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Chess 02 Aug 1992, Sun The Los Angeles Times (Los Angeles, California) Newspapers.com
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Jezdimir Vasiljevic, owner of the Jugoskandik Bank in Yugoslavia, has announced that he will sponsor a match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky, beginning Sept. 2 in the resort of Sveti Stefan in Yugoslavia. Fischer has not played publicly since he became world champion in 1972 by defeating Spassky in the “Match of the Century” in Reykjavik, Iceland. Vasiljevic says that Fischer approached him to organize the match and that Fischer was supervising the arrangements. The contract calls for a $5-million purse, with 5/8 to the player who wins 10 games. Reportedly, Fischer has already accepted $100,000 from Vasiljevic.
Since 1972, Fischer has discussed matches with many chess stars, including former world champions Spassky (now living in France) and Anatoly Karpov of Russia ([who continued to duck out of the way, to avoid any real confrontations by refusing to return Fischer's invitation by personal telex provided him by Campomanes to meet, then, on numerous occasions, stated to world press he simply “couldn't *tsk* locate Fischer”. See 1975 Bobby Fischer newspaper collections]); and grandmasters Svetozar Gligoric of Yugoslavia, Victor Korchnoi of Switzerland, Henrique Mecking of Brazil, Miguel Quinteros of Argentina and Viswanathan Anand of India. Although the current negotiations appear to have progressed further than those of the past, one must remain skeptical of the 49-year-old Fischer's return until he actually sits down to play ([just as Fischer was wise to remain skeptical of ulterior motives of organizers! and so-called journalists.]) Previous matches have been canceled after Fischer repeatedly raised objections to the playing conditions ([such as when antisemitic organizers attempted to force Fischer to break his sabbath, while in the Christian Worldwide Church of God, just as the Soviets labeled Sam the “Reshevsky Problem” for also worshiping the Saturday Sabbath, and refusing to play. *tsk* or when Irving Rivise, planning his personal trip to the U.S. Open in San Francisco, up and changes the start time to 11 a.m., without Fischer's consent resulting in Fischer refusing to show after which organizers illegally awarded the game to Fischer's opponent, which led to a cancellation of the tournament, due to Organizers... bad organizers who broke rules, in both cases.]) Fischer has claimed that he was robbed of the world championship title by the World Chess Federation (FIDE), that there was a plot against him during his retirement ([understatement! of the century]), and that the series of Gary Kasparov-Anatoly Karpov world championship matches was fixed. He has demanded that all journalists be kept away from him until the match, and he has persuaded Vasiljevic to sue a television station in Belgrade that broadcast film of Fischer. Meanwhile, American diplomats in Belgrade have sidestepped questions of whether the proposed match would violate the United Nations sanctions against Yugoslavia.
