Five years before the world-gripping Frost-Nixon interviews, the recently deceased David Frost contacted Henry Kissinger to ask him if he could help convince the ever-enigmatic Bobby Fischer to compete in the World Chess Championship in Iceland. The resulting Fischer-Spassky matches became legend. An excerpt from the declassified transcript of the Frost-Kissinger call (which is still censored to a degree):
“David Frost:
I was calling you, A, to greet you and, B, I’ve had three calls this morning about a hilarious diplomatic matter that I just wanted to ask you whether you thought it was worth anyone at the White House, from yourself down, as it were, doing anything about. It’s an extraordinary story. Can I tell you about it?
Henry Kissinger:
Certainly.
David Frost:
It’s about America’s gist to the world of chess — Bobby Fishcer. I got to know him when he appeared on my show. He came to the party in Bermuda and so on.
Henry Kissinger:
That’s right.
[SANITIZED]
David Frost:
Now the question is, is it worth someone doing that?
Henry Kissinger:
Yeah, I’ll do it. I do all the nutty things around here. Where is he?
David Frost:
Well, now, I’ve got two phone numbers. Now unfortunately,…he is staying at the moment with a Mr. Fred Saidy who is a Broadway writer of things like Brigadoon. And his son is a grand master in chess. S-A-I-D-Y in Douglaston Long Island. And the man who knows…
Henry Kissinger:
I think if I call him I should just call him and tell him a foreign policy point of view I hope the hell he gets over there.”
Tags: Bobby Fischer, David Frost, Fred Saidy, Henry Kissinger, Richard M. Nixon