Star Tribune from Minneapolis, Minnesota • Page 76

6F Minneapolis Tribune July 2,1372 CHESS: Fischer says he loves to see opponents squirm world litle challenger's compel il ion, where he finished a very creditable third. The pattern is amazingly similar to Fischer's, and Spassky continued it through his 20s, beatini; many of the same players, in fart, in earning his two title shots. Unlike Bobby, however, Rons managed In develop a broad range of outside interests, including nuisir, literature and sports. He is a graduate in journalism from the University, of Leningrad and wrot a chess column for a paper there for a while. Socially, the champion is much more gregarious and gracious than Fischer, but he, too, turns all business at the chess board.

The two have met five times over the years in various competitions, with Spassky holding all the edge (three victories, no losses, two draws). Thus it remains to be seen whether Fischer can make this particulars foe "squirm" quite as easily as he has all of the others. seems to make all foes crumhle sooner or later. And he enjoys every minute of it. "I love to see 'em squirm," is one of his better known quotations.

Like Fischer, Spassky comes from a family that gave no indicalinn it would produce a champion. Neither his father, a construction engineer, nor his mother, a schoolteacher, played the game. Yet from that background came not. only Boris but his sister, Irina, who won the Soviet Union checkers title. The Germans invaded Spassky's home city of Leningrad when he was 4, and he was evacuated to Moscow.

It was there that he learned chess, but he says he soon forgot it again until he returned home at the end of the war. By age 10, however, he was into the game seriously. At 12 he was a candidate master, and at 18 he was the youngest player up to that time ever to qualify for the final eight-man in match play to reach the challenger's role. Over-all, Fischer's career already compares lavora-bly with that of any grand master who ever lived, yet his great play is1 still often overshadowed by his eccentricities. Instead of his brilliant play, people want to talk about his mysterious, unpredictable ways.

And he always has Riven I hem plenty of fodder. A lanky, fi-foot 2-inch bundle of energy, Fischer, is a bachelor who lives from hotel to hotel, devoting virtually his entire life to the 32 pieces and 64 squares that make up his own private world. He studies incessantly, even going so far as to ask for a room with no view so as to have fewer distractions. When he does engage in other activities, such as running, swimming, bowling and tennis, the primary purpose is really to keep himself in the top physical condition that he knows is necessary for his game to be sharp. This business of training never ceases to baffle non-chess player who nament, he quit abruptly.

By this time amateur psychiatrists were wondering out loud whether Bobby really did want to play the Russians, or whether his dread of losing was so great that subconsciously he was trying to avoid the risk. It didn't help any when he passed up the 1971 U.S. championship first step in the current world title eliminations thereby apparently giving up his chance once again. But then just at this darkest hour, Fischer went on a daz.ling series of international conquests. By the time the qualifying tournament came around, it just didn't make any sense to exclude him.

There were a few cries of "special privilege," but eventually even the Russians acquiesced, the rules were bent, and Bobby was substituted for one of the three American entrants. Once given his reprieve, Fischer left no doubt of what a farce it would have been to hold the tournament without him. He dominated the event, then crushed three straight foes wonder how strenuous it can be to push a few little pieces of wood around a hoard. The fact is, however, that the mental effort required in a five-hour chess game can have the same physical effect as a game of football. In the final stages of any chess match, especially after several weeks of competition physical condition is often the decisive factor.

With his lack nf formal sc hoolinjz and his concentration on chess, Fischer isn't exactly a paragon of general knowledge or the social graces. A few years ago, for instance, the Prince of Monaco asked the United States to send two grand masters to a tournament there, specifying that one had to be Fischer. He played and won the tournament, but made himself so unpopular that two years later the prince sent a new request for his next tournament: any two players except Bobby Fischer. But none of this matters, of course, when Fischer is doing his thing. That merciless intensity of his Continued from Page IF i mffl he fought his way through all the preliminary eliminations again, then defeated the champi-- tc "in the crown.

This firs; defense, since f.vld title matches are held triennially, with I he otVer years used to find a challenger. The choice of Iceland to host this event is a tribute to the interest and organi-, zatinn in th? tiny island nation. In hidding for the match, Iceland offered 5125,000 an amazing figure when one notes that it represents 50 cents per capita for the population of the entire nation. A similar figure, in the. United States, for instance, would he $100 million.

Games wjiill be played on Tuesdays, and Thursdays. F.ach player will ha-ve 2x2 hours in which. to make 40 moves, makirrg for sessions running a maximum of five hours. Games not decided in 'that time will be adjourned and continued on rest days. As for the type of match to expect, the best guess is a long, difficult struggle.

There will probably be plenty of draws, and despite Spassky's assertions, the quality of the games is not likely to be of the highest order. That, at least, has been the usual history of world title clashes. Perhaps it's the excruciating tension, but the chess in these matches has usually tended to he somewhat dull and drawish and often filled with many more blunders than one would normally expect at that level of play. Maybe Fischer, obviously at the height of his powers now, will avoid this syndrome and manage to play good, exciting chess even under the mind-twisting strain of a title match. If so it will be a novelty.

But looking at his career so far, one gets the impression he is capable of just about anything. The brash kid from Brooklyn learned chess at home from his sister, began playing at New York's Manhattan Chess Club when ho was 10 vears old, and by the time he was 14 was good enough to win the first of his eight U.S. championships. In 19.r)9 at age 16 he made his first bid for the world title, doing well in the ly stages but eventually losing out in the "Candidates' Tournament" to de-t i the challenger. Three years later he tried again, but the same thing happened.

11 was at this juncture that Rnhby came out with his famous magazine article charging Russians with cheating. There had been five Soviet players in the eight-man field, and Fischer claimed they acted in collusion to make sure one of their number would ultimately win. The Russians naturally denied all, but significantly enough, the system has since been changed to one of man-to-man elimination matches once the field has been narrowed to eight. Despite getting his way, however, Bobby still passed up the championship cycle. Then, while leading in the middle of the I9(if) qualifying tour OUR 100TH ANNIVERSARY YEAR PRICES GOOD TODAY, JULY 2ND THRU TOMORROW, JULY TUESDAY, JULY 4TH.

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