Cyrus Lakdawala

Fischer
The Alekhine Defence
move by move

www.everymanchess.com
 About the Author

Cyrus Lakdawala is an International Master, a former National Open and American Open
Champion, and a six-time State Champion. He has been teaching chess for over 30 years,
and coaches some of the top junior players in the U.S.

Also by the Author:

Play the London System
A Ferocious Opening Repertoire
The Slav: Move by Move
1...d6: Move by Move
The Caro-Kann: Move by Move
The Four Knights: Move by Move
Capablanca: Move by Move
The Modern Defence: Move by Move
Kramnik: Move by Move
The Colle: Move by Move
The Scandinavian: Move by Move
Botvinnik: Move by Move
The Nimzo-Larsen Attack: Move by Move
Korchnoi: Move by Move
The Alekhine Defence: Move by Move
The Trompowsky Attack: Move by Move
Carlsen: Move by Move
The Classical French: Move by Move
Larsen: Move by Move
1...b6: Move by Move
Birds Opening: Move by Move
The Petroff: Move by Move
Contents

About the Author 3

Bibliography 5
Introduction 7

1 Fischer on the Attack 25

2 Fischer on Defence and Counterattack 86
3 Fischer on the Dynamic Element 152
4 Fischer on Exploiting Imbalances 221
5 Fischer on Accumulating Advantages 298
6 Fischer on the Endgame 369

Index of Opponents 425

Index of Openings 427
 Introduction

Im young, Im handsome, Im fast, Im pretty, and cant possibly be beat Muhammad Ali

Bobby Fischer, like Ali, grew bigger than his sport, and he bent our perceptions on how
well a human can play chess. His life was one of legend, power, hubris and eventual self-
destruction. More than any other great player, Fischers triumphs and falls plumbed the
depth of human experience. He was simultaneously extraordinary and pathetic, and the
inevitability of his fall was on par with the lives of Hamlet and Willie Loman. His is essen-
tially a feel-bad story, of rags to riches, to borderline-crazy recluse.
The most dominant chess player who ever lived was born March 9th, 1943, in Chicago.
Even as a child, Bobby lived his life with the supreme confidence of one who knows he is
cut out for big things. I sense that he loved chess because it had the power to take him
somewhere else, out of his deep, inherent unhappiness if only temporarily.
By the age of 14, he won the U.S. Championship, eight titles in all, each by a point or
more. His 1963-1964 11-0 sweep of the championship may never be repeated. By age 15,
Fischer qualified at Portoroz to become the youngest ever candidate for the world champi-
onship cycle. By 1970, he won the Palma de Mallorca Interzonal by an astounding 3.5
points ahead of his nearest competitor. By 1971 he was ranked number one in the world
chess rankings. Then came his legendary match victories.

6-0, 6-Oh my God!

Victory breeds hatred, for the conquered is unhappy. The Buddha

First, Soviet GM Mark Taimanov fell by a typo-like 6-0 score. Many top players at the
time interpreted this as an anomaly, of maybe Taimanov being horribly off form. Nobody
expected Fischer to repeat this performance against the legendary GM Bent Larsen, then
ranked equal 3rd/4th in the world. Yet Fischer did just that. If you just barely defeat an op-
ponent, people may think you were lucky; brutalize an opponent, and future opponents
learn to fear you.
Now Taimanov and Larsen were more resilient than most. If I were a world class player
and lost to someone 0-6, I would most certainly suffer from post traumatic stress disorder,
and would require antidepressants and therapy for years to come. Vasily Panov wrote:
Both (Fischer and Larsen) consider themselves the worlds strongest chess players, and, of

7
Fischer: Move by Move

course, they are jealous towards each other, like Miss America and Miss Denmark.
Larsen declared before that he would win the Candidates matches and then the world
title, and that Fischer will never become a world champion, because he supposedly al-
ways fears to lose a game. Before the match, Larsen boasted that he wasnt intimidated by
Fischer, who he felt was cocooned by an undeserved legendary reputation. He claimed he
would draw first blood, then get inside Fischers head. Then after defeating Fischer, Larsen
predicted he would go on to become world champion. Boy, was he proven wrong! After
losing a razor-close first game (which you can play over in Chapter Four), which was as
suspenseful as a Hitchcock film, Larsen just collapsed.
At this point, so enlarged was Fischers legend, that I suspect his future opponents, Pet-
rosian and Spassky, imputed hidden meaning into even his ordinary moves. Fischer then
went on to dismantle former World Champion Tigran Petrosian by a dominating 6.5-2.5.
Normally, Petrosian had a knack for sucking the life out of an otherwise dynamic position,
like flies into the nozzle of a vacuum cleaner, but not this time. At age 10, I remember read-
ing a quote by some GM, asked to predict the outcome of the match. He replied: What
happens when a man who wins nearly every game he plays, meets a man who draws near-
ly every game he plays?

The Match of the Century

Then show time, the 1972 world championship match against Spassky. It started disas-
trously for Fischer. In game one, in a completely drawn ending from this diagrammed posi-
tion, Fischer committed an inexplicable beginners blunder:
W________W
[WDWDWiWD]
[0pDWDW0p]
[WDWgp0WD]
[DPDWDWDW]
[WDWDWDWD]
[)WDK)WDW]
[WDWDW)P)]
[DWGWDWDW]
W--------W
Now, you, me and every other player in the world rated over 800 would play 29...e7.
Instead Fischer played the insane 29...xh2??, after which he duly got his bishop trapped,
after the painfully obvious 30 g3. Fischers beginners blunder left the chess world in slack-
jawed disbelief. Your writer was at the time a dorky 11-year-old E-player, and even I knew
the move was idiotic.

