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Chess Sun, Jan 16, 1972 – 144 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Spassky Still Out of Form by Harold Dondis
Bobby Fischer made a second appearance on the Dick Cavett show a short while ago and showed a vast improvement over his first stint, which had been a real flop.
This time, Bobby was in good humor, was much more talkative and, free of historic resentment against invasion of his privacy, turned in a pretty appealing performance.
He did what he could to explain the game of chess, said that the Russians had a special team analyzing every game he has ever played. Bobby said that Petrosian realized he was doomed after the sixth game of their match.
How would Bobby feel if he were crushed by Spassky? He would consider it a fluke.
This fluke seems less and less likely to happen. Spassky has still not regained his form. He trailed Karpov, Stein, Smyslov, Petrosian and Tukmarkhov in the Alekhine Memorial tourney in Moscow (R. Byrne had 9 points, ½ behind Spassky) and Spassky lost to Petrosian and Korchnoi, both of whom he has been criticizing for passive play.
[…]
Due to Fischer charisma, the bids for the championship match were unbelievable, probably 15 to 20 times any prior world prizes. Belgrade big $152,000, Buenos Aires $100,000, little Iceland, $125,000, Sarajevo, $120,000, Chicago, $100,000.
Very clearly, this match will be an International event, with tourists converging en masse to the site from all over the world.
