Vor 45 Jahren – Bobby Fischer in Island (5)

[Event "Reykjavik, World Championship"] [Site "Reykjavik"] [Date "1972.07.18"] [Round "4"] [White "Fischer, Robert James"] [Black "Spassky, Boris Vasilievich"] [Result "1/2-1/2"] [ECO "B88"] [WhiteElo "2785"] [BlackElo "2660"] [Annotator "Byrne,Robert"] [PlyCount "89"] [EventDate "1972.07.11"] [EventType "match"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "ISL"] [SourceTitle "MainBase"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] 1. e4 c5 {Using Bobby's own favourite weapon against him comes as a terrific surprise.} 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 Nc6 6. Bc4 e6 7. Bb3 Be7 8. Be3 O-O 9. O-O a6 10. f4 Nxd4 11. Bxd4 b5 12. a3 Bb7 13. Qd3 a5 $1 {As Spassky demonstrated in this game, the pawn sacrifice involved here is much stronger than its reputation. It must be accepted, for otherwise ...b4 gives Black too good a position.} 14. e5 dxe5 15. fxe5 Nd7 16. Nxb5 (16. Ne4 Bxe4 17. Qxe4 Nc5 18. Bxc5 Bxc5+ 19. Kh1 Qd4 $1 $15 {Purdy}) (16. Qxb5 $2 Ba6) 16... Nc5 17. Bxc5 ({Giving Black the two Bishops is not a happy choice, but} 17. Qe3 Nxb3 18. Qxb3 (18. cxb3 $4 Qd5 $19 {[%cal Rd5g2,Rd5b5]} 19. Qe2 Ba6 {wins a piece.}) 18... a4 19. Qd3 Ba6 20. Rad1 Qa5 21. c4 Bxb5 22. cxb5 Rab8 23. b6 {only results in Black's obtaining a better pawn position.}) 17... Bxc5+ 18. Kh1 Qg5 (18... Qxd3 {is now in White's favor after} 19. cxd3 Ba6 20. Nc7 Bxd3 21. Rfc1 $1 $16 Rab8 22. Nxe6 $1) 19. Qe2 (19. Qg3 {is safer but gives nothing after} Qxg3 20. hxg3 Ba6 21. Bc4 (21. a4 Bxb5 22. axb5 Bd4 23. c3 Bxe5 24. g4 Rfd8 25. Rfd1 Bc7 {=/+ Smyslov}) 21... Bxb5 22. Bxb5 Bd4 23. c3 Bxe5 $15 {Bobby courageously tries to refute Spassky's gambit and spends the rest of the game suffering for his unwise decision.}) 19... Rad8 20. Rad1 Rxd1 21. Rxd1 h5 $1 { This little unit threatens to travel to h3, shredding the last of the White defenses.} 22. Nd6 Ba8 23. Bc4 h4 24. h3 {The only defense. However, the squares in the vicinity of the White King are now pitifully weak.} (24. Bd3 h3 25. Be4 Qxe5 26. Bh7+ Kxh7 27. Qxe5 hxg2# {is mate.}) 24... Be3 25. Qg4 { What else can White do?} ({Black was treatening} 25. -- Qg3 {[%cal Rg3h3,Re3f4] followed by ...Qxh3 mate; as well as ...Bf5 to seize the pawn on e5.}) 25... Qxe5 (25... Qxg4 26. hxg4 h3 27. Bf1 f6 28. Nc4 {is nothing for Fischer to worry about.}) 26. Qxh4 g5 27. Qg4 {[%cal Rg4g3,Rg4d1] It is necessary to keep both the g3 square and the Rook defended.} Bc5 ({To reply} 27... f5 {is impossible for} 28. Qh5 {threatens perpetual check, and} Kg7 $2 {loses after} 29. Ne8+ Kg8 (29... Rxe8 30. Rd7+ {and mates}) 30. Qg6+ Kh8 31. Qh6+ Kg8 32. Bxe6+ Rf7 33. Nf6+ {with mate to follow.}) ({There is no win after} 27... Rd8 { since} 28. Nxf7 Rxd1+ 29. Qxd1 Kxf7 ({Nor is} 29... Qg3 {good for anything more that a draw, since} 30. Nh6+ $1 Kg7 31. Qd7+ {leads to perpetual check. [Editorial comment: actually it leads to mate:} Kh8 32. Qd8+ Kg7 33. Qg8+ Kxh6 34. Qxe6+ Kh5 35. Qe8+ Kh6 36. Qf8+ Kg6 37. Bd3+ Be4 38. Bxe4+ Kh5 39. Qh8# { You can analyse in the JavaScript player, which Byrne did not have at the time. ]}) 30. Qd7+ Kf6 31. Qd8+ {[%cal Rd8a8] recovers the Bishop. It is amazing that Fischer is still alive here.}) 28. Nb5 Kg7 {[%cal Rf8h8,Rh8h4] Spassky menaces the crushing R-h8-h4.} 29. Nd4 {[#]} Rh8 ({Gligoric and Olafsson maintained that Black can win here by} 29... Rd8 {since} 30. Nxe6+ ({On} 30. Nf5+ {which would be a good answer to 29...Bd6} Kf6 31. Nh6 Rxd1+ 32. Qxd1 Kg6 33. Ng4 Qxb2 {Black has an overwhelming position.