Lot of the Century
The game of the century is a chess game between the two Americans Donald Byrne and Robert James "Bobby" Fischer , which was played on October 17, 1956 in the 8th round of the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York . The winner of this game, 13-year-old Bobby Fischer, was a little-known young talent at the time who had just won the US Junior Championship; his opponent was a recognized master. It made the rounds of the chess press around the world because of its spectacular course. It got its name from Hans Kmoch , who was present at the tournament.
Lot
Donald Byrne – Bobby Fischer
1. Ng1-f3 Ng8-f6 2. c2-c4 g7-g6 3. Nb1-c3 Bf8-g7 4. d2-d4 0-0 5. Bc1-f4 d7-d5
The Grünfeld-Indian Defense .
6. Qd1 – b3 d5xc4 7. Qb3xc4 c7 – c6 8. e2 – e4 Nb8 – d7 9. Ra1 – d1 Nd7 – b6 10. Qc4 – c5 Bc8 – g4 11. Bf4 – g5 (diagram)
This move is a mistake and a loss of pace . It would have been better to prepare for castling with 11. Bf1 – e2 . Fischer's next move was very likely not foreseen by Byrne. Kmoch wrote in his comment: Bobby sees weak spots in the opposing position with eagle eyes: The queen and the king are weak. The boy prodigy set off a number of combinations that make a powerful impression.
a | b | c | d | e | f | G | H | ||
8th | 8th | ||||||||
7th | 7th | ||||||||
6th | 6th | ||||||||
5 | 5 | ||||||||
4th | 4th | ||||||||
3 | 3 | ||||||||
2 | 2 | ||||||||
1 | 1 | ||||||||
a | b | c | d | e | f | G | H |
11.… Nb6 – a4! 12. Qc5-a3
12. Nc3xa4 is followed by 12.… Nf6xe4 and Black has an advantage, for example after 13. Qc5 – c1 Qd8 – a5 + 14.Na4 – c3 Bg4xf3 15. g2xf3 Ne4xg5 or 13. Qc5xe7 Qd8 – a5 + 14. b2 – b4 Q5xa4 15 Qe7xe4 Rf8-e8 16. Bg5-e7 Bg4xf3 17. g2xf3 Bg7-f8
12.… Na4xc3 13. b2xc3 Nf6xe4 14. Bg5xe7 Qd8 – b6 15. Bf1 – c4
After 15. Be7xf8 there follows 15.… Bg7xf8 16. Qa3 – b3 Ne4xc3!
Ne4xc3 16. Be7 – c5 Rf8 – e8 + 17. Ke1 – f1 (diagram)
a | b | c | d | e | f | G | H | ||
8th | 8th | ||||||||
7th | 7th | ||||||||
6th | 6th | ||||||||
5 | 5 | ||||||||
4th | 4th | ||||||||
3 | 3 | ||||||||
2 | 2 | ||||||||
1 | 1 | ||||||||
a | b | c | d | e | f | G | H |
17.… Bg4 – e6!
A brilliant sacrifice . If White now not hit the lady and instead 18 Lc4xe6 plays a so-called follow smothered mate after 18 ... Qb6-b5 + 19. Kf1 g1 Sc3-e2 + 20. Kg1-f1 Se 2 g3 + 21 K f1-g1 Db5-f1 + 22 Td1xf1 Sg3-e2 matt . Even 18. Qa3xc3 does not save White because of 18.… Qb6xc5.
18. Bc5xb6 Be6xc4 + 19. Kf1 – g1 Nc3 – e2 + 20. Kg1 – f1 Ne2xd4 + 21. Kf1 – g1 Nd4 – e2 + 22. Kg1 – f1 Ne2 – c3 + 23. Kf1 – g1 a7xb6 24. Qa3 – b4 Ra8 – a4 25. Qb4xb6 Nc3xd1
As a result of the combination, Black now has a clear winning position. However, Byrne continued to play, perhaps because he was hoping his opponent would make a mistake, or he allowed himself to be checkmated in recognition of his youthful opponent, as he later stated (see below).
26. h2 – h3 Ra4xa2 27. Kg1 – h2 Nd1xf2 28. Rh1 – e1 Re8xe1 29. Qb6 – d8 + Bg7 – f8 30. Nf3xe1 Bc4 – d5 31. Ne1 – f3 Nf2 – e4 32. Qd8 – b8 b7 – b5 33. h3-h4 h7-h5 34. Nf3-e5 Kg8-g7 35. Kh2-g1 Bf8-c5 + 36. Kg1-f1 Ne4-g3 + 37. Kf1-e1 Bc5-b4 +
One move faster was 37.… Re2 + 38. Kd1 Bb3 + 39. Kc1 Ba3 + 40. Kb1 Re1 mate or 37.… Bb3
38. Ke1-d1 Bd5-b3 + 39. Kd1-c1 Ng3-e2 + 40. Kc1-b1 Ne2-c3 + 41. Kb1-c1 Ta2-c2 mate 0: 1
consequences
The game had little influence on the final score of the tournament: Samuel Reshevsky won with nine points from eleven games. Byrne ended up in fifth place with five and a half points, Fischer came ninth with one point less.
The game led to fishermen's attention in the Soviet Union. Yuri Awerbach said: "After I saw the game, I was convinced that the boy was devilishly talented." Awerbach's assessment turned out to be true: Fischer became grandmaster in 1958 and even world champion in 1972 in a media-widespread competition against Boris Spasski .
Dan Heisman, one of his chess students, later explained to Byrne why he had continued to play until mate: “For once you have to consider that in 1956 nobody suspected that Bobby Fischer would one day become Bobby Fischer. He was just a promising boy who had played an excellent game against me. When I was in a hopeless position, I asked some of the tournament teammates if it would be nice to let the boy checkmate me, in recognition of his fine game, so to speak. They replied, 'Yes, why not?' And so I finished. "
Byrne also remained a leading player in the United States .
See also
Web links
Individual evidence
- ↑ ChessBase: The game that shook the world. October 17, 2006. Retrieved August 23, 2012.
- ^ Garry Kasparov : My great predecessors. Volume 4. Gloucester Publishers, London 2004. ISBN 1-85744-395-0 . P. 213.
- ^ Dan Heisman to Tim Krabbé in Open Chess Diary 241 , March 25, 2004.