ANew York Times, New York, New York, Sunday, August 01, 1971 - Page 44
Spassky Prefers Fischer As Chess Title Opponent
Vienna, July 31 (Reuters)— The world chess champion, Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, says that he will probably defend his title against a compatriot, Tigran Petrosian, but that he would prefer to play against Bobby Fischer, the American grandmasters.
Fischer recently defeated Bent Larsen of Denmark, earning a match against Petrosian for the right to take on Spassky in the championship round.
Spassky told the Hungarian grandmaster Laszlo Szabo, in an interview in today's issue of the Budapest newspaper Magyar Nemzet that “Fischer's competition results are better, but a competition is one thing and a challenger's match is another.”
“I think it would be easier for me to play with the American player than with Petrosian, and the problems involved in the the match would also better engage my attention,” Spassky said.
