AThe Press Democrat Santa Rosa, California Friday, October 29, 1971 - Page 14
Bobby Fischer Beats Russian by George Koltanowski
After a wobbly start, Robert Fischer of Brooklyn went ahead and won four games straight from the ex-world chess champion, Tigran Petrosian, 42, from Armenia, Russia.
The final score was 6½-2½.
Now the 28-year-old American will meet the World Champion, Boris Spassky, 34, of Russia in a 24-game match in March and April, 1972.
Robert Fischer, called Bobby by his friends and chess fans, was 14 when he won the U.S. Championship, 16 when he became a Grandmaster, and maintains that at the age of 29 he will be champion of the world.
He has said he will swallow the Russians and is not afraid of Spassky, who made a similar statement about Bobby.
The result of beating Petrosian was forecast by most grandmasters, but all wonder at the way Fischer's opponent went under.
Mark Taimanov, USSR lost six in a row. The great Dane, Bent Larsen, did likewise, and hasn't been heard of since, and now Petrosian.
In the ninth and final game of the match, Petrosian mounted an all-out attack in the ending, only to find Fischer wiping out all of his pieces.
When Petrosian got up to congratulate Fischer on winning the match, the tightly-packed hall of fans started to chant “Bobby, Bobby” for five-minutes, and police had to battle over-enthusiasts from jumping on to the stage.
Bobby was smiling but nervous and disappeared backstage as soon as he could. Fischer received $7,500 for winning this match, plus $4,000 from the American Chess Foundation. Petrosian won $4,500. All their expenses were paid for by the Argentinean government.
The match for the title next year should be a humdinger. Both players play to win. The complications will come long before the match actually takes place. First, where will the match be played? In the past 45 years the final match has always been in Moscow because both the challenger and the champion were Russians.
I expect the compromise will be 12 games in Moscow and 12 games in New York, and if they cannot agree on that idea, then neutral territory in Europe. Then comes the question of financing this great event.
Fischer is rumored to want $100,000 to play this match.
The official recognition of World Champion dates back to 1890 — in 1972 the United States should have a World Chess Champion for the first time!
