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The Chess Column Sun, Jan 23, 1972 – 76 · The Sacramento Bee (Sacramento, California) · Newspapers.com
World Meet Bids Run High by R.E. Fauber and Frank J. Garosi
Current bids to host the World Championship have reached unprecedented amounts. The City of Belgrade has offered $152,000 to the contestants for the right to stage the great chess match. By comparison the various show-biz celebrities who host golf tournaments may blush for their miserliness. Tiny Iceland has offered the contestants $125,000.
The site for the match involves more than money. Politics will play a role, as the Soviets will insist that monetary considerations are not paramount. The current offers, however, indicate that either Yugoslavia — with three bids of $100,000 or more — or Iceland will host Fischer and Spassky. Spassky would prefer a country with a climate similar to Leningrad. Fischer wants the best money offer. Either way the championship will pay as no other has in the entire history of the game.
