Tucson Daily Citizen Tucson, Arizona Friday, July 21, 1972 - Page 45
Spassky's Error Akin to Fischer's in First Encounter by Isaac Kashdan, International Grand Master
Following is an analysis of the fifth Fischer-Spassky chess match written for the Associated Press by Isaac Kashdan, an international chess grandmaster.
Los Angeles (AP)—The fifth game of the world chess championship in Iceland was marked by as grievous an error by Boris Spassky as the ones that Bobby Fischer committed in their first encounter.
Spassky apparently had overlooked Fischer's reply when he made his 27th move. His choice of the square B2 for the queen was to protect his rooks pawn for the second time.
Fischer's BxP, based on a keen tactical point, forced an immediate inroad. If Spassky had captured the bishop, Fischer would have followed with QxP. He would then threaten mate on the move in two ways, and there would be no adequate defense.
Failure to take the bishop would also be of no avail to Spassky. He would have to move his queen. Fischer would exchange bishops, and again QxP would follow. Spassky recognized his helplessness by resigning at once.
Both players followed the pattern of their first game until Spassky's sixth move. Fischer then varied. Instead of playing for a balanced pawn formation and a series of exchanges, as in the first game, Fischer took a course that seemed inferior.
He exchanged his bishop for a knight and allowed Spassky a more advanced pawn center. On the other hand, Spassky's queen-side pawns were separated and proved weak.
Spassky's 11th move probably was an inferior advance, which caused problems later. It left his king's pawn backwards, in a manner similar to the situation in the third game.
Spassky could not coordinate his pieces and his two bishops were ineffective, blocked by pawns on both sides. After the rooks were exchanged, Fischer had better prospects.
The game was still tenable for Spassky, however, until his final oversight. Necessary was 27. Q-B3. He could then continue with B-QB2 and Q-Q1, if necessary to defend the weak pawn.
In the report on the fourth game, this writer stated that Spassky could have won by Q-Q3 on his 29th move. Actually, Fischer had a defense by NB5ch, and if PxN, 31. QxPch would force a draw by perpetual check.
Elapsed time: Spassky white, 130 minutes; Fischer black, 77 minutes.
