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Robert James Fischer vs Efim Geller
Bled 1961  ·  Spanish Game: Morphy Defense. Modern Steinitz Defense (C72)  ·  1-0


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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 2 OF 2 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Feb-04-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: Can someone please post the variation which leads to the following position?

White to Play: ?


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The solution, Qa4xc6+!, is just crushing for White, since taking the White c6-queen leads to the beautiful mate ... Ne7xQc6?? Ne4-f6++ <double check> Ke8-d8 Re1-e8#.


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This problem comes from GM Ray Keene's daily tactical puzzle.

Thanks

Feb-04-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: Link to the puzzle given above: http://entertainment.timesonline.co...
Sep-26-08   offramp: 7...Qf6 looks so bad. And Geller was an openings specialist! Fischer bonked it right on the head first time out!
Jan-16-09   ROO.BOOKAROO: 15...Kf8. I don't understand the subtle logic of that move. What's wrong with 15...Ne7? Even Raymond Keene has nothing to say about the curious Black move, which condemns him to slow strangulation.
Jan-16-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <ROO.BOOKAROO: 15...Kf8. I don't understand the subtle logic of that move. What's wrong with 15...Ne7?>

It doesn't really change the nature of the position - after 16.Nc4, it's still pretty much hopeless for Black. His king is stuck in the middle (16...0-0?? 17.Nxd6 followed by Rxe7), his pieces tied down, and the Q-side pawns are very weak.

Jan-16-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Travis Bickle: Man Fischer makes it look easy and against a great player too!
May-12-09   walker: Fischer was only 18 y.o. then...

Geller never forgot the humiliation...

"It was clear to me that the vulnerable point of the American Grandmaster was in double-edged, hanging, irrational positions, where he often failed to find a win even in a won position."

--- Geller (on Fischer)

May-12-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  chancho: After his 1962 loss to Fischer, the next 6 games went: 4 wins for Geller and 2 draws. Fischer won their last encounter in 1970.
I think Geller had pretty much gotten over the "humiliation."
May-12-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <Fischer was only 18 y.o. then...

Geller never forgot the humiliation...>

Whatever "humiliation" Geller may have felt after this game, I doubt if it had anything to do with Fischer's age; it shouldn't have been different from losing to Carlsen today. By 1961, Fischer was considererd a full-grown man in terms of the chess world - he was a top player for several years, who has participated in a candidates tournament and beaten many other top players (including Tal and Petrosian in the very same tournament).

Geller tried here an aggressive-but-dubious novelty (7...Qf6) and was brilliantly punished for it.

May-12-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <walker: Fischer was only 18 y.o. then...

Geller never forgot the humiliation...

"It was clear to me that the vulnerable point of the American Grandmaster was in double-edged, hanging, irrational positions, where he often failed to find a win even in a won position."

--- Geller (on Fischer)>

Walker, it seems to be news to you, but what Geller said was pretty much a standard criticism of Fischer. Doesn't mean it was correct. I think by 1971 it was not correct. But it was a widely held view.

May-12-09   AnalyzeThis: It's all relative, of course. For example, you could say, when Fischer played Tal at an early age, that he got outslugged in tactical situations. The problem is, Tal did that to everyone.
May-12-09   WhiteRook48: Geller has a plus score against Fischer. WHY did Fischer become champion instead?
May-12-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tessie Tura: <Geller has a plus score against Fischer. WHY did Fischer become champion instead?>

<WhiteRook48> I’m not sure if you meant your question to be a facetious one, but a head to head score is not a particularly good way to determine a player’s true ranking. To take an example from tennis, Richard Krajicek had a plus score against Pete Sampras, but it didn’t mean he was going to win a bunch of slams. His style matched up well against Pete’s, as Geller’s ability to create ambiguous positions helped him against Fischer, even in later years when Fischer was definitely the better player.

May-12-09   AnalyzeThis: There is another factor involved. In some of the games, Geller would actually play Fischer's defensive system against him.

If you're Fischer, you've got a problem. What are you supposed to do? Show the world how to beat your own defense, when you know better than anybody?

So, Fischer would choose the 2nd option, and try to outplay Geller.

May-13-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <There is another factor involved. In some of the games, Geller would actually play Fischer's defensive system against him.

If you're Fischer, you've got a problem. What are you supposed to do? Show the world how to beat your own defense, when you know better than anybody?>

I think this is relevant to only one game between the two: Fischer vs Geller, 1967, where Geller played Fischer's "own" Poisoned Pawn against him (and that after Fischer surprised by playing 6.Bg5 against the Najdorf, instead of his standard Bc4, for the only time in his career - Repertoire Explorer: Robert James Fischer (white)). Maybe Fischer held something back and maybe not, but at any rate his opening play doesn't seem "handicapped" at all - he got a fine position out of the opening, and his loss resulted from massive middlegame complications.

