With the Bobby Fischer Against The World DVD arriving soon, it's a good time to study his inspired play
Gligoric-Fischer, Siegen 1970. Black to play.
If you didn't manage to see the excellent documentary Bobby Fischer Against The World in the cinema this summer, the DVD is released on 12 September. As the film was made for a wide audience it was understandable that the director chose not to discuss Fischer's chess-playing too deeply. But the clarity of his style on the chessboard makes for a telling contrast with his life away from it. Over the next few weeks we are going to be looking at some of Fischer's games.
Here Black's king and bishop stand well, but White still has irritating counterplay. How did Fischer keep control?
RB Over the board how many of us, if we're honest, would simply snatch the pawn on a2…? I know I would, or at least I'd be very tempted. It looks like a free pawn, with the added bonus that its capture clears the route for Black's own advanced a-pawn. But you don't need Fischer-level genius to see that there are problems with the line: after 1… Rxa2 comes 2 Nh2, with the threat of 3 Ng4+, forking king and rook.
The more I look at the position, the more I realise the problem is the knight. Would I be brave enough to sacrifice the exchange in order to take it out of the equation? Over the board, no. But here 1…Rf2+ looks the best bet: 2 Kg3 Rxf1 3 Rxf1 Rxh5. The dangerous knight is eliminated and Black gets a pawn into the bargain.
DK Eliminating the knight is the right idea, but after 1…Rf2+ 2 Kg3 Rxf1 3 Rxf1 Rxh5 White hangs on with 4 Re1 and it isn't clear how Black makes progress. Instead, Fischer played 1…Rxh5 2 Rxh5 Rf2+ 3 Kg3 Rxf1. In this case the rook is more active and the king will soon capture the pawns on e4 and f5. White's disconnected rooks are no match for Black's centralised pieces and connected passed pawns – easy to see when you get there, but appreciating this well in advance was inspired.
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