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Robert James Fischer vs Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian
"Four Queens" (game of the day Dec-01-05)
Bled-Zagreb-Belgrade Candidates (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 1 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Jan-14-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  Sneaky: One of the all time classics!

We speak a lot about the power of the bishop pair, and the rook pair, but what can you say about a QUEEN pair?? A pair of queens will threaten mate 9 ways to Sunday. Only among great players like these could such a game not end with a mistake leading somebody's utter demise.

This battle is annotated in "My 60 Memorable Games."

Jan-14-03
Premium Chessgames Member
  Honza Cervenka: Another game with four queens is Edward Lasker vs Alekhine, 1913
Jan-14-03  ughaibu: Wasn't there one in the Alekhine-Capablanca match as well?
Jan-16-03  PVS: I am sure you are right, but I could not find it in the database. Could one of those match games be missing? I think it was a win by Alekhine.
Jan-16-03  ughaibu: Yes, a win by Alekhine as black in a queen's gambit. I couldn't find it either.
Jan-16-03  Kenneth Sterling: I think you are looking for game eleven.
Jan-16-03  Sylvester: Games with two queens on each side are cool. I heard if you are up one queen already, that it is a disgrace to get another before you go for the mate.
Jan-17-03  ughaibu: If I'm one queen up and my opponent insists that I still find a mate I usually resign for him.
Jan-17-03  Sylvester: When I play other middle school students it usually gets played out until the end.
Jul-12-04  Sun King: Blacks two king moves (40 and 41) made me laugh aloud. There is a game against Kasparov in which Petrosian takes his embattled king out into the fray and into whites territory attacking a crowded field.
Jul-12-04  Sun King: Tilburg 81
Jul-13-04  kurathedog: sun,
doesn't black have to move the king to defend against q-a5?
Jul-15-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  suenteus po 147: I must have looked at the end position two dozen times, and I still don't see why it's a draw. Doesn't Fischer still have 49.Qg2 to play? Petrosian can't exchange queens, so that leaves 49...Qh6 and it's still anybody's game. Please help me out here.
Jul-15-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  acirce: Well isn't Black just better after 49.Qg2 Qh6 ? I mean White's pieces can hardly move and the d-pawn will fall pretty soon (king to c3, for example, knight to b2)

White's counterchance seems to be the g-pawn so why hide away the queen on g2? Maybe just push it immediately with 49.g5. Don't know how 49..e4 50.g6 works though. Maybe not at all.

Jul-15-04  rochade18: Do not forget the time limit! Sometimes you have a slight edge or even an advantage but not enough time. It is useful then to make a draw.
Jul-16-04
Premium Chessgames Member
  tpstar: Fischer made it clear in MSMG that he blundered with 47. Kg3?, because 47 ... Qxe4! won a Pawn and now White stands worse despite the passed g Pawn. But since Black had worked so hard for the draw, plus both heads were swirling after the 4 Queens business, Petrosian wasn't mentally ready to squeeze any win out of it, so draw agreed. Hopefully someone can post the exact quote.
Sep-17-04  ForeverYoung: "After having fought so hard for the draw, however, Petrosian was obviously unprepared to readjust his frame of mind and start playing for a win. So ..."
Jul-19-05  aw1988: While this is a wonderfully aesthetic game, you can't help wonder how much of its' publicity comes from the fact that it's Fischer and Petrosian, two of the top players in the world.
Sep-19-05  LIFE Master AJ: This is in FIscher's book, ... ("My 60 Memorable Games"); as Sneaky has already noted. (Game # 16, I believe, it is aptly named, "The Four Queens Game.")

This is one of the most complex chess games ever played, as a teenager, I would analyze it over and over again.

It would be interesting to see a modern GM - who is known for his analytical work - (like Igor Stohl or John Nunn) come back and take a detailed look at this game. Just in the last 5 years, computers have become so much better, I am sure that many new discoveries would be made.

Sep-19-05  RookFile: I don't think John Nunn could be convinced in a million years to analyze this game, not after the mate in 4 fiasco with the Bolbochan game, lol.

Huebner is a favorite of mine.

Oct-04-05  LIFE Master AJ: It still gets my vote ... for one of the most complicated games ever played.
Oct-04-05
Premium Chessgames Member
  Jack Kerouac: I played a game with 4 queens once.In San Francisco. We ended up getting arrested.
Dec-01-05  ProperRaveUp: Thats what happens when your "On the road,".........

I wish someone would run parts of this game through HYDRA, to see if either side ever had a forced winning line.

Dec-01-05  EmperorAtahualpa: Nice game!

<I don't think John Nunn could be convinced in a million years to analyze this game, not after the mate in 4 fiasco with the Bolbochan game, lol.>

<RookFile> Which game are you referring to?

Dec-01-05  euripides: Fischer also expressed surprise at the riskiness of Petrosian's play in the middle game, after he had got a good opening. The king march reminds me of the game that Petrosian took off Kasparov when I seem to remember that something like Kc6 seriously disoriented Kasparov.
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