Hattiesburg American Hattiesburg, Mississippi Saturday, October 16, 1971 - Page 13
Fifth Game: Fischer, Soviet Grandmaster Stalemate with Second Draw
Buenos Aires, Argentina (AP) — Neither Bobby Fischer of the United States nor Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union could make any headway Thursday night in the fifth game of their chess match in the Teatro San Martin.
The result was a draw in 38 moves and nearly five hours of play. The players remain tied, with 2½ points each in the best-in-12 series of games.
Fischer had white and was clearly trying to win after having drawn the previous two games. He started with his usual king pawn opening.
Petrosian countered with the Petroff defense, which was popular earlier in the century, but rarely is played today in grandmaster chess.
It is considered a safe opening for black, and quite suitable for Petrosian's generally defensive style. The pawn formation remains balanced although white often obtains a lasting initiative.
Fischer advanced his center pawns, with more space at his command. His pieces had more activity than those of Petrosian.
The 42-year-old Petrosian, who had held the world title for six years, seemed more relaxed than his 28-year-old rival. He did not try to equalize matters in the center, but advanced on the queen side, to open lines on that side.
Fischer started an interesting maneuver with his 18th move, putting a pawn in jeopardy. If Petrosian had taken the bait, Fischer would have advanced his queen and rook deep into black's territory.
Instead, Petrosian played to exchange pieces and simplify the game. Fischer saw an opportunity to establish a passed pawn, which appeared advantageous.
Petrosian allowed the maneuver to go through, but shortly began an attack on the advanced pawn, which as it turned out, could not be adequately defended.
Fischer was able to pick up another pawn in return so that the two sides remained equal. In the process he was forced to exchange queens and other pieces.
As a result, the game was reduced to an ending with almost no chance to win for either side. Petrosian offered a draw on the 34th move. Fischer declined, but four moves later, with no progress made, it was Fischer who offered the draw, and Petrosian immediately accepted.
The previous game had been drawn in 20 moves with practically no battle. Fischer's strategy evidently was to draw with the black pieces and try to win with the advantage of the first move when he had white.
Failing to do so in this game was something of a setback for the man who had won two previous elimination matches by perfect scores of 6-0. The winner of this series meets Boris Spassky of Russia for the world chess title.
At this stage, the first player to win a game will have a sizable advantage, with fewer games to play. It will be Petrosian's turn for the white pieces in the sixth game, starting at 5 p.m. Sunday.
Additional games are scheduled next Tuesday and Thursday.
