In 1972 when I was still a young lad and still playing chess with some regularity a memorable world championship match between the Soviet champion Boris Spassky and American wunderkind Bobby Fischer took place in Iceland. The combination of a chess match as a surrogate for war between the two world superpowers and Fischer's extremely bizarre behaviour widened the audience that would normally follow championship chess. Fischer's extraordinary demeanour, perhaps bordering on psychological instability, included allegedly having all his tooth fillings removed. He believed the KGB had somehow bugged them.
Now in the match that is supposed to reunify the world championship, which has been split between rival federations for over a decade, we have more strange behaviour. The match, between a Russian, Vladimir Kramnik, and a Bulgarian, Veselin Topalovis, is taking place in Kalmykia a little known Russian republic.
The current controversy is over the supposed excessive use of a private toilet during play. The match, now inevitably known as "Toiletgate", is currently under suspension as officials attempt to resolve the dispute.
Note: anyone who believes that Bobby Fischer has cleaned up his act since his chess playing days is obviously misinformed.
Now in the match that is supposed to reunify the world championship, which has been split between rival federations for over a decade, we have more strange behaviour. The match, between a Russian, Vladimir Kramnik, and a Bulgarian, Veselin Topalovis, is taking place in Kalmykia a little known Russian republic.
The current controversy is over the supposed excessive use of a private toilet during play. The match, now inevitably known as "Toiletgate", is currently under suspension as officials attempt to resolve the dispute.
Note: anyone who believes that Bobby Fischer has cleaned up his act since his chess playing days is obviously misinformed.
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