8
 Introduction

So Bobby just threw away game one. He claimed the cameras in the playing hall dis-
turbed his concentration and refused to play game two with them on. The organizers had
banked on income from the televising of the match and refused. Therefore Fischer failed to
show up for game two, forfeiting. The entire match was in jeopardy. Those who dealt with
Fischer soon learned: dont expect compromise from an essentially irrational personality.
The nervous match organizers backed down and agreed to have Spassky and Fischer play in
a back room, sans cameras or live spectators.
Compromise was a word alien to Fischers unamenable mind, which interpreted the
world in blacks and whites, with no room for shades of grey. So starting the match 0-2,
Fischer proved the prognosticators all wrong, by trouncing Spassky in the remaining
games of the match, winning it by a score of 12.5-8.5 (which was really 7.5 for Spassky,
since it included the forfeit loss, which no writer is going to put in a best games collection).
Now Spassky could have walked out after two games, and nobody could blame him. But
he was a gentleman, and also, there was the psychological factor: Fischer was the older
brother, stronger, smarter, meaner and always one or more steps ahead so much so that
virtually every GM of his day felt dwarfed by his immensity. Spassky in 1972 was the reign-
ing champion, and Fischer the challenger. Yet didnt it feel like it was the other way
around, where Spassky was the one who had something to prove?
I have a minus score (against Spassky). I lost three and drew two. I was better than him
when I lost those games. I pressed for the win. My overall tournament record is much bet-
ter than his. Im not afraid of him, hes afraid of me, claimed Fischer in an interview prior
to the match. To his great credit, Boris remained to finish the match, and they produced
some beautiful chess.

Was Fischer Mentally Ill?

What happens if a group of people worship a god, and then the god loses his mind? Fischer
was a man whose disturbed psyche was profoundly unfit for an ordinary life. He was even
more unfit to deal with fame, renown and financial success. He was a societal misfit with
the courage to realize his misfitdom. Of course its futile for a person like me, whose
grounding in psychology is merely that of an interested lay person. Im not qualified to try
and probe into Fischers swiftly degenerating mental status, since Im not a psychiatrist or
psychologist (Im currently working on another book with Columbia Psychology professor
Joel Sneed, and boy do I need his help here in this book).
No matter how irrational a person becomes, he or she rarely reaches a point where they
are oblivious to their own sense of misery. Fischer was a man who couldnt be beaten on
the chess board, yet was beaten in life by his own mind states. To the paranoid mind, every
stranger is a potential enemy. His rising paranoia fast embraced a conspiratorial world
view of a cabal of Communists, Jews (yes, Fischer was Jewish himself, although he vehe-
mently denied it later in his life), and later the entire United States, out to get him.
Kasparov wrote: Apart from chess, Fischer had nothing... After becoming World Cham-
pion, Fischer could not play anymore. This was the danger: he achieved perfection, and

9
Fischer: Move by Move

everything after this was already less than perfect. Of course there are myriad books on
Fischers life, which he crowded with controversy. So in this one we just touch on his chess
games, not his life.

Fischers Style: the Fischer-Capa Connection

The great Cuban Jos Capablanca had played this way half a century earlier, but
Fischers modern interpretation of victory through clarity was a revelation. Garry Kas-
parov

Intuition is that ethereal quality which we cant taste, hear, smell, touch or see. Yet we
still place our trust in it. Fischers intuition was on par with Capablancas, where he just
knew the right idea, seemingly without analytical contemplation. On the chess board
Fischer had a taste for the orderly, which was strangely at odds with his disorderly mind.
Few huge tasks are completed without exertion, yet Fischer in his prime, like Capablanca,
had the gift of defeating world class players, seemingly without resistance. He was the
sighted mariner living in the world of the blind, oriented and guided by the stars which the
rest of us were unable to see.
Fischer wasnt an amphibious player, equally suited to strategic and irrational posi-
tions. He excelled in the former, which made him vulnerable to the Tals and Gellers of the
world, in the latter. Fischer was above all a strategist, an aggressive Capablanca. His pieces
exuded a flow of performing in efficient unison and his deadly strategic encroachment had
a way of grappling the enemy, pulling him closer. He found hidden defects in his oppo-
nents positions with an optometrists eye for anomaly in the his patients retina. He
somehow mysteriously tamed chaos into pure mathematics. Fischer, like Capa, had an al-
most magical way of chasing a distant complication, which when reached, revealed itself
in utter simplicity. He unearthed the central principle of its natural process its beating
heart around which the position hinged.
I have to admit that I always found it odd that a person of Fischers disputatious nature
was capable of such harmonious, flowing chess. We all harbour different interpretations of
the word acquire. To a natural tactician, a chaotic position is something to be cherished,
while for a positional player, the fact that queens have been removed from the board is a
cause for joy. Fischer is a candidate for the latter category.
Like Capa, Fischer ruled in the realm of endings and clear positions. Like Capa before
him, Fischer was renowned for his almost instantaneous capacity to uncover a positions
elemental factor, no matter how deeply hidden. Intuition isnt merely a guess. Instead, it is
actual analysis done secretly in some back room in our subconscious mind. Fischer also
never endured that shivering sense of dislocation the rest of us experience, when our
clocks run low mainly since he tended to move with astounding speed and almost never
got into time pressure.
Fischers armour wasnt chinkless, since he lost games via overextension, pushing past

10
 Introduction

tolerable limits trying too hard to win. He was also a notorious material grabber, whether
earned honestly or ill gotten didnt seem to matter to him. Yet these unauthorised with-
drawals from his opponents bank accounts were not done without taking on appalling
risks. In some cases it almost appeared as if Fischer provoked opponents to a degree to
which he hoped to be contradicted.

