AThe Boston Globe Boston, Massachusetts Sunday, October 17, 1971 - Page 205
Chess: Petrosian Giving Fischer Hard Fight by Harold Dondis
Present score of the Petrosian-Fischer match: 2½-2½
Early news of each game has been appearing in the Globe on the Sports page or under “Names in the News.”
The match is hard fought. Petrosian, the underdog, abandoned his passive style and has produced fighting games.
Fischer won the first only after weathering a tough position from a prepared variation by Petrosian. The second game snapped Fischer's winning streak at 20 and showed signs of overconfidence on Fischer's part. But Petrosian did not flinch in pressing a counterattack.
In the third game, Petrosian gained the upper hand after Fischer faltered in a strong attack, but Petrosian, in time trouble, repeated the position three times in error.
The match was located in Argentina by the flip of a coin, American politicking had favored Argentina, but Petrosian wanted Greece, and for a while it looked as if the dispute might split F.I.D.E.
To mollify the iron-curtain countries, the Americans agreed to decide by lot and Fischer won.
It is a shame that the rivalry is so fierce that both Russians and Americans are denied the sight of these great players in contention.
Fischer won another victory when F.I.D.E. voted that draws won't count in future world's championship matches.
Meanwhile, Spassky awaiting his challenger, has been playing in Canada, showing mediocre form, coming in first on tie-break and third in two tournaments there.