}) ({But the situation is not clear after} 30. c3 {If} Bd6 ({If} 30... Rh8 31. Nf3 ({But here} 31. Rf1 $1 Rh4 (31... Bd6 32. Nf5+ {at least draws by perpetual check.}) 32. Nf5+ $1 Qxf5 33. Rxf5 Rxg4 34. Rxc5 Rxg2 35. Rxa5 Bf3 36. Bf1 {is still perhaps tenable.}) 31... Bxf3 32. Qxf3 Bd6 33. Kg1 Rh4 {wins for Black.}) 31. Kg1 Rh8 32. Nf5+ $1 exf5 33. Qxg5+ Kf8 34. Qd8+ {White draws.}) 30... fxe6 31. Rxd8 Qe1+ {is mate in three.}) 30. Nf3 Bxf3 31. Qxf3 Bd6 32. Qc3 {At last Bobby can catch his breath, now that the shooting is over.} Qxc3 33. bxc3 Be5 34. Rd7 Kf6 35. Kg1 Bxc3 36. Be2 Be5 37. Kf1 Rc8 38. Bh5 {By forcing the exchange of Rooks, this move eliminates even the minute chance of Black's exploiting the fragmented pawn position and makes the game an obvious draw.} Rc7 39. Rxc7 Bxc7 40. a4 Ke7 41. Ke2 f5 42. Kd3 Be5 43. c4 Kd6 44. Bf7 Bg3 45. c5+ 1/2-1/2

[Event "Reykjavik World Championship"] [Site "Reykjavik"] [Date "1972.07.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Spassky, Boris Vasilievich"] [Black "Fischer, Robert James"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E41"] [WhiteElo "2660"] [BlackElo "2785"] [Annotator "Byrne,Robert"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "1972.07.11"] [EventType "match"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "ISL"] [SourceTitle "MainBase"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ {West German Grandmaster Robert Huebner's dogmatic variation gives White doubled pawns without even waiting for a2-a3. The point is to take advantage of the placement of White's Knight at f3, where it is considerably weaker than at e2. Huebner's recipe also calls for 0-0-0, although the placement of Black King cannot be determined until White reveals what formation he will set up. Recent games have consistently demonstrated the strength of Huebner's plan.} 7. bxc3 d6 8. e4 ({An alternative is to keep the King Bishop's diagonal open by} 8. Nd2 {but after} e5 {it is not apparent how White is to obtain the initiative.}) 8... e5 9. d5 Ne7 {Huebner's idea is to use the Black minor pieces for maneuvering on the Kingside.} ({In any case} 9... Na5 {would be a mistake since } 10. Nd2 {[%cal Gd2b3] followed by N-b3 virtually compels ...NxN, mending the White pawn position after PxN.}) 10. Nh4 h6 {[#]} 11. f4 ({Two alternate tries here are} 11. g3 Bh3 12. Rg1 g5 13. Ng2) ({and} 11. f3 g5 12. Nf5 Nxf5 13. exf5 Nh5 {Neither one has worked out satisfactorily for White.}) 11... Ng6 $1 { This wierd reply stops White cold.} ({The text move 11.f4 appears to be tremendous, since} 11... exf4 12. Bxf4 g5 $2 13. e5 $1 Nd7 14. e6 $1 gxf4 15. exd7+ Qxd7 16. O-O {yields White an overwhelming position.}) 12. Nxg6 (12. Nf5 $2 Bxf5 13. exf5 Nxf4 14. Bxf4 exf4 15. O-O O-O 16. Rxf4 {recovers the pawn, but at the expense of a winning position for Black, who has a good Knight against a bad Bishop and control of the King file.}) (12. fxe5 $2 {is even worse after} Nxh4 13. exf6 Qxf6 {leaving White in a disorganized mess.}) 12... fxg6 13. fxe5 dxe5 14. Be3 {A first glance might give the impression that White stands well here, with the two Bishops and a protected passed pawn. But the KB [the Bd3] has the purely passive role of guarding the KP and QBP [d4 and c4], while the pawn formation on the Kingside is such that White is denied his normal attacking chances there. It is Black, with his maneuvering possibilites against the fixed enemy pawn weaknesses, who has the upper hand.