Robert James Fischer vs Ratmir Kholmov (1965)

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Robert James Fischer vs Ratmir Kholmov
Havana (1965), Havana CUB, rd 18, Sep-20
Spanish Game: Closed Variations. Chigorin Defense (C98) · 0-1

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

Given 43 times; par: 53 [what's this?]

Annotations by Stockfish (Computer). [35437 more games annotated by Stockfish]

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< Earlier Kibitzing · PAGE 1 OF 3 · Later Kibitzing>
Nov-21-03		technical draw: My tournament chart for IV Torneo de La Habana, 1965, shows Fischer 4th and Kholmov 5th. It also shows that Kholmov beat Fischer.

Feb-19-04		marekg248: Fischer wasn't allowed to go to Cuba at the time of tournament, so he was on the phone while playing.

Feb-19-04		Benzol: The US State department wouldn't validate Fischer's passport for visiting Cuba so he played all his games by Telex from the Marshall Chess Club in New York. The transmission time added hours to his games so the strain must have been tremendous. Each of Fischer's opponents only had this experience once but for Fischer it was for 21 games. Therefore his 2nd place must be considered a fine achievement.

Feb-19-04		marekg248: By the way, who was first?

Feb-19-04		ughaibu: I think it was Smyslov.

Feb-19-04		hungapiece: UGHAIBU smyslov did take first prize. fischer played him in an earlier round and won their game. their game was a ruy also. smyslov had double king pawns early in the game which surprised fischer that he would do that.

Feb-19-04		ughaibu: Hungapiece: Thanks, was it the same line as this game?

Feb-20-04		hungapiece: UGHAIBU: it was a different line. fischer on move five was d-3 instead of 0-0. also in the round before the kholmov game fischer lost to geller in a king's indian. fischer regained his nerve and came within a half point of smyslov.

Feb-03-05		SVarden: I recall being at the Marshall Club that day. Fischer was in a room on the second floor by himself and was not visible to the packed house. When Kholmov played 19 ..., Nd4, everyone suspected that Bobby had run into a prepared variation. But Kholmov followed it up with excellent play. While everyone was on the second floor analyzing the position, I noticed a CBS Channel 2 TV reporter on the first floor having a heated conversation with her news producer over a pay phone. I overheard her say "But they tell me that Fischer is losing. What are we going to do?" The story was dropped from that evening's news. That was the cold war for you! It made for a very interesting day. Incidentally, Caroline Marshall, Frank Marshall's widow, was still living and was doing her best to cope with all the excitement.

Feb-03-05		beenthere240: Is 37. Rb7 an error? Once black takes over the g-file the game goes downhill. Or was that Fischer's only chance of active play?

Feb-03-05		aw1988: No, it was not an error. Many of you here I'm sure would be tempted to play 37. Rag1. 37. Rag1 Rxe3+! 38. Kxe3 Bb6+ winning the rook.

Jul-30-05		Richard Taylor: <SVarden> that is an exciting piece of history - this was a great game by Kholmov - the Nd5 is excellent.

Nov-25-05		TigerPawns: add hours to the games? seems like an exaggeration. the peace of not being in a tournament hall could be construed as an advantage.

Feb-08-06		Steppenwolf: Kholmov gave a good lesson to Fischer. It is a wonderful game with a complete domination of Kholmov over Fischer.

Mar-17-06		Hesam7: 19. b4 was Fischer's blunder, it is very hard to save the game after that. On the other hand 19. b3! would have held the game: 19. b3! Nd4 20. cxd4 exd4 21. Nxc4 [the point of 19. b3] bxc4 22. bxc4 e5 = click for larger view Black has a very strong d-pawn and White has the bishop pair so I think it is equal.

Mar-17-06		walker: Ratmir passed away aseveral days ago http://www.chessbase.com/newsdetail...

Mar-17-06		Hesam7: <walker> that is why I came to this page, this is one his most famous games. Going over the game with my engine it seems that 42... Ke4 would have won instantly. After 42... Ke4 Fruit shows mate in 11.

Mar-18-06		Frape: to Hesam7:my way to this page was similar.I'll play tomorow with black and I want to play something in Kholmov's style to do honour to him.I have seen him many times on Czech open Pardubice, where did he played till his advanced years.

Oct-03-06		Jonathan Sarfati: Kholmov was very strong yet he is not as well known as he should be. His famous ...Nd4 has influenced other games, e.g. N Speck vs O Sarapu, 1992

Nov-09-06		Resignation Trap: This doesn't seem to be the first instance of the ...Nd4 move in the Ruy Lopez. This one took place years earlier: A Matanovic vs Pilnik, 1952 in a slightly different position.

Nov-09-06		RookFile: Well, b4 was a mistake, but it's a little over the top to say it was a blunder. Kholmov played quite powerfully in this game.

May-10-07		Silverstrike: Does 20.Qd1 have any merit?

Sep-02-07		Cripto: In this game Kholmov took advantage of Fischer's mistake 19.b4, Fischer could not reduce importance to this mistake because it entered a forced variant. In the moment to play this game Kholmov was drunk, what would be capable of doing soberly? Nobody knows it.

Feb-17-08		newzild: Kholmov kicked Fischer's butt.

Sep-29-08		drukenknight: NO! Not 19 b4; look if: 38 a4 (the a pawn moves one move earlier), this seems to hold the game. The difference seems to be the ability of white to Rf7+ in this line, whereas the move as played voids this.

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