BOBBY Fischer duly despatched his old rival, Boris Spassky, in their
self-styled World Championship Revenge Match, played in Sveti Stefan and
Belgrade. After 30 games, he won by 10 wins to 5, with 15 draws. His
share of the largest purse ever in a chess match was $3.35m. Spassky's
consolation was $1.65m.
What are we to make of this astonishing comeback? The 49-year-old
Fischer certainly deserved to win. Spassky played well in patches, but
did not have his opponent's sheer aggression and outright quality. The
top players are cagey about
Fischer's possible strength, after 20 years out of tournament chess.
Nigel Short's view, that Fischer ranks in the world's top ten, is
probably the best estimate.
Rumours are rife about further matches. Fischer may play Judith Polgar
soon, in Budapest. A $10m prize-fund has been mooted for a match with
Karpov in Atlantic City. Kasparov has indicated his interest in meeting
the eccentric American, but only after he has defended his title against
Short or Timman next year, and only if the prize fund exceeds the $5m
stake in the Fischer-Spassky match.
The only certainty, as ever, is
Fischer's own unpredictability. Despite his obvious energy and genius
for the game, it would be no surprise, but greatly saddening, if he
dropped out of chess for a further 20 years. Whatever he does, he
creates controversy. The US Government has threatened to prosecute him
for playing in the old Yugoslavia in contravention of United Nations
sanctions.
The chess world certainly needs Bobby Fischer, and more games like the
following.
White: R Fischer
Black: B. Spassky
25th Match Game, Belgrade 1992
Sicilian Defence
1 e4 c5 2 Nc3 Nc6 3 Nge2 d6 4 d4 cxd4 5 Nxd4 e6
What a pity! Much more interesting than this slightly passive choice
would have been 5 . . . Nf6, aiming to enter the combative lines of the
Richter Rauser Attack after 6 Bg5.
6 Be3 Nf6 7 Qd2 Be7 8 f3 a6 9 0-0-0 0-0 10 g4 Nxd4 11 Bxd4 b5 12 g5
Nd7 13 h4 b4?!
This move provokes an original knight's tour. Black has a more active
game after 13 . . . Ne5.
14 Na4 Bb7 15 Nb6!
The justification of this surprise move is revealed after 15 . . .
Nxb6 16 Qxb4 and White regains his piece, with an extra pawn, due to the
unusual pin on Black's knight.
15 . . . Rb8 16 Nxd7 Qxd7 17 Kb1 Qc7 18 Bd3 Bc8?
Black has a cramped and passive game, but this slow manoeuvre only
adds to his problems. Better was 18 . . . e5 19 Be3 Rfd8, aiming for . .
. d5.
19 h5 e5 20 Be3 Be6 21 Rdg1 a5 22 g6!
White's kingside attack is clearly further advanced than any possible
Black counteraction on the opposite wing.
22 . . . Bf6 23 gxh7+ Kh8 24 Bg5!
The key to White's attack is to eliminate Black's king's bishop and
pile up pressure on the open g-file.
24 . . . Qe7 25 Rg3 Bxg5 26 Rxg5 Qf6
Black has no time for 26 . . . Kxh7, which allows 27 f4 Rg8 (or 27 . .
. exf4 28 e5+) 28 f5 Bd7 29 Rg6!, threatening f6.
27 Rhg1 Qxf3
Black's g-pawn has to fall. If 27 . . . a4 28 Qg2 wins.
28 Rxg7 Qf6 29 h6 a4 30 b3 axb3 31 axb3 Rfd8 32 Qg2 Rf8 33 Rg8+!
The final clearance combination is simple but elegant. White wins by
giving up both of his h-pawns to get at Black's king.
33 . . . Kxh7 34 Rg7+ Kh8 35 h7 Black resigns
Black cannot defend against the threat of 36 Rg8+ Kxh7 37 Rh1+ and
mates.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules hereComments are closed on this article