Yuri Averbakh vs Bobby Fischer (1958) Mutually Assured Drawstruction

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Yuri Averbakh vs Bobby Fischer
"Mutually Assured Drawstruction" (game of the day Mar-30-2014)
Portoroz Interzonal (1958), Portoroz SLO, rd 7, Aug-15
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation. Flexible Defense (E73) · 1/2-1/2

ANALYSIS [x]

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Mar-30-14		RookFile: Wherever 92 year old Yuri Averbakh is now, it's not a bad thing to say that you had an even record with Bobby Fischer.

Mar-30-14		offramp: "I can't beat Fischer but I'll have a bash."

Mar-30-14		Richard Taylor: I had a draw with Averbakh so I must be as good as Fischer. (Mind you it was in a simul.)

Mar-30-14		Richard Taylor: I understand the draw I think that was Fischer's first Interzonal and I saw this game (I don't think I understood, in anycase it I cant recall it) about 1961 in Fischer's first book. Mainly it featured the US Championships and no annotation of the Interzonal games. But I have taken draws in positions I might have won. In one case a few years ago I had surprised an IM with small combo and exposed his K. I took an early draw as I had lost so many games at the NZ Champs, so my reaction was now the opposite, timidity. And the more games I blundered etc the worse it got. Fischer was young and it was new to him - he saw the logic of a draw - his oppponent then was probably almost legendary to him then. These are the psychological factors of chess which makes Kramnik etc play more or less cautiously when they have some practical chances. It was a good attack Fischer had built up but not a clear win. Cant judge this unless you are actually in the chair deciding to take a draw or not.

Mar-30-14		Once: We look at this and see just one game of chess. A single game - win, lose or draw. But for the players at the time this was part of a tournament. The result in one game does not matter as much as the result of the tournament as a whole. Fischer and Averbakh both had their reasons for wanting a draw. Pragmatic, sensible, bigger-picture reasons. We might have been denied a pay-off and as our transatlantic cousins would call it ... "closure". But I imagine that both of the players were reasonably happy with the outcome. That's life. It's not always neat.

Mar-30-14		morfishine: What is noteworthy, notwithstanding the witty quote by Fischer, is their accurate chess sense what-with modern engines evaluating the game as dead even. Thats fairly remarkable for this uniquely unbalanced position

Mar-30-14		erniecohen: In "Chess Catechism", Evans (while including the quote and the practical tournament situation) opined that both players probably thought that they had the worse position.

Mar-30-14		LIFE Master AJ: Actually, computer analysis shows that a draw was pretty close to the right result. (A fun little game.) GOTD / Sunday / March 30th, 2014.

Mar-30-14		LIFE Master AJ: [21.Rb1 Rae8; 22.Bf3 Rxe3!; 23.fxe3 Ne5; 24.Be2 Qh3+; 25.Rg2 Qf5+; 26.Ke1 Qe4; 27.Kf2 Rb8; 28.Rg1 Qh4+; 29.Kg2 Qe4+; 30.Kf2 Kxg7; "=" 0.00 - Fritz 13. ] Basically, in a nutshell, there is no good hiding place for the WK.

Mar-30-14		LIFE Master AJ: Add my analysis to RV's (above), a draw is the correct result.

Mar-30-14		john barleycorn: <LIFE Master AJ: Add my analysis to RV's (above), a draw is the correct result.> It is not "your" analysis, <LIFE Master Fritz II>

Mar-30-14		N0B0DY: 'My', 'your', that's just bourgeoisie categories...

Mar-30-14		perfidious: <N0B0DY> Yeah, bourgeoisie categories for capitalist running dogs.

Mar-30-14		ewan14: Not bad to have been a Soviet champion one year ( 1954 ) and 2nd equal after a playoff another (56)

Mar-30-14		Domdaniel: I think you mean bourgeois categories, n'est-ce pas? There's a lot to be said for the discreet charm of the bourgeoisie, after all. But perhaps AJ is not a member of that club. Anyhoo, here's another good line for Black (as LMAJ's line to 23...Ne5): 24.Be2 Qh3+ 25.Kf2 Nxc4 26.Bxc4 Qxe3+ 27.Kg2 Qg5+ 28.Kh2 Qh4+ 29.Kg2 Re5 30.Rxb2 Rg5+ 31.Kf1 Rf5+ 32.Kg2 Qe4+ 33.Kh3 Rf3+ 34.Rg3 Rxg3+ 35.Kxg3 Qe5+ 36.Kh4 Qxb2 37.Qf1 Qd4+ 38.Kh3 Kxd7 39.Bxa6 Qxd5 ... ... and Black has three connected passed pawns and some initiative for the piece, which adds up to real winning chances. Of course there are many possible deviations and side variations...

Mar-30-14		Domdaniel: <john barleycorn> We get it. We really do. We know you'll attack and criticize LMAJ whenever he posts anything at all. So, eh, would you consider giving us all a break from your obsession?

Mar-30-14		Check It Out: The first time a pun of mine has been chosen! This game and pun seemed pertinent given the recent draw between Anand and Andreiken Anand vs D Andreikin, 2014, which also ended in a murky and unfinished state.

Mar-31-14		Shams: <Domdaniel> <So, eh, would you consider giving us all a break from your obsession?> Seriously. I like Mr. Barleycorn but it's really getting tedious. The admins should just put <AJ> on his ignore list and lock it.

Mar-31-14		kevin86: A fighting draw! NOT!

Mar-31-14		fgh: <Shams: <Domdaniel> <So, eh, would you consider giving us all a break from your obsession?> Seriously. I like Mr. Barleycorn but it's really getting tedious. The admins should just put <AJ> on his ignore list and lock it.> Barleycorn's behaviour here (and elsewhere) is pure harassment and he should be penalised for it.

Mar-31-14		Petrosianic: <morfishine>: <What is noteworthy, notwithstanding the witty quote by Fischer, is their accurate chess sense what-with modern engines evaluating the game as dead even. Thats fairly remarkable for this uniquely unbalanced position> According to the witty quote, they didn't agree to the draw because they thought it was a draw, but because they were afraid it <wasn't>. That's what makes this The Immortal Mutual Fear Game; that one of the players was actually candid enough to admit the motivation that secretly motivates a lot of draws.

Mar-31-14		morfishine: <Petrosianic> I seriously doubt "fear" was a motivating factor for either of these players; however, it makes good chess lore Your point about what may "secretly motivate" a lot of draws (presuming at the GM level) is due to the candid comments of "one of the players" [ie: Fischer] is a more revealing commentary about BF's humor than the mind of a GM. To stretch it into a conclusion of what may motivate "a lot of draws", (assuming you mean Master-level chess), then thats a Taffy-based stretch bought and sold at Ocean City, Md. But thats my take *****

Apr-01-14		john barleycorn: < fgh: <Shams: <Domdaniel> <So, eh, would you consider giving us all a break from your obsession?> Seriously. I like Mr. Barleycorn but it's really getting tedious. The admins should just put <AJ> on his ignore list and lock it.> Barleycorn's behaviour here (and elsewhere) is pure harassment and he should be penalised for it.> What a garbled nonsense.

Jun-02-16		RookFile: In another famous game, Spassky had also sacrified a minor piece against Averbakh. Averbakh ended up having to fight for the draw in the endgame. Maybe against Fischer, Averbakh was thinking that he already seen this movie and knew how it ended. A draw sooner rather than later seemed like a good idea.

Feb-12-22		newzild: Crazy that Averbakh was already a veteran grandmaster in 1958. Nowadays, in 2022, he is still a veteran grandmaster...

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