El Paso Times El Paso, Texas Sunday, February 14, 1971 - Page 117 ★ / ★
An Exclusive Interview
There was one game which will be part of chess history, the game Spassky played against Robert Fischer at the Chess Olympics in Siegen, Germany. Nothing else seemed to exist that day. Spassky won the game and afterwards analyzed it for about ten minutes for the public in the demonstration room. Bobby Fischer was a sad man. They could not get him to say anything.
Afterwards I talked to Spassky on his way to the hotel and he told me that one game does not mean much, although this particular game, before it took place, had become an important one to millions of chess fans all over the world.
But enough of this. Let's see how he answered some of my questions:
“The Chess Olympics is always a great holiday, but it is high time that the FIDE changes some of its rules for the semi-final competition. Most people know most of the teams that will make the finals, so why waste time?” asked Spassky.
“Congratulations on winning the Chess Olympics for the tenth time.” I said. “Do you think your team was as good as in previous years?”
“Yes. We did not try too hard in the preliminaries because all we wanted was to qualify. In the finals, we found that most teams we met were just as old and maybe as tired as we were. There's no question in my mind that all teams need new blood, including our own. Our team was the oldest, by the way. Had we put in Botvinnik or Keres, I feel we would have really been weaker. Tal is not the Tal of yore. He has lost much of his spark since his sickness, and it will take a while before he will be well enough to play on an Olympic team.”
“You know that Tal and Fischer has spurred interest in the game. Who do you think is the greater?”
“Tal did most to spur the imagination of the youth, but it is great to have a figure like Fischer nowadays,” said Boris.
“An old question, Boris, but who do you believe is your greatest threat?”
“Naturally it is Fischer but, unfortunately, he does not want to go through the Interzonal so that he can play me. He says that he won't play in the Interzonal unless the rules governing the matches that follow are changed in certain ways. He naturally would like to play me a match outside the domination of the FIDE, which is very hard for me to agree to.”
“How about Petrosian winning the right to play you for the third time for the world title?”
“It would be an interesting match, but I still believe Fischer will win that right if he participates.”
“When do you intend to prepare for your next world match?”
Spassky smiled: “Every game I play is a preparation for my next match.”
“What do you think of Fischer's wins in Zagreb and Buenos Aires? He also feels he can wins against you in a match.”
Spassky's face became more serious. “It shows that Fischer, besides being a genius, works hard. But about beating me, that is a matter of opinion. I would, if I played a match with him, worry more about how I should prepare for the match than about its outcome.”
Space doesn't permit us to print the Fischer-Spassky game this week, but we plan to next. In the meantime, here is a bolt out of the blue, from the Olympics at Siegen.
Boris Spassky vs Pedro Lorinczi Retek
Siegen (1970), Siegen FRG, Sep-??
Sicilian Defense: Old Sicilian. Open (B32) 1-0
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1583013
