AThe Sydney Morning Herald Sydney, New South Wales, Australia Sunday, October 10, 1971 - Page 103
How they stand By G. Koshnitsky, “Sun-Herald” Chess Editor
The match took an unexpected turn when in the second game. Petrosian by brilliant and aggressive play completely outplayed his American opponent.
Fischer adopted his favorite Grunfeld defense to Petrosian's queen's pawn opening with both players hitting hard after the first half dozen moves.
The battle for opening advantage was so fierce that Fischer's king was left uncastled which ultimately proved his undoing.
Petrosian brilliantly sacrificed the exchange and forced a decisive break through in the center of the board.
This was the first game the American lost in the series and it was not surprising that in the third game he was content with a draw which he forced by repetition of moves while Petrosian was in severe time trouble.
The score of 1½-1½ after three games and the quality of the games indicate that the experts who predicted a comfortable victory for Fischer may yet be proven to be wrong.
The World's Greatest Chess Battle from Richard Beattie in New York
Bobby Fischer has been saying that he is the best chess player in the world for more than 10 years now, but he has never got around to meeting the world champion to prove his point.
The 28-year-old American who spends his whole life playing, writing and dreaming about chess, has at long last set off on the grueling path that most likely will see him crowned as champion of the world: the many who took the title away from the Russians.
In Buenos Aires this week Fischer has continued his formidable winning streak by beating Tigran Petrosian in the first of a 12-game series that will determine who plays Boris Spassky, the current world champion.
Despite the long periods of utter inactivity when chess grandmasters face each other in public auditoriums, the Argentinians have flocked to the San Martin Theatre in their thousands to watch the play through opera glasses or see the moves projected on a giant screen placed in the lobby outside the theatre.
The American is an aggressive and determined player who is always at his best when on the offensive, while his Russian opponent thrives on defensive play, but has an uncanny knack of spotting offensive mistakes which open up the board for a decisive killing.
Fischer and Petrosian make perfect opponents, but the betting in Buenos Aires is overwhelmingly in the American's favor.
He is odds-on to win with the unofficial bookmakers.
A decisive victory over Petrosian will mean that Fischer takes on Spassky with probably slightly better than even money being bet on him taking the world crown.
The president of the International Chess Federation, Dr. Max Euwe, was even prepared to suggest longer odds.
The Dutchman predicted odds of 60-40 in favor of Fischer against the Russian, but before the Fischer-Petrosian series he was not convinced that the Russian would lose.
“It won't be easy,” he said.
“Tigran Petrosian has a genius for squeezing out victory after a series of long, dull games.
“His style is the very opposite of Fischer's open, creative games.”
Petrosian was formerly the world champion but lost to Spassky, and is now fighting to regain one of the most sought-after honors in the Soviet Union.
No venue has yet been set for the world championships, due to be held next March or April. It is understood, however, that Australian chess officials are hoping that the contest will be held in Australia.
They will put the case for the match being held in Australia to the International Chess Federation, and point out the advantages using a “neutral” territory as the site of confrontation between the “super-powers.”
Dr. Euwe said recently the Russians would prefer to hold the championship match in Holland, but they acknowledged that Fischer does not like to play there.
“They're not enthusiastic about Yugoslavia, where Fischer is a hero,” he said.
“Maybe I'll have to decide the issue by tossing a coin in front of the American and Soviet ambassadors in Amsterdam.”
Even if the title is not won by Fischer, he is unlikely to lose any of the enthusiasm the Russian public has for his style and character.
When he was in Canada last July he devastated Mark Taimanov, a Russian, and Bent Larsen, of Denmark, by 6-0 scores that startled the Russian chess experts and led to widespread and enthusiastic publicity about the “extraordinary” American.
Long-time foreign residents in Moscow believe that he is on the way to becoming the most popular non-Russian since the American pianist Van Cliburn.
The Russian press could not have sung Fischer's praises higher when he was in Vancouver.
“A miracle has occurred,” the chess commentator in “Sovietsky Sport” said of Fischer.
The “miraculous” skill of Bobby Fischer was on show when he first met Petrosian in Buenos Aires.
In 40 moves that began with a Sicilian Defense Fischer never looked like losing.
At the end, with only seconds on the clock, Petrosian had to lose a knight in a hopeless position.
There was one stage when Petrosian found a new move with his eleventh turn with the black pieces that appeared to have stumped Fischer.
He took more than half an hour on his next few moves.
Petrosian had taken the initiative after giving up a pawn. The Russian's pieces commanded the main open lines, with Fischer's knight appearing in mortal danger.
The American defended carefully by playing to exchange pieces and simplify the game.
In effect, the two grandmasters had reversed their customary role as aggressor and defender.
But then Fischer succeeded in equalizing and moved on to take a rook-knight ending.
Petrosian, on his 29th move, repeated a move, apparently content to see the game finish with a draw.
At that point one of Fischer's most admired qualities as a chess player came to bear on the game.
He was not satisfied with a draw. Every game is to be won, if possible, not drawn, according to the Fischer philosophy.
He evaded Petrosian's attempt and found a way of developing winning chances through a passed pawn on a rook's file.
If Australia is lucky enough to have the world championship played in Sydney or Melbourne, the event will generate more publicity about this country in the Russian press than any matter of international relations affecting Australia has ever done.
