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Chess Sun, Dec 5, 1971 – 226 · The Boston Globe (Boston, Massachusetts) · Newspapers.com
Chess: The question: Why did he flinch? by Harold Dondis
A look back at the Petrosian-Fischer match shows that the Russians set a diabolical trap for Fischer in pre-game analysis which was all but snapped shut in the first game.
Fischer had used the opening as White to win two games against Taimanov.
The first game started as follows:
Robert James Fischer vs Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian Fischer - Petrosian Candidates Final (1971), Buenos Aires ARG, rd 1, Sep-30 Sicilian Defense: Paulsen. Szen Variation (B44)1-0 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044350
1. P-K4 P-QB4 1. e4 c5 2. N-KB3 P-K 2. Nf3 e6 3. P-Q4 PxP 3. d4 cxd4 4. NxP N-QB3 4. Nxd4 Nc6 5. N-N5 P-Q3 5. Nb5 d6 6. B-KB4 P-K4 6. Bf4 e5 7. B-K3 N-KB3 7. Be3 Nf6 8. B-N5 B-K3 8. Bg5 Be6 9. QN-B3 P-QR3 9. N1c3 a6 10. BxN PxB 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. N-R3 11. Na3
Here, Taimanov had played 13. … Q-R4. But Suetin, who has been working closely with Petrosian for two years, harbored a new move since 1962 and he worked on it with Petrosian and probably Bondarevsky and others in preparation for Bobby. 13. … P-Q4!
Now if 14. NxP BxN(5) 15. PxB BxN(3) etc. So Bobby thought 20 minutes and played PxP BxN; 13. NPxB Q-R4; 14. Q-Q2 O-O-O; 15. B-B4 (Harry Lyman says QR-Q is best), R-KN 16. R-Q (O-O loses to B-R6), B-B4?
Like the battle of Leyte Gulf in which the Japanese fleet withdrew with American troops transports at its mercy, Petrosian did not move in for the kill.
Post-game analyses in Boston by Lyman, Ozols and Robertie, give Petrosian a clear win with 16. … RxP. Korchnoi and Furman have since come to the same conclusion.
The lines as published in “Chess” are: 17. Q-K3 N-Q5; 18. K-B1 NxP; 19. Q-Q3 R-N5 (att'g. the B). On 17. N-K4 R-N3; 18. QxQ NxQ; 19. PxB NxB; 20. PxP R-B1; 21. R-Q5 P-N3.
Bobby held on desperately, finally equalized and then won as Petrosian ran out of time. A win by Petrosian in the 1st game, put with his actual 2nd round win might have broken Fischer's spirit. Why did the Russians fail to look one move deeper? Why did Petrosian flinch? Does Fischer have an answer somewhere? Why did Petrosian fail to play the line again? Time alone will supply the answers.
