Hi and welcome into the game of the century played by R.J.
Fischer.
The first interesting fact about this game is that Fischer was only 13-years-old at that
time.
Yet, he played a really brilliant game which became his most famous game, and even is considered
to be the game of the century.
Another thing is that this game has been analyzed by more than a few authors.
But I noticed that very often, their analysis was somewhat misrepresenting.
And even when I read the book of Gary Kasparov, "My Great Predecessors" about Fischer, I noticed
that he somewhat tried to criticize Fischer, and rather present him in a negative manner.
I'm not sure why this happened, but maybe it is just that Kasparov feels envy towards
Fischer, because whenever chess players were asked "Who is the greatest chess player of
all time?", usually these two guys appear on the top positions.
Anyway, my goal for this lesson is just to show you the real situation about this game,
and also to highlight a few tips about the techniques used by Fischer in his games, so
that you can imitate his style and play the same tricks in your own games!
Let's go ahead and get started.
The game was played between Donald Byrne and Bobby Fischer, where Fischer is Black.
The game started with 1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6.
Here there is the first interesting moment that I'd like to highlight.
Fischer really loved to play that fianchettoed type of positions against the closed openings.
So whenever White plays the first moves of c4 or d4, Fischer really love to fianchetto
is kingside bishop and that has been his main opening open for many years.
So if you would like to imitate his style, you can also employ his opening style.
Here White played Bf4....I don't comment on the opening moves that much.
In the opening, both sides are just brining their pieces into play.
There could be various ways how this can be done.
It's just different opening lines.
Anyway, if we talk about the Fischer's opening preference, in this position, he chosen either
d6, with the Kings Indian Defense, and in this case, if Black plays d6, then in the
future his plan is usually to prepare the e5 advancement in the center.
So that was one idea of Fischer.
And another idea is what happened in the game - he played d5 with the Grunfeld Defense where
Black is counter-attacking White in the center, directly.
White played Qb3 to protect his c4-pawn and also to put more pressure on Black's pawn.
So Black exchanged the pawns.
And now at the moment, Black's c7-pawn is being attacked.
Black needs to do something about that and he played c6.
White answered e4 to occupy the center.
And now he is really solid there.
Okay, let me ask you the first question - how would you play here as Black?
What do you think?
One of the popular lines is to start pushing the b-pawn, play b5 attacking the White's
queen.
And also Black, maybe, will keep pushing the pawn forward to attack the White's knight
as well.
So in this way, Black tries to start the aggressive actions straightaway.
However, Fischer took a different approach.
And here, I'd like to highlight this rule - while playing games, Fischer always tired
to make sure that every of his pieces is ACTIVE.
He almost never had any bad piece, unlike other players.
And that's why, in this position, he noticed that his pieces on the kingside have already
been developed.
While, the pieces on the queenside are still on their initial positions.
And that's why, he need to move them out..that's what he did.
He avoided unnecessary and unclear complications, but just brought his pieces into play.
So firstly, he developed the knight..the knight goes to b6 attacking the White's queen.
Queen has to go away.
By the way, I've noticed that some commentators said that this was the awkward move of Qc5
and it's one the reasons for the White's loss.
I'd hopefully understand that it's not true because, normally, whenever you have a choice,
you need to move your pieces forward.
So Qc5 is totally okay.
White lost the game because of his further mistakes.
Black played Bg4 - so he continues to bring the pieces into the play.
And here White really made a mistake - he played Bg5.
It is widely known that you should not move a single piece twice in the opening.
And yet, White did that.
Probably, he wanted to put some indirect pressure on the e7-pawn.
So in case if Black moves away his knight from f6, White will be able to take the pawn
of e7 and maybe, White was hoping that it will restrain Black's possibilities.
But anyway, he was wrong.
And at this point, if you compare the White's position and the Black's position, you will
notice that Black has already castled and developed all his minor pieces, while the
White's king is still in center and his kingside pieces are still on their initial positions.
That's what I was talking about earlier, that Fischer has always made sure that all of his
pieces are active.
Okay, so we know that there is something wrong with the White's position.
How to punish White for this mistake?
How to exploit Black's advantage in development?
Firstly, please try to think about that yourself and try to guess the Black's next move.
It's really amazing and surprising move.
But anyway, you can give it a try and try to find that yourself.
By the way, I noticed that different commentators explain the following Black moves just by
the fact that Fischer is a genius player and that's why he plays powerful moves.
