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Donald Byrne vs Robert James Fischer
"The Game of the Century" (game of the day Mar-09-13)
Third Rosenwald Trophy (1956)  ·  Gruenfeld Defense: Three Knights Variation. Hungarian Attack (D92)  ·  0-1
To move:
Last move:

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Given 150 times; par: 76 [what's this?]

Annotations by Robert Wade.      [1 more game annotated by Wade]

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sac: 17...Be6 PGN: download | view Help: general | java-troubleshooting

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Donald Byrne vs Robert James Fischer (1956)
Cover of Chess Review, December 1956.

Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 34 OF 48 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Feb-19-09  fatoldugly: a follow up, in japanese chess (shogi)
the youngest player to and only player to hold 7 that is seven world titles himself Mr Habu is said to not study the game but find the moves over the board, this is genius; Mr. Habu is also a rated IM at western chess and this was done in about a years time.
Feb-28-09  whiteknight09: In my humble opinion, using the rook to checkmate Mr. Byrne was like using a 16 pound sledge hammer on his head. So much more humane to have used the dark Bishop - like an epee to the heart. Nevertheless, I love this game. Thanks everyone, for your comments.
Feb-28-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: I've heard an anecdote that Byrne was walking around looking at other games when his position was hopeless, and commented that he would let the young boy play it out to mate, not to be stubborn, but just because it's a nice thing to do for somebody who is playing a brilliancy.
Feb-28-09  Ed Trice: <Sneaky> Actually Bryne was Dan Heisman's coach, and Dan told us that Byrne was asking players if they thought he should resign, or play it out to mate. Because the mate was interesting, the consensus was to let Bobby just finish with the mate.
Mar-11-09  WhiteRook48: I would have resigned somewhere.
Apr-20-09  FlashinthePan: I know this comment may sound ridiculous as the game has been over-analyzed through the years, and just like everyone else, I was flabbergasted by 17...Be6!!, as that's really a 'bolt from the blue'. But then after recovering from the shock, I started thinking about what would have happened if White had tried to prevent 18...Bxc4+, which is key in the combination, by simply moving his Bc4 to e2. And then, much to my surprise, I wasn't able to find an evident win for Black. The best continuation I could come up with was 18.Be2 Nb5 19.Qb4 Qc7 20.a4 a5 21.Qd2 Kd6 22.Qf4 Rad8 23.Rb1 Bd5, etc. Black probably has an edge then, but apparently nothing decisive, at least in the short term. I must be missing something obvious... So could someone please help, or run a chess engine for the position after 18.Be2? Thanks!
Apr-21-09  Sicilian Dragon: Analysis by <RV> on pg. 28

(-1.64): 18.Be2 Nb5 19.Bxb6 Nxa3 20.Bc5 Nb5 21.d5 Bxd5 22.Bxb5 Bxf3 23.gxf3 cxb5 24.Rd7 a6

Apr-21-09  FlashinthePan: Thanks a lot for the reference!
Apr-29-09  lostgame: This game still sends a chill down my spine ...It is an astonishingly beautiful creation, and is justly famous...I've read some of the silly comments here....what can one say ? History will be the judge...
Apr-29-09  whiteknight09: Probably the best Knight play in history, especially the King's Knight in the end game. Chills indeed.
May-01-09  lostgame: Just reading again some of the above comments, it's obvious Byrne was experiencing a few problems regarding ego....a young ,scruffy looking kid was across the board,I know how he would be feeling lol....To me this just enhances the magic ....so unexpected....
May-09-09  dumbgai: This game is overrated in my opinion. A great game? Yes. Game of the century? Probably not.
May-09-09  Augalv: <Game of the century?>

Yes.

May-09-09  dumbgai: I just doubt people would call this the game of the century if the winning player was anybody else. There are many brilliant games by lesser-known GMs that go largely unnoticed.
May-10-09  Augalv: Not many people knew who Bobby Fischer was when this games was played. Actually, Bobby was "nobody" when he played it. "Impossible, Byne is losing to a 13-year old nobody", said one of the onlookers at the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament where this masterpiece took place. Nobody knew who Bobby was, and yet, the Chess Review magazine called it the "game of the century- a stunning masterpiece of combination play performed by a boy of 13 against a formidable opponent, matching the finest on record in the history of chess prodigies".

In terms of quality this may not be the best chess game ever, but it's certainly the most outstanding game ever played by a chess prodigy.

May-10-09  dumbgai: Well a long the same lines, I don't think the player's age should be considered when dubbing a game the greatest of the century. Imagine if the exact same moves were played by, say, Byrne and Bisguier instead of Byrne and Fischer. People would have said some nice things about the game and then forgotten about it.
May-11-09  Kasparov Fan01: The depth of Fischer chess understanding at the age of 13 is amazing, fittingly called the game of the century.

Byre must have been stupified.

May-11-09  AnalyzeThis: This is just a great game of chess.

It has it's critics, but something revealing happens when you ask them to demonstrate where Byrne could have done better, and why. It's then that it is revealed how little is understood about this game.

May-29-09  gerry espiritu: i love your web since its very useful and informative about chess, its need a little improvement in the screen.
Jun-12-09  Whitehat1963: Player of the Day's most significant contribution to chess history.
Jul-25-09  PhilomathBret: To Augalv and dumbgai. There is nothing wrong with considering the players when calling it "Game of the Century". How well it's played is a matter of opinion anyways and there are so many amazing games, it's difficult to choose the best. So if we have 1000 amazing briliancies, why not pick the one that gave recognition to somebody who was later considered the greatest player of all time, when he was still only a child?
Oct-05-09  pinoyofqatar: i cannot view and play it>??? ouch
Oct-05-09  pinoyofqatar: can someone help me to view it... or give any site to view it.. thanks
Nov-03-09  dannygjk: Why is no mention made of 16...Nb5? We can't objectively reject it just because of what we know with hindsight. Maybe 16...Nb5 is considered elsewhere?
Nov-07-09  improperchess: if he's not a chess genius, no one is, capablanca and fischer don't need comments undermining their skills, face it, when your old you need study, the kind they didn't need as younger players, it's sad to see how players these days are rated so highly undeservingly while legends like tal have 26-- ratings :(
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