ANanaimo Daily News Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada Monday, July 17, 1972 - Page 1
Bobby Fischer Wins As Spassky Resigns
Reykjavik (Reuter) — Bobby Fischer of the U.S. won the third game of the world chess title match against Russian Boris Spassky when the Soviet champion resigned today after 41 moves.
Fischer was not in the hall when the end came although Icelandic officials said he had been on his way.
It was the American challenger's first victory over the world champion in seven meetings and made the score 2-1 in Spassky's favor.
The match in the 24-game series ended as soon as match arbiter Lothar Schmid of West Germany opened the envelope containing Fischer's secret last move before the adjournment and moved bishop to queen six.
Has One More Pawn
When they adjourned, each player had his king, queen and one bishop remaining while Fischer had six pawns to Spassky's five.
Rev. William Lombardy, American grandmaster who is Fischer's second, said Spassky was “in a bad position.”
In five previous meetings Fischer never had beaten Spassky. He lost three playing black and drawn two when he played white and had the first move.
Fischer needs 12½ points to dethrone Spassky while the Russian can retain his title with only 12. A player gets a point for winning a game and half a point for a draw.
Spassky's aides described the offstage room as a “chess cupboard” and warned that the Russian would not play any more games in it.
Asked how Fischer would react to this, one of the American's aides said: “I don't even know if he knows.”
Schmid said he moved the game site under Rule 21 providing that the competition can be in private if either player demands it because of disturbance.
“Bobby Fischer protested against certain conditions,” Schmid said. “He feels disturbed for several reasons.” ([And what were those reasons? “instead of..video tape film that didn't make any noise they had guys with film cameras that were..all around..making a racket..and visually you could see them moving around.”- R.J. Fischer, “Under agreed rules of the match, [Fischer] had the right to object and to demand removal of the cameras if they disturbed him.” -Edmondson, USCF and when it was legal according to the rules, to file official protest against the disruptive conditions in the hall, “At 11:58 P.M., two minutes before the deadline Cramer, handed a formal written protest to Schmid.” - Paul Marshall. The biased committee simply rejected to petition out of hand without further ado.])
The 29-year-old challenger bounced back Sunday night with a striking display of originality and aggression, taking almost instant command in the game which was played in a secluded back room of the Reykjavik exhibition hall.
Spectators had to make do with closed-circuit television coverage of the game instead of watching it live on the main stage.
Play will resume in the same room tonight with Fischer, playing black, apparently on the verge of crushing Spassky in a pincer movement which had the Russian in check on the 28th and 39th moves.
More Grief Possible
But, while the unpredictable American now is considered likely to agree to continue the trouble-plagued match, it may run into more trouble Tuesday—this time in the form of Russian protests over the decision to move play from the main auditorium.
Spassky protested against the move, which chief arbiter Lothar Schmid said he had taken as a temporary measure to save the match, and Soviet sources said he will insist that the tournament be relocated in the auditorium for Tuesday's fourth game.
