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Chess Mon, Feb 7, 1972 – 15 · The Guardian (London, Greater London, England) · Newspapers.com
Chess: Bobby Leads the Young by Leonard Barden
Bobby Fischer's drive for the world championship, coupled with the star quality of his personality and his incessant hunger for wins, has inspired a whole generation of young players to model their opening repertory and styles on those of the master. This is a welcome development which can only add to the interest of tournament chess. Bobby often adopts sharp and uncompromising defences like the Najdorf Sicilian and the Modern Benoni in his efforts to score a full point with the black pieces, while his consistent faith in 1. P-K4 as White has inspired a swing back to the directness of the king's pawn rather than the cagey and positional flank openings which gained ground during Petrosian's six year reign as world champion.
Two games this week show the Fischer style influencing the youngest generation of English players. Jonathan Mestel, aged 14, of Manchester Grammar School, chose Fischer's trademark move B-QB4 against a Swiss opponent's Sicilian at Hastings, and blitzed him on the king's side in a manner reminiscent of one or two of Fischer's wins against Benko. John Nunn, aged 16, of Oriel College, Oxford, used a thematic pawn roller in a Modern Benoni to beat a Danish rival in a junior international in Hallsberg, Sweden (won by Nunn with 8 out of 9.)
