Spokane Daily Chronicle Spokane, Washington Tuesday, October 05, 1971 - Page 4
Turnstiles for Chess? Yes!
One of the few freedoms enjoyed by just about all people everywhere, even under systems which deny individual rights, is the freedom to choose the entertainment they prefer.
In England, for instance, it is not mandatory to go to cricket matches. In this country, a person has every right not to be a football fan. In the heart of the jungle, tribal law does not dictate that everybody must enjoy the vine-swinging exhibitions.
But what some people enjoy as entertainment, or fail to enjoy, always will astonish a great many other people. This leads into the item that in Buenos Aires these days, the rousing box-office smash is an international chess match.
True, the 12-game month-long tournament between United States star Bobby Fischer and Soviet Union ace Tigran Petrosian is taking place in a theatre that seats just 1,100, not a great stadium. But that there are 1,100 persons in the known world who would scramble for seats or standing room at a chess match is a matter of incredibility to an average American.
There are ways in which the sellout crowd is shown who moved which way; and the overflow in the lobby at the first game could see on a large demonstration board how 28-year-old Bobby fought his way out of a defensive posture, exchanged a few pieces, forced the win of a knight, and defeated Petrosian in 40 moves.
Thus, while American football teams are battling toward the bowl games, Fischer and 42-year-old Tigran Petrosian will be struggling to advance to a title encounter with world champion Boris Spassky. Anyone who doubts that chess is a spectator sport should just try to get tickets for the San Martin Theatre in Buenos Aires these days.
