AThe Indianapolis Star Indianapolis, Indiana Friday, August 18, 1972 - Page 7
Bobby Squarely In Driver's Seat At Adjournment
Reykjavik, Iceland (AP)—Boris Spassky and Bobby Fischer adjourned the 15th game in their world title chess match yesterday and experts said the American challenger was in a good position to win and push to within three points of Spassky's crown.
“Fischer has a draw whenever he wants,” Yugoslav grand master Svetozar Gligoric said at the end of the five-hour session. “But he has a strong initiative at the moment.”
A LOSS FOR the Russian when the game resumes today on the 41st move would put him behind 9.5-5.5 in the 24 game championship series. Visiting chess enthusiasts could not recall anyone piling up such an overwhelming lead in the history of world title play.
Spassky needs 12 points to keep the championship in the Soviet Union, where it has remained since 1948. Fischer, a 29-year-old chess wizard from Brooklyn, N.Y., needs 12.5 points to take it to America. A win counts one point and a draw counts one-half for each player.
EXPERTS SAID only a win could keep Spassky in real contention. But they added that unless Fischer blunders badly today, the best the Russian could hope for in this game is a draw.
In New York, filmmaker Chester Fox filed a $1.75 million suit against Fischer, alleging that he broke a contract when he refused to permit cameras at the match.
FOX CONTENDED that Fischer, by agreeing to play Spassky, agreed to the terms of a contract between the International Chess Federation and the Icelandic Chess Federation. The pact gave the Icelandic Federation the authority to sell exclusive filming rights, which Fox's company bought, the suit said.
It said Fischer's veto on move coverage was made with “deliberate intent to inflict grave financial harm” on Fox. Fischer said at the match's outset that Fox's move cameras bothered him.
JUDE CONSTANCE B. Motley signed a write authorizing attachment of Fischer's assets anywhere in the United States. Fox's company posted a $25,000 bond to cover legal costs and damages should the suit fail.
Fischer's complaints about audience noise contributed to tension in the auditorium yesterday. Before the match started, chief referee Lothar Schmid appealed to spectators for absolute quiet. During play, he punched the switch on a big “silence” sign and held his fingers to his lips at the slightest murmur in the packed house.
YESTERDAY'S session ended after 40 moves when Spassky sealed his next play and handed the envelope to Schmid. The adjournment followed a series of exchanges in which the players maneuvered for dominance by sacrificing pieces to take others.
When Spassky appeared to have the best of Fischer's favored Sicilian defense at one point, an American player said: “That's what 36 Russian grand masters and eight months of preparation against Fischer's Sicilian can do.”
THE CHAMPION had forced the challenger into difficulties, capturing pawns in the early stage.
After Spassky captured a pawn on the 14th move, a spokesman for Tass, the official news agency of the Soviet Union, said: “One wonders now whether this is enough to further consolidate white's supremacy.”
But experts said Spassky's appetite for pawns was perhaps too great and his queen was left out of play.
As the game progressed, Fischer seemed to relax with confidence He no longer gripped his hands to his temples, but learned eagerly over the board.
IN THE FINAL series of plays, Spassky's king was constantly threatened. On his 30th play, he opened up his king's defenses, taking a menacing Fischer bishop with a pawn.
Fischer put the king in check with his queen, then his knight. Spassky was forced to take the knight and in return lost his bishop.
Fischer moved his queen to give check again and left the stage. Spassky shifted his king, and Fischer came back to give check twice more.
WITH LESS than five minutes left on his clock, Spassky made his 40th move. Each player has 2½ hours for his first 40 moves and an hour for every 16 moves after that.
The Russian was behind 8.5-5.5 in the series when he opened the 15th game with the white pieces and a slight advantage. He started by advancing the king's pawn two squares, the same opening he used in his losing 13th game.
THE 29-YEAR-OLD American arrived almost punctually and went into the Sicilian defense, the line he used in the 11th game. Spassky, 35, won that one with a brilliant offense.
Chess Game-15 Moves
Reykjavik (UPI) — The moves of the 15th game of the Boris Spassky-Bobby Fischer world chess championship:
Spassky (W) Fischer (B)
Adjourned
(In Anglo-Saxon chess notations each file on the playing board is listed according to the first initial of the piece originally posted on it, while ranks are numbered from 1-8 away from the player. A rank is a row of eight squares parallel to the white and black sides. Files are perpendicular to the ranks.
(An example of a move in descriptive notation would be “P-QB4.” or pawn to queen's bishop four, with the initial of the moving piece followed by the designation of the square moved to.
(The symbol “x” indicates a capture. The symbol “O-O” indicates a castling maneuver. “Ch” means a move has placed an opponent's king in check (danger). The symbol “M” or mate means checkmate and the game is over. The symbol “Kt” is used for knight.
