Why was Chess so Chaotic in 1973

     Chess has an long history of making it's way into being illegal or 'sinful' which I have covered in previous blogs. Everything I covered in those blogs were old, not like 1973. 1973 was a year in which chess started to become what it is today, with the Chess Journalists of America noting every bit of info they could, when it came to chess. 

     The most interesting bit of info about 1973 chess was the raid of a chess tournament in Cleveland, Ohio, where police busted into the tournament hall, taking prize money, which is said to be around 50 dollars, or around 260 dollars if you count interest. They also took the chess sets, as a way to stop the players. This raid was done on account of how chess could be considered gambling, although, the charges were later dropped after players had argued that chess is a game of skill, not  chance.

     Earlier in the year, during the 1973 Anglo-Dutch chess match, Jan Donner, a chain smoker, played Ray Keene. This match went on for multiple hours, allowing Jan Donner to smoke several packs of cigarettes, all of which piled up in a ashtray. Towards the end of the match the pile burst into flames, immediately snapping the ashtray, and creating a small fire. The two players, still focused on the game at hand didn't seem to mind the sudden light fixture, until it started burning the game set, at which point Ray Keene threw Donner's coffee onto the flame. The board, now covered is smoldering ash, coffee and cigarettes, was clearly unfit for play. Both players called it a draw, shook hands, and left the table.

     Bobby Fischer, yes him, was offered over 10 million dollars in 1973 to play chess, with a tenth of it being from Las Vegas, trying to get him to play a single match in one of the casinos. Bobby Fischer declined every offer, saying that lending his name to something was below his dignity. This, although not like the other stories, is one of the first instances of million dollar deals, in chess.

     Thank you all for reading, and feel free to read some of my other articles. I post as much as possible, and keep up with comments.