Fischers Openings and Contributions to Theory

In the opening phase, Fischer, like Botvinnik and Alekhine before him, intimidated oppo-
nents. He memorized theory the way ancient poets recited the Iliad. And he was a font of
creativity, always ready with a prepared novelty in virtually every opening he played. In this
book, prepare yourself for some stock scenery. This book, unlike other players games col-
lections, lacks a broad demographic cross-section of opening lines. The reason? Fischers
incredibly narrow opening repertoire.
Fischers Alma Mater lines were: Fischer-Sozin Sicilian, Najdorf Sicilian, Kings Indian
and Kings Indian Attacks (which remain to this day, authoritative blueprints on how to
handle the line), which we visit over and over again. These, and other favourites laid claim
to Fischers lifetime allegiance. As for opening preparation, Fischer dominated his rivals,
continually surprising them, sometimes with sound ideas, and sometimes with single
game, semi-sound ambushes, which were also implements of his craft: For example:
W________W
[rDb1W4kD]
[DWDngp0p]
[WDnDpDWD]
[DW0p)WDW]
[p0WDWGW)]
[)WDPDN)W]
[W)PDW)BD]
[$WDQ$NIW]
W--------W
In Fischer-Myagmarsuren 1967, Bobby just challenged precedence with 13 a3!!. Now
you may ask why this innocuous move is so strong? Well, it prevents Black from puncturing
the queenside dark squares with ...a3. Fischer correctly judged the slight opening of the
queenside doesnt hurt White. The idea is so strong that it remains Whites main move in
the position even today.

11
Fischer: Move by Move

W________W
[WDr1kDW4]
[DbDngp0W]
[pDW0WhWD]
[DpDW0PGp]
[WDWDPDWD]
[DBHWDWHW]
[P)PDWDP)]
[$WDQDRIW]
W--------W
At the same tournament, Fischer, as Black against Robert Byrne, just unleashed the
devastating novelty 13...h5!!, a move which in a single stroke undermines e4 and which de-
popularized his own beloved Fischer-Sozin Sicilian.
W________W
[rDb1rDkD]
[0pDnDpgp]
[WDW0WDpD]
[DW0PDWDn]
[WDWDPDWD]
[DWHWDWDW]
[P)QHB)P)]
[$WGWDRIW]
W--------W
Imagination is often stifled by the fear of committing a blunder, but not this time. This
is one of the most shocking opening novelties of all time, and one played in a world cham-
pionship game. Fischer just played 11...h5!?, goading Spassky to chop the knight and se-
riously devalue Blacks kingside pawns. Spassky did just that, but followed with uncharac-
teristic over-caution and got strategically crushed. As it turns out, Fischers novelty was
dubious, yet did exactly what it was designed to do in a single game: confuse and disorient
the opponent.

12
 Introduction

W________W
[rDb1kDn4]
[0WDpDpgp]
[WDpDWDpD]
[DW0W0WDW]
[W)WDPDWD]
[DWDWDNDW]
[PDP)W)P)]
[$NGQ$WIW]
W--------W
In the final diagram, Fischer once again confused Spassky in their 1992 rematch, with a
crazy yet sound Wing Gambit idea arising from a Rossolimo Sicilian.

Fischer, the Greatest of them all?

Fischer is in all probability, the most idealised (and hated!), and most over-praised player in
the chess pantheon. I swore to myself that I would be objective when beginning this book,
yet found myself gushing over his many double exclams. Fischer faced powerful intellects
across the board, who were all vanquished by his telepathic intuition, which overrode his
opponents intellect and logic.
Then when he became world champion, his chess came to a standstill. In a way Fischer
was the worst world champion of all, since he refused to play even a single serious tour-
nament or match game during his tenure. Its almost as if he channelled Nietzche, think-
ing: That which doesnt beat me, makes me stronger. And how can one lose if one never
plays a game?
Fischer was a prodigious worker who studied chess (in his head), virtually every waking
hour. He claimed to have deeply studied over 1,000 books, and even studied the great ro-
mantics like Adolf Anderssen and Paul Morphy which should be a lesson to young players
who only study opening books and databases.
I dont really know what greatest means, since there are so many categories. A few
months ago, a group email discussion raged among players which included GMs Yasser
Seirawan and Jim Tarjan, and IMs John Watson, Jack Peters, Jeremy Silman, Tony Saidy,
John Donaldson and yours truly. We agreed on the following categories (although I added a
few) which constitute greatness:

Creativity: Here, the greatest may be Anderssen, Reti, Nimzowitsch, Bronstein, Korchnoi,
Larsen, Tal, Petrosian, Ivanchuk only two of which became world champions.
Irrational positions: This was Fischers weakest category. My candidates: Andersson, Las-

13
Fischer: Move by Move

Lasker, Bronstein, Tal, Spassky, Korchnoi, Kasparov, Anand, Morozevich, Nakamura.