} b6 15. O-O O-O 16. a4 a5 {There was not possibility of avoiding this, since a5 would have followed, giving White two Queenside files to play on. Black's backward QNP [Pb6] is a drawback, but not a serious one because White's pressure against it is limited by his lack of mobility.} 17. Rb1 Bd7 18. Rb2 Rb8 19. Rbf2 {This is a nothing move, but it is not clear how White can proceed in any event. In order to scare up real threat again the QNP [Pb6] White must be able to triple the QN [b] file. This would require a long-winded maneuver beginning with Qa1, which would give Black a chance to attack on the other wing. If Black was really worried about anything after 19.Qa1 he could always get rid of a pair of Rooks by ...Ng4.} Qe7 20. Bc2 g5 21. Bd2 Qe8 22. Be1 Qg6 23. Qd3 Nh5 24. Rxf8+ Rxf8 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26. Bd1 Nf4 {[#]Now Black's advantage is glaringy obvious, but is it enough to win by force? Grandmaster Fridrik Olafsson thinks so, but I am not sure.} 27. Qc2 $4 ({After} 27. Qb1 { [%cal Gf8e7,Ge7d8,Gd8c8,Gh6h5,Gh5h4,Gg6h6,Gg5g4] (best) Black can continue by . ..Ke7-d8-c8 and then start a Kingside attack by ...h5-h4, ...Qh6 and ...g4. It is difficult to suggest counter-measures and, unfortunately, we are deprived of see the thing worked out, because Boris makes his biggest blunder in the match right here.}) 27... Bxa4 $1 (27... Bxa4 {The sacrifice cannot be accepted, for} 28. Qxa4 $2 ({Declining is also hopeless, because} 28. Qb1 Bxd1 29. Qxd1 Qxe4 {leave White two pawns down to begin with and the prospect of losing more staring him in the face.}) 28... Qxe4 {threatens two mates at once, and} 29. Kf2 Nd3+ 30. Kg3 Qh4+ 31. Kf3 Qf4+ 32. Ke2 Nc1# {is mate.}) 0-1

[Event "Reykjavik World Championship"] [Site "Reykjavik"] [Date "1972.07.20"] [Round "5"] [White "Spassky, Boris V"] [Black "Fischer, Robert James"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO "E41"] [WhiteElo "2660"] [BlackElo "2785"] [Annotator "Sagar Shah"] [PlyCount "54"] [EventDate "1972.07.11"] [EventType "match"] [EventRounds "21"] [EventCountry "ISL"] [SourceTitle "MainBase"] [Source "ChessBase"] [SourceDate "1999.07.01"] {This was the fifth game of the match and Fischer was trailing with a score of 2.5:1.5. He equalises the match with a win over here. But more than the victory it is simply amazing to see him break many positional rules and yet come out on the top.} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 e6 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. Nf3 c5 5. e3 Nc6 6. Bd3 Bxc3+ $5 {The Heubner Wall which is one of the most fascinating positions in the Nimzo Indian.} 7. bxc3 d6 {Black gives up his bishop voluntarily and then sets up the pawns on the dark squares so that the other bishop can become more active.} 8. e4 (8. O-O e5 9. Nd2 {is the other way to play, keeping the centre flexible. But Spassky chooses the most natural plan of seizing the center.}) 8... e5 9. d5 Ne7 {The position is closed and in such situations, the knights are often better than the bishops. Especially the bishop on d3 is not at all a great piece. But Spassky has the idea of moving his knight to h4 and following it up with f2-f4 in order to open the position.} (9... Na5 {Usually the knight is well placed here in the Nimzo Indian because it can put pressure on the c4 pawn. But in this particular case White can execute a strong idea starting with } 10. Nd2 $1 O-O 11. O-O (11. Nb3 b5 {might lead to unclear consequences.}) 11... b6 12. Nb3 $14 {The knigh on a5 cannot maintain itself on that square.}) 10. Nh4 h6 11. f4 {This was the first time that this move was played by anyone and it was pretty natural.