The Des Moines Register Des Moines, Iowa Wednesday, July 19, 1972 - Page 4
Fourth Spassky-Fischer Game Ends in a Draw After 5 Hours by Michael Lake, 1972 Manchester Guardian
Reykjavik, Iceland—The fourth game of the world chess championship ended in a draw here Tuesday, after getting underway in a comparatively orderly manner although both Bobby Fischer and Boris Spassky arrived late for the start of the game.
With Fischer leading with white in his Sozin attack, Spassky played the classic Sicilian defense with southern variations — a strategy which sounds more like a short left jab under the chin with a stiletto than the attack on Fischer's bishop which it really is. At the same time Spassky was playing with great speed.
The Soviet champion's clock showed that he took only 9 minutes to make his first 16 moves against nearly 40 minutes for Fischer. Spassky had clearly prepared himself to play this game according to the book, knowing that Fischer always opens with pawn to king four.
Successful Defense
But after looking like a loser for two hours, Fischer was able to play a successful defense after two mistakes by Spassky and force a draw after five hours.
The score in the 24-game series now stands at 2½ for the Soviet champion and 1½ for the American challenger.
They called it quits at the forty-fifth move. The fight had been hard with a string of startling turnabouts.
Each contestant got a half-point for the draw. Spassky, 35, won the first game and got the second by forfeit when Fischer ([boycotted the unethical refusal of organizers to obey the rules and upon Fischer's demand, remove crews of camera men hired to create auditory and visual disruptions, which interfered with Fischer's concentration during Game #1, leading up to his setting out Game #2 in protest]). The 29-year-old American won the third.
Yugoslav grandmaster Svetozar Gligoric said Spassky had made a bad error on the twenty-ninth move, throwing away the chance of a victory.
U.S. grandmaster Robert Byrne said Spassky, playing at a slight disadvantage with the black pieces, could have pocketed a draw at the eighteenth move by forcing an exchange of queens.
But the Russian chose to go for a victory. The game was packed with surprises, first white and then black setting the pace.
Spectators bet first on Fischer, then on Spassky and then on Fischer again.
For the first time in the series, Spassky was late in arriving — but not so late as Fischer. The Soviet champion walked onstage four minutes after the clock started. The American chess whiz from Brooklyn was 10 minutes overdue in the 2,500-seat auditorium.
Spassky made his first eight moves in less than two minutes, having obviously prepared his defense well in advance.
Fischer, behind 2-1 in the 24-game match, was also prepared, for he played his first seven moves in less than three minutes.
For his eighth move, however, Fischer took 10 minutes, the intellectual battle was on in earnest.
There were no move or TV cameras in the auditorium, said Gudmundur Thorarinsson, president of the Icelandic Chess Federation.
Fourth Spassky-Fischer Game Ends in a Draw After 5 Hours 19 Jul 1972, Wed The Des Moines Register (Des Moines, Iowa) Newspapers.com
