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Robert James Fischer vs James Sherwin
"Sherwin's Forced" (game of the day Mar-09-2015)
United States Championship (1957/58), New York, NY USA, rd 7, Dec-27
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation (B90)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 11 OF 11 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Sep-17-15  TheFocus: On 1.e4: "Best by test." - <Bobby Fischer>.
Sep-17-15  ahmadov: <Petrosianic>, what you are saying is true as a general rule, but when I played through the moves I mentioned, I had an impression that he analysed all the possible lines before playing move 29.
Sep-17-15
Premium Chessgames Member
  diceman: <offramp:

That is probably it. Thanks! I thought it might have been a pun on "Sure Win Forced". But that would be a bit ...um...forced.>

...maybe: <"Sherwin's Forced"> to resign!

Feb-07-16  muthukumar001: Why black knight doesn't take the pawn in 9 th move....
Feb-07-16  bronx bomber: in Andrew soltis bobby fischer rediscovered he gives nxe4, qf3 bb7, ba4ch,nd7,bc6,bxc6,nxc6,qb6, qxe4 d5 as soviet analysis
Mar-17-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  AylerKupp: <<ahmadov> I had an impression that he analyzed all the possible lines before playing move 29.>

If one was to take you literally (which I hope no one does), there are 15 plies (one move by each side) from 28...Bxc3 to 36...1-0. If we estimate that there are, on the average, 3 reasonable (not possible, but <reasonable>) responses to each move by each side, that's 3^15 or 3,375 reasonable moves. I'm nowhere near to being a GM but I doubt that any GM could calculate and evaluate the positions after 3,375 moves, particularly in a reasonable amount of time.

If there were, on the average, 2 reasonable responses to each move by each side, that's "only" 225 reasonable moves. Maybe that's within the range of a good GM, but I doubt it. So if any good GMs are reading this, please correct me if you think otherwise.

Now, if someone (not me!) were to take you <truly> literally, they would like to know how many possible legal combinations of moves there are from 28...Bxc3 to 36...1-0. To find out I used the chess engine Hiarcs 14 which, although not the strongest of engines, has the capability to turn off search pruning entirely by setting its Selectivity parameter = 0. This forces it to look at <every> possible combination of legal moves from the starting position.

And, after 00:50:34 minutes of calculation, at d=15 Hiarcs had looked at 4,590,249,806 positions at an average rate of about 1,506 KNodes/sec. So I think it's safe to assume that Fischer didn't look at all the possible lines before playing 29.Bxc3.

And, BTW, Hiarcs evaluated the resulting position after 29.bxc3 assuming best play by both sides at [+0.28], effectively equal. So Sherwin's losing mistake must have come after 28...Bxc3.

Mar-17-16  cunctatorg: Jokes aside, this Sherwin guy can present to the chess world ... a win against Bobby Fischer and also one draw with him!! Not only remarkable but superb!!
Jul-16-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  gjergj248: Mar-09-15 Bycotron: Interesting how black constructs what looks like an extremely solid defense by placing the Knight on e5, defending f7, and the Bishop of f6, supporting the Knight and blocking the dangerous f-file. Then in one move, Ng4, he moves the defending Knight offside and exchanges the critical Bishop! It is beautiful but not surprising that Rxf7 comes at the immediate punishment of his folly.

He was lost before moving the knight. Black is about to lose his a pawn and white will have connected passers and the 2 bishops controlling the queenside.

Nov-26-16  andrea volponi: 30 Txf7!! h5!-Tc4!Txc4-Txf8+Rxf8-Dxc4!
Nov-27-16  andrea volponi: 30Txf7! h5!-Tc4 Txc4-Txf8+ Rxf8-Dxc4 Cf2!! Rg1 Ch3 Rf1 Df6 Re1 Da1 Rd2 Db2 Re3 Df2 Rd3 Cf4 Rc3 De3 RC2 Df2+Rb3 De3 Dc3 Db6 Db4 De3 Ra4 Cxd5 exd5 De5-Dc4 Dxh2 -Dc8+ Rf7-De6+ Rf8-Rb5 Dxg2-Dxd6+ Re8-a4 h4-a5 h3-a6 Da2-De6+ Rf8-Dc8+Re7-Dc7+Re8-Dc4 Dc4 Rxc4=
Nov-27-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  steinitzfan: A short move sequence from 30 to 33 but it makes my head spin.
Jul-05-17  avi20072008: I didnt get move 32? Can someone please explain? Why didn;t rook took Queen. It could have been checkmate.
Jul-05-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  saffuna: < I didnt get move 32? Can someone please explain? Why didn;t rook took Queen. It could have been checkmate.>

Because 32...RxQ is discovered check with the bishop on d5.

