Newsday (Suffolk Edition) from Melville, New York • 77

I Reykjavik Iceland (AP) Bobby Fischer made jj-Js opening assault on the Soviet chess fortress last i night but world champion Boris Spassky repelled it I and held the only chance of victory after 3 play when the first match was adjourned until today Fischer who arrived eight minutes after the start the game could only hope to settle for a draw after losing his last bishop for two pawns Spassky still had a bishop and three pawns to Fischer's five pawns when the two adjourned after 40 moves The game was to resume at 1 PM EDT or 5 PM Reykjavik iiime UJS grandmaster Robert Byrne said: is I going to have trouble making a draw I see how JSpassky can Svetozar Gligoric the Yugoslav grandmaster commented: is doubtful whether black can save a draw" Fischer is playing the blade pieces and Spassky the white which means the Russian had the first move i Fischer has played Spassky five times in the past The three times he played the black pieces he lost Flaying white he was able to salvage two draws but has never triumphed over the Russian Spassky made his first move yesterday all by himself in the shadowless illumination of the stage at 2500-seat Sports palace There was something surrealistic about the world championship i i An Analysis: Harry Golombek an international chess grandmaster has been three times British chess champion and a judge in six previous uorld chess championship matches He is chess correspondent the Times of London Since Fischer is known for his predilection for the Grunfeld Defense it waa a little surprising that he drifted into the Nimzo-lndian opening Maybe he feared use of the Grunfeld again after hia loss to the world champion at the Sic-gen Olympiad in Germany in 1970 At first the experiment appeared rewarding at least a a far as the draw was concerned Early exchange of the queens was followed first by the exchange of minor and then by the exchange of major pieces so that very rapidly the game come down to a level bishop-and-pawn ending Surely this was going to be a draw we all thought Suddenly there came a moat astonishing twist to the game Against all expectations Fischer captured a rook pawn with his bishop and doomed the bishop to destruction Could the grandmaster have overlooked something or had he seen deefier than the rest of us? The only real winning chance tor white lies in getting the king bark so as to prevent pawns from advancing Once this is done black is entirely without winning prospects But it is not dear how white can make further progress It is upon this problem no doubt that the Russian grandmaster will pass the night in analysis series with prize money of about $300000 starting with only one man airing-at the drees table Fischer as usual was late He arrived eight minutes after Spassky had moved his pawn and -referee Lothar Schmid pressed the button to start clock The game went cautiously at first with the players allotted 2 Vi hours each to make 40 moves The experts said Fischer was trying for a draw by exchanging pieces simplifying trying to reduce the advantage Spassky had by choosing the opening He galloped hia bishop down a long black diagonal snatching up a Spassky pawn In a few moves the bishop waa trapped In the exchange Fischer lost the bishop tor two pawns Byrne called it a blunder But if it was a blunder it was an attempt to inject life and perhaps victory into an apparently stalemated game The Rev William Lombardy a Franciscan Roman Catholic priest who acta as second said when the game was adjourned: a difficult position to analyze Since ITl have to analyze it for Bobby before the adjourned match resumes tomorrow I probably say The loss of his bishop was typical of the American It was an attempt to break the game open avoiding a standoff What surprised many was the cautious play hr the opening and middle moves by Fischer who has a reputation for killer instinct Experts from five countries said it appeared the challenger waa trying to force a draw and a split point tor the first game The 29-year-old American needs 12V4 points to lift crown in the 24-game match which could spread over two months Spassky 35 needs only 12 points a draw to retain the championship which has been in Soviet hands since 1948 Before the players separated last night Spassky wrote his 41st move on a sheet of paper sealed it in an envelope and gave it to Schmid the referee from West Germany Schmid will open the envelope this afternoon and make first move for him Fischer dressed in a dark suit leaned forward with hia head propped on his fist during the game or rocked back in his swivel chair to get a longer view of the forces silently colliding on the marble and slate chess board Spassky seemed more comfortable with his forearms on the padded edge of the table His legs were bent back under his chair toes downward Sometimes Spassky walked offstage as he waited for Fischer to respond to a move Spectators eat in near darkness most of them too Move-by-Move The progression cf moves in the first game of the world chess championship match between Boris Spassky of the Soviet Union and challenger i Bobby Fischer of the United States: (In British -American usage each move In a chess game is recorded using letters for each chess piece and numbers for each square on the beard I The squares are numbered along the columns (or files) and named for the piece initially sitting I at the first square of the file For example the third square In front of the rook on the ride of king is numbered: KR3 or Rook 3 (The letters and their corresponding pieces are: King Queen Bishop Knight i Rook Pawn (An between letters indicates the first piece captured the second 0-0 indicates castling indicates or that the King is threatened with capture) far away to make out what was happening onstage But above and in front of the stage a screen 30 feet cross displayed the positions on the board In the corridors outside the silence gave way to animated discussion as people lined up for coffee and sandweihes before a lunch counter At tables chess fans replayed tire moves on miniature chess boards talking to themselves in a dozen languages Bill Wheeler 29-ycar-cld Corpus Christi Tex computer operator quit his job and brought a savings to Iceland to watch the match A twc-lime chess champion of Texas Wheeler looked around and said: chess players are quite When the players edjourned after 40 moves each this was the view from side: A king and five pawns (black) against Spassky's king three pawns and a bishep Iwhitel 77 Wedscsdoy July 12 If 72.