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Mikhail Botvinnik vs Robert James Fischer
Varna Olympiad Final 1962  ·  Gruenfeld Defense: Russian. Smyslov Variation (D98)  ·  1/2-1/2


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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Apr-20-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  pawn to QB4: Love the style of your post. I guess that brash young Bobby F would go for 43...Ra4, so that if 44.Rxh7 Rxa2 and, the Black a&b pawns being unstoppable, the Black K & g pawn would hold up the White K side easily long enough for Black to queen. So old Misha's rook is dragged back from c7 to c2 to defend the a pawn, with a more passive position than he got in the game.
Aug-09-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Timothy Glenn Forney: When looking at Fischer's games,it seems he played into his opponents game or theory,as if to test them.
Aug-09-07   RookFile: Yes, this is a teenager, outplaying the world champion, and coming within an ace of winning.
Aug-09-07   Chicago Chess Man: This is in response to an earlier comment that stated, had Botvinnik played 18. Qxb6, Fischer would've played 18..Qb4+. Actually, according to Fischer I believe, the best line for black would've been 18...Qe4! If white plays, 19. f3, then 19... Qh4+ 20. Bf2 Qb4+
Oct-29-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Karpova: An interesting article:
http://www.e3e5.com/article.php?id=...
Jul-11-08   littlefermat: Some of Botvinnik's (petty) annotations for this game

After Black’s 41st move:
<This is where the character of my opponent began to tell. Reckoning that the game was easily won for him, he was angry with me for playing on, and in his fervor ...he makes a rash decision.>

After Black’s 42nd move:

<Fischer’s entire behaviour expressed his indignation at White continuing to resist in this ‘hopeless’ position. He clearly wanted to demonstrate both to the players in the Olympiad, and to the spectators, that such a position did not require any analysis.>

After White’s 52nd move:

<Incidentally, after this move I could not restrain myself, and, going up to our team captain Lev Abramov, I said to him one word: ‘Draw’. Great was the general astonishment later when later we learned that at this point Fischer had protested to the deputy arbiter that ‘Botvinnik was being prompted during the game’!>

After White’s 68th move (the game’s last):

<Only here, with his face white as a sheet, did Fischer shake my hand, and with tears in his eyes he left the hall.>

Source: Botvinnik's Best Games, Vol 3. (Overall, it's a great book, btw)

Jul-12-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  pawn to QB4: Not nice, was it? Fischer pressed hard throughout the game and narrowly failed to win. Much of the Soviet post-game fall out seems to present this as a psychological victory for Botvinnik. In reality, on the limited evidence of this one game he'd have been up against it in a match with Fischer even as early as '62.
Jul-12-08   ughaibu: Uhlmann vs Botvinnik, 1962
Jul-12-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  pawn to QB4: Great link, ughaibu: if this game had been the opener in a Botvinnik-Fischer match, you could easily see game 2 looking like that (after an e4 opening of course). There's an excellent piece of advice from Botvinnik I quote at older players nervous of playing talented juniors. Basically, beat 'em up when they're up-and-coming, and they'll remember you when they outgrade you ten years later. Works a treat: I recently played a 20 year old graded above me, and he went down like the 14 year old he'd been for our previous meeting. Botvinnik's post game looks like an attempt at "if you can't beat 'em on the board, do it off the board".
Jul-12-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Benzol: These two were to play a match in 1970 in the Netherlands but negotiations fell through.

I can just imagine this scenario though. Fischer wouldn't turn up for the second game claiming cameras were putting him off his game, Botvinnik would request from a Doctor a medical certifcate supporting this claim and then Fischer would issue a protest claiming that Botvinnik was prompting Doctor between games.

Aug-07-08   Slurpeeman: 2 Pawn to QB4: I think you are (as so many American chessplayers) overestimate Fischer and underestimate Botvinnik. No chess player is unbeatable
Oct-24-08   mjmorri: This game is a good example of why Fischer was not yet "ready" in '62 despite being a candidate for the second cycle in a row.

He plays a fine middle game to win a pawn, but then drifts about, displaying poor technique.

Botvinnik, accepts the loss of the pawn, sucks it up, and, fighting the kind of fatigue that affects all older players in the fifth hour, holds off Fischer. Once the game was adjourned, Fischer had little chance of winning.

