New York Times, New York, New York, Friday, December 31, 1971 - Page 21
On Bobby Fischer's Mind: The Match Site, Spassky and Money by Alden Whitman
Bobby Fischer, the 28-year-old American chess wizard, said yesterday that he would like it best if an American city was the high bidder for next spring's world title match with Boris Spassky, 34, of the Soviet Union.
Mr. Fischer, who made the statement in an interview, said his second choice would be Canada.
He is expected to find out over the weekend. So far, eight bids for the match have been received, with midnight tonight as the deadline for offers to put up $100,000 or more for the purse, the biggest chess prize ever.
Bids have been submitted by Canada, France, Iceland, Israel, Switzerland and Yugoslavia (which sent in two offers), and a last-minute bid came from Brooklyn on Wednesday.
The winner of the match is to get 62.5 per cent of the purse and the loser 37.5 per cent.
After the bids are unsealed, both the United States Chess Federation and its Soviet counterpart must agree formally on the match site, but presumably the highest bidder will get the match. The deadline for agreement is Feb. 1.
“I'd like to play in the United States because I'm used to the climate and the people, and the lighting is better,” Mr. Fischer said. He added with an enigmatic laugh: “But I wouldn't want to play in Brooklyn. Some other American city, but not Brooklyn.”
Mr. Fischer, who was born in Chicago and reared in Brooklyn, did not elaborate, but he is accustomed to playing his matches in such metropolitan centers as Buenos Aires and Belgrade.
He earned the right to challenge Mr. Spassky—who has held the world championship since 1969—by defeating Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union in Buenos Aires last fall. Mr. Petrosian is a former champion.
“I'll play Spassky regardless [of the site].” Mr. Fischer said. “I want the money, and I want the title even more.” The money, he added is very important (“I've plenty of ways to spend it”) because “chess is my business.”
He believes his chances of taking the world title are good. “I'm looking forward to the match,” he said. “I'm definitely confident that I'll master Spassky.”
Should Mr. Fischer win the 24-game match, he would become the first American world chess champion. As it is, he is the first American challenger since the championships were instituted in 1866 and Wilhelm Steinitz of Austria defeated Adolf Andersen of Germany. Since 1951 all the champions and challengers have been Soviet players.
Although Mr. Fischer is accounted young at 28, he will not be the youngest champion if he wins. Mikhail Tal of the Soviet Union was 23 when he gained the title in 1960. Emanuel Lasker of Germany won at 28. Mr. Fischer will be 29 on March 9.
Mr. Fischer returned — untanned — to New York on Monday from a month of exhibition play in summertime Argentina, and has not yet begun to tune up for the Spassky games.
“I'm not like a musician, I don't practice every day,” he said, “but I keep chess on my mind in general.”
Soon he will also have Mr. Spassky on his mind. “There's a lot of literature around about him,” Mr. Fischer said, “and I'll be studying some of it not only to find out about his games, but also his psychology.”
