AThe Guardian London, Greater London, England Thursday, October 28, 1971 - Page 4
Fischer Through To Final
A fourth successive win against a demoralized opponent ensured Bobby Fischer of the United States the right to challenge Boris Spassky (Soviet Union) for the world chess championship next spring.
Tigran Petrosian (Soviet Union), the 1963-9 champion, resigned the ninth game and the match series to Fischer in 46 moves when faced with a fast running queen's rook's pawn which Petrosian's knight could not stop. The final score was Fischer 6½, Petrosian 2½.
Petrosian has done a little better than Fischer's earlier opponents in the world title eliminators. Fischer beat both Mark Taimanov (Soviet Union) and Bent Larsen (Denmark) by 6-0 scores.
The quality of Fischer's games and their freedom from error, combined with the single-mindedness and drive which he has shown since he first came to international prominence in 1957 at the age of 14, makes him a clear favorite to win the championship from Spassky.
