I have all of the original newspaper clippings of the Spassky vs. Fischer world championship games.  I didn't know if these are pretty common, or worth some money.  Does anyone know?

Thanks!

Scan them. Share them w/ the world.

Clippings wouldn't have any monetary value to speak of.

They might be appreciated if carefully selected and framed and situated in a chess space, like a club.

I used to have a nice stack of papers containing all the match reports from day one. Front page news when Fischer won. Someone took it upon themselves to throw that stack of "old worthless papers" away, unfortunately.

At least they didn't roll them up and, well, you know....

...yes, the old Fischer-fury-bladder control syndrome.

Lucky me for escaping that.

Thanks, guys.  I may frame them into something nice.

 Goldendog, you can take this to the bank---it was front page news everyday regardless of who won. When Fischer lost that first game do you think that wasnt front page news. When Fischer forfeited the second game do you think that wasnt fron page news. When Fischer talked Spassky into playing the third game in some ping pong room in the back---yeah, you're right---front page news. It was that way throughout  the entire match. You could walk into a bar in New York City and see Fischer-Spassky instead of the usual ball game---Chess had been revitalized not only in America but all over the world.  

I dont think Fischer press clippings have any value and I'll tell you why. I heard a guy who collects music---records, CDs etc.  say 100 years from now the "Thrilla" album by Jackson will not be worth much money because so many millions were bought and sold they would still be all over the place in 2111. And anything plentiful is not going to be valuable.

When I said "front page" I was referring to the local papers I had collected, and the match news typically was relegated off the front pages.

Before the match, the announcement of the coming Match of the Century was by the comics and the daily horoscope.

It was amazing for this chess fan to witness the change in the class and kind of coverage as the match progressed.

One rule to follow is that anything sold with the word "collectible" next to it will almost surely be a net loss to the buyer.

Ditto for so-called collectible chess sets. The prospective buyers of such sets will number fewer than the sets that are available for resale years down the road. Very few chess sets are produced in such small numbers to qualify as collectible, even if they do retain some decent value.

One type of exception is comic books. I have a fair number from the 1960s, and while not scarce in most cases they have good value as a collectible because the market of comic book fans and collectors has grown enough to create demand.

If you're really looking to sell them, mount them for display and take pictures, then list them on eBay.  Sometimes you will luck into someone who doesn't realize they really aren't rare.

They would be a nice display for club, though, framed in order on the wall.

 Goldendog---you got to be kidding---what city were you living in? Virtually every newspaper in the world carried this event on the front page. Even in the Boondocks.

tags: chess, CIA, fischer, KGB, Kissinger, spassky

by Bernie Horowitz

Fischer and Spassky in 1972.

As of the late 1960’s, the Soviet Union had easily dominated international chess during the Cold War. American and Western-European players had never come close to challenging the top four or five Russian grandmasters.

However, this changed with the 1972 chess championship showdown between American Bobby Fischer and Russian Boris Spassky, which garnered worldwide attention and even resulted in the postponement of the 1972 Democratic Convention. To the great excitement of the West, Fischer precociously crushed Spassky. After being defeated in game one, he forfeited the second game (neglecting to show up), and then lost just one more game over the duration of the series, which spanned 21 games total (of a possible 24).

Goldendog, can you name another sporting event that caused the democratic convention to be postponed?

It got that front page coverage mainly at the end of the match--editor's choice. I can't tell you much more than that.

Goldendog what is the name of the town and that newspaper. I'm going to send it in to "believe it or not".