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The Chessboard 02 Jul 1972, Sun Asbury Park Press (Asbury Park, New Jersey) Newspapers.com
World Title on Line Today
The world chess championship is on the line today with the scheduled meeting of Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union, the present titleholder, and Bobby Fischer of the United States in the first encounter of their 24-game match in Reykjavik, Iceland.
After months of in-fighting over financial arrangements and locales, the two grandmasters face the considerably more taxing exigencies of match play over a protracted period.
The $125,000 purse, the largest in history, will be divided $78,125 to the winner and the balance to the loser. To left Spassky's crown, Fischer must score 13 points, while the Russian needs 12½ points to retain his title.
Were their past meetings any criteria, Spassky would be an odds-on favorite in the current match — in their last five games in international play he holds the lead with three wins and two draws. But Fischer's performance in the candidates matches in which he ran roughshod over three grandmasters to gain a chance at the title, weighs heavily against such an assessment.
Further, Spassky was decidedly off form in last year's Alekhine Memorial Tournament in Moscow in which he tied Mikhail Tal for 6th and 7th places at 9½-7½, losing two games, winning only four and drawing the rest. In his games against Tal in that event Spassky tried hard to win, but was rebuffed by Tal's sturdy defense and had to settle for a draw.
Here is the score
Boris V Spassky vs Mikhail Tal
Moscow (1971), Moscow URS, rd 7, Dec-03
Sicilian Defense: Scheveningen Variation. Matanovic Attack (B82) 1/2-1/2
1. e4 c5
2. Nf3 e6
One has come to expect 2. … P-Q3 which has largely surpassed the text in popularity. Now came
3. d4 cxd4
4. Nxd4 Nf6
5. Nc3 d6
6. f4 (obviously more aggressive than the line introduced with 6. B-K2) … Be7
7. Bd3 Nc6
8. Nf3 (also to be considered with 8. N-N3, but White contemplates a kingside attack so this knight will be more useful on that wing) … O-O
9. O-O Nb4
10. Kh1 (and Black replied) b6
One of the problems in the Scheveningen Variation is that Black's king's bishop lacks the scope it enjoys in the Dragon Variation when it is placed strongly at K-N2, exerting pressure on the center. The text attempts to achieve this pressure with the queen's bishop.
11. Be3 Bb7
12. a3 Nxd3
13. cxd3 d5
14. e5 d4!
Giving up a pawn for open lines and good attacking chances.
15. Nxd4 (After 15. PxN, BxP(3), Black recovers the piece with good prospects) … Nd5
16. Bg1 (White prefers not to yield up the advantage of the two bishops. Black replied 16. …) Nxc3
and there followed
17. bxc3 Rc8
Black has activated his pieces and gained a measure of counterplay for his pawn.
18. c4 Rc7
19. f5! (a sharp reply aimed at opening up lines against the Black king) …Rd7
20. Qg4 (but this is not best; 20. PxP, even after the double exchange on Q4, gains a winning momentum for White's central pawns) h5!
21. Qxh5 Rxd4
With White's minor pieces gone, Black has little to fear from White's kingside attack; now came
22. f6 (the routine 22. BxR QxB leads to nothing) … gxf6
23. Ra2 fxe5
24. Bxd4 Qxd4
25. Rf3 (Yielding the exchange for a mate threat that just proves insufficient. There followed) … Bxf3
26. gxf3 (Threatening mate by 27. R-KN2) … Bf6
27. Rg2+ Bg7
28. Rxg7+ Kxg7
29. Qg5+ and the game was drawn, 1/2-1/2
