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The King's Men Sun, Dec 12, 1971 – Page 66 · The Courier-Journal (Louisville, Kentucky) · Newspapers.com
The King's Men: Spassky Sparkles in Game Against Fischer at Siegen by Merrill Dowden
What are Bobby Fischer's chances to dethrone the Soviet grandmaster, Boris Spassky, in their world championship match next spring?
Well, let's face it. Fischer will have the toughest sledding of his brilliant career. These two giants of the chessboard have met before, with the lion's share of victories going to the Russian.
In spite of it all, I see Fischer as the next world champion, and I believe most observers will agree. Why? Because Fischer's record since he returned to the tournament wars has been simply unbelievable. His string of victories leading up to the match with Spassky is without precedent. He appears now to have reached the peak of his powers, and to be all but unbeatable.
Spassky lost his first title match with Tigran Petrosian, and barely managed to win the second match in 1969. Fischer, on the other hand, beat Petrosian unmercifully in the Candidates' Matches, winning the last four games in a row.
This is not to put Spassky down. In his drive toward the title he beat Keres, Geller, Tal, Korchnoi and Larsen, grandmasters all, and then, of course, Petrosian.
In view of the tremendous interest building up in the forthcoming match, I am presenting today a game played between Spassky and Fischer at Siegen last year. Fischer, never content to draw, lost the game when he daringly became too aggressive. He is not likely to repeat that mistake.
Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer Siegen ol (Men) fin-A (1970), Siegen FRG, rd 6, Sep-20 Gruenfeld Defense: Exchange. Classical Variation (D86) 1-0 https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1044698
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 d5 4. cxd5 Nxd5 5. e4 Nxc3 6. bxc3 Bg7 7. Bc4 c5 8. Ne2 Nc6 9. Be3 O-O(a) 10. O-O Qc7 11. Rc1 Rd8 12. h3 b6 13. f4 e6 14. Qe1 Na5 15. Bd3 f5 16. g4 fxe4 17. Bxe4 Bb7 18. Ng3 Nc4 19. Bxb7 Qxb7 20. Bf2 Qc6 21. Qe2 cxd4 22. cxd4 b5 23. Ne4 Bxd4 24. Ng5 Bxf2+ 25. Rxf2 Rd6 26. Re1 Qb6 27. Ne4 Rd4 28. Nf6+ Kh8 29. Qxe6 Rd6 30. Qe4 Rf8 31. g5 Rd2 32. Rf1 Qc7 33. Rxd2 Nxd2 34. Qd4 Rd8(b) 35. Nd5+ Kg8 36. Rf2 Nc4 37. Re2 Rd6 38. Re8+ Kf7 39. Rf8+ 1-0(c)
(a) 9 … PxP, 10. PxP Q-R4 leads nowhere. In fact, it helps White to develop his Bishop to Q2 and later to Q-B3.
(b) Necessary, else 35. N-K8 follows.
(c) Black has nothing left. If 39. … KxR, he loses the Queen to 40. Q-R8ch.