Oct-24-08   Petrosianic: <Benzol> <These two were to play a match in 1970 in the Netherlands but negotiations fell through.>

Not exactly. It was a familiar picture. The match was set, Fischer demanded a new condition out of the blue and walked out when he didn't get it.

At the last minute, Fischer decided that an 18 game match was too short, and demanded that it be changed to first to win 6 games. When Fischer walked, the match was replaced with a tournament in Leiden between Spassky, Larsen, Donner and Botvinnik.

Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <Slurpeeman: 2 Pawn to QB4: I think you are (as so many American chessplayers) overestimate Fischer and underestimate Botvinnik. No chess player is unbeatable>

<pawn to QB4> is (1) not American (2) nowhere that I can see accuses Fischer of being unbeatable.

Oct-24-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  Tessie Tura: <Benzol> <These two were to play a match in 1970 in the Netherlands but negotiations fell through.>

<Petrosianic><Not exactly. It was a familiar picture. The match was set, Fischer demanded a new condition out of the blue and walked out when he didn't get it.

At the last minute, Fischer decided that an 18 game match was too short, and demanded that it be changed to first to win 6 games. When Fischer walked, the match was replaced with a tournament in Leiden between Spassky, Larsen, Donner and Botvinnik.>

While we’re dotting the Is and crossing the Ts, we might as well note that Fischer didn’t walk, the organizers refused to agree to his new requirements and canceled. Not that I don’t understand their position.

Jan-05-09   AuN1: the world champion, botvinnik, drew with the white pieces against the 19 year-old american, after being aided by the soviet team during adjournment, and this is considered a great success?
Jan-19-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  amadeus: New link for the article mentioned by <Fan of Leko>: http://ticc.uvt.nl/icga/journal/con...
Jan-20-09   AnalyzeThis: <AuN1: the world champion, botvinnik, drew with the white pieces against the 19 year-old american, after being aided by the soviet team during adjournment, and this is considered a great success? >

Great question. It shows you the strength that Fischer already had, and even further developed. The Russians knew early that Fischer was a threat unlike any they had seen before, even some of the legendary GMs.

Jan-21-09   ughaibu: So this draw was a better result than Reshevsky's in the 1955 USSR-USA match?
Aug-02-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  Knight13: <ughaibu: So this draw was a better result than Reshevsky's in the 1955 USSR-USA match?> People become biased when it comes to Fischer's games.
Aug-02-09   AnalyzeThis: Of course it's better to win than to draw. But the difference was, Reshevsky wasn't 19 for the 1955 match, he was close to his prime. That's the point: Fischer was only just getting started, and you already could argue about whether he could beat the world champion or not. The scary thing was that Fischer would get <better> with age.
Sep-05-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  notyetagm: An *incredible* game.

Even Fischer's draws were great! :-)

Sep-30-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  timhortons: winning line for fischer by jan van reek

it takes depth 24 for my rybka see the 45....h5

[FEN "


click for larger view

"]
[PlyCount "29"]
45... h5 46. h4+ Kh6 47. Rf4 Rc5 48. Rd4 Ra5 49. f4 Kg7 50. Kf3 Kf6 51. Ke4 Ke6 52. Rc4 Rc5 53. Rb4 Ke7 54. Kd3 Kf6 55. Ke4 Ke6 56. Rd4 a5 57. Ke3 Rc3+ 58. Ke4 Rb3 (58... Rc6) 59. Rc4 Rb4 *

final position


click for larger view

1. (-7.12): 60.Kd3 Rxc4
2. (-7.21): 60.Kd4 Rxc4+
3. (-7.37): 60.Rd4 Rxd4+

(, 30.09.2009)

Oct-01-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  timhortons:


click for larger view

"three world champions analyzed this position extensively:Botvinnik,fischer,kasparov.None of them was able to find a convincing winning variation."

"In 1998 chess analyst jan van reek had the idea that the move 45.. Rc5 might be incorrect one and might better have been replaced by 45....h5!"

from the book Bobby fischer the wandering king page 143

Oct-01-09
Premium Chessgames Member
  timhortons: jan van reek analyzed the position with the help of computers.
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