Attacking ability: My candidates for greatest in this category would be Anderssen, Mor-
phy, Alekhine, Keres, Bronstein, Geller, Tal, Spassky, Fischer (although the inclusion of
Fischer in this category may be debatable, since his attacks invariably flowed from strategic
superiority), Kasparov, Topalov, Anand.
Defence and counterattacking ability: Lasker, Capablanca, Petrosian, Korchnoi, Fischer,
Karpov, Kramnik, Carlsen.
Strategic understanding and planning: Morphy, Staunton, Tarrasch, Steinitz, Capab-
lanca, Euwe, Botvinnik, Smyslov, Petrosian, Fischer, Karpov, Kramnik, Carlsen.
Intuition: Morphy, Capablanca, Smyslov, Fischer, Karpov, Kramnik, Carlsen.
Tactical ability and combinational vision: Anderssen, Morphy, Alekhine, Keres, Bronstein,
Tal, Fischer, Kasparov, Topalov, Anand.
Feel for the initiative: Morphy, Alekhine, Keres, Bronstein, Geller, Tal, Botvinnik, Spassky,
Fischer, Kasparov, Anand, Topalov.
Calculation ability: Lasker, Korchnoi, Kasparov.
Opening research ability: Alekhine, Botvinnik, Fischer, Kasparov, Anand.
Endgame technique: Rubinstein, Lasker, Capablanca, Fischer, Karpov, Kramnik, Carlsen.
Peak strength: No other world champion dominated like Fischer did from 1970-72.
Longevity: Lasker, Smyslov, Korchnoi, Karpov.

In my lists, Fischer leads in the categories. Obviously, there is no such thing as greatest
player, since its impossible to know if Morphy was stronger (for his era) than Capablanca
or Fischer were for theirs. I cant say Fischer was the best chess player of all time, but I do
know that his games have almost become the standard by which other great players are
judged.
I would think it would be exasperating for great players to be compared to Fischer, and
have their chess skills judged lacking. Appreciation of art comes more from the observer,
than the object itself. One tourist can look upon the Mona Lisa and think: Eehh. Big deal!,
while another may be entranced by her smile. Players either like or dislike Nimzowitsch,
Larsen, Tal or Petrosians games. With Fischers games, there is no debate. I havent met a
single player who dislikes Fischers chess games or his style. Have you?

Post World Championship Blues

After his triumphant 1972 match with Spassky, Fischer basically fell off the grid, living the
life of a recluse, only to resurface in 1992, for his rematch with Spassky. Fischer won this
one decisively, but neither player was the same man of 1972. Still, the combustible Spas-
sky/Fischer combination brought out the best in both, and they produced some pretty
games. This is where it gets depressing.
In 1992, war-torn Yugoslavia (Sveti-Stefan/Belgrade was the site of their rematch) was
under a U.N. embargo. First, the U.S. State Department forbade Fischer to play the match
(although nearly all of us harboured a secret Edward Snowden-like stick-it-to-the-man

14
 Introduction

sympathy for Fischer at the time, and clearly wanted him to play). You guessed it. Fischer
called a press conference and loudly spat on the State Department letter. The unamused
U.S. government immediately demanded income tax on Fischers winnings in the match.
Fischer refused to pay.
He made anti-American, anti-communist, anti-Semitic remarks on multiple radio sta-
tions. I still remember his interview with a Filipino radio station the day after the 911 at-
tack, where Fischer made vile, blood pressure-raising statements, which I wont repeat
here, since they are all available on the internet. In 2004 he was arrested in Japan. The U.S.
State Department revoked his passport (he shouldnt have spit on that letter!), and he was
held in a cell for eight months, under constant fear of deportation and prosecution to the
U.S. In 2005, Iceland granted Fischer citizenship. He lived out his life there and died of renal
failure (he irrationally refused treatment for a urinary tract infection, which then morphed
into kidney failure) in 2008, at age 64, the same number of squares on the chess board.

The Games Selection in the Book

One problem with a book on Fischer is that there are a million other books on the same
subject. IM Byron Jacobs suggested that I look for some unknown games, rather than his
well-known masterpieces. So I would guess that the ration is around 70% of his familiar
games, and 30% of games you may not have seen.
In the following game, GM Leonid Stein, a master of complex positions, lured Fischer in-
to an irrational position Fischers bte noire. So we get a glimpse of Fischer in his worst
possible position, against one of the top GMs in the world, and still he pulls off a victory.

Game 1
R.Fischer-L.Stein
Sousse Interzonal 1967
Ruy Lopez

1 e4 e5!?
GM Leonid Stein was mainly a Sicilian player, so he clearly came to the game with pre-
pared analysis against Fischers Ruy Lopez.
2 f3 c6 3 b5 a6 4 a4 f6 5 0-0 e7 6 e1 b5 7 b3 d6 8 c3 0-0 9 h3 b7 10 d4
a5!?
This is a bit of an odd mix of variations. Today, most players choose 10...e8, the Zaitsev
variation, which hadnt really come into existence when this game was played.
11 c2 c4?!
Stein was clearly trying to confuse Fischer by taking him out of theory, early on. In doing
so, he confuses himself, reaching an inferior version of the Breyer variation. Black is better
off playing 11...c5 12 bd2 cxd4 13 cxd4 exd4 14 xd4 e8 15 f1 f8 16 g3 g6. Blacks
d-pawn isnt weak and his pieces are active, B.Vuckovic-R.Rapport, Plovdiv 2012.
12 b3 b6

15
 Fischer on Defence and Counterattack

Game 12
S.Reshevsky-R.Fischer
5th matchgame, New York/Los Angeles 1961
Semi-Tarrasch Defence

In 1961, Reshevsky, the dominant U.S. player of the pre-Fischer era, challenged Fischer
to a match. GM prognostications: Petrosian, Larsen, Keres and Gligoric all favoured the 50-
year-old Reshevsky over the 18-year-old Fischer, even though Fischer had just won the U.S.
Championship. When the score stood at 5.5-5.5, Reshevsky was awarded the match when
Fischer, in what was his first but certainly not his last dispute with the organizers about
the playing time, forfeited when he refused to show up for the 12th game.

