When Two Sicilian Experts Meet | Fischer vs Polugaevsky | Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970)

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The 1970 Interzonal was held in Palma de Mallorca from November 9-December 12, and was the last Interzonal held as a one-section round robin. With the tournament swelling to 24 players and further expansion on the way, future changes were inevitable. The following players vied for six slots in the candidates matches to be held in 1971: William G Addison, Miroslav Filip, Robert James Fischer, Efim Geller, Svetozar Gligoric, Vlastimil Hort, Robert Huebner, Borislav Ivkov, Eleazar Jimenez Zerquera, Bent Larsen, Milan Matulovic, Henrique Mecking, Dragoljub Minic, Renato Naranja, Oscar Panno, Lev Polugaevsky, Lajos Portisch, Samuel Reshevsky, Jorge Alberto Rubinetti, Vasily Smyslov, Duncan Suttles, Mark Taimanov, Wolfgang Uhlmann, Tudev Ujtumen..

Ujtumen from Mongolia, about as outside as an outsider could get, actually held the lead by himself after round 3. However, reality and Robert J. Fischer set in, as the American quickly soared to a dominating position. The other contenders didn’t worry about it too much; after all, you only had to finish in the top six to qualify for the Candidates, and there was even a seventh spot open for a reserve. So they played it safe, while Fischer kept working hard.

At the quarter pole following round 6, Fischer had 5.5 points and a 1.5 point lead on Geller, Gligoric, Larson, Panno, and Ujtumen. But then came a bad stretch: he managed to draw lost positions in round 7 and 8, but Larsen didn’t let him off the hook in round 9. By now the lead had vanished, as Geller joined Fischer at the top with 6.5.

That led to the critical round 12 encounter between the leaders, Geller holding a half-point lead and playing the White pieces. Any normal grandmaster, when Geller offered an early draw, would have accepted to get an easy half-point closer to qualification. Fischer, hungry for a win after five rounds without one, refused.

Geller played inaccurately and lost a pawn, reaching a difficult rook ending. Eventually, a hallucination and a final mistake sealed his fate, and Fischer took the lead. The rest was a matter of technique: Fischer won two more in a row, took a couple of draws for a breather, then started his famous streak with full points in his last seven games.

Read more here http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chess.pl?tid=79415

Read more about events before 1970 Instrzonal tournament http://graeme.50webs.com/chesschamps/us/1969.htm

Robert James Fischer vs Lev Polugaevsky
Palma de Mallorca Interzonal (1970), Palma de Mallorca ESP, rd 11, Nov-23
English Opening: Anglo-Indian Defense. Mikenas-Carls Variation (A15)

1. c4 Nf6 2. g3 c6 3. Bg2 d5 4. Nf3 Bf5 5. Qb3 Qb6 6. cd5 Qb3 7. ab3 cd5 8. Nc3 Nc6 9. d3 e6 10. O-O Be7 11. Be3 Ng4 12. Bf4 O-O 13. e4 de4 14. de4 Bg6 15. e5 Bd3 16. Rfd1 Bc2 17. Rdc1 Bb3 18. h3 g5 19. hg4 gf4 20. Nd2 f3 21. Bf3 Ne5 22. Bg2 Bd5 23. Nd5 ed5 24. Rc7 Bd8 25. Rb7 Bb6 26. Bd5 Rad8 27. Ne4 Ng4 28. Rd1 Kg7 29. Rd2 Nf6 30. Nf6 Kf6 31. Rd3 Kg7 32. Kg2 Rb8 33. Rd7 Rbd8 34. Bc4 Rd7 35. Rd7 Kg6 36. g4 Rd8 37. Bf7 Kg5 38. Rd8 Bd8
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