Daily News New York, New York Friday, October 01, 1971 - Page 67
American Wiz Beats Russian In Chess Duel by Robert Byrne
Buenos Aires, Sept. 30—Bobby Fischer took the opening game of his 12-game match with Tigran Petrosian here in the Teatro General San Martin tonight. The winner of the series goes on to a championship bout with Boris Spassky. The fantastic Fischer has now won 13 games in a row since qualifications began in May.
Outmaneuvering the ex-world titleholder by delicate positional play, he forced resignation by setting up an unstoppable passed pawn.
Unfazed by the Soviet star's surprise sacrifice of his queen's pawn, Fischer deftly organized his position around the end game possibility of getting to the weak pawns on the king's bishop file.
Route to Victory — Cunningly preventing 16. — RxNP by 17. B-Q3 BxP; 18. NxB RxN; 19. QxQ RxQ; 20. RxKRP, getting a winning passed rook's pawn, he dragged Petrosian into the fatal finish.
Bobby coolly shrugged off the attempt to invade his position via the queen's bishop file, merely converting it into an opportunity for simplifying and clarifying his pressure on the half-open line.
Petrosian's desperate pawn advance at the 25th move was based on the white rook's inability to maintain the pawn captured, but he did not reckon with Fischer's invasion on the king's rook file.
Forces Concession — Once the passed pawn was off and running, Bobby could afford to ignore the trifling attack on his knight's pawn. He immediately revenged its capture by trapping the intruding knight, and, when his own knight cut off the enemy rook from returning to stop the pawn, Petrosian had to concede.
