The man who slayed the Sicilian in game 1 was Boris Spassky, World Champion from 1969 to 1972. Spassky was a universal player and handled all kinds of positions equally well. However, he had an exceptionally fine feeling for dynamic play. His game against Lev Polugayevsky, for which Spassky won the brilliancy prize at the Soviet Championship 1958, is a good example for Spassky's flair for dynamics.
Guessing the winner of game 2 was perhaps not as difficult as guessing the winners of the three other games. In game 2 Tigran Petrosian, World Champion from 1963 to 1969, had the white pieces. Petrosian is known for his infinite patience and his pronounced prophylactic play - before becoming active himself he liked to prevent or parry all possible or impossible threats his opponents had or might have. The game against Lothar Schmid is a typical example.
Anatoly Karpov, too, is a player with a fine feeling for prophylaxis. However, his play is markedly more active and more aggressive than that of Petrosian. Both, active play and prophylaxis, comes together in his game against Judit Polgar presented here. It helped Karpov to a win that seems deceptively simple.
Game 4 was perhaps the most difficult to ascribe. All World Champions were strong endgame players and the final phase of this game could possibly also have been played by Karpov or Petrosian. However, in this game it was Bobby Fischer who demonstrated superb endgame technique and his typical untiring will to win.
The fourth and final part of the Exercises in Style will follow shortly.