1 d4 f6 2 c4 e6
Reshevsky dismantled Fischers KID in the first game of the match, so he tries his luck
with another line.
3 c3 d5 4 cxd5 xd5
The Semi-Tarrasch.
5 f3
The main line runs 5 e4 xc3 6 bxc3 c5 7 f3 cxd4 8 cxd4 b4+ 9 d2 xd2+ 10 xd2
0-0 11 c4.
5...c5 6 e3
Reshevsky prefers a classical isolani position over 6 e4 xc3 7 bxc3, transposing to the
main line.
6...c6 7 d3 e7 8 0-0 0-0 9 a3
W________W
[rDb1W4kD]
[0pDWgp0p]
[WDnDpDWD]
[DW0nDWDW]
[WDW)WDWD]
[)WHB)NDW]
[W)WDW)P)]
[$WGQDRIW]
W--------W
Question: Why does White toss in a3 in such positions?

95
Fischer: Move by Move

Answer: a3 is useful for White, since he plans to set up a queen/bishop battery, aiming at
h7, with c2 and d3. First playing a3 prevents tricks like ...b4.
9...cxd4
Fischer agrees to the isolani position. There is something to be said for playing 9...xc3
10 bxc3 when Whites a3 move isnt all that useful and pretty much represents a wasted
tempo.
10 exd4 f6
This move, although book at the time, allows White a favourable isolani position.
10...f6 and 10...xc3 are also played here.
11 c2
Preparing the battery aimed at h7.
11...b6 12 d3 b7
W________W
[rDW1W4kD]
[0bDWgp0p]
[W0nDphWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[WDW)WDWD]
[)WHQDNDW]
[W)BDW)P)]
[$WGWDRIW]
W--------W
13 g5
13 e1! is Whites most promising path and after 13...c8 he has:
a) 14 g5 (threat: xf6 and xh7 mate, which in turn induces Black to weaken the
dark squares around his king) 14...g6 15 ad1 d5 16 h6 e8 17 a4 a6?! (Black should
perhaps risk 17...xc3 18 bxc3 xa3 19 g5 e7 20 e3 when he at least gets a pawn for
Whites initiative) 18 xd5 xd5 (18...exd5 gives Black better defensive chances than he
got in the game) 19 e3 f6 20 b3 h5? (20...d7 21 d5 exd5 22 xb6 is admittedly
unpleasant for Black, but still better than the game continuation) 21 d5 d8, V.Smyslov-
A.Karpov, Leningrad 1971. After 22 g5! Blacks defence flops.
b) 14 d5! a5 (14...exd5?? 15 g5 g6 16 xe7! wins on the spot) 15 g5 sees Whites
central pressure assumes terrible potency and Black is forced to hand over the exchange
with 15...xc3 (after 15...g6 16 d6 xd6 17 xf6 xf6 18 xd6 xf3 19 gxf3 Black lacks
compensation for the piece, S.Pavlov-A.Ivchenko, Kiev 2010) 16 xc3 xd5 17 ad1 with a
clear advantage to White.
13...g6 14 fe1 e8

96
 Fischer on Defence and Counterattack

I would go for the immediate 14...d5.

15 h4!
Today this is Whites highest-scoring line and probably his most accurate move, since
he doesnt quite know if his a1-rook belongs on c1 or d1.
15...c8
Alternatively, 15...d6 16 ad1 ad8 17 b3 and Blacks position remains under pres-
sure, since he must watch out for sacrificial ideas on e6.
16 ac1
The alternative is to post the rook to d1.
16...d5
Exchanges tend to benefit the cramped side. However, Reshevsky refuses to co-operate
with his next move.
17 e4!?
Reshevsky decides to march his army in the direction of the kingside. He wants more
than just the pull he gets from 17 xd5 xd5 18 b3 d7 19 d5.
17...f5!
W________W
[WDr1rDkD]
[0bDWgWDp]
[W0nDpDpD]
[DWDnDpGW]
[WDW)NDW)]
[)WDQDNDW]
[W)BDW)PD]
[DW$W$WIW]
W--------W
Prolonged defence is a cumbersome business, not suited to everyones nature. Fischers
last move is played with the philosophy: complications have a way of cloaking our strategic
weaknesses in darkness.

Question: Isnt this a terribly weakening move?

Answer: Normally, this kind of rowdy behaviour is frowned upon in isolated queens pawn
establishments, and it does feel like its foolish to pick a fight in a neighbourhood popu-
lated by numerous enemies and few friends. It does indeed weaken both e6 and e5. How-
ever, it follows the principle: Meet a wing attack with distraction in the centre. Also, the
move introduces a distorting element which contaminates Whites harmony and makes

