The Arizona Republic Phoenix, Arizona Friday, October 08, 1971 - Page 78
3rd Game Tied in Chess Bout
Buenos Aires (AP)—The third game between chess grand masters Bobby Fischer of the United States and Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union ended in a draw last night.
The draw on the 34th move was by a repetition of moves after Fischer repeated his position three times and Petrosian allowed it.
Petrosian, 42, had a better final position but evidently decided to play it safe. Earlier, the 28-year-old Fischer seemed to have an attack but Petrosian defended well and a mismove by Fischer gave him an inferior game. He undoubtedly was satisfied with the draw.
Fischer won the first game and Petrosian the second in their 12-game series to determine who will meet world champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union next spring.
A win counts one point and draw a half-point. Six-and-a-half points are needed to claim the tournament.
Fischer, with white, had the first move and the mathematical advantage. Averages give the man with the first move 60-40 odds.
The game was considered vital to Fischer for psychological reasons. He had won in 20 straight games in tournament chess leading up to this challenge series when Petrosian broke the streak Tuesday. Petrosian won that game in 32 moves; Fischer was the victor in the first game in 40 moves.
The fourth game will start Tuesday at 3 p.m. EST after that, games are scheduled on Thursday, Sundays and Tuesdays with the final one Oct. 31.
Yesterday's opening was the exchange variation of the French defense, considered very even and likely to lead to a draw.
Fischer put new life into the game by giving up a pawn and offering to sacrifice a rook for a bishop. Had Petrosian accepted, he would have been exposed to a dangerous attack on his king. Petrosian played carefully, castled on his first opportunity and brought his pieces to the king side for defense.
Fischer played to regain his pawn and succeeded, but at the expense of weakening his own pawn formation.
Petrosian had better prospects in the resulting ending with a queen and one rook on each side. He had very little time left, however, and had to rush his last few moves.
He allowed the same position to occur for the third time and Fischer claimed the draw at that point.
Each player is allowed two and a half hours for 40 plays. At the final position, Fischer had about a half hour left and Petrosian only two minutes with seven moves still to go. If Petrosian had allowed the clock to go past the time, it would have been a forfeit for him.
