ADeseret News Salt Lake City, Utah Wednesday, October 27, 1971 - Page 9
U.S. Chess Whiz Victor; World Title Bout Next
Buenos Aires (AP) Bobby Fischer, a 28-year-old high school dropout from Brooklyn and the kingpin of American chess for half his life, has won the right to play the world chess champion for the title—the first American ever to reach that level in competition.
In Moscow, a commentator for the Soviet news agency Tass praised the young American's fourth consecutive victory over Russian Tigran Petrosian, which set the stage for a meeting with champion Boris Spassky.
Fischer won the finals of the challenger tournament through “powerful play … high technique and quick estimate of the position.” wrote Yakov Rokhlin, the Tass chess commentator.
The game gave Fischer 6½ points and the victory in a scheduled 12-game match with Petrosian, a former world champion. Fischer will get $7,500 in prize money and his opponent $4,500.
