AThe Vancouver Sun Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Tuesday, June 08, 1971 - Page 5
Letters To The Editor - Checkmate
Editor, The Sun, Sir — In a letter May 31, John McPhail is critical of my refusal, on behalf of the University of British Columbia, to make available the library of the Graduate Student Centre to the chess players Fischer and Taimanov.
Three weeks before the tournament, at some inconvenience to the centre, I arranged facilities and services that were pronounced satisfactory by the Canadian Chess Federation. On the afternoon before the match was to begin the Russian captain demanded the library; Fischer had accepted the arrangements. The Graduate Student Centre is a private club with a membership of about 2,800. I refused to ask the members to vacate their library for a period of three to four weeks. This is not the way in which students are treated at the University of British Columbia.
I have two comments to make to Mr. MacPhail. First, guests owe a certain courtesy to hosts. Second, it is wise to acquire command of the facts before dashing irresponsibly into print.
MALCOLM F. McGREGOR, Chairman, Board of Directors, Graduate Student Centre, University of B.C.
