From: pmbarlow@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu (The Candy Guru)
Newsgroups: rec.games.chess
Subject: Re: Why not Baghdad (chess as art)
Date: 31 Jul 92 15:37:37 GMT
Organization: Miami University Academic Computer Service"

I realise this post drifts way far away from chess, but I feel I need to remark
upon it.

In article <1992Jul31.071201.8860@midway.uchicago.edu>, hau4@ellis.uchicago.edu (sven  hauptfeld) writes:
> I am appalled to see how many netters are willing to sacrifice all dignity of
> chess just to see Fischer play again, and how little they understand the
> obvious motives behind this shameful match.
> Let's review the facts first: the Fischer-Spassky match would be played in
> the country which calls itself "Yugoslavia". It is a federation of Serbia and
> its satellite, Montenegro, which, BTW, is not recognized by any country in the
> world. That country has invaded its neighbors, Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina,
> killing an estimated minimum of 40,000 people, expelling more then a million 
> from their homes in order to establish an ethnically "pure" Serbian state in
> those territories. In the course of these operations, they have destroyed
> entire cities, causing an estimated 50 billion dollar damage.
> After months of very passive policy, the UN finally imposed strict sanctions
> against this state, forbidding any trade or business, as well as sport, 
> cultural or informatic exchange with it.

This is perhaps where you're beginning to miss your own point.  Though no
Yugoslavic TEAMS are participating in the Olympics, Yugoslavic INDIVIDUALS are. 
At a few junctures, these athletes are not more than 5 metres from any American
athlete... say, in most of the swimming events.  If America, and the rest of
the world, wanted to be as snotty as the sanctions dictate, then either (a) the
other swimmers would have refused to get in the pool with the Yugoslav, or (b)
the other swimmers would have, one way or another, stopped the Yugoslav from
swimming.  Neither of these happened, so the sanctions are obviously not as
strict as you believe them to be.

> Knowing these facts it is easy to understand what is behind the $5M offered
> for the match. The regime which has found itself isolated from the world like
> a leper, found a way to launch a very effective marketing campaign to improve
> its image: resurrect Fischer, which had been considered the second most
> difficult of all miracles, next to resurrecting Elvis. They will stage a
> Fischer-Spassky rematch in the beautiful and romantic Montenegrin town of
> San Stefan, for all the world to see how beautiful their country is.
> They would probably also expect the world NOT TO SEE that less than 100 km
> away, the even more beautiful and romantic Croatian town of Dubrovnik is
> still being shelled by their artillery, its landmarks destroyed and people
> killed or forced to spend days in shelters and without food, running water
> and electricity. And that is nothing compared to what is happening to
> Sarajevo and most of Bosnia-Herzegovina, a crime beyond imagination.

You've got to be kidding.  That's more or less like inviting someone over to
your house, but telling them that they can't look inside the toilet. 
Eventually, somebody's gonna have to go.  They very probably realise that the
world knows that their countryside is getting shelled... in fact, we've been
seeing highlights of it on the evening news for quite some time.  But this
event is almost definitely like the Winter Olympics of 1984.  Yugoslavia wanted
to be known for something other than where WWI started, so they had an
Olympics.  Now they want to be known for something other than blowing up their
neighbours, so they hold the match which starts Fischer's comeback.

> They are counting on the following:
> 1) Five million dollars can buy almost everybody;

Not completely true.  Five million dollars can get Fischer and Spassky.  Hell,
the winner's payoff for the last World championship match was reportedly LESS
than what the winner will make here, so five million dollars could probably get
Kasparov in to... note, I said PROBABLY.  (1) I don't know what Kasparov is
thinking, and (2) I'm not entirely sure he'd play in Yugoslavia anyway.

> 2) Fischer's political views are utterly confused (a Jew advocating 
>    antisemitism) and he has many friends there (Gligoric, Bjelica);

All the more reason to play in Yugoslavia.  Don't you get it yet?  Chess is NOT
about world politics, so why should Fischer follow the norm of the American
people?

That he has friends there is really irrelevant in your argument... I've got
friends here, and in Europe, but I'm not rushing off to play chess in either
place.

> 3) Spassky is not a person who often says "no";

With his rating...?  No comment.

> 4) propaganda effects from the match will be enormous; one of them has
>    already shown on this net: people begin to regard the UN sanctions as
>    "beaurocratic nonsense"...

That's because the UN seldom, if ever, does anything to impose these sanctions. 
After all, individual Yugoslavs participating in the Olympics is a good enough
indication of that.

> The chess merits of the match (which are very uncertain) would be dwarfed
> by its despisable political side. The players and the chess public must be 
> aware of the political dimension of the match BEFORE it starts, and
> prevent that disgrace from happenning.

As I said, chess is NOT about world politics.  Chess players go where there's a
game to be played.

> 
> The game affiliated with the slogan "GENS UNA SUMUS" should not be used to
> promote genocide!!!
> 
> Sven Hauptfeld
> 

********************************************************************************
*    The Original CrocoStimpy              "Joey, do you like movies about...  *
*    pmbarlow@miavx1.acs.muohio.edu                               gladiators?" *
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********************************************************************************
From: jsm@hpfcso.FC.HP.COM (John Marvin)
Date: Sat, 25 Jul 1992 11:36:31 GMT
Subject: FISCHER TO PLAY SPASSKY!
Organization: Hewlett-Packard, Fort Collins, CO, USA