AThe Miami Herald Miami, Florida Friday, October 29, 1971 - Page 6
Creeping Up On Chessmasters
POWER, says Bobby Fischer, is the only thing the Russians understand. This week, Mr. Fischer and the Russians came to the most clear understanding reached between this country and their's in some years.
Bobby Fischer, the irrepressible, restless U.S. chess champion, eliminated Russian stalwart Tigran Petrosian, in a Buenos Aires match and thus became the first American to qualify as final challenger to the world championship.
Next spring there will be a 24-game match with Boris Spassky to determine whether one of the Russians' most prized baubles will come to the United States.
In a sense, Mr. Fischer has been preparing for this match since he was six, when chess took over his life. In the last 22 years he has almost taken over chess.
The Russians made the mistake of angering him. They called him lucky. In past matches, they have tried psychological harassment of him. Mr. Fischer's reaction: “The creeps.”
George Bernard Shaw said that chess is “a foolish expedient for making idle people believe they are doing something very clever.”
The Russians today probably would disagree. Neither a lazy nor a slow man could teach those old chessmasters new tricks.
