The Province Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Friday, May 21, 1971 - Page 31
Neither Will Give In - Chess Champs at Loggerheads by Paul Raugust
Soviet grandmaster Mark Taimanov appears to have time enough to burn. While Bobby Fischer of the U.S. steadfastly refuses to offer draws in games that can end in nothing but forced draws, Taimanov is countering by refusing to resign in games that are nothing but losers.
The two grandmasters, playing at the University of B.C. in a world chess championship elimination match, so far have started three games in four days of play, but each day has ended in an adjournment.
Two games are now adjourned and, even if they are still undecided during play today, a fourth game will be started Sunday.
The outcome of only one game has been decided so far, and even that game had been adjourned.
On Thursday, Taimanov got himself into the same sort of mess as he was in the first game. He duplicated the first game's opening 10 moves, and ran up against the same brick wall of Fischer's King's Indian Defense.
Time again was the big factor as the Soviet master spent 72 minutes on his 20th move. This left him approximately two minutes per move to complete the remaining 20 mandatory moves.
The 19th move turned out to be the one that turned the tide for Fischer as it allowed him to take an offensive position.
At adjournment, Fischer was in a position to take Taimanov's bishop, leaving him with a rook, knight, king and three pawns to defend against black's four pawns, queen and king.
Play will resume on the second game, which experts see as a forced draw, this afternoon. It was adjourned Tuesday and again Wednesday after more than 8½ hours of play in the 72nd move.
Fischer has publicly criticized the game's acceptance of draws and therefore is not likely to make such an offer to Taimanov.
If the game ends within two hours of play, the players will have two hours to settle the third game. Otherwise play on adjourned games will resume Monday.
In the only other game played in the quarter-finals Thursday, Viktor Korchnoi conceded defeat to a fellow Russian, Yim Geller, in the fourth game in Moscow.
Korchnoi won their first game a week ago and the second and third games were drawn.
