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Robert James Fischer vs Miguel Najdorf
"Gift Exchange" (game of the day Jun-06-2019)
Varna Olympiad Final-A (1962), Varna BUL, rd 2, Sep-28
Sicilian Defense: Najdorf Variation. Adams Attack (B90)  ·  1-0

ANALYSIS [x]

FEN COPIED

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Kibitzer's Corner
< Earlier Kibitzing  · PAGE 4 OF 4 ·  Later Kibitzing>
Dec-20-16
Premium Chessgames Member
  keypusher: <piroflip>

No. This guy.

Weaver Warren Adams

In any case, it shouldn't be news to anyone that chess openings are rarely named for whoever played them first. Najdorf wasn't the first person to play the Najdorf, either.

Dec-20-16  Howard: Exactly ! I just made the point last week, in fact, that Pal Benko didn't "invent" the Benko Gambit.
Dec-20-16  RookFile: Fischer rolls up a world class player, playing his own version of the Sicilian, in 24 moves. Such was the power of Fischer's opening prep.
Mar-04-17  David2009: The critical position in Fischer vs Najdorf, 1962 was:


click for larger view

Now 12...Bxg2 busts White e.g. 13.Qa4+ Nd7 14.Nc6 Qc8


click for larger view

and if 15.Kxg2 Rg8+ 16.Kh1 dxc4 etc
There's a video link by Mato Jelic explaining all this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51Q...

The position at move 12 with Black to move would make an excellent Position of the Day. Cheers, David

Mar-04-17  morfishine: Najdorf sure messed up this Najdorf

I guess this is the Swiss-Cheese variation

lol

*****

Mar-04-17  RookFile: After 12.....Bxg2 Fischer might have been planning the tricky move 13. Ne6 with an unclear game. A cursory look with the computer indicates black has some sort of advantage, but it might be only a slight edge.
Mar-04-17  WorstPlayerEver: 12. Re1 is a blundorf.
12. Bb3 wins
Apr-30-17  Mithrain: After 12 ... e5 Black's position is very unpleasant to defend. I would like to add that the attack on the light-squares is really inspiring (14. Rxe4! executes perfectly that purpose) and the position at the move 21. Rd6 is just delightful (as long as you are the White player, for sure :P)
Sep-11-17  Toribio3: It is very hard to defend when your King is at the center. Fischer is a monster in this kind of situation!
Jul-22-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  maxi: <keithbc> With respect to your old question about 7.Nd5 NxN 8.exN, perhaps Fischer does not comment on this line in his book because the resulting position seems fairly compromised, positionally speaking. The squares c6 and e6 are very weak for Black, and after White plays c3 he has a very promising attack on the Black b5 pawn and the Queen side in general. White will probably play a4 soon and weaken Black's game. As they say the position plays itself.
Jul-22-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  maxi: For example these two lines, checked with Houdini: 7.Nd5 NxN 8.exN g6 9.c3 Bg7 10.a4. Or 8...Bb7 9.c4 g6 10.cxb. White is about a pawn up in each line. All of this would have been self-evident to Bobby.
Jul-22-18  Howard: Who out there has access to a certain issue of Chess Life from mid-1986 which has Morphy and Fischer on the cover?

Isn't there a submission to Larry Evans on Fischer column about an improvement in the opening to this game which had previously been overlooked ? Or was it to the other Fischer-Najdorf game in that book ?

Jul-24-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  maxi: Marvelous attacking game. With a computer one can find one or two blemishes, but it is wonderful, absolutely. The attack is based the idea of increasing piece pressure on a king with nowhere to run.
Jul-24-18
Premium Chessgames Member
  HeMateMe: Terrific game. Fischer was an expert in the openings. Age 19 here.
Jul-25-18  Count Wedgemore: Yes. Great game. And what makes it so impressive is that Fischer played against both Najdorf and the Najdorf at the same time :)
Jun-06-19  thegoodanarchist: < Count Wedgemore: Yes. Great game. And what makes it so impressive is that Fischer played against both Najdorf and the Najdorf at the same time :)>

Najdorf in stereo!

Jun-06-19  M3ANDROS: Can we appreciate for a hot second the star of the show == the knight at f5? It's a beast!
Jun-06-19  Ironmanth: Fantastically lethal game! Bravo, Bobby.
Jul-13-19
Premium Chessgames Member
  Bishoprick: Can anyone tell me what happens if Black takes the pawn e4 on move 7? I really don't see it.
Aug-01-20  Helios727: Bishoprick, in M60MG, Fischer gives 7...Nxe4 8.Qf3 Nc5 9.b4 e6 10.bxc5 exd5 11.Qxd5 Ra7=. So it would have been a better choice for Najdorf.
Nov-09-20  jerseybob: <Howard: I'm almost sure of reading a couple times that Fischer in his book My60MG overlooked around the 10th move a much better move on Black's part that Najdorf overlooked. The late Larry Evans mentioned it in a 1986 column in Chess Life, plus Soltis I believe also did so> Soltis, in "Bobby Fischer Reconsidered" gives 7..e6 8.Nxf6+,Qxf6 9.Bd3!,Bb7 10.00 followed by by c2-c3/a2-a4 with an edge, instead of Fischer's recommended 9.c4 overlooking 9..d5! threatening Bb4+.
Mar-15-21  Ulhumbrus: If 12...e5 allows White's knight to get to f5 after Rxe4 this suggests 12...e6 keeping White's knight out of f5.
May-28-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  saffuna: Trying to figure out black's error on move 12 from Kasparov's analysis in OMGP, no luck.

Then I realized there's a typo: "12...d5." With e5 Kasparov's comment makes sense: "A catastrophic weakening of the f5-square and the a2-g8 long diagonal, which leads to the collapse of Black's position."

Kasparov does recommend 12...Bxg2, but doesn't indicate whether it wins.

May-28-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  saffuna: Kasparov also gives 12. Re1 the dreaded "?!," saying 12. Bb3 "was stronger, with a powerful intitiative that more than compensates for the sacrificed pawns..."
May-30-22
Premium Chessgames Member
  nizmo11: After 12.Re1?! Bxg2! Fisher gives in <My60MG>: 13.Kxg2 dxc4 14.Qf3 Nd7 15. Nf5 Rg8+ 16.Kh1 e5 ("if 16...e6 17.Qc6 threatening 18 Rxe6+") 17.Be3 "with a winning bind despite the two-pawn deficit".

The comment after 16...e5 17.Be3 is right, but in fact 16...e6! was the correct defense: after 17 Qc6


click for larger view

Black can now play 17...e5! and if 18. Be3 then 18...Rc8 19.Qf3 Nc5 and compared to variant 16...e5?! 17.Be3 Rc8 18. Rad1 Black has gained an important tempo and can answer to 20.Rad1 with Nd3
Another defense is 17...Qc8 returning the extra pawns with 18.Rxe6+ fxe6 19.Qxe6+ Kd8 20.Qxg8 Qc5. It seems White has no advantage here.

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