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The Advocate, Newark, 0. 0Thursday, Dec. 26, 1974 LRussian lad chess threatsMonitor News Service When Bobby Fischer ended the Soviet Union's monopoly on the world chess championship two years ago, a slight, boyish looking student from Leningrad was already emerging as the Russians’ best hope to regain the crown,Yet while Anatoly Karpov had great promise, even his staunchest admirers thought he needed another half-dozen years to mature. Few expected this skinny kid with the high-pitched voice to develop the mastery and gain the experience to become the official 1975 challenger for Fischer’s title.Karpov’s frail appearance also raised quests as to his strength and stamina—qualities as important as skill in the grueling two-year series of competitions among the world’s best players which determined the challenger.“He looks like the grand master of the liqhtweights,” scoffed one Soviet commentator in reference to his countryman’s slight physique.Appearances can be deceptive. Karpov's play has seldom wavered through all the tournaments and matches. He may be young at 23, but he has shown a mature grasp of the game.Karpov has traveled a rough road to his triumph. His emergence as the challenger is no fluke. He won 20 games, lost 3, and drew 37 against the cream of the world’s players. The way he played has erased all doubts as to his readiness for the big challenge.Just to qualify as one of the eight final candidates for match play is a monumental achievement in this triennial competition. Karpov did it with a flourish, beating out such famous players as former world champion Mikhail Tal of the Soviet Union and Bent Larsen of Denmark.The young grand master won his first round match easily. That was as far as most experts thought he would go this year. In the semifinals, he had to meet Boris Spassky, who had fully recovered from his 1972 loss to Fischer and was in top form again.When Karpov lost the very first game of the match it did indeed look bleak for him, but he quickly routed the ex-champion, 4 to 1.That put him in the finals against Viktor Korchnoi, a four-time Soviet national champion, who at age 43 was geared up for what appeared to be his last run. Like Spassky, he seemed at the top of his game, having disposed of Brazil’s brilliant young prodigy Henrique Meeking and former world-champion Tigran Petrosian in his first two matches.Ever the realist, Korchnoi freely predicted that the winner would be doomed to annihilation by Fischer the following year. Because of this, he said, he would do the humane thing and defeat Karpov, thus saving his young countryman from such an ego-crushing blow at his tenderage.Karpov had other ideas. He took an early lead and held on against Korchnoi’s late rally to win die 24-game match 3 to 2 with 19 draws.That sets up a prospective match with Fischer in 1975. Making it take place won’t be easy—things never are where Bobby is concerned—but the whole chess world is hoping for the best.The immediate problem is the world champion’s much-publicized “resignation” last June when the International Chess Federation rejected his latest demands for changes in the format of the title match.Even if some agreement is eventually worked out on this point, there may be squabbles over such things as the site, the dates, or the finances. But after all the sound and fury in Iceland two years ago, Bobby did play that match, and probably he will play this one, too.Karpov has indicated he expects as much. “I believe that the match will be held,” he said in Moscow after his victory over Korchnoi. “At Isast I’U prepare myself for it.” The challenger also said: 4T hope all conditions will be provided for an honest, sportsmanlike struggle in this match and the unpleasant events besetting the 1972 Fischer-Spassky match will not happen again.”Fischer has been in seclusion since winning the title. He hasn’t played a single game of competitive chess in more than two years. This isn’t the first time he has taken a lengthy hiatus from the game, however, and he should be at the very peak of his powers. Thus most experts, like Korchnoi, are willing to give him the benefit of the doubt, expecting that, despite his lackotpractice, he will be hard to beat if he does defend the title.Karpov, incidentally, would not be the youngest player ever to win the championship should he upset Fischer. The challenger turns 24 in May, well before the match would start. Tal waz still only 23 when he won it in 1960.
Newspaper Details
Newark Advocate
Newark, Ohio, US
Thu, Dec 26, 1974
Page 14
Full Page
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Los A.
CA, USA 23 Jan 2023
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