But I think this is exaggeration.
At that time, Fischer was only 13-years-old.
And at this tournament, he lost a few games and I think, took only the eighth place.
So it could be exaggerating to say that Fischer was just so strong at that time..so genius..whatever
he did was so great....Anyway, let's try to think more practically and decide how can
YOU find such attacking moves.
And the rule is very simple - you need to focus your attention on the White side of
the board and think how you can move their and attack your opponent.
If you look at the position from this perspective, you will find the following move pretty simple
because, there are only a few ways how Black can possibly move to the White's half of the
board.
So it is the move of Na4!
Black is trying to deflect the White's c3-knight which is currently protected by the e4-pawn.
And in case, White really accepts the sacrifice and takes the knight, Black will take with
his knight on e4, making a double attack on the White's queen and bishop.
And it's very difficult to save all the hanging pieces of White.
For example, if White just simply moves his queen backwards, something like Qc2, then
really Black can take the bishop on the g5.
So first we can eliminate the defender of the bishop, the knight, and then Nxg5, now
Black took back the piece.
In the meanwhile, he also won the central pawn on the e4.
The White's position is destroyed.
And Black is totally winning.
So let's make a few moves back..Let's say White decided to move the queen, not backward,
but forward, and plays Qxe7.
What can Black do in this case?
In fact, there are a few ways for Black to proceed with.
One of them is Qa5+ which is very powerful.
It's hitting the White's king and the knight and also putting an extra pressure on the
bishop.
It's really a multi-functional move.
And White crumbles here..after Nc3, there is a new problem for White after Re8.
White is losing the queen because of the pin.
In the actual game, White refused to take the knight.
He realized how harmful it is, for him.
And he simply retreated back with his queen.
Now after the exchange of the knights, White's e4-pawn became unprotected and Black can simply
capture it.
White replied with Bxe7, attacking the queen, and the queen goes away.
Here, there is another interesting situation where White, once again, could take some material..could
win the exchange.
Let's see what would happen in case White would really take that..then Black recaptures
with the bishop, because that attacks the White's queen and therefore, White has to
react..has to spend time on making defensive moves.
And after Qb3, Black could simply trade the queens and it also advantageous for him.
But there is another little combination.
And it's again, with the knight.
And once again, if you focus your attention on the White's half of the board, and think
what damage Black can do there, you can find the combination pretty easily.
It starts from Nxc3 and after Qxc3, Black can win the queen using the pin motif, once
again.
This time, it's Bb4 and White is losing the queen.
That's why for the second time in this game, White refused to take the material.
And instead of taking opponent's rook, he played Bc4.
And generally, this is certainly the right idea, because you need to develop pieces.
Finally, Black, anyway, took that pawn wit Nxc3.
This time, the trick is slightly different.
Although, we have seen a similar motif before..if White accepts this knight sacrifice, then
after Re8, Black will win the bishop, using the same pin on the White's king.
So Black will take back the bishop, and he won the pawn on c3, and therefore he will
just have an advantageous position.
After Nxc3, White didn't take the knight.
But he found quite a creative way to continue fighting - he played Bc5.
He wants to remove this bishop from eventual danger, and them pick the Black's knight in
a come-position.
However, Fischer was known as a guy who always willing to go into complications..and in such
complications, his main idea was to try to refute the opponent's idea.
And let's see how he did that in this case.
First, he played Rfe8+, so counter-attacking the White's king.
And now the king has to move and therefore, will be unable to castle anymore.
And now Black made another counter-attacking move which is really brilliant, really shocking..because
it seems like Black has to move the queen somewhere..move it from danger.
But all of a sudden, he just left the queen right there and made a counter-attacking move.
Can you find it?
In fact, there are even two counter-attacking moves here.
One is Nb5, counter-attacking White's queen.
But the move Black played in the game is much stronger.
He played Be6!
So, I have told you that normally, go into the opponent's half of the board and make
some damage there.
This move was exceptional in all the senses.
Here Black sacrifices a queen and is willing to counter-attack.
Now let's see what happens if White takes one of the Black's pieces.
In case of Qxc3, there is really a funny variation.
Here Black can recapture the White's piece using the pin.
But this time, the pin is different - it's the pin on the White's queen.
So at the moment, Black is a pawn up and White cannot really capture any of the Black's material
because the White's bishop is pinned by the queen.
