AArizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona Friday, May 14, 1971 - Page 23
U.S.-Soviet Fuss Causes Chess Shift
Associated Press, Vancouver, B.C. — A dispute over playing conditions forced postponement of a world chess championship quarter-final match here between Bobby Fischer of the United States and Mark Taimanov of the Soviet Union.
Fischer, 28, and Taimanov, 45, were to begin the 10-game match yesterday at the University of British COlumbia's Graduate Center. An official said the first game has been rescheduled for Sunday to allow time for a suitable playing room to be chosen.
The dispute arose when both Fischer and Taimanov rejected the graduate center's television room, chosen by Canadian Chess Federation officials for the match. Both said the room was too small.
“I cannot breathe in this room,” said Taimanov.
Fischer was less adamant about the size of the room but complained about the lighting and the possibility of crowd noises from an adjacent corridor.
Their rejection touched off a frantic search, sometimes marked by heated discussion.
The only room in the building acceptable to both sides was the center's library.
But Dean Malcolm McGregor of UBC refused to allow use of the library, saying that the center is a private club and he cannot bar students from one of the popular gathering spots.