Jul-05-17
Premium Chessgames Member
  offramp: User: avi20072008, welcome to chessgames.com. I am sure you will have a good time here.

Moves 30 to 36 in this game are really worth examining closely. They are brilliant.

It's worth remembering that Fischer was 14 at the time.

Jul-24-17  newzild: Hmm. Didn't Fischer miss a forced mate?

It looks to me as though 34. Bg8+ mates.

Example lines:

34. Bg8+ Kh8
35. Bf7+ Kh7
36. Rh8+ Kxh8
37. Qc8+ Kh7
38. Qf5+ Kh8
38. Ra8+ and mate next

or:

34. Bg8+ Kg6
35. Bf7+ Kf6
36. Bxh5+ Ke7
37. Re8+ and mate next

What am I missing?

Jul-24-17  Howard: You're probably not missing anything--but, since the move Fischer actually played was good enough to wrap up the win, it probably didn't matter.
Mar-16-18  N.O.F. NAJDORF: Couldn't black have tried 13 ... c x b
14 N x d8 b x a1 = Q 15 Bd4 Q x b1 16 Q x b1 R x d8 ?
Apr-30-20  rmccants: On move 33:
why doesn't the king take the Rook instead of moving to h7?

33.Rxf8+Kh7

Apr-30-20  Dionysius1: 33...Kxf8 34. Qc8 Ke7 35. Qe6+ Kd8 36. Qd6+ and mate next move
Jul-04-22  Herr Stauffenberg: <AylerKupp> It is not necessary to evaluate literally all possible moves to calculate decisive moves. Compurators do this because they have no instinct or conscious thought about the economy of time and therefore the necessity of the relevant moves to consider. Computers calculate even the moves of pawns or pieces that are not actively participating in an attack.

In a full attacking situation with the possibility of mate, the human mind calculates only "reasonable" moves. That is not difficult for a Grandmaster. Therefore, my conclusion is that Fischer really calculated his chances after the error in 28. ...Bxc3 which opens the f-file.

Jul-04-22  Herr Stauffenberg: Bobby exlplains this endgame a bit in his book or program: https://www.retrogames.cz/play_1416...

This type of sacrifices in the enemy's pawn structure is a very particular tactic of Fischer, he uses it too much and in different ways, but always the structure is basically the same, in terms of having a backup that activates the attack, in this case, the Bishop that threatens check in the open. He also explains it in his program-book.

Jul-04-22  Herr Stauffenberg: <gjergj248> The loss of Black's "a" pawn threw him off balance, so much so that he was driven to eat with the bishop, neglecting the f-file, with the clear objective of recovering his lost pawn with his rook. This, in structural terms, looks like a good middlegame strategy for Black, but he neglected too much the consequences of the opening on rank 8, unfortunately for him, he failed to calculate the consequences of his play.
Jul-05-22  Herr Stauffenberg: <andrea volponi>This is better: 30...h5 31. Rxf8+ Kh7
Jul-05-22  Herr Stauffenberg: <newzild> That is a game of a machine without conscience. Fischer was human. He had already overcalculated the previous move, and after it worked out positively, he relaxed and played a moderate game; he was assured of victory because he was well positioned and he knew it. If it was not mate in an instant, it would be mate in another.
Jul-05-22  Herr Stauffenberg: <Dionysius1> This is better, more rapid:

33...Kxf8 34. Qf4+ Ke7 35. Qf7+ Kd8 36. Ra8#

33...Kxf8 34. Qf4+ Ke8 35. Qf7+ Kd8 36. Ra8#

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