Rijk aan Zee - Tempers frayed at the beginning of the 8th round of the Corus Chess championships here at Wijk an See, as the British contender Short appealed to the arbiter for a win against the reigning champion Fischer, who refused to shake hands at the beginning of a game.
The unpleasantness began when Short approached the table, with Fischer already seated, and proffered his hand, which was coldly ignored by Fischer. Short then appealed, and a committee comprising Krapov, Spastic, and Ramannoodle ruled that Short must play, handshake or no. It was at this point that Short stamped his foot petulantly, incurring an automatic 1.5 point sanction. Meanwhile Fischer remained stoically at the table and displayed no visible emotion.
Once Short was seated again, the play went as follows:
- N Short - R Fischer
Corus B Wijk aan Zee (8)
1.e4 c5 2. ??
(An interesting gambit. Fischer is perhaps contemplating forcing the en passant in response to Short's pawn. The play continued ...)
2. ????
(At this point it became obvious that Fischer was having some difficulty in assimilating the board. The clock continued to tick, until ...)
2. ??!!!!!
(Fischer was pronounced dead at the scene: Short wins.)
Short quipped afterwards that he should have known something was wrong with Fischer, not because of the declined handshake, but because of the awful rotting smell from his opponent.
