Daily News New York, New York Wednesday, October 13, 1971 - Page 289
Fischer & Foe Call It a Draw In 4th Contest by Robert Byrne
Buenos Aires, Oct. 12 — Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union and Bobby Fischer of the United States agreed to a quick draw in the fourth contest of their 12-game match tonight in the Teatro General San Martin. They now stand all even at 2-2.
Six and a half points will take the match and catapult the winner into the final match with Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, who is required by international chess rules to defend his world championship title every three years.
Petrosian, a former world champion, began with the solid, positional English opening—long-time favorite of his. And, just as in game two of the Bent Larsen match, Fischer chose to defend the Maroczy Bind position.
The strong king's and queen's bishop pawns, restraining the black queen's pawn, gave him no qualms.
Proves Too Cautious
The game followed well-known channels, with black exchanging knights early to preclude any cramping which could result from being held to three ranks' maneuvering space.
Unlike Larsen, who went all out for attack, Petrosian carefully guarded his queen's wing against counterattack.
But he carried caution too far in offering the exchange of Queens at his 14th move, for the resulting endgame is barren of real winning chances. Even the aggressive Fischer, who is always out for one point, could find no good reason to refuse the draw.
The question puzzling all the chess fans here is why Petrosian squandered his chance with the white pieces. The usual strategy is to go all out with white and cover up with black.
Game five will be played Thursday night.
