ATimes Colonist Victoria, British Columbia, Canada Saturday, July 24, 1971 - Page 18
Soviet Chess Finals Stalled by Illness
Moscow (AP) — Former world champion Tigran Petrosian postponed because of illness today what might have been his winning match against Soviet grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi in the semi-final round of the world chess challengers' tournament.
The government news agency Tass said today's game will be played Monday.
Russian grandmaster Petrosian is leading 5-4 in the best-of-10 series, after defeating Korchnoi on the 42nd move in the ninth match. The previous eight were all ties.
If Petrosian wins or draws Monday's match, he will face American Bobby Fischer in September in the final round to decide who will try to take the world champion crown from Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
The players got one point for a win and a half point for a draw.
If, however, Korchnoi wins the game Monday and brings the score to 5-5, the winner will be decided by the first victor in an additional series of games.
