AStar-Phoenix Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada Saturday, June 05, 1971 - Page 23
Chess Quarter Finals - Semi-Finals Next In Line by Harry Mather
The quarter finals of the world chess championship are over, with Fischer, Korchnoi, Larsen, and Petrosian emerging as the 'big four' who will now proceed to the semi-finals in July. It is not likely that too many will be surprised at the final outcome of the quarter finals but perhaps some may be a trifle surprised with the manner in which these were won.
Fischer's win over Taimanov was perhaps expected, but the final score of 6-0 is, to say the least, unusual. Drawn games are quite common among grandmasters, and Fischer's convincing win, without a loss or draw, clearly demonstrates his strength. Ex-world champion Petrosian and the young German, Huebner, on the other hand, played six consecutive draws before Petrosian was able to pull ahead of his rival in the seventh game by one point after which Huebner withdrew from the match, leaving Petrosian winner with a 4-3 score. In Moscow two Soviet grandmasters Korchnoi and Geller played eight of the 10 games with Korchnoi coming out on the long end of a 5½-2½ score; while in the Canary Islands, Larsen of Denmark defeated Uhlmann of East Germany by 5½ to 3½.
An interesting game occurred in the fourth round of the Uhlmann-Larsen match in which the attack power of Larsen speaks for itself.
Uhlmann played white and Larsen defended with black: and white resigned.
Semi-finals will start July 4, with Larsen paired against Fischer and Petrosian against Korchnoi. These will again be 10-game matches with two additional games in case of a draw.
