AThe Province Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada Tuesday, May 18, 1971 - Page 5
World Chess Match - Fischer Wins Opening Round by Paul Raugust
Mark Taimanov of the Soviet Union, faced with an indefensible position in his opening world championship quarter final match, resigned before play was resumed at the University of B.C. Monday afternoon.
The match had been adjourned on the 40th move after nearly five hours of play Sunday night.
Winning the opening game gives Fischer a tremendous advantage in the balance of the scheduled 10-round match. Should the remaining games all be drawn, Fischer would win the match on the strength of the opening game.
The extent of Fischer's advantage should be born out Tuesday when the second round gets underway as the American grandmaster will be playing white.
Taimanov played white in the first round but lost his advantages early in the game when he played a risky N-KN5 that not only cost him a pawn, which he never regained, but the space and development initiative of white.
Many championship competitors are satisfied in being able to draw a game when playing black.
Although scheduled for 10 rounds, the match ends whenever a player reaches 5½ points. A win counts as one point and a draw as ½. Winner of the match will advance to the semifinals to decide who will play world champion Boris Spassky of the U.S.S.R. in Moscow in 1972.
Fischer appeared in a strong enough position to force a mating in the late stages of the game Sunday. It was surprising that Taimanov did not concede the game then.
The Russian had lost all hope of forcing a draw in the late stages of the match when the two players traded queens.
In other quarter final matches over the weekend, Soviet grandmaster Viktor Korchnoi and Yefim Geller tied on the 36th move in their second game Saturday in Moscow.
Korchnoi won the first match Thursday when Geller exceeded the time limit on the 36th move. The score now stands at 1½ for Korchnoi to ½ for Geller.
Another Soviet grandmaster Tigran Petrosian and Robert Huebner of West Germany, playing in Seville, Spain tied Sunday on the 27th move in their third game. The two players also tied their other ten matches and the standing now is 1½ points each.
In Las Palmas, Canary Islands, East Germany's Wolfgang Uhlmann defeated Denmark's Bent Larsen in 46 moves in their second game Sunday.
The match adjourned after 41 moves Saturday, lasted a total of seven hours.
The two players now are tied with one point each in two games. The first match Friday was won by Larsen when Uhlmann gave up after 44 moves.
