Game was once a hit on television
Saturday, November 14, 2009 3:29 AM
By SHELBY LYMAN
Chess seemed an unlikely candidate as a spectator sport when New York’s PBS station announced its intended TV coverage of the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky world-championship match in 1972.
There were the expected comments by pundits about “watching grass grow” or “watching paint dry.”
But the seven-week, 21-game, five-hour-per-game, move-by-move presentations captured a rabid audience.
On the first day, the coverage was extended from two to five hours. Channel 13 had received more than 300 approving calls.
By the end of the series, it had attracted a following that was larger than any previous PBS programming.
It was an extraordinary occurrence, if one considers that, at the time, only 20 percent of the U.S. population knew how to play the game.
In short order, New York stores were reduced to having few or no chess books or sets.
A survey by a New York Post reporter during one evening’s match found most bars with their televisions tuned to chess rather than a New York Mets baseball game.
Source: http://www.dispatch.com
Chess is perfect for TV.
Unfortunately, it was the soap opera that was the star, rather than the game, and the soap opera depended on Fischer and his personality. When he failed to follow up on his victory, the public moved on to he next story du jour.
i wish sincerely hope chess will return to tv via pbs espn 1 day iluv the game at least someone should try trial run to c how rating would b even if not caliber players just chess in general
Those were the good old days. I could hardly get a reception on the old antenna. But with poor reception I tuned in every game.
It is nice to see that Bobby loved his little daughter so much. Good to see she will get a little inheritance to help her in life.