The White's pawn is pinned by the bishop.
So it's a very funny situation!
Now let's come back.
If White tries to take, not the knight, but to take the bishop on e6, there is another
very famous tactical motif that you are probably aware of, or if not, you definitely need to
remember it!
It starts from Qb5+, where Black can deliver a smothered mate.
And then Ne2+, the only way that can White can go is Kf1, then Ng3+, it is double check
with the knight and the queen.
That's why, White has to move the king somewhere,.
And after Kg1, Black can sacrifice the queen and deliver a smothered mate.
This is a really famous tactical motif which happens in different positions.
Therefore, it's worth remembering!
And here is the critical point of the game where Black played a brilliant move of Be6
with a devastating counter-attack.
White, in the actual game, just took the queen.
And let's see what happened next....Black took the bishop with a check (Bxc4+), so king
has to move.
And now there is another interesting tactical motif known as the "Windmill" or discover
attack/check.
Here after Ne2+ and Kf1, you can notice that Black can make lots of moves with this knight
while delivering a discovered check with the bishop.
And there will be no way for White to do anything except for just moving his king.
And that's why, by using this Windmill motif, Black collected the d4-pawn and then move
the knight back to c3 where it attacks the White's rook on d1.
So here you can notice that the situation is the same as it was a few moves ago, but
with the difference that Black took the d4-pawn of White.
Okay, here is another position and once again, you need to decide what to do.
How would you play here as Black?
Will you take the White's rook on b1 or will you take the bishop?
In the game, Black decided to take the bishop and this is definitely the winning move and
once again, I'd like to emphasize this Fischer's attitude towards the game.
He always made sure that his every piece is ACTIVE!
And that's the idea you really need to keep in mind while playing.
By taking the bishop on b6, Black not only collects a material, but also brings his rook
into play.
It starts to attack the White's queen and now, really all of the Black's pieces are
active.
We cannot say the same thing about White because his rook on h1 is in the corner, doing nothing.
And this position is already winning for Black.
White played Qb4, attacking the bishop.
Black replied with Ra4, protecting the bishop with a tempo.
And after queen goes away, Black simply took the rook and now already, Black has this decisive
material advantage.
He has the rook and two bishops against a queen!
And for queen, a single piece, it is impossible to fight against three powerful pieces of
his opponent.
So now Black starts to collect..simply take everything..Rxe1..White made an intermediate
check...and then took back the rook.
And this is the last instructive moment in this game where I'd like to ask you to think
- how would you proceed here if you are Black?
Well, there could be different ideas.
For instance, you have the passed pawns..you can try to push them forward, create a new
queen or maybe you would like to keep attacking White's king somehow.
Anyway, Fischer took a different approach.
As we said before, his priority has always been to make that his every piece is active.
And at the moment, although Black has the decisive material advantage, his pieces are
unorganized.
The bishop o f8 is pinned, it cannot move.
Now the other pieces are doing different jobs..they are not coordinated.
They don't serve any single goal.
And that's why instead of just trying to push the pawns or protect the king, the first priority
of Fischer was to coordinate his pieces to make sure all of them are active.
He started this by putting his minor pieces in the center, Bd5 and then Ne4.
Now his pieces are centralized, protecting each other.
It is impossible for White to create any counter-play.
Then Qb8, attacking the pawn.
Black removed it and after Ne5, Black played Kg7 to unpin his bishop and now, it's ready
to go Bd6, attacking all of the White's pieces and his king.
And White is defenseless.
He played Kg1 to remove the king from the eventual pin, but he fell into the mating
net instead.
Here Black delivers a checkmate!
Now let's summarize the 2 main techniques of Bobby Fischer, that he used in this game
to play such brilliant chess.
The first thing is that, he always made sure his EVERY piece is ACTIVE.
If you keep this idea in mind while playing, you'll never have bad pieces and your game
will be consistent, stable and very strong.
The second rule - you need to attack, move your pieces to opponent's side of the board.
If you keep this algorithm for finding attacking moves, in mind, you will find lots of brilliant,
tactical, attacking moves similar to Bobby Fischer.
So keep these rules in mind and play brilliant chess!
:) If you want to test your skills and how well you digested this information, I've prepared
one puzzle for you from another famous game of Bobby Fischer.
You will a link to that puzzle below the video (in description).
Give it a try and test your skills.
Thanks for watching! :)