ANew York Times, New York, New York, Sunday, September 05, 1971 - Page 106
Chess: Most People Would Bet on Fischer by Al Horowitz
The final match of the Candidates' series, between America's Bobby Fischer and ex-world champion Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union will begin in a few weeks, but most people are not talking about what will happen in that match, but in the one after it. “After I take care of Petrosian,” Bobby himself has said, “I go on to play Spassky,” and indeed there isn't anyone in the chess world outside of Russia—perhaps outside of Petrosian's native Armenia—who doesn't think Bobby will “take care of” his next opponent as easily as all that.
The causes for such optimism on the part of Bobby's well-wishers are many. Fischer, there are their respective performances in the matches leading up to the final match. While Fischer was blitzing Soviet grandmaster Mark Taimanov and the Danish star Bent Larsen—both by 6-0—Petrosian was winning his matches in the least incisive fashion imaginable. Against the relatively unknown West German player Robert Hubner he drew the first six games before winning the seventh and, against his compatriot Viktor Korchnoi, he drew the first eight. A greater contrast could hardly be imagined.
A second reason to encourage those who hope for an easy Fischer victory is the result of his most recent encounter with Petrosian. At the match that pitted 10 Soviet players against a team selected from among the leading players of the rest of the world, Bobby met Petrosian on second board and beat him by 3-1—two wins for Bobby, and two draws. If the results of this meeting are any indication, Bobby has Petrosian's number.
On the other hand, a careful examination of those very games would indicate that things might be a little tougher for Bobby than most anyone expects. In the first of those games, Petrosian made a bad blunder in the early middle game (see the third game below) when he played 17 ... K-B1 instead of 17 ... O-O, and never had a chance thereafter. The second game Fischer won after a dour struggle lasting 66 moves. The third game was a short draw in which Bobby made no progress against Petrosian's solid defense. In the fourth it was Petrosian who had the initiative and Bobby who, after tenacious defense, finally salvaged a draw.
Thus, even after two straight losses, the first an out-and-out disaster, Petrosian was unshaken, and came back strongly in the remaining games. This is precisely what Bobby's two previous match opponents have failed to do and it is why they were defeated by such decisive margins.
Like everyone else, this commentator believes that Fischer will beat Petrosian. Unlike most, however, he believes that after Fischer has done it, he will know he has been in a fight.
The three games that follow show Fischer and Petrosian meeting at various stages of Fischer career. THe first from the Candidates' tournament in Yugoslavia in 1959, is a very bad game by Fischer and not indicative of their relative strengths at the time, but Petrosian did beat him 3-1 in that event.
The second game below is Fischer's first victory over Petrosian, played at Bled, Yugoslavia, in 1961. In the diagrammed position, 22. QxNP is quite playable: 22. … K-K2; 23. PxP Q-B3; 24. B-N6 QR-B1; 25. KR-K1 (instead of 25. BxP as previously suggested) KR-N1; 26. R-Q6 and wins. In the game, 27. … R-Q3 is a losing blunder; simply 27. … NxB draws easily. Once given the chance, Fischer finishes neatly.
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian vs Robert James Fischer Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (1959), Bled, Zagreb & Belgrade YUG, rd 9, Sep-21 Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Line (E40) 1-0 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044494 16. Ng6
Robert James Fischer vs Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian Bled (1961), Bled YUG, rd 18, Sep-30 Caro-Kann Defense: Karpov Variation (B17) 1-0 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044008 21. … h6
