ANew York Times, New York, New York, Wednesday, July 12, 1972 - Page 1,26
Edge Is Given to Spassky In Adjourned First Game by Harold C. Schonberg
Reykjavik, Iceland, July 11—The first game of the Bobby Fischer-Boris Spassky match for the world chess championship was adjourned tonight after 40 moves.
Although the consensus of experts gave the Soviet champion the edge, it was felt that his American challenger still had good chances for a draw. The game is to resume at 5 P.M. tomorrow—1 P.M. New York time.
The game started quietly enough. Spassky opened, as many had expected, with P-Q4, and Fischer adopted a Nimzo-Indian defense, and for a while it seemed as though both players were heading toward a routine draw.
Then, on the 29th move, the game exploded. Spassky offered a pawn that, in the opinion of the experts, could not be taken. It was what is known as a “poisoned pawn,” for if Fischer took it his bishop would probably be trapped.
Fischer took it and gasps of surprise swept through the auditorium.
Had Spassky miscalculated? Or had Fischer misjudged, giving up the bishop for two pawns and a tenuous position?
It will not be known until Fischer talks whether he miscalculated or decided to take Spassky's dare, the devil take the consequences.
Even if Fischer does lose the first game, he has achieved the respect of every player here by rising to Spassky's dare and throwing away a sure draw for a speculative attack.
At adjournment, the 29-year-old American grandmaster was desperately trying to turn to advantage his pawns on the king's side. The grandmasters at the scene felt that Spassky's position was superior and that Fischer would have trouble drawing:
“Perhaps Bobby will draw,” said Dragolub Janosevic, the Yugoslavian master.
“Probably a draw,” said Nikolai Krogius, the Russian grandmaster and psychologist for the Soviet team. The Yugoslav player, Svetozar Gligoric, one of the world's strongest players, however, said he did not think Fischer had any chance at all.
Another powerful player had no comment. “I am not thinking—I am drinking my coffee.” said Efim Geller, Spassky's second.
Crowd Put at 2,000
Exhibition hall was crowded for the game. No exact attendance figures were available but the house manager estimated the audience at over 2,000. There are 2,300 chairs and room for 1,000 more if the demand requires it.
The chess enthusiasts started turning up well over an hour before the 5 P.M. start of the game to get the best seats. Tickets are $5 a game—or $75 for the entire match —and there are no reserved seats.
The match could last 24 games. Fischer needs 12½ points (at 1 point for a victory and ½ for a draw) to win; Spassky needs only 12 points to retain his title.
The 35-year-old Soviet star, dressed in a dark business suit that included a vest, arrived promptly at 5 to be greeted by a stage without an opponent. He spoke to the referee Lothar Schmid, and made his first move. Schmid then started Fischer's clock. Fischer turned up seven minutes later wearing a business suit and a white shirt.
For most of the match there was hardly any movement by the players or the hushed audience in the dim arena. Fischer was mostly hunched over the board; Spassky had his head locked in his hands.
If the interior of the auditorium resembled a place of worship—from time to time a large “silence” sign blinked on—the exteriors were more reminiscent of Yankee Stadium at the seventh-inning stretch. Even hot dogs were on sale. There is a large cafeteria in Exhibition Hall and hundreds of chess lovers preferred to watch the action over television monitors, pocket chess sets in front of them, while drinking beer or eating some of the calorie-sensational pastries that Icelanders love.
Downstairs there was a lecture room in which Icelandic experts presided over a demonstration set hung on the wall. This room was crowded with Icelanders jostling each other and even standing on chairs in order to see and hear the analyses. There was much movement in halls and passageways, in sharp contrast to the solemnity within.
TV Follows the Moves
All the demonstration equipment worked beautifully. The closed-circuit television concentrated mostly on a demonstration board, which, of course, kept up with each move. Next to this were the players' clocks with elapsed time and numerical list of the actual moves.
The definition of the television picture was sharp and clear. Every so often the lens shifted to a picture of the players or to a close-up of the board itself, the marble inlay that artisans had worked so hard to perfect. It had been installed this afternoon and met with the approval of both players.
Tonight will be a busy one for both players and it is unlikely that they will get much sleep. Before the adjournment, Spassky sealed his 41st move. The envelope will be opened tomorrow by Schmid, who will make Spassky's sealed move.
The adjourned position is complicated and endless variations will be tested by Spassky and Fischer and their respective seconds, Geller and the Rev. William Lombardy.
They will not be alone: Every chess player at the scene is going to be trying out his own variations at home or in the chess clubs.
Boris Spassky vs Robert James Fischer
Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match (1972), Reykjavik ISL, rd 1, Jul-11
Nimzo-Indian Defense: Normal Variation. Gligoric System Bernstein Defense (E56) 1-0
