AThe Vancouver Sun Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Saturday, May 22, 1971 - Page 35
Fischer Rips Through Cold War Chess Strategy by Bill Rayner
“Let's go home,” said Bobby Fischer to companion Ed Edmondson of the U.S. Chess Federation.
Home for the U.S. grandmaster meant back to his hotel, with a crushing twin victory in his pocket over Soviet grandmaster Mark Taimanov in their world chess championship quarter-final match.
The two victories in adjourned games Friday came in just 39 minutes. They gave Fischer a 3-0 lead in the match and bolstered his reputation for being the most dynamic player in the game today.
When play started in the Student Union Building movie theater at the University of B.C., Fischer and Taimanov were in what appeared to be a drawish position in their twice.
But Fischer, playing the white pieces and relentless stalking the win, gave the veteran Taimanov, a classic lesson in endgame technique.
With rook, bishop and pawn against black's rook and knight, Fischer coaxed Taimanov into a position where rooks were exchanged.
Then Fischer demonstrated the absolute superiority of a bishop over a knight, making positional moves with his bishop that shut off Taimanov's king from any further part in the action.
Taimanov's knight was soon helpless to halt the advance of Fischer's pawn. After a futile check, Taimanov resigned on the 89th move with the pawn one square away from queening.
Fischer, grinning broadly, went off for a stroll while Taimanov remained in front of the board, trying to figure out where he went wrong.
When Fischer returned, Taimanov then resigned without further play in the other adjourned game, suspended Thursday night on the 42nd move. In that one, Taimanov was in an obviously lost position.
Friday's results were exactly what Fischer expected. Earlier in the day he had refused Taimanov's offer of a draw in one game in return for Taimanov's resignation in the other.
Combined with his win in the first game of the match, Fischer now has a virtual lock on the outcome. Should he win the next game (4 p.m. Sunday) and go on to sweep the 10-game match in the minimum of 6 games, the Russian's worst fears will be realized.
From the beginning, the match has been a battle on the political and psychological fronts as well as across the board.
Taimanov and his three advisers are desperately trying to blunt Fischer's killer instinct by stretching the games as long as possible and by piling up the adjournments.
They did not expect to win the match, and expect it even less now. But they are trying to salvage some of the waning Russian prestige in chess by keeping the score close.
If Taimanov can force Fischer to play impetuously, and perhaps snatch a win or several draws, then his task of dimming some of Fischer's aura will be accomplished.
Fischer is retaliating by showing his disdain for his opponent.
He has shown up late for ever playing session but one, allowing his clock to tick away the minutes. Taimanov, perhaps because of this, has been in time trouble in two of the three games.
Fischer has also let Taimanov know he thinks of Taimanov's refusal to admit defeat over the board in the two games he lost so badly. He has bolted out of the theater twice while Taimanov was pondering his sealed move.
Fischer has also charged Taimanov with deliberately attempting to distract him, and has complained officially of Taimanov's inertia when the game is out of reach.
And Fischer, of course, does it all alone. Apart from Edmondson, who cheerfully admits he is out of his league as far as giving Bobby advice, Fischer keeps to himself.
He has no seconds, no coach, no advisers. It has been this way most of his career.
The three Russian advisers to Taimanov, named Vasiulkov, Balasov and Kotov, are grandmasters with the exception of Balasov. Their expertise seems to be doing little good.
The first battle in the cold war was the dispute over playing conditions.
Fischer lost that one, but seems to have adjusted well to playing before an audience, rather than in the private room he had originally demanded.
But over the board, there seems to be no battle at all. If chess players were betting men, the odds would be astronomical that Fischer will not advance in the elimination series to pick a challenger for world champion Boris Spassky.
Meanwhile, Tigran Petrosian of Russia and Wolfgang Huebner of West Germany played to their sixth consecutive draw at Seville, Spain.
At Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Bent Larsen of Denmark and Wolfgang Uhlmann of West Germany drew in their fifth round game. Larsen holds a 3-2 lead.
