AThe Times Recorder Zanesville, Ohio Thursday, July 22, 1971 - Page 10
Gains World Finals - U.S. Chess Wizard Wins Again
Denver (UPI) — New York chess wizard Robert J. “Bobby” Fischer, 28, defeated Bent Larsen of Denmark in 40 moves Tuesday night to win a place in the finals of the world chess championships.
Fischer, the undisputed king of American chess, defeated Larsen in six straight games in the best of 10 series to eliminate the Dane from the world playoffs.
Larsen stayed on the attack in the opening stages of the game Tuesday and appeared to have the early game. But Fischer battled back near the end to take command of the board and win the match and series.
Fischer now will face the winner of the semifinals series being held in Moscow between Soviet grandmasters Tigran Petrosian and Viktor Korchnoi. That series is deadlocked at 4-4 with all eight games having ended in draws.
The winner of the finals match will play Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union for the world chess title in 1972.
Fischer cut a deeper notch in chess history Tuesday by again shutting out a chess grandmaster in international competition. It had happened only once before—when Fischer defeated Soviet Mark Taimanov in the Vancouver quarterfinals.
The Tuesday win ran Fischer's string of victories to 18 in international competition without a defeat. Prior to the faultless wins over Larsen and Taimanov, Fischer had won his last seven games in interzonal play in Palma de Mallorca, Spain.
Fischer, who started playing chess at the age of 6, has reached the finals through an unusual route. He did not play in the U.S. chess championship in 1969, which seemed to eliminate him from world title competition. At the time, he was on a layoff from tournament chess which lasted 18 months.
In 1970, he resumed play. Paul Benko, one of the American qualifiers, dropped out to make way for Fischer and the International Chess Federation approved the switch.
Fischer went on from there to mount his astounding series of victories over the world's best players.
