1.

e4 SOURCES: "Chess World Championship 1972" by GM Larry Evans (E) and Ken Smi
th (KS), "Fischer-Spassky 1972 From a Soviet Point of View" pp 66-68 with notes
by GMs Flohr (F), Kotov (K), Stein (S), Tal (T) and other Soviet Masters (O); "T
he World Chess Championship" by GM Gligoric (G) & IM Wade pp 203-5. (NR) indicat
es my comments.
1... c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 The famou
s (or infamous?) "Poisoned Pawn Variation"
8. Qd2 Qxb2 9. Nb3 More usual is 9.Rb1 gaining control of the b-file with a temp
o on the Queen. The text has its points though, one being that White's c5 is con
trolled by a Kt, a circumstance which helps weave a dangerous net for Black's wa
ndering Queen (KS)
9... Qa3 10. Bxf6 Wrecking Black's K-side and removing his only developed piece.
In Game 7 Spassky played 10.Bd3 which led to nothing (E) It was drawn in 49 mov
es (NR) The text makes it almost impossible for Black to castle K-side as his ru
ptured pawns dangerously expose his King (KS)
10... gxf6 Black's extra pawn is doubled. If he can consolidate and bring his Ki
ng to safety, he has excellent winning chances in the ending (E)
11. Be2 Threatenin g Bh5. If allowed, this would exert unpleasant pressure vs f7
. For example, after Bh5 White could soon play f5 with the idea of fe6 forcing .
..Be6. This would allow White strong posts for his pieces, especially his Kts on
d5 and c5 as Black has no e-pawn to protect these important squares (KS)
11... h5 More loss o f time but Black wants to prevent Bh5 with pressure on f7 (
E) Stronger was 11. ..Qb4, if 12.Qe3 Black has the fine move 12...Nd7 (S)
12. O-O Nc6 It was not too late to play 12...Qb4 (S) Usually 12...Nd7-c5 is play
ed here. However this time it appears Black hopes to castle long quickly (O)
13. Kh1 A useful move, preventing checks on the g1-a7 diagonal (E). In retrospec
t it seems that 13. Nb1! was best (KS)
(13. Nb1 Qb4 14. Qe3 f5! 15. exf5 d5 16. fxe6 fxe6 17. c3 Qe7 18. N1d2 Bd7 19. N
f3 O-O-O Black is managing to hold the position in Robatsch - Korchnoi, Palma de
Mallorca a few months later (G) )13... Bd7 Preparing ...0-0-0 (E) Black seems u
naware of the danger to his Queen. Necessary is 13...Na5 to exchange on b3, givi
ng his Queen more elbow room - if 14.Nb1 Nb3 is sufficient (KS)
14. Nb1! A fantastic conception - bringing a developed piece back to its home sq
uare - the gist of Spassky's prepared variation. The idea is to embarass Black's
Queen (E)
14... Qb4 (The alternative was 14... Qa4 15. Qe3 Ne7 to allow ...Qc6. Risky is .
..Qb2 15.a4! intending Na3-c4 winning the Queen (E) After 15...d5 or 14...Qb2 15
.a3 Rc8 White doesn't have such an easy time exploiting Black's risky Queen posi
tion (S) )(14... Qa4 15. a3! (15. c4 Qb4 16. Qe3 Na5 17. N1d2 Nxb3 18. Nxb3 Qa4
Black's Queen escapes - analysis by de Villiers of South Africa (G) )15... Qxe4
(15... Ne7 16. Nc3 )16. Bd3 Qd5 17. Nc3 wins the Queen (F) )(14... Qb2! 15. Nc3!
