AThe Times Shreveport, Louisiana Wednesday, July 12, 1972 - Page 2
Spassky Repels Fischer Assault in 1st Chess Game by Stephens Broening
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP)—Bobby Fischer made his opening assault on the Soviet chess fortress Tuesday night, but world champion Boris Spassky repelled it and left the American with a tough fight for a draw when their first game was adjourned.
The first game of history's richest world chess title match was called after 40 moves and 3 hours and 34 minutes of play. It will resume Wednesday at noon CDT, or 5 p.m. Reykjavik time.
When play was called off for the night, there was little let on the board; a king and five pawns for Fischer; a king, three pawns and a bishop for Spassky.
U.S. grandmaster Robert Byrne said: “Fischer is going to have trouble making a draw. I don't see how Spassky can lose.”
Svetozar Gligoric the Yugoslav grandmaster, commented: “It is doubtful whether black can save a draw.” Fischer is playing the black pieces and Spassky the white, which means the Russian had the first move.
Yefim Geller, the Russian who seconds Spassky, watched the final moves on closed circuit television in the corridor, sipping a cup of coffee.
“What do you think, Grandmaster Geller?” he was asked.
“I am not thinking, I am drinking coffee.” Geller replied.
Fischer has played Spassky five times in the past. The three times he played the black pieces he lost. Playing white he was able to salvage two draws, but has never triumphed over the Soviet.
Spassky made his first move Tuesday all by himself in the shadowless illumination of the stage at Reykjavik's 2,500-seat Sports palace.
There was something surrealistic about the world championship series with prize money of about $300,000 dollar starting with only one man sitting at the chess table.
Fischer, as usual, was late. He arrived seven minutes after Spassky moved his queen's pawn and referee Lothar Schmid pressed the button to start Fischer's clock.
The game went cautiously at first, with the players allotted 2½ hours each to make 40 moves. The experts said Fischer was trying for a draw by exchanging pieces, simplifying, trying to reduce the advantage Spassky had by choosing the opening.
He galloped his bishop down a long black diagonal, snatching up a Spassky pawn. In a few moves the bishop was trapped. In the exchange, Fischer lost the bishop for two pawns.
Byrne called it a blunder.
But if it was a blunder it was an attempt to inject life—and perhaps victory—into an apparently stalemated game.
The Rev. William Lombardy, a Franciscan Roman Catholic priest who acts as Fischer's second, said when the game was adjourned: “It's a difficult position to analyze.
“Since I'll have to analyze it for Bobby before the adjourned match resumes tomorrow … I probably shouldn't say more.”
The loss of his bishop was typical of the American. It was an attempt to break the game open, avoiding a standoff.
What surprised many was the cautious play in the opening and middle games by Fischer, who has a reputation for killer instinct. Experts from five countries said it appeared the challenger was trying to force a draw and a split point for the first game.
The 29-year-old American needs 12½ points to lift Spassky's crown in the 24-game match, which could spread over two months. Spassky, 35, needs only 12 points—a draw—to retain the championship, which has been in Soviet hands since 1948.
London oddsmaker rated the American the favorite to win the competition. The winner gets five-eighths of the $125,000 put up by the sponsoring Icelandic Chess Federation, or $78,125, plus $75,000 of the $120,000 contributed by London investment banker James Slater to persuade Fischer to end his holdout last week.
Organizers estimated Fischer and Spassky will divide at least another $55,000 as the players' share in the sale of television and film rights.
Before the players separated Tuesday night, Spassky wrote his 41st move on a sheet of paper, sealed it in an envelope and gave it to Schmid, the referee from West Germany.
Schmid will open the envelope Wednesday afternoon and make Spassky's first move for him.
The championship match was scheduled to begin July 2, but Gudmundur Thorarinsson's Icelandic Chess Federation played midwife to delays, arguments and threatened walkouts. When Fischer finally strode onto the stage Tuesday afternoon, Thorarinsson breathed an audible sigh of relief from his balcony seat.
Spassky Repels Fischer Assault in 1st Chess Game 12 Jul 1972, Wed The Times (Shreveport, Louisiana) Newspapers.com
