The Province Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Saturday, October 02, 1971 - Page 2 ★
Fischer Refuses Draw, Wins Chess Final Opener
(Reuter) Buenos Aires—Bobby Fischer, 28-year-old U.S. grandmaster, defeated former world champion Tigran Petrosian Thursday night in the first game of a 12-game match to decide who will challenge Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union for the world chess title.
Fischer, playing whites, displayed his usual adamant will to win, and at the 28th move refused an offer for a draw by his 42-year-old Armenian opponent, opening the way to victory with a pawn heading for coronation in the king's sector, and finally winning at the 40th move.
The game was played to a full house in the 1,200-seat San Martin Theater.
Petrosian surprised experts with an aggressive variant of the Sicilian Defense against Fischer's pawn-king-four opening.
The variant, called Pelikan, allowed Petrosian to sort out the development of his figures and, sacrificing one pawn, he took the initiative, pressing hard against Fischer's queen pawn.
Fischer's position looked increasingly restricted, while Petrosian placed a domineering queen at rook four.
Tension at the theater reached climax when, at move 13, a sudden blackout left everything in the dark for 23 minutes.
Petrosian then stepped up his pressure on a seemingly hesitant Fischer, by castling long and pressing with a rook at knight one against Fischer's pawns.
But Fischer managed to curb the threats one by one and started to even chances, after castling short and consolidating his position.
At one crucial stage, between moves 26 and 29, the game was apparently veering to a draw, since Petrosian and Fischer were virtually repeating the same moves, Fischer forced to play with a rook from king one to king two and three to defend a central pawn. Petrosian offered a draw at move 28, which Fischer rejected.