97
Fischer: Move by Move

his following moves much harder to find. So I think Fischers move, re-upholstery on old
furniture, perfectly fits his sagging positions needs.
GM Robert Hbner suggested 17...c7, but I dont like Blacks position after 18 a4! f6
19 d2 f8 20 h5 with mounting pressure for White, all across the board.
18 c3!
Blacks d5 outpost is challenged.
18...xg5 19 xg5
Stronger than the recapture with the pawn. Reshevsky goes after e6.
19...f4
Fischer seizes upon his only chance to confuse matters. His move menaces Whites
queen and the d4-pawn, as well as worries White about ...xg2 tricks.
20 e3!?
The riskiest of Whites options:
a) After 20 g3 h5 21 e3 xd4 Dvoretsky claimed an advantage for Black, which
Houdini disputes with 22 a4! when Blacks position feels quite loose to me. I dont see
great responses: for example, 22...f4 23 h3 c6 24 xe6! xe6 25 b3 g7 26 xe6 d7
27 d1 xe6 28 xe6 xc3 29 xc3+ f6 30 d7+ h8 31 xf6+ xf6 32 d6 g7 33
c6 e7 with an approximately even ending.
b) 20 f3 d6 21 g3 d5 22 xd5 exd5 23 xe8+ xe8 24 c3 f4 25 e1 xe1+ 26
xe1 fxg3 27 e8+ f8 28 e6+ g7 29 fxg3 e7 30 xe7+ xe7 once again with an
equal ending.
20...xd4 21 b5!
Now the complications increase exponentially. Reshevsky eyes a juicy fork square on d6.
21...xe3
Best, says Fischer, while Kasparov criticizes it. The alternatives:
a) 21...xb2 22 d6 xg2 23 xg2 d4+ 24 e4 fxe4 25 xc8 xc8 26 xc8 c2 27
e7+ g7 28 xe6+! f7 29 f4+ xe6 30 e2 c3 31 c8!? (a move only a comp can
find) 31...xc8 32 g4+ d6 33 xc8 xc8 34 xc2 f5 35 d2+ c5 36 c2+ d6 37
d2+ c5 with a draw by repetition.
b) Reshevsky and Fischer considered 21...d5? to be the critical move. However, under
comp analysis, White holds the advantage after 22 xf4 xb5 23 h5 xb2 24 hxg6 hxg6
25 xe6 d8 26 d4 when Blacks king is seriously exposed.
22 fxe3 xg2!

98
 Fischer on Defence and Counterattack

W________W
[WDrDrDkD]
[0bDWDWDp]
[W0nDpDpD]
[DNDWDpHW]
[WDWDWDW)]
[)WDW)WDW]
[W)BDWDnD]
[DW$W$WIW]
W--------W
Our collective heads begin to spin from the complications. No matter how carefully we
plan, in virtually every game we play there arises at some point a capricious or unforeseen
element to challenge us.
23 xg2
The king implies a query through his gaping, open mouth.
23...d4+?!
This move should lead to a lost ending. Better was 23...b4+! 24 e4! d3! 25 xb7
xc1 26 xc1 xc1 27 xe6! e7 28 d5 d7 29 c3 h8 30 f3 d3 31 b3 when White
stands better in the ending, but Black is better off than the way the game actually tran-
spired.
24 e4!
Confess your sins to me and I will whisper them into Gods ear to plea for forgiveness,
says the bishop, who is more handy with a sword than with scripture. I can still hear the
audience gasping with each blow, wrote Fischer.
24...xe4+ 25 xe4
Black is down a piece and threatened with a fork on f6. Fortunately, its his move.
25...xb5 26 f6+
This is some crazy geometry. White wins the exchange, but this is really the beginning
of the story, not its end.
26...f7 27 xe8 xe8

99
Fischer: Move by Move

W________W
[WDWDrDWD]
[0WDWDkDp]
[W0WDpDpD]
[DnDWDpDW]
[WDWDWDW)]
[)WDW)WDW]
[W)WDWDKD]
[DW$W$WDW]
W--------W
Question: Who stands better here?

Answer: Black has obtained two healthy pawns for the exchange, normally more than
enough. Here, however, Whites rooks threaten to infiltrate down the open c- and d-files,
which in turn threaten Blacks pawns. White is the one with winning chances. Houdini as-
sesses White up by 0.49, the equivalent of half a pawn. So in essence, Black must make do
with a meagre fund of defensive resources.
28 a4!
Reshevsky clears the way for infiltration on c7. His move is more accurate than 28
ed1?! e7 29 f3 c7 with ...d5 to follow, and according to Fischer, Black is no longer in
danger of losing.
28...d6 29 c7+
W________W
[WDWDrDWD]
[0W$WDkDp]
[W0WhpDpD]
[DWDWDpDW]
[PDWDWDW)]
[DWDW)WDW]
[W)WDWDKD]
[DWDW$WDW]
W--------W
100
 Fischer on Defence and Counterattack

Exercise (critical decision): Should Black challenge Whites seventh-rank

control with 29...e7? Or should he ignore the threats to his pawns and
play 29...f6? One line puts up greater resistance than the other.

Answer: In this case, activity supersedes material concerns.

29...f6!
Both lines lose a pawn for Black, so there is no reason to go passive, with a line like
29...e7? which Fischer called hopeless: for example, 30 ec1 e8 31 xe7+ xe7 32 c8
d7 33 a8 c7 (or 33...a5 34 b8 and Black can resign) 34 xa7 c8 threatens to trap the
rook next move with ...b8. However, White wins by a single tempo after 35 a5!, which
either frees the rook, or allows 35...b5 36 a6 b8 37 b7+ c8 38 b6 winning.
30 ec1!
Masterful insight by Reshevsky, who correctly prefers to retain control over the open c-
file, rather than be bribed by 30 xa7?! c8 31 e2 c4 32 d7 e5 33 xh7 xa4 when
Black should hold the game without too much effort.
30...h6
W________W
[WDWDrDWD]
[0W$WDWDW]
[W0Whpip0]
[DWDWDpDW]
[PDWDWDW)]
[DWDW)WDW]
[W)WDWDKD]
[DW$WDWDW]
W--------W
Black may be busted, but Fischer continually finds the best practical moves.

