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Bobby Fischer's
Early Blunders
(The Bobby no one ever talks about.)
Going to the Wall with
NM Brian
Wall |
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Part One
This game has a
special place in my heart - After playing over every game in Lou Hays' The
Complete Bobby Fischer ( although maybe our mutual friend SM John Hall
helped ) this game got my vote for the most surprising moves, at least at
the time I first played through it.
Herbert Avram - Robert James
Fischer [E80]
West Orange open Rd: 1 West Orange open Rd: 1, 1957
1.d4 Nf6
2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 e5 6.d5 Nh5 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 f5 9.0-0-0
f4! 10.Bf2! Bf6
       
 
 
  
  
Someone once
wrote that Bobby Fischer couldn't stand to have a bad minor piece -
Here he tries to break out of the pawn chain as soon as possible.
11.Nge2
Bh4! 12.Bg1!
No I am not
trading my best piece for your worst.
12 ...
Be7
Forget I
asked. Bobby retreats probably to avoid the constant confusion
of worrying about g3-sacs.
13.Kb1!
Nd7 14.Nc1 Kh8 15.Nd3 a6
With the
dynamic plan of holding the Kingside and opening up the Queenside.
Bobby always seems to be searching for a winning strategy.
16.Qc2
Rf7
Opening up
f8 for all the Black pieces.
17.Ne2
c5 does not
seem enforceable, so Herbert bides his time.
17 ...
Qf8
Let's see
you play c5 now!
18.Qc3
g5?
The reason
so many moves surprised me is that in a closed position the #1 move
and the #26 move may not be so far apart in final evaluation.
Bobby starts
to fall apart here - from a reasonable edge for Herbie to complete
disaster for Bobby in a few bad moves. Things are not great but
maybe 18...Kg8, getting out of the eye of the white queen, could hang
on.
19.c5!!
dxc5 20.h4
Avram is
assaulting Bobby's pawn chain. Bobby's entire 4th rank is under
fire!
20 ...
Rg7 21.hxg5!! Rxg5! 22.Rxh5!! Rxh5! 23.Nexf4
Here comes
Herbie!
23 ...
Rh1! 24.Ne6!!
Avram is
down an exchange but Fischer's queenside is undeveloped and weak,
isolated pawns are dropping everywhere. It looks like someone
threw a grenade into Bobby's pawns.
24 ...
Qf6 25.Be3!!
Letting
Bobby sit in his mess.
25 ...
Bd6!
Guarding
three pawns.
26.Nf2!!
Herbert is
playing great Chess and wants to teach the upstart a lesson while he
can.
26 ...
Rh5! 27.Be2
Calmly
mobilizing and waiting for Bobby's position to self destruct.
27 ...
Nf8
27 ... Kg8!
was best again.
28.Nxf8
Bxf8!
29.f4!!
Every
opening is a fight for one key central square. - IM Joseph Fang, New
Hampshire, USA
If e5
collapses the whole house of cards falls down.
The h5-rook
is attacked too, so Bobby has no time to shore up.
29 ...
Rh2! 30.fxe5! Qg6 31.Bf3!!
Battening
down the hatches before rocking and rolling.
31 ...
b6!
Hanging on
by a thread.
32.Bf4!!
The King's
Indian will break your heart. - IM Joseph Fang, New Hampshire, USA
32 ...
Rh4! 33.g3 Rh2!
There comes
a time when best moves don't help.
34.Qe1!!
Bh6! 35.e6!! Bxf4 36.gxf4! h5
Desperately
seeking a smidgen of counterplay but that pawn wall in the center is
smothering everything.
37.Nd3
Avram played
a whole series of strong moves, not necessarily the absolute best but
good enough to win.
37 ... h4
Here comes
Bobby, hoping for the best.
38.Qc3+
38 f5!!!,
Qe3!! or Ne5!! are also very convincing.
38...Qg7!
39.Ne5!! Bb7
40.Bh5!!
Rg8
Completing
your development on move 40 is not a good sign...
I can't think of
another game where more of David Letterman's rules apply than this one for
Bobby.
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David
Letterman's - TOP TEN Moments when you should sense
danger in chess:
#10. There has been a change in the pawn structure.
Your opponent has eight and you don’t have any.
#9. Your opponent begins to throw pawns at your eyes.
#8. You have a won position, but your opponent has a
gun.
#7. The Director tells you not to bother turning in
your score sheet after the game.
#6. Before the game begins you notice your opponent’s
first initials are ‘GM’.
#5. After completing your development you sense your
opponent is playing the endgame.
