Hoffman, however, annoyed the reclusive Fischer by tracking him down while making his film, ‘The Bobby Fischer Story’. The purse for the match is $US5 million, just half that offered by American film-maker Darney Hoffman for a Fischer-Spassky rematch. Such a contract has the distinct overtones of Bobby Fischer, and it is no secret that Yugoslavia was his preferred site for the 1972 match. Given the proximity to Dubrovnik, and assuming Vasiljevic has as much political clout as money, this could be the break that the UN needs to achieve a lasting ceasefire in the region. The 16-page contract includes a clause that allows Fischer to choose a new venue if gunfire can be heard from the venue. The match is scheduled to begin on 2 September in the Montenegrin resort of Sveti Stefan, and will conclude in Belgrade, according to the sponsor of the match, Serbian banker Jezdimir Vasiljevic. There have been numerous Fischer comeback rumors before, but this one has more substance than a weight-lifter, has moved more quickly than Ben Johnson, and holds more water than an Olympic swimming pool.
All my attempts to locate a person who knows 74 per cent of Melbourne tax drivers have proved fruitless if he/she is out there somewhere, please drop me a line.) (Incidentally, 74 per cent of all Melbourne taxi drivers know somebody who could have given Fischer a rook start and whipped him comfortably. A quick poll of Melbourne taxi drivers confirmed that while only 53 per cent could recall where the 1972 Olympics were held, 100 per cent claimed to have followed the match in Reykjavik, Iceland, move by move. If you had the task of upstaging the Olympic Games, how would you do it? Start World War III? Convert the Pope to Buddhism? Find a cure for the common cold? Reunite the Beatles? Some of those feats might go close, but with the whole world gripped by Olympics fever, even such monumental achievements would be unlikely to push Barcelona off the front page.īack in 1972, however, one event did upstage the Olympics, and that was the Fischer-Spassky match for the world chess championship. Chess, Fri The Age (Melbourne, Victoria, Australia) Queen's Indian Defense: Kasparov Variation (E12) 1-0 Manila Olympiad (1992), Manila PHI, rd 10, Jun-18 Who knows, maybe the idea of making a comeback, exactly 20 years later, appeals to Fischer. Paramount Pictures, which is presently filming Searching for Bobby Fischer, in Toronto, would have a new ending and an instant success. Of course, a rematch would make everyone a winner as chess might experience another boom. While objectively, I can't see what makes this event more likely to happen than previous proposals, I've still got my fingers crossed. The encouraging news is that the date mentioned is only a month away. Rumors like this have cropped up on a regular basis since 1972. Fischer, on the other hand, has always been the wild card. This event will make him a millionaire and he could retire from the tournament scene which he no longer enjoys. Spassky has always been a willing participant. The report indicates that Spassky has confirmed he will participate, although there is no mention of Fischer. (The Security Council has imposed a trade embargo on Yugoslavia.) He has stated that the match has been organized to defy UN sanctions. The money has been put up by Jesdimir Vasiljevic, owner of a Serbian bank. While this is great news, before we get too excited, let's look at this thing a little more closely. Fischer has not played since, although he has been offered sums larger than this in the past. To give you an idea of the impact this match had on chess in this city, the 1972 Quebec Open, held in October, drew 750 participants compared to about 50 in previous years. It has been exactly 20 years since Bobby Fischer, an American, defeated Boris Spassky, a Soviet, to become world champion and put chess on the map. The winner would pocket two-thirds of the purse while the remaining third would go to the loser. The article went on to say that the $5-million, nine-game rematch will be played in Yugoslavia, beginning Sept. Last Sunday, while vacationing in Cape Cod, I picked up the Boston Globe and a headline read: Spassky-Fischer Rematch Set. Chess, Sat The Gazette (Montreal, Quebec, Canada) Ĭhess Stars to Shine as Fischer-Spassky Rematch Takes Shape by Larry Bevand