Question: What is Fischers plan?

Answer: Fischer plans ...g5, creating a kingside passer. He then plans to go for a direct end-
game attack against Whites king, with his own rook, knight, king and pawns. This menace,
along with Blacks threat to win the queening race, makes the win extraordinarily difficult
for White, despite Houdinis healthy +1.68 assessment.
31 xa7
GM Artur Yusupov suggested 31 b4!?. There is no way the human brain (with a clock
ticking at the board) is capable of fathoming the true extent of such a decision, but when

101
Fischer: Move by Move

we crank up the comps, we come much closer to the truth. Houdini miraculously saved it-
self playing Black after 31...a8 32 1c6 d8 33 xa7 e4 34 a6! g5 35 axb6 d2+ 36
f1 f4 37 exf4 gxf4 38 xe6+ f5 39 a5 d1+ 40 e2 d2+ 41 e1 a2 42 xe4! xe4 43
xh6 a1+ 44 d2 b1 45 a6! (after 45 b6? f3 Black holds the game) 45...xb4 46 h5 f3
47 f6 b2+ 48 c3 b8! 49 h6 e3 50 h7 f2 51 a7 c8+ 52 b4 e2 53 b5 f1 54 xf1
xf1 55 b6 f8 56 b7 f7+. The game ends in a draw, as after 57 c6 f6+ 58 d7 f8
59 e7 a8 White is unable to make progress.
31...e4 32 a6 d8!
There is no point in defending something which cant be defended. 32...b8? 33 c6
and b6 falls all the same, except that Black got tricked into a passive rooks position.
33 c2?
In winning positions we must be vigilant against floundering in that dulling sense of
well being where we enjoy it so much, that we subconsciously resist change. Yet to win,
change must take place. Reshevsky, with little time on his clock, incorrectly expends a tem-
po on a defensive move. White wins with 33 xb6! d2+ 34 f1! (not 34 f3?? f2 mate or
34 h3?? g5! and White must hand over a rook to avoid mate after 35 g1 g4+ 36 xg4
f2+) 34...g5 35 cc6 f4 36 xe6+ f5 37 exf4 gxf4 38 a5 f3 (threatening mate) 39 xe4
xe4 40 a6 when Black can no longer generate mate or perpetual threats.
33...d3 34 xb6
34 f3? is met with 34...b3 when Black no longer stands worse.
34...xe3 35 a5 f4!
W________W
[WDWDWDWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[W$WDpip0]
[)WDWDWDW]
[WDWDn0W)]
[DWDW4WDW]
[W)RDWDKD]
[DWDWDWDW]
W--------W
Exercise (planning): Fischer managed to generate serious threats on Whites king,
since ...f3+ is in the air and ...g5 is coming. The question is: can White promote his a-
pawn without getting mated, or allowing Black to promote first? The answer is yes.
But only if White hands back the exchange to remove some of the steam from
Blacks threats. White can accomplish this by playing either 36 f2, or 36 b4.
Only one of the lines wins. How would you continue?

102
 Fischer on Defence and Counterattack

36 f2?
When you possess in your arsenal a last resource, why use it early when less extreme
measures suffice? With his flag about to fall, Reshevsky makes an unfortunate decision. He
realized that he must return the exchange, but does it the wrong way. He thought, quite
reasonably, that Blacks rook had no way to return to halt the march of his a-pawn.
Answer: Correct was the problem-like 36 b4!! f3+ 37 f1 f2 38 xf2+ (the key to the art of
accumulation is to give back some but not all of your wealth to keep in check an oppo-
nents initiative) 38...xf2 39 xf2 e5 40 a4 f5+ 41 e3 e5 42 a6 f8 43 b4! d5
44 a7 a8 45 b7 is hopeless for Black.

Question: What is the difference between the

two versions of handing back the exchange?

Answer: In this version, it is White, not Black who decides the moment.

Question: Why does White have to give up the

exchange at all? Cant he just push his a-pawn?

Answer: Black draws after 36 a6? f3+ 37 f1 d3 threatening mate on d1. Now White is
unable to play 38 c1?? (38 e1 e3+ 39 f1 d3 repeats, while after 39 d1 f2 40 xf2+
xf2+ 41 c2 e5 Black certainly stands no worse and may even be winning, despite the
comps 0.00 assessment) 38...d2 39 b3 f2+ 40 g1 (or 40 e1 e2+ and mate next
move) 40...g2+ 41 f1 g3+ 42 e1 f2+ and Black wins.
36...xf2 37 xf2 e5!
Opportunity turns its shining face to Black and Fischer plays the remainder of the game
with an air of increasing assurance. This move carries an attitude of irresolution, which in
reality camouflages Fischers true intent: he induces b4 to get his rook behind Whites
passed a-pawn.
After the mundane 37...d3? we note a precipitous decline in Blacks counterplay after
38 a6 d7 39 b4 g5 40 b5 g4 41 a5 g3+ 42 e2! (42 f3?? d3+ 43 xf4 g2 44 a1 a3!
allows Black to draw) 42...g2 43 a1 g7 44 f2 e5 45 b5 e4 46 g1! c7 47 xg2 f3+ 48
f2 c2+ 49 g3 a2 50 b1 g2+ 51 f4 f2 52 a7 g1 53 a8 xb1 (Black is about to
promote, but White has a way to force the win of f2) 54 d8+ e6 55 e8+ f6 56 e5+
f7 57 d5+ f8 58 a8+ g7 59 a7+ f6 60 xf2 and White wins.
38 b4 e3!
There is a clear sense of emancipation from Blacks side, which is felt, more than ac-
tively expressed. Now Fischers rook gets behind the passed a-pawn, and his own pawns
begin to advance.
39 a6 a3