May-30-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: Here's an insane sideline: Fischer says in his notes to the game that he rejected 14.Nxc6 because of 14...h5; Kasparov claims that it's actually very good for White and gives 15.Nc4 hxg4 16.Nxd6+ cxd6 17.Re1+ Kf8 18.hxg4 Re8 19.Rxe8+ Kxe8, and now several moves lead to a clear advantage, such as 20.Qe2+, 20.f3, and even 20.Nb8 - the latter leading leading to the following mate if Black attempts to take advantage of the h-file: 20...Qh4 21.Qa4+ Kf8 22.Nd7+ Ke7 23.Bg5+!! (diversion + blocking) Qxg5 24.Re1+ Kd8 25.Re8+!! (decoy) Kxe8 26.Nf6+ Ke7 27.Qd7+ Kxf6 28.Qxd6#


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May-30-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Chessical: <Eyal> In Kasparov's line:

<14.Nxc6> h5 15.Nc4 hxg4 16.Nxd6+ cxd6 17.Re1+ Kf8 <18.h4!?> seems strong instead of taking the pawn:

(a).<18...Nh6> 19.Bg5 Qf3 20.Qxd6+ Kg8 21.Re3 Nf5 22.Rxf3 Nxd6 23.Ne7+ Kh7 24.Rf4

or,

(b).<18...Rxh4> 19.Bg5 Qxg5 20.Qxd6+ Ne7 21.Nxe7 Bc2 22.Ng6+ Kg8 23.Nxh4 Qxh4 24.Re7

May-30-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  vonKrolock: Nice as chamber analysis, my friends, but in OTB conditions it would very hard even for a top-GM to extricate those lines (proof enough - that both Fischer and Kasparov can be questioned here...)

And Geller, would he really play like expected <14.Nxc6> h5 15.Nc4 hxg4 16.Nxd6+ cxd6 17.Re1+ Kf8> ?!

My <"little coach"> here is suggesting , in case of 14.Nxc6, the elegant gambit 14...Ne7, with compensation for the Pawn in all lines

May-30-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: well, my whole point was the "insanity" of that line (and mating pattern)... and Kasparov's point is to illutrate that "objectively" White shouldn't have been afraid of 14...h5 after 14.Nxc6 as Fischer claimed. He does mention 14...Ne7(!), btw, as Black's most tenacious defence in such a case, though it seems that he's just left with a pawn down with no real compensation: 15.Nxe7 Bxe7 16.Nf3 O-O (16...Rd8 17.Qa4+; or 16...Be4 17.Nd4 c5 18.Qe2) 17.Bg5 Qd6 18.Bxe7 Qxe7 19.Re1 Qf6 20.Ne5 Rfd8 21.Qf3, and White can set about converting the extra pawn.

At any rate, the move Fischer actually played, 14.Nxg6, was perfectly good - in practical terms probably better.

Oct-22-09   AESTRADAR: 8.g2-g4! a double edge answer because their king fly weakens
Oct-27-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  parisattack: I read somewhere long ago it was this game that gave Fischer the idea to explore what was then the Barendreght variation of the Exchange Ruy Lopez - which he popularized in 1966. He said he realized the pin with ...Bg4 after 0-0 was not as strong as most analysts had thought.

I probably read it in the 1960s. Anyone perhaps know the quote/source?

Oct-27-09   AnalyzeThis: g4 is often a good move in the Four Knights game when black incorrectly brings the bishop to g4, then retreats it to h5. I'm sure that Fischer was well aware of these similar positions.
Oct-27-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  parisattack: At the time (early 1960s) 5. 0-0 wasn't considered a particularly strong reply to the Modern Seinitz...although I am surprised Geller did not play the ultra-sharp 6. ...h5

Shakmatnyi Byulletin did a big article trying to bust the Barendregt after Fischer's success with it in 1966. That may have been where I got the reference...

Oct-27-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Eyal: <parisattack: At the time (early 1960s) 5. 0-0 wasn't considered a particularly strong reply to the Modern Seinitz...although I am surprised Geller did not play the ultra-sharp 6. ...h5>

"As a result of this game 6...h5 became fashionable" (Fischer in MSMG). As surprising as it may sound, according to the databases 6.h3 was a novelty or near-novelty at the time - the usual move was 6.c3, after which 6...Qf6 is good. So it's not even certain whether 6...h5 was an "established" option for Geller, so to speak, and it's quite difficult to play a move like that otb without prior home preparation. A move later, when playing 7...Qf6 (rather than Nf6), it looks like he wanted to do something "aggressive" anyway, but failed to appreciate the difference made by the insertion of h3.

Oct-30-09   Aspirador: <notyetagm> That variation is given in MSMG and goes: 12.Qa4 Ne7 13.dxe5 dxe5 14.Re1 e4 15.Nxe4 Qxf3 16.Qxc6+ Nxc6 17.Nf6+ Kd8 18.Re8#

Fischer also remarks that 12...Kd7! would have been better for black in this case.

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Algebraic edition, 2008
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