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Robert James Fischer vs Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian
"Four Queens" (game of the day Dec-01-05)
Zagreb 1959  ·  Caro-Kann Defense: Two Knights Attack. Mindeno Variation Exchange Line (B11)  ·  1/2-1/2


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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 3 OF 3 ·  Later Kibitzing >
Dec-01-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  xenophon: that's vu;surely?
Dec-01-05   EmperorAtahualpa: <RookFile> You probably missed my post. (look above). Which game are you referring to?
Dec-01-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jack Kerouac: <XENOPHON> Surely. with a view toward concise-ness.
Dec-01-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Chnebelgrind: <EmperorAtahualpa> must be Fischer vs Julio Bolbochan, 1962 See <RookFile>s comment
Dec-01-05   bishopawn: Indeed, <Sun King>, Black's King is into "Self-defense", personally halting 41. Qa5 and 42. Qb2. I think that early on, Petrosian knew that open f-file was going to be trouble.
Dec-22-05   aerohacedor: Petrosian could have won if he had played 36...Ne2+, catching the bishop pinned down.
Dec-22-05   RookFile: Ok, I'll bite. 36.... Ne2+ 37. Kg2.

What happens now and why should white
be concerned?

Mar-31-06   PolishPentium: Comments sought about the merits of the following line: 31...Ne2+ 32 Kh2 (or Kh1) 32...RxR
Jan-28-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  positionalgenius: This is a really nice game.Multi-queens are rare,much less between players of this caliber.
Nov-04-07
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: In the introduction to this game in 60MG Evans says "the play was rich and strange." Quite an understatement!
Nov-05-07   M.D. Wilson: Beautiful game.
Nov-05-07   D4n: Wow! I've never seen 4 queens in play at once!!
Sep-21-08   GrahamClayton: After Black's 38...Kc5, Fischer said: "Curiously the King will be safer in White's territory where it obtains shelter from the cluster of pawns".

Source: Ednar Mednis, "King Power in Chess", McKay Publishing, 1982

Oct-08-08   drnooo: It's too bad that Fischer did not play more games with Petrosian in the 60s.Their records against each other when Petrosian was champ was far too scanty. It would have been a good index of Fischer's real strength for that era. As it was he could not beat Geller, Korchnoi, or Spassky:it seems he did not really start to gain ground on any of them until on the heels of the 70s. The one real missing link around then was that inimitable Petrosian when he was still the toughest on the planet to beat.
Oct-08-08   Jim Bartle: "Their records against each other when Petrosian was champ was far too scanty."

Good point, doc. I checked and was surprised to see they played only two games (draws) while Petrosian was champion.

In this game, I'd be interested to know how much time the players took to move with the four queens on the board. The calculations look mind-boggling.

Oct-08-08   Petrosianic: <Wow! I've never seen 4 queens in play at once!!>

It's not very common, but here's another famous game where it happened (though not for very long):

Capablanca vs Alekhine, 1927

Dec-02-08   WhiteRook48: 4 Queens... hah! Bet the Kings are super confused... NOT!
Dec-19-08   WhiteRook48: 48. Qf2?? White could've won the Black Q with dxe4.
Dec-19-08
Premium Chessgames Member
  sleepyirv: <WhiteRook48> 48...Nxe4+ forks the king and queen.
Dec-23-08   WhiteRook48: Ohhhhhh. I see... how could Petrosian draw with a move that drops the queen in to the corner
Jan-24-09   WhiteRook48: great game by Fischer and Petrosian. I don't think Fischer would've liked the draw.
Feb-03-09   WhiteRook48: on the other hand, maybe he was glad for the draw
Feb-22-09   WhiteRook48: 47. Kg3 seems dubious
Aug-17-09   WhiteRook48: does 47 Qe1 keep the advantage?
Feb-01-10   rune ohlsson: A marvellous game, indeed.
However, Fritz claims that 39. g5 Qad7 40. Bh3 Qb7 41. Qf8 Qbe7 42. Qxe7 Qxe7 43. Qf6 Qd6 44. Kf2 will give White a certain win. Any objections? Has Fischer commented these moves in his book?
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