimatum that the cameras had to disappear from the stage and not be set up there any more. The organisers found themselves in a dilemma, because they had contractually awarded all the film rights to Chester Fox.

Since the problem had not been solved before the start of the second game on the following day, Fischer did not turn up for the game. While his clock was running – the rules provided that he had an hour to appear, or else the game would be lost – hectic negotiations were taking place. Chester Fox finally agreed to remove the cameras from the stage. 40 minutes had elapsed, which the challenger no longer had on his ticking clock. After Fischer received the news of the removal of the cameras, he demanded that his clock be reset. Arbiter Schmid refused this and indicated the rules. Fischer thereupon did not appear for the second game and lost it to a walkover. The match now stood at 2:0 for the title defender and was once more just on the point of being abandoned.

There followed hectic negotiations as to whether it was lawful to score the game as a loss for Fischer and about what was to happen with the cameras. Measures were taken as to how loud the cameras were and it was established that they actually made no measureable sound. Fischer received a further call from Henry Kissinger, who tried to convince him to continue. Fischer, who in the meantime had booked flights to New York, finally explained that he would appear for the third game, on 16th July 1972, but that it must be played in a separate room behind the stage without cameras. Arbiter Schmid asked Spassky whether he agreed, Spassky did and so the playing table was set up in a room behind the stage.

When Fischer arrived, he discovered a small camera, which was to send pictures out into the hall for spectators and shouted at Schmid. Now Spassky also slowly became angry. At a critical point Schmid pushed both players back into their chairs and ordered them: ‘Play chess!’ They did. After move 40 the game was adjourned in a winning position for Fischer. On the next day Spassky saw the sealed move and then resigned. That evening Spassky sent a letter to Schmid, in which he demanded a return to the stage. He said that the room behind the stage was too noisy on account of the air-conditioning and the noises from outside.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.