103
Fischer: Move by Move

W________W
[WDWDWDWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[P$WDpip0]
[DWDWDWDW]
[W)WDW0W)]
[4WDWDWDW]
[WDWDWIWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
W--------W
40 c6??
Reshevsky blunders on the final move of the time control. This move loses a critical
tempo.
White holds the draw with 40 b5! g5 41 hxg5+ hxg5 42 b8 g4 43 b6! g3+ 44 g2 a2+
45 f3 g2 46 g8 xa6 47 xg2 xb6 48 xf4.
40...g5 41 hxg5+ hxg5 42 b5 g4 43 c8
Both Fischer and Kasparov felt this move was a mistake. I dont believe White has any
path to save the game. For example:
a) 43 c1 a2+ 44 f1 f3 45 b1 g3 46 b6 h2! 47 e1 h1+ 48 d2 xb1 49 a7 f2 50
a8 f1 when there is no perpetual check and Black wins.
b) 43 b6 g3+ 44 f1 f3 45 c1 xa6 46 b1 a2 47 b7 h2 48 g1 f2+ 49 f1 h1+ 50
g2 (the kings palsied hands give us an accurate picture of his state of mind) 50...xb1
and wins.
43...f5 44 b6 g3+ 45 e1
Alternatively, 45 g2 a2+ 46 g1 f3 47 c1 g2+ 48 f1 h2 49 e1 e2+ 50 f1
g4! 51 b7 g2+ 52 g1 h3 53 f1 f2+! 54 xf2 e1+ 55 f1 xf1 mate.
45...a1+ 46 e2 g2 47 f8+
If 47 g8 xa6 48 b7 b6 49 xg2 xb7 and Black wins.
47...e4 48 xf4+
A desperado. After 48 g8 a2+ 49 d1 f3 50 a7 d3 51 c1 f2 52 g3+ c4 53 g4+
c5 54 g5+ d6 Black forces mate.
48...xf4 49 b7

104
 Fischer on Defence and Counterattack

W________W
[WDWDWDWD]
[DPDWDWDW]
[PDWDpDWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[WDWDWiWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[WDWDKDpD]
[4WDWDWDW]
W--------W
49...g1?!
The move which achieves the goal to promote. GM Isaac Kashdan pointed out the sim-
pler win 49...e4! 50 b8 a2+! 51 e1 g1 mate. Sigh, I still cant underpromote in
ChessBase 13. Will someone please tell me how?
50 b8+ f5
Blacks job is to dodge perpetual check.
51 f8+ e4 52 a8+ d4 53 d8+
To Blacks king, his sisters booming commands make him feel like an early Christian be-
ing summoned by a lioness in the Coliseum.
53...c4 54 d3+ c5 55 c3+ d6 56 d2+
56 b4+ is met with 56...c5.
56...e5 57 b2+ f5 0-1
W________W
[WDWDWDWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[PDWDpDWD]
[DWDWDkDW]
[WDWDWDWD]
[DWDWDWDW]
[W!WDKDWD]
[4WDWDW1W]
W--------W
Reshevsky resigned here.

105
Fischer: Move by Move

Question: How does Black dodge perpetual check?

Answer: Lets turn this into a calculation exercise. Try and play through the remaining
moves of the game without moving the pieces.

Exercise (calculation): Black wins after 58 c2+ f6 59 c3+ e5 60 f3+ (after 60

c6+ g5 White runs out of checks) 60...g7 61 b7+ h6 62 c6+ g5 when
Whites checks run out, and the violence once inherent in his position passes like a
sudden squall at sea, which dies down with time. 10-ply if you made it to the end
without moving the pieces. What an analytical nightmare of a game!

Game 13
G.Tringov-R.Fischer
Capablanca Memorial, Havana 1965
Sicilian Najdorf

1 e4 c5 2 f3 d6 3 d4 cxd4 4 xd4 f6 5 c3 a6 6 g5 e6 7 f4 b6
The dreaded Poisoned Pawn line of the Najdorf. As the years advance and pass by, your
possibly senile writer grows more and more muddleheaded, to the point where I hate to
memorize long opening variations. So I shake my head in disbelief when I think upon a
time when I actually played this position from Blacks side.
8 d2 xb2 9 b1 a3 10 e5
Today, this line is considered rather shady for White, and more commonly played are
the variations 10 f5, 10 e2 and 10 xf6.
10...dxe5 11 fxe5 fd7 12 c4
Today, most experts on the white side usually go for 12 e4, which was first played by
Tal: 12...h6 13 h4 xa2 (one must have a high degree of confidence in ones own attack-
ing abilities to enter such a line two pawns down) 14 d1 d5 15 e3 xe5 (make that
three pawns down; 15...c5?! allows 16 xe6! b4+ 17 c3 xe6 18 cxb4 when Whites
development lead and dark-square power compensated him for his missing pawn,
A.Shirov-Wang Hao, Russian Team Championship 2009) 16 e2 c5 17 g3, Yu Yangyi-
Wei Yei, Chinese League 2014. Maybe its stylistic, but I prefer Blacks side.
12...b4!
This was Fischers improvement over 12...e7?! when White has 13 xe6!.

106