Word: chess
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REYKJAVIK, Iceland--Bobby Fischer forfeited his chess game with world champion Boris Spassky of Russia on Thursday by failing to appear at the playing hall...
...Later it was reported that he had actually checked his bags for a flight to Reykjavík, but miffed because of the lack of proper police protection, he demanded his bags back and then disappeared again. One thing was certain: when Icelandic Airlines Flight 204 finally departed, Chess Grand Master Bobby Fischer was not on board...
Elegant Game. Such were some of the cat-and-mouse games being played before this week's scheduled opening of the world championship of chess between Fischer and Russia's Boris Spassky in Reykjavík. It was bizarre that the orderly, elegant old game could be at the center of such a ruckus. But then ruckus raising is Fischer's specialty. Four years ago, he withdrew from international competition, accusing the "lying, cheating Russians" of denying him the world title that was rightfully his. Eighteen months later he stormed right back, knocking off one grand master...
Fischer's demands and demeanor did not sit well with the Russians or the chess community. Tass, the Soviet news agency, complained about the "disgusting spirit of gain that Fischer carries around with him. It is characteristic that his spokesmen are lawyers and not chess players. Wherever Fischer is, money ranks first, pushing aside all sporting motives." Said The Netherlands' Max Euwe, former world chess champion (1935-37) and the president of the Fédération des Echecs (F.I.D.E.), the world governing body of chess: "I don't like Mr. Fischer in our chess world...
Waging a War. Meanwhile, back in Reykjavík, the rumors were flying thick and fast. HAS FISCHER ALREADY ARRIVED? headlined Timinn, the Reykjavík daily, speculating that Bobby had slipped into Iceland. The Icelandic Chess Federation said that it had already spent $200,000 on the match, or $1 for every man, woman and child in Iceland, and could not afford to give Fischer a share of the gate. Fred Cramer, vice president of the U.S. Chess Federation and Fischer's representative in Reykjavík, moaned: "You don't know what we've been...