November Family Chess Night @ Bookman’s features Bobby Fischer’s “Game of the Century”
Can you solve this month’s puzzle? White to move and mate in 4 moves.
Puzzle from the book Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess.
Bring your puzzle solution to Bookman’s on Speedway Family Chess Night, 6:30-8:30pm, first Wednesday of every month–this month Wednesday, November 2–and win a free prize. The whole family, new and experienced players are all invited to join us to play chess.
Remembering Bobby Fischer’s 1956 “Game of The Century”
When asked in an interview the year before he died which of his games he thought the best or most beautiful, Fischer replied his game with Donald Byrne in 1956.
At the age of thirteen Robert James Fischer was invited to play with eleven other top Americans in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City.
Playing black, Fischer forced mate at move 41, establishing him as one of the greatest chess prodigies. Because of Fischer’s age, precision and daring the game has been labeled the Game of the Century.
The game demonstrates young Fischer’s understanding of the hypermodern system and use of the Grunfeld Defense that quickly develops his pieces, hooking up his rooks and placing a rook in a center open file.
In the unexpected and powerful 11th move, Fischer brilliantly exploits white’s weak position. Fisher’s famous move 17. . .Be6!! sets up a surprising queen sacrifice that results in a fierce attack with his minor pieces, allowing multiple discovered checks.
Lessons to be learned from this game–develop pieces quickly, castle early; a large pawn center (here, white pawns) can be a liability; an open file in the middle attacks a king in the center.
More about great Bobby Fischer games in puzzles to come.
References:
Fischer, Bobby (with Stuart Margulies and Donn Mosenfelder), Bobby Fischer Teaches Chess, Bantam Books, 1972
Brady, Frank, Bobby Fischer: Profile of a Prodigy, Dover, 1965
Verwer, Renzo, Bobby Fischer for Beginners, New in Chess Press, 2010
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Game_of_the_Century_%28chess%29
https://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1008361
https://youtu.be/Vqbq_bPCzN8 (a YouTube commentary of the game)
https://chessbase.com/newsdetail.asp?newsid=3434# (game commentary, history)
