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Chess 04 Aug 1992, Tue Newsday (Suffolk Edition) (Melville, New York) Newspapers.com
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Chess: The Return of Bobby Fischer? by Shelby Lyman
After a 20-year absence from competitive play, Bobby Fischer's recent decision to play a match with Boris Spassky for a $5 million purse in war-torn Yugoslavia is unexpected and astonishing.
Fischer has always been independent and original, but there are more likely moments for a comeback than a contest played in the midst of a civil war in violation of a UN boycott.
If the match should take place — it is scheduled to begin Sept. 2 — each move made by Fischer will be watched for signs of his old prowess. Hopefully the event will be a successful preamble to another try at the world title, which he won from Spassky in 1972 but forfeited three years later.
At 49—even without a 20-year layoff— it is to be expected that the American chess genius is past his prime. But normal assumptions do not always apply to Fischer. And there are the relevant examples of Mikhail Botvinnik, who regained his title from Mikhail Tal at Fischer's present age, and Viktor Korchnoi, who came within a hair of defeating Anatoly Karpov when only two years younger.
Although the September confrontation — which will conclude when one player has won 10 games or both players have won nine — seems to be a promoter's dream, it could easily become a protracted nightmare.
Yugoslavia is a country with rich chess traditions — a favorite venue for Fischer in his youth. Before the process of dismemberment began, it had more players with international ratings than any country in the world. Hopefully, Fischer-Spassky 1992 will not be of undue length.
Below is Game 5 from the 1972 Fischer-Spassky Match.
Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer
Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match (1972), Reykjavik ISL, rd 5, Jul-20
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Huebner Variation. Main Line (E41) 0-1
1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ 7. bxc3 d6 8. e4 e5 9. d5 Ne7 10. Nh4 h6 11. f4 Ng6 12. Nxg6 fxg6 13. fxe5 dxe5 14. Be3 b6 15. O-O O-O 16. a4 a5 17. Rb1 Bd7 18. Rb2 Rb8 19. Rbf2 Qe7 20. Bc2 g5 21. Bd2 Qe8 22. Be1 Qg6 23. Qd3 Nh5 24. Rxf8+ Rxf8 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26. Bd1 Nf4 27. Qc2 Bxa4 White resigns(a)
(a) If 28. Qxa4 then … Qxe4 threatening both 29. … Qxg2 mate and 29. … Qxe1 mate.
