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Max Euwe: Petrosian's
talent stands out vividly in lightning play, at which he is
unbeatable. His incredibly quick reaction and his highly individual
and quite inimitable assessment of the situation on the chess board
enables him to determine difficulties a long way off. I never cease
to admire Spassky's mastery. His strongest qualities are a spirit of
enterprise, versatility, and a willingness to go in for the risks that
are justified in such an emotional game as chess.
Mikhail Botvinnik: Petrosian's
chief strength consists in the virtuosity with which he eliminates his
opponent's attacking possibilities. The World Champion possesses a
remarkable talent for "spoiling" the trajectories of the enemy pieces.
He does it artistically, without any effort, simply intuitively. To
defeat Petrosian it is necessary to be excellently prepared from a
theoretical point of view, to think out a complex of opening schemes
that might place the World Champion in a difficult situation, to force
him to calculate variations. Then the World Champion would have to
expend much time and energy, and that would limit his recources for
potential manoeuvring. Boris Spassky is now approaching his optimum
strength. His style has become exceptionally universal and rational,
he finds everything legible and clear. That does not mean that he has
begun to play in a "dry manner", that his games lack combinations and
tactical ideas. As before, there are many of them, but Boris
Vasilievitch employs them only when it is necessary, when the position
itself demands them. Such poise promises the very greatest successes.
Vassily Smyslov: The
World Champion has penetrated deeper perhaps than anyone into the
secrets of positional manoeuvring. He is finely sensitive to all
the nuances of the struggle on the chess board. Who will win: Petrosian
or Spassky? It is hard to say. I wish to make just one remark.
There is a Russian saying: "Repetition is the mother of understanding."
In 1954 I could not win the crown from Botvinnik, but three years
later I succeeded in doing so. Why should not Spassky also do the
same? He has every ground for achieving it.
Mikhail Tal: Petrosian
possesses a remarkable capacity for perceiving his opponent's
possibilities in advance. This quality sometimes prevents him from
winning, but then it often comes to his aid.
Tigran Petrosian: Spassky
is a player who knows what he wants and understands how to go about
getting it.
Boris Spassky: It is hard
for me to say how the match will end, but I am in an optimistic
frame of mind. Petrosian is a remarkable player with enormous
potentialities.
David Bronstein: What
do I think of the forthcoming Petrosian-Spassky match? Frankly
speaking, I do not know. I would know if I had had the chance to meet
one of them in a match myself.
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