ANew York Times, New York, New York, Tuesday, June 20, 1972 - Page 80
Chess: Despite Petrosian's Record, He Is Only a Fischer Victim by Al Horowitz
Tigran Petrosian of the Soviet Union, the former world champion, has been a top-ranking player for more than 20 years, but he is probably best known to thousands of new chess fans around the world as Bobby Fischer's latest victim—the man whom Fischer defeated and so earned his forthcoming title match against Boris Spassky, the current champion.
Fischer beat Petrosian 6½-2½ in a match held last November in Buenos Aires. The match was tied at the end of five games, but Fischer won four in a row at the end.
Fischer's Style Analyzed
Fischer's previous victims have all remained silent about their dismal experiences against him, but Petrosian, in a long article in the Soviet journal 64, speaks freely about the encounter in Buenos Aires.
His comments about the haggling over the site of the match and about the play itself was strongly colored by his chagrin at the outcome. He also offers, however, an analysis of Fischer's style that, if not entirely objective, is at least a clue to the kind of coaching Spassky will receive before his match with the American challenger.
“Among top-ranking American players,” Petrosian writes, “the ones with the largest repertoires have, as a rule, the greatest chances for success. It is easier for one who has played the greatest variety of positions to cope with a new situation. Thus the player with the greatest number of openings should have the best chances.
“But in this respect,” he continues, “Fischer is unique. He plays the same variations again and again and with success. Only very seldom does he venture to play something novel, and then he is like a fish out of water. That he plays so surely and so quickly can probably be explained by the fact that he is so familiar with his pet variations. I myself always try to play systems that are little-analyzed.
“If we carefully review the games of the first half of the match, it is easy to see that in every one, with the exception of the first, Fischer was drawn into positions that are novel. I must also add that in the systems which the American knows thoroughly, he almost never commits a blunder.”
The implication of this last sentence is obviously that in positions Fischer does not know well, he blunders frequently, but this is hardly substantiated by the games themselves. How much credence Spassky lends to his compatriot's views remains to be seen.
Petrosian has played very little since his defeat by Fischer. The two games below are from his most recent tournament, held recently at Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, in which he finished second.
Tigran V Petrosian vs Vlastimil Hort
Bosna 15th (1972), Sarajevo BIH, rd 7, Mar-27
English Opening: Agincourt Defense. Wimpy System (A13) 1-0
Tigran V Petrosian vs Milan Matulovic
Bosna 15th (1972), Sarajevo BIH, rd 9, Mar-30
Dutch Defense: Leningrad Variation (A87) 1-0
Daily News New York, New York Tuesday, June 20, 1972 - Page 143
Chess to Get Replay on TV
A re-creation of the world chess championship match in Reykjavik, Iceland, between Boris Spassky of Russia and Bobby Fischer of Brooklyn will be televised over WNET (Ch. 13). The 24-game match, which is expected to last for several weeks, will begin on Sunday, July 2, at 10 a.m., New York time.
The picture on Channel 13 of the move-by-move coverage will originate in a studio of WMHT in Albany. A chess board will be on view there for re-creating the moves by Spassky and Fischer a few moments after they occur in Iceland.
The Albany station has arranged for a continuous wire service report on each chess move as it is made in Reykjavik. Shelby Lyman, a chess master, will be in the Albany studio to re-create the moves on the board there and comment on the tactics and strategy of the players.
In the Super Bowl of chess, Spassky, world champion (the Russians have held the championship for 23 years) and Fischer, best in the West, will be competing for a purse that totals $125,000. The winner gets $78,125 and the loser the rest.
First-day coverage by Channel 13 on July 2 will run from 10 a.m. to sometime in the afternoon. During the first week there will be more coverage on Tuesday and Thursday from 1 to 3 p.m. Days of play in subsequent weeks have not been announced.
The chess match also will be televised by other public television stations in Rochester (WXXI), Boston (WGBH) and Washington, D.C. (WETA). It will be offered to other public TV stations belonging to the New York State network.
