According to this scurrilous Soviet payrolled reporter, Fischer didn't want to “move in” and “live with the Chinese” delegation. So, we're being notified in this more detailed article the inhospitable Soviet-Icelandic Chess Federation officials were going to shove Fischer and his entourage into the Chinese' quarters, as an inconvenience to the Chinese delegation and their entourage. ([But the Soviet payroll author doesn't feel the need to mention Iceland's ban on people of color, blacks not welcome in Iceland ... because Icelanders do not want to “live with the Africans”. So very racist.]) Did Iceland force Boris Spassky and his entourage to live with a foreign government, which held principles contrary to official Soviet policies? But of course not! Yet this in-hospitality is being twisted in a way to reflect poorly on Bobby Fischer… with mental gymnastics, perhaps. A thing Soviet propaganda seems to specialize in. Did anyone bother asking the Chinese if they wanted a whole team of Americans forced into, and intruding on their housing space? … or, was it because the Soviet spawned Icelanders were so racist, they believed the state of being non-white, entitled the Asian race to inferior treatment, such as demanding adequate space for one's self and privacy in personal accommodations? THIS twisted logic, turning inside out, and upside-down, is sole chaotic purpose behind Soviet reporting. They thought this incident could be twisted to “make Fischer look bad” but instead, as an American, all I see here is Bobby Fischer RESPECTING the space and privacy of the Chinese, and disrespect shown to both the Chinese and the Americans, by the Soviet-Icelanders!
I would have done exactly as Bobby Fischer did. Americans, who understand respect for personal boundaries of others, would too. Meanwhile, the Soviet would haul its citizens to the Gulag for checking out the wrong book at a public library!
Recycled Soviet Invective to Turn Public Interest Away From Fischer's Defeat of USSR 11 Jul 1972, Tue Newsday (Suffolk Edition) (Melville, New York) Newspapers.com
To add a little more insight, I visited Europe back in the mid 1990s for my own understanding, for about 5 or 6 months. What I saw was people cramped together... there might be 3 families living packed together in a "flat"... sharing one bathroom! To afford personal space, one must be fairly wealthy and independent.
In America.... we don't typically do that. We like our space spread out... we like our individualism and privacy. WE VALUE our privacy and space... especially from meddling governments.
So that Icelandic-Soviet chess regime was really very VERY guilty of offenses and cultural misunderstandings toward Robert J. Fischer and his fellow Americans in his entourage! Likewise, for the Chinese who deserved every equal respect for their space and privacy.
Open wide... another shovel full of it will soon be on the way.
