Spassky Explodes
Arriving at the 19th game of the world championship with a one point lead, challenger Boris Spassky's situation called only for a cautious draw. The onus of wining was on champion Petrosian. Instead he produced one of the most daring and brilliant victories in the history of the event. Perhaps he felt like Karl Schlecter did in his match with Dr. Em. Lasker in 1910. Leading 1-0, with eight draws in a best of ten games match, he apparently did not believe that the chess world would be satisfied with so small a margin of superiority, went all out in the final tenth game — and lost!
Boris Spassky vs Tigran V Petrosian
Petrosian - Spassky World Championship Match (1969), Moscow URS, rd 19, Jun-04
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation (B94) 1-0
(According to Chessgames: 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 Nbd7 7. Bc4 Qa5 8. Qd2 h6 9. Bxf6 Nxf6 10. O-O-O e6 11. Rhe1 Be7 12. f4 O-O 13. Bb3 Re8 14. Kb1 Bf8 15. g4 Nxg4 16. Qg2 Nf6 17. Rg1 Bd7 18. f5 Kh8 19. Rdf1 Qd8 20. fxe6 fxe6 21. e5 dxe5 22. Ne4 Nh5 23. Qg6 exd4 24. Ng5 1-0
(According to D.M. Le Dain:)
If Black retreats 15. … N-R2; 16. P-KR4 and P-N5, etc.
(b) Not 18. … PxP; 19. Q-N6! (threat QxN), Q-Q1; 20. BxBPch.
(c) Forced, as 20. PxP and RxN was coming up.
(d) Knight any; 22. RxBch.
(e) The final attack has been calculated meticulously.
(f) If 28. … P-KN3; 29. RxNP Q-K2; 30. QxNP. Or, 28. … Q-R5; 29. R-R5ch QxR; 30. QxQch K-N1; 31. B-B4 and B-Q3 and Black is helpless.
(Le Dain does not give an explanation why a discrepancy exists between his version of round 19, and the version at chessgames.com... perhaps a hypothetical win.)
Opinions
The following comments of two former world champions on the contestants in the current world title match appeared recently in the Soviet press.
V. Smyslov: Tigran Petrosian has penetrated deeper perhaps than anyone into the secrets of positional maneuvering. He is finely sensitive to all the nuances of the struggle on the chess board.
Who will win: Petrosian or Spassky? It is hard to say. I wish to make just one remark. There is a Russian saying: “Repetition is the mother of understanding.” In 1954, I could not win the crown from Botvinnik, but three years later I succeeded in doing so. Why should not Spassky also do the same? He has every ground for achieving it.
M. Tal: Petrosian possesses a remarkable capacity for perceiving his opponent's possibilities in advance. This quality sometimes prevents him from winning, but then it often comes to his aid.