AThe Indianapolis Star Indianapolis, Indiana Monday, July 17, 1972 - Page 9
Bobby Seems Headed For First Victory In World Chess Tourney
Reykjavik, Iceland(UPI)—The third game of the world chess championship match was adjourned after 40 moves yesterday and experts said United States challenger Bobby Fischer appeared to be headed for his first win against world champion Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union.
When they left the board, Fischer, who still must play his 41st move, had six pawns, his queen and the white bishop. Spassky, with one move more than Fischer, had five pawns, his queen and black bishop.
FISCHER AND the world champion began the third game of their $250,000 challenge match in a small room with only the judges present. The moves were relayed to an audience in an adjacent hall by closed-circuit television.
Experts said Fischer's position after 30 moves was superior to Spassky's but that the two grand masters were equal. Fischer led in time allotted with nearly a 2-1 advantage toward the close of yesterday's session.
SPASSKY WAS in trouble as he pondered his 41st move. The match resumes at 5 p.m. (noon EST) today. Fischer ended the five-hour playing session on the attack forcing two queen checks in the 38th and 39th moves.
Even Nikolai Krogius, one of the world champion's seconds, admitted Fischer now had a chance to win his first game in the match when the game is finished today.
Robert Byrne, a United States grand master, said “Bobby has a chance to win this game. He is a pawn ahead. The only problem is that they have bishops of different colors which is a complication.”
KROGIUS SAID Spassky made an error in his opening game around the 11th move but he would not discuss it in detail. “We will have to look at that tonight,” he said.
When Spassky made his 41st move he got up and left the table. Fischer remained in his black leather swivel chair, pondering his response for 10 minutes before he finally took his protocol, wrote his move, stuck the paper into a big envelope and handed it to arbiter Lothar Schmid of West Germany who sealed it.
SPASSKY OPENED the game with his queen's pawn, the same opening he used in the first game—which he won. Fischer, who showed up eight minutes late, opened with a knight—also his opening move in the first game.
The issue of the closed-circuit television coverage of the match was dealt with in an agreement worked out only hours before. The agreement, which made yesterday's game possible, called for it to be held in the small room rather than in the 3,000-seat auditorium in the same building. The audience in the auditorium had been keeping track of the moves through television screens connected to cameras near the playing stage. His seconds continued negotiating with the match organizers.
The committee's ultimatum came in a report which caused Fred Cramer, a vice-president of the U.S. Chess Federation, to walk out of negotiations with match organizers.
“THE RUSSIANS are sabotaging the match,” Cramer said as he stormed out. “If there is no more play they have torpedoed it by insisting on inserting inflammatory statements and anti-Fischer propaganda into the committee report. The Russians simply did not want to give Bobby a fair hearing.”
But under the agreement worked out later, the third game was to be played in the same building as the auditorium where the first game was held, but in a small backstage room previously used for Ping-Pong tournaments, said Gudmundur Thorarinsson, president of the Icelandic Chess Federation.
THORARINSSON said the Rev. William Lombardy, Fischer's official second, accepted the agreement on the American champion's behalf. The solution, however, appeared only temporary. Schmid said he would try to have the fourth game moved back into the auditorium.
The television cameras, meanwhile, were being moved away from the auditorium playing area to a balcony 175 yards away. Chester Fox Inc., owner of the television and film rights to the match, said telephoto lenses for the cameras were being flown in to accommodate the new position.
AFTER THE agreement to play the third game in private was announced, Fischer and Father Lombardy brushed past reporters waiting in the lobby of their hotel and went into a private dining room to eat and prepare game strategy.
Bobby Seems Headed For First Victory In World Chess Tourney 17 Jul 1972, Mon The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana) Newspapers.com
Bobby Headed For Win? 17 Jul 1972, Mon The Indianapolis Star (Indianapolis, Indiana) Newspapers.com