#4. Just as you make your opening move your opponent
announces mate in 11.
#3. You don’t control any squares at all.
#2. Your draw offer sends all the people watching your
game into uncontrollable laughter.
And the number one moment when you should sense danger
in chess -
#1. Your opponent has three bishops.
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41.e7!!
Qxe7 42.Ng6+!! Kh7 43.Nxe7!
1-0
Bobby never gave
up on his beloved King's Indian although he did suspend it during his first
Spassky match, suspecting powerful preparation by an entire nation.
Fischer is the
ultimate romantic - Anand on Bobby's
death day.
HERBERT MOIS AVRAM
2139 died in 1991, right before Fischer's comeback.
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Herbert Avram - Robert James
Fischer [E80]
West Orange open Rd: 1 West Orange open Rd: 1, 1957
1.d4 Nf6 2.c4 g6
3.Nc3 Bg7 4.e4 d6 5.f3 e5 6.d5 Nh5 7.Be3 0-0 8.Qd2 f5 9.0-0-0 f4 10.Bf2 Bf6
11.Nge2 Bh4 12.Bg1 Be7 13.Kb1 Nd7 14.Nc1 Kh8 15.Nd3 a6 16.Qc2 Rf7 17.Ne2 Qf8
18.Qc3 g5 19.c5 dxc5 20.h4 Rg7 21.hxg5 Rxg5 22.Rxh5 Rxh5 23.Nexf4 Rh1 24.Ne6
Qf6 25.Be3 Bd6 26.Nf2 Rh5 27.Be2 Nf8 28.Nxf8 Bxf8 29.f4 Rh2 30.fxe5 Qg6
31.Bf3 b6 32.Bf4 Rh4 33.g3 Rh2 34.Qe1 Bh6 35.e6 Bxf4 36.gxf4 h5 37.Nd3 h4
38.Qc3+ Qg7 39.Ne5 Bb7 40.Bh5 Rg8 41.e7 Qxe7 42.Ng6+ Kh7 43.Nxe7 1-0
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Charles I Kalme - Robert
James Fischer [E66]
Milwaukee Central Rd: 5 Milwaukee Central Rd: 5, 1957
1.Nf3 Nf6
2.g3 g6 3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.c4 Nc6 7.d5 Na5 8.Nfd2 c5 9.Qc2
a6 10.Nc3 Rb8 11.b3 b5 12.Bb2 e6 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.cxb5 axb5 15.Nce4 Bf5
16.Rfd1 Nc6 17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Ne4 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Nd4 20.Bxd4 Bxd4 21.Rac1
Rb6 22.Qd3 Qe7 23.e3 Be5 24.h4 Qa7 25.Rc2 b4 26.Bd5 Ra6 27.h5 Kg7
28.f4 Bf6 29.Rdd2 Re8 30.Bc4 Rb6 31.g4 Qe7 32.g5 Bc3 33.Re2
The game has
been fairly normal and even so far and this is where time pressure
must start - strange things start happening for Bobby.
33 ...
Qe4?? 34.h6+??
Both players
miss 34.R:c3!! bc 35.Q:c3+ Kf8 36.Qh8+ Ke7 37.Qf6+ Kd7 38.B:f7 mopping
up.
34 ...
Kf8! 35.Qxe4! Rxe4! 36.a4
Charlie
could have prevented the exchange sac with 36.Bd5 first but there's no
need to.
36...Rxc4! 37.bxc4! Bh8 38.Kf2 b3 39.Rc1!
39...d5??
Maybe time
pressure because this winning attempt is very poorly thought out -
Bobby looks OK to me after 39...b2, ...Rb4, ...Ra6, or ...Ke7.
40.cxd5!
c4?
Bobby's flag
must have been falling after he took all his time trying to crack an
opposite colored bishop position. There was still some hope
after 40...b2.
41.Rxc4!
b2 42.Re1 b1=Q
42 ... Rb8
is better but it's too late now anyway.
43.Rxb1!
Rxb1! 44.Rc8+! Ke7! 45.Rxh8!
Bobby is
down three pawns with more losses to follow.
1-0
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Petrosianic: Kalme
was a Senior Master, in the days when that really meant something. He
was a master at 15, US Junior Champion in 1955, and had a rating of 2455
when he stopped playing in the mid 60's.
He played in two
US Championships, finishing +0-3=8, and +2-3=6. He got a draw and a
loss against Fischer in those championships, and so finished up with a
lifetime +1-1=1 score against him.
This game, by the
way, was the last game Fischer lost to a fellow American for nearly four
years. His next loss to an American was the first match game against
Reshevsky in Summer 1961.
Kalme was born in
Latvia, and, after the fall of the Soviet Union, returned there, where he
died a few years ago (2003, I think.)
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Charles I Kalme - Robert James
Fischer [E66]
Milwaukee Central Rd: 5 Milwaukee Central Rd: 5, 1957
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.g3 g6
3.Bg2 Bg7 4.0-0 0-0 5.d4 d6 6.c4 Nc6 7.d5 Na5 8.Nfd2 c5 9.Qc2 a6 10.Nc3 Rb8
11.b3 b5 12.Bb2 e6 13.dxe6 Bxe6 14.cxb5 axb5 15.Nce4 Bf5 16.Rfd1 Nc6
17.Nxf6+ Bxf6 18.Ne4 Bxe4 19.Bxe4 Nd4 20.Bxd4 Bxd4 21.Rac1 Rb6 22.Qd3 Qe7
23.e3 Be5 24.h4 Qa7 25.Rc2 b4 26.Bd5 Ra6 27 | 
