Sunday 29 March 2020

The Match of the Century

Fifty years ago today, the USSR team played a Rest of the World team in what became known as "The Match of the Century". The match was played over 10 boards, with 4 games on each board. The USSR team scored a narrow 20.5-19.5, in part aided by the result on the lower boards. Paul Keres on board 10 contributed with a 3-1 win over Ivkov, making up for some poor scoring on the top 4 boards. The USSR team was more solid on the lower boards, scoring 2.5-1.5 wins from boards 5-8, and 2-2 draw on board 9.
Bobby Fischer surprised everyone by playing on board 2 (below Larsen), but proved to be a good team player, crushing Petrosian 3-1, including the following hammering in the first game.


Fischer,Robert James - Petrosian,Tigran V [B13]
URS-World Belgrade (1.2), 29.03.1970


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