} (11. O-O g5 12. Nf5 (12. Qf3 Nfg8 13. Nf5 Nxf5 14. exf5 Nf6 15. h4 g4 16. Qg3 Kd7 17. f3 gxf3 18. Qxf3 Kc7 19. Be2 Qg8 20. Kf2 h5 21. Ke1 Bd7 22. Bg5 Ng4 23. Qe4 f6 24. Bd2 Nh2 25. Kf2 Qh7 26. Kg1 Nxf1 27. Rxf1 Rag8 28. Kh2 Rg7 {0-1 (28) Meskovs,N (2441)-Kovalenko,I (2650) Riga 2014}) 12... Nxf5 13. exf5 e4 14. Re1 Bxf5 15. f3 Bg6 16. fxe4 Nd7 $15 {[%cal Gd7e5] Black has the perfect blockade.}) 11... Ng6 $1 {What a brilliant concept by Fischer. When faced with a new idea he responds in the best possible manner. The point is that White cannot play Nf5 as after Bxf5 exf5, the f4 pawn will be hanging.} (11... exf4 12. Bxf4 g5 13. e5 Ng4 14. e6 $1 Nf6 15. O-O gxf4 16. Rxf4 $18) (11... Bg4 12. Qd2 exf4 13. Qxf4 $14) 12. Nxg6 fxg6 13. fxe5 (13. O-O {Spassky-Fischer 5 was the pioneering game in this line. Later people started to push forward instead of taking on e5.} O-O 14. f5 {And Black has a wonderful flank strike to break White's center.} b5 $1 15. cxb5 c4 $1 16. Bc2 ( 16. Bxc4 $6 Qb6+ 17. Kh1 Nxe4 $15) 16... gxf5 17. exf5 Qb6+ 18. Kh1 Qxb5 $15 { Black has an excellent position as White's center is falling apart.}) 13... dxe5 {Have a look at this position without any prejudices and determine who is better. Of course it should be White don't you agree? 1. He has the bishop pair; 2. a protected passed pawn on d5; 3. Black's e5 pawn is isolated and his g-pawns are doubled. How did Fischer win the game in spite of all these deficiencies in his position? Take a look:} 14. Be3 b6 15. O-O O-O 16. a4 a5 $1 {Another superb move fixing the a4 pawn on the light square. It is true that the b6 pawn is weakened and stands backward on the open file. But Fischer realises the importance of keeping the position closed and not letting White open further lines.} (16... Ne8 17. Rxf8+ Kxf8 18. a5 $16) (16... Ng4 17. Bd2 { The knight has not really gained from going to g4.}) 17. Rb1 Bd7 {White is perfectly developed. What should he do next? It's not at all easy to suggest a good plan for him. The b6 pawn can be attacked, but it would be easily defended. At the same time Black is looking towards exchanging all the rooks in the position. Once that happens the weakness on c4 and a4 as well as e4 will be accentuated, as two black minor pieces would be able to attack them while only one white bishop can defend it.} 18. Rb2 Rb8 19. Rbf2 (19. Bf2 Qe7 20. Bg3 g5 21. Rbf2 Rf7 22. Qb1 Qd6 23. Bc2 Rbf8 24. Bd1 Ne8 $1 {The exchange of rooks is to Black's favour. Even though the computer thinks this position is worse for Black, I disagree. Black has a clear cut plan while White lacks one. Still this is better than the game as White is attacking Black's only weakness in the position that is the pawn on e5.}) 19... Qe7 20. Bc2 g5 $1 { Gaining space and preparing to transfer the queen on the wonderful square on g6.} 21. Bd2 {As you can see Spassky just doesn't understand what is to be done.} Qe8 {Also keeping an eye on the a4 pawn.} 22. Be1 Qg6 23. Qd3 Nh5 24. Rxf8+ Rxf8 25. Rxf8+ Kxf8 26. Bd1 Nf4 27. Qc2 $2 {The game ends abruptly after this.} (27. Qb1 Ke7 {The material is even and the computer assesses this as equal. But nothing can be farther from the truth. Black is just better, maybe even close to winning: I put my king to c7 to defend the b6 pawn. Later I transfer the bishop to a6 and the knight to d6 and tie up all the white pieces. The black queen can then run amok in the white position. True, this will all take some time, but it is impossible to prevent it if Black plays with decent technique.}) 27... Bxa4 (27... Bxa4 28. Qxa4 Qxe4 $19 {[%cal Ge4e1,Ge4g2]}) 0-1