April 08 2017
The Morning Call, Allentown, Pennsylvania, Tuesday, December 05, 1972
What Next?—Moravian student Gregory Williams of Easton (right) matches moves with international grand master Arthur Bisguier (left) as Ehor Gud of Allentown looks on.
Master Forecasts Pro Chess Teams
The establishment of a six-team professional chess league was forecast last night at Moravian College by international grandmaster Arthur Bisguier.
Bisguier said the proposal “is halfway to becoming a reality.” Only financial backers for the teams are needed, he stated.
Bisguier made the first of three stops in the Lehigh valley yesterday at Moravian.
He will be at Lafayette College today and Lehigh University tomorrow. He will speak at 4:10 p.m. in the east lounge or Marquis Hall at Lafayette today and will play simultaneous chess matches with students at 8 p.m.
Bisguier took on 34 other chess players simultaneously last night. He won 30 of the matches and appeared heading toward draws in two others.
His only losses were to Morris Bader, assistant professor of chemistry, at Moravian, and Richard Jokiel, vice president of the Allentown Chess Club.
Jokiel, well-known in local chess circles, will teach a January term course in chess at Moravian.
Bisquier played with the white pieces in each of the matches and allowed each opponent to make his first move, “as long as it is not too ludicrous.”
Bisguier, who has been an international grandmaster since 1956, devoted most of his attention to the recent world championship match between Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky in his talk yesterday at Moravian. Bisguier has played and beaten both of the world champions during his chess career.
He said that he “inwardly wanted Fischer to win because the Russians have dominated the game for 25 years.” He called Fischer's victory a “tremendous boon to American chess.”
He added that Fischer now plays a “beautiful game” and is “perhaps the greatest chess player who ever lived.”
Bisguier predicted a rematch between Fischer and Spassky within the next three years. [(But the Soviet Union refused Mr. Spassky permission to travel… so this match would be suspended until 1992.)]
He noted that the financial position of chess players is improving. He said that if the new league is established, each team will be headed by a grand master who will be paid about $25,000 per year on a retainer basis.
Bisguier added that many grand masters are now paid as much as $1,000 per week to be available for tours.
