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The Bee Danville, Virginia Monday, June 05, 1972 - Page 9
“‘Iceland is a dreadful place to hold the matches.’ Fischer told some intimates in some of his rare conversations between tennis sessions.
‘But I realize why they wanted Iceland.
‘They are aware that I am going to win and they want the least possible exposure. Iceland is one place that there it is not possible even to use a television satellite.
‘Chess is a big propaganda vehicle with the Russians.’”
Fischer's spokesman, Joel Pomerantz, said Fischer had hoped to play the match either in North or South America so that “his friends in America could for the first time, see their representative play for the world championship.
“Bobby feels that even under these adverse conditions, he can play and win as a matter of international and personal pride,” Pomerantz said.
Dozens of false versions flowed from Iceland, where Fischer was isolated from mainstream communications and surrounded with opportunistic reporters such as Benson and Darrach.
“…Fischer told a reporter that the story that he had sold Life magazine an exclusive interview during the match with Spassky was ‘a dirty lie.’” ‘I was busy,’ he said. ‘If I'd given an interview to every body that asked, I'd have lost the match.’”
New York Times, 9/23/1972
👉...Liepnieks speculates the championship will be held in Iceland. “The Russians won't agree on Yugoslavia. Fischer is very much liked in Yugoslavia. He's a national hero there. He's also very popular in Argentina.” he says.👈😗
- January 26, 1972 . . .
Aleksander Liepnieks Reports on the Looming Shadow of Soviet Censorship
Lincoln Journal Star Lincoln, Nebraska Wednesday, January 26, 1972 - Page 30 ★
The Guardian London, Greater London, England Friday, February 04, 1972 ★
“…Spassky's preference for Reykjavik is climatic; it is the nearest he can get to the latitude of his native Leningrad. Sources close to the world champion say that he may have been influenced by an article which Petrosian wrote after his defeat by Fischer in Buenos Aires.
Petrosian claimed that shrewd choices of climate helped Fischer to defeat Mark Taimanov in Vancouver, Bent Larsen in Denver, and Petrosian himself in Argentina.”
[…]
Fischer and Spassky were expected to meet in Amsterdam this week to settle the venue and other match preliminaries. Journalists and television men turned up to watch the nearest thing on the chessboard to a big fight weigh-in. Fischer came, so did his manager, and so did Mr. Euwe, filling the role of referee.
What about Spassky? He had sent his opinions by letter. Were all the minutes too precisely planned, or can chess players detect a move by the professional psychologist who is one of Spassky's match advisers?”
- Leonard Barden
Stalemate For Chess Championships Fri, Feb 4, 1972 – 5 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Spassky “…revealed in a recent interview that he would have liked to have settled the details of the match with Fischer personally at the Amsterdam meeting in January: “I wanted to go there, but I was not met with understanding by our officials. I just could not persuade them that my personal meeting with Fischer was necessary.”
Leonard Barden, The Guardian London, Greater London, England Saturday, July 01, 1972
Soviet Meddling
The Times Munster, Indiana Sunday, July 02, 1972
World Title Match in Secret
“…He also says the television coverage will be limited. If he beats Spassky, he doesn't see why it should be some kind of secret.
“…THE WORLD champion has the right to pick the site of the championships,” says Fischer.
“Spassky wasn't even there when the international governing body chose the site. A Russian delegation was there and they picked the site.”
World Title Match in Secret 02 Jul 1972, Sun The Times (Munster, Indiana) Newspapers.com
