ANew York Times, New York, New York, Thursday, October 07, 1971 - Page 44
Chess: Ample Drama Is Provided In Petrosian-Fischer Play by Al Horowitz
The 12-game qualifying match between Bobby Fischer of New York and Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union, a former world champion, for the right to challenge the world champion, Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, for the title had plenty of drama in the first two games, which resulted in one victory a piece.
Game number one took on the deployment of the Sicilian Defense, a pattern that has been the subject of acclaim since its introduction by Polerio in 1594. Rich in complications, the Sicilian gives rise to involved positions without much chance for early simplifications. Hence, it is popular with an adventurous group.
Quickly, Black steered the line to where White was forced to play 11. N-R3. The setting was similar to one that could have occurred in one of the games between Fischer and Mark Taimanov in an earlier match.
Petrosian Changes Roles — Undoubtedly Petrosian had studied the position, and was satisfied with its potential after 11. … P-Q4. But the move was aggressive and compelled the Soviet player to change his usual role, from defense to attack.
After that, no grand plan could serve as a guide, mainly because precedent was lacking. And the position took on a motley of tactical stratagems in various parts of the board.
With 16. … B-B4, it seems Petrosian missed some refinements. The move 16. … B-N5 appeared more accurate. Had White then advanced his king-bishop pawn on the bishop, he would have weakened a diagonal leading to his king. And this would later have cost him some tempi.
The innocent-looking 20. K-R1, curiously, avoided the loss of a piece. For at that moment, Black was threatening, it appeared, 20. … QxN. For 21. QxQ could have been met by 21. … N-K7ch, forking king and queen.
This bit of analysis purposely omits an important detail. Had Black played 20. … QxN. White could have recaptured the queen with check and Black might just as well have gone home.
Eventually, Petrosian walked into a deadly ending. He forgot to reckon on a White passed pawn—a pawn that was unimpeded in its advance by a hostile pawn.
That White trapped the opposing knight was generally unimportant. What mattered was the pawn that was marching on to queen.
The Gruenfeld Defense was playing by Fischer in the second game of the match. After playing it a number of times against top-echelon players and winning the majority of games, it is understandable that it is in his repertoire as a dangerous weapon.
The singular idea of the defense, Black's 3 … P-Q4, was an attempt to bolster Black's counter-play in the regular King's Indian. The early thrust exposes the enemy queen pawn to direct pressure on the queen file. It is particularly effective in conjunction with the challenging … P-QB4 (5. … P-B4).
Play Sharp and Precise — The ensuing play is sharp and precise. Up to now, experience credits the defense for an interesting and even scintillating middle game.
Fischer's attitude accounts generally for his defeat in this game. After winning 20 games in a row, he undoubtedly believed, and not without reasons, that even the greatest of grandmasters have their quota of blunders. Had he been playing for the draw, as Black generally does, he would have experienced little trouble. But he ventured and failed.
Instead of 12. … N-K4, Black could have reached an excellent deployment with 12. … Nx. Then, eventually … O-O, the development of the black queen-bishop file would have granted the second player excellent prospects.
Fischer clearly neglected to take into his calculations 14. BxN and 16. NxB. This left him with vulnerable pawns.
Then, the rapid opening of lines gave White access to an onslaught against the enemy king.
Robert James Fischer vs Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian
Fischer - Petrosian Candidates Final (1971), Buenos Aires ARG, rd 1, Sep-30
Sicilian Defense: Paulsen. Szen Variation (B44) 1-0
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044350
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian vs Robert James Fischer
Fischer - Petrosian Candidates Final (1971), Buenos Aires ARG, rd 2, Oct-05
Gruenfeld Defense: Brinckmann Attack (D82) 1-0
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044714