Spassky rightly assumed Fischer would not be content to draw (G) after 15...Qa3
16.Nb1 Qb2 17.Nc3 etc (NR) (15. a3 Rc8! 16. Rf3 (16. Nc3 Nd4 )16... e5 (G) )(15
. a4 d5! Apparently preventing Evans' suggested Na3-c4 winning the Queen - NR 16
. exd5 Nb4 (G) ))15. Qe3 Guarding the KP, avoiding a Queen exchange and preventi
ng ...Qb6 (E) Threatens 16.a3 Qa4 17.Nc3 (K)
15... d5? Returning the pawn in order to extricate the Queen. But it's wrong to
open lines with the King in the center. 15...Ne7 comes into consideration (E) "P
rofessional defenders" would probably prefer 15...Ne7 (T)
(15... Ne7 16. a3 16.f4 retained some pressure (E) (16. a4 f5! 17. N1d2 fxe4 18.
c3 Nd5! )16... Qa4 17. Nc3 Qc6 White has more than enough compensation for the
pawn, the fight is still ahead (S) )(15... Na7 16. a3 Qa4 17. Nc3 Qc6 18. Nd5! B
lack is in bad shape (K) )(15... f5 16. exf5 (16. Nc3 Bg7 )16... d5! (16... Bg7?
! )17. fxe6 fxe6 18. f5 Qe4 Black has playable positions after 15...f5 (G) )16.
exd5 Ne7 17. c4 Establishing a beach-head in the center and increasing the press
ure (E)
17... Nf5 Trying to bring the Kt to a better square. Black's game is cramped and
difficult. Black's King is not too secure after ....0-0-0 because of the open b
-file (E)

(17... exd5 18. cxd5 O-O-O 19. Qa7 Threatening Rc1+ 19... Nxd5 20. Rc1+ Bc6 (20.
.. Nc7 21. Qa8# )21. Rxc6+ bxc6 22. Bxa6+ Qb7 23. Qxb7# (O) )18. Qd3! h4!? Tryin
g to counterattack, but better was 18...0-0-0 or 18...Qb6
(18... exd5? 19. cxd5 (19. Nc3! Qxc4 20. Qd2 with nasty attacking possibilities
on the central files (G) )19... Bb5 20. Qxf5 Bxe2 21. N1d2 Bxf1 22. Rxf1 with an
overwhelming attack (E) )(18... Bc5 19. Nc3 h4 20. Ne4 with clear advantage (O)
)19. Bg4! Nd6 An unsuccessful attempt to blockade, but Black is already so far
behind in development it's doubtful if he has a good defense (E)
(19... Ng3+ 20. hxg3 hxg3+ 21. Bh3! (21. Kg1? Qxb3! 22. axb3 Bc5+ 23. Rf2 gxf2+
24. Kf1 Rh1+ 25. Ke2 f1=Q+ (E) ))20. N1d2 Taking advantage of the lull to bring
out another piece and guard c4 (E)
(20. dxe6 fxe6 21. Qg6+ Ke7 Gives Black better chances to survive (E) )20... f5
This loses but what else is there? (E)
21. a3 Black is totally lost (G)
21... Qb6 (Also futile is 21... Qa4 22. Nc5 (22. Qc3 Rg8 23. Nc5 also wins (O) )
22... Qa5 23. Nxd7 with a decisive attack (E) )22. c5 Qb5 22...Qd8 23.Bf3 mainta
ins the bind (E)
23. Qc3! 23.Qb4? Nb4 gives up White's deadly grip. Now the main threat is a4 wit
h secondary threats of cd6 and Qh8 (E)
23... fxg4 (23... Rg8 24. a4 (24. Nd4 Bg7 25. Nxb5 wins a piece (G) )24... Bg7 2
5. Nd4 and wins (E) )24. a4 A true catastrophe for Black. The Queen is trapped..
.Fischer prolongs the agony (KS)
24... h3 (24... Qe2 25. Rae1 Qxf1+ 26. Nxf1 Black loses more material (E) )25. a
xb5 hxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Rh3 27. Qf6 Nf5 (27... Be7 28. Qg7 Nf5 29. Qg8+ is also hopel
ess (E) )28. c6 Bc8 If 28...Ne3+ 29.Kg1 (E)
29. dxe6 "Resigns" was a good alternative (E)
29... fxe6 30. Rfe1 Be7 31. Rxe6 RESIGNS, if
31... Bxe6 32. Qxe6 Ne3+ 33. Kg1 leaves Black defenseless vs many threats (E) TI
MES: (W) 1 hr 49 min, (B) 1 hr 44 min SCORE: Spassky 4.5 - Fischer 6.5