Annotated Game Spassky-Fischer Reykjavik 1972 (5)

(3) Spassky,Boris V (2660) - Fischer,Robert James (2785) [E41]

World Championship 28th Reykjavik (5), 20.07.1972

[Newsom,Gary]

1.d4 ¤f6 2.c4 e6 3.¤c3 ¥b4 4.¤f3 c5 5.e3 ¤c6 6.¥d3 ¥xc3+ 7.bxc3 d6 Fischer employs the Hubner variation, named as such because the ideas were developed by the West German GM Robert Hubner, who was a top level player in the '70s and '80s. The basic idea of the Hubner is to play for ...e5 enticing white to close the center with d5 which makes it harder for white's bishops to increase their scope and easier for black's knight to find ways to maneuver. Note that this idea is only effective because white has allowed the pawns to be doubled on the c-file. If white had played Qc2 and Qxc3, the idea would not work so well because then white would have an extra pawn break (b4) with which to find lines for his bishops. 8.e4 Diagram

XABCDEFGHY
8r+lwqk+-tr(
7zpp+-+pzpp'
6-+nzppsn-+&
5+-zp-+-+-%
4-+PzPP+-+$
3+-zPL+N+-#
2P+-+-zPPzP"
1tR-vLQmK-+R!
xabcdefghy

8...e5 9.d5 [9.dxc5 With the idea of getting a good knight placement on d5 via Nf3-d2-f1–e3-d5, doesn't quite work due to 9...dxc5 10.£c2 ¥e6 11.¤d2 ¤a5 And white is stuck defending his weak c-pawn.] 9...¤e7 10.¤h4 h6 11.f4!? ¤g6! Simple chess played in Fischer's devastatingly logical style. Black simply offers an exchange of his (potentially) worst piece...at the very least a piece that was not doing much for him at the moment...and exchanges it for white's potentially most active piece. Simple ideas like this, exchanging your bad pieces for the opponent's good pieces, win chess games. 12.¤xg6 fxg6 13.fxe5 dxe5 14.¥e3 b6 15.0–0 0–0 This position has all the hallmarks as a Nimzo gone bad for white. And believe me, as a life long 1.d4 player, I know the feeling. White is desperately trying to find some activity. Black ruthlessly and correctly shuts the door. 16.a4 a5! Again, simple and devastating. Note that black doesn't "try" anything crazy or complicated. He realizes he holds the cards here ( as *you* will also when you study the Nimzo and understand it) so he "lets the game come to him" so to speak. 17.¦b1 ¥d7 18.¦b2 ¦b8 19.¦bf2? It has been suggested by many annotators here that white would have done better to try to increase the pressure on the q-side. Other than one easily parried tactic, there is nothing to be gained on the k-side. 19...£e7 [Black's chance to go wrong was 19...£c7? 20.¥xh6! winning a pawn because of 20...gxh6 21.¦xf6] 20.¥c2 g5 21.¥d2 £e8 22.¥e1 Hoping to get the B to g3 and stir up some action against black's e-pawn. 22...£g6 23.£d3 ¤h5! Black's advantage lies in the endgame, so he initiates exchanges to bring about a situation where he can best expose white's weaknesses. 24.¦xf8+ ¦xf8 25.¦xf8+ ¢xf8 26.¥d1 ¤f4 Diagram

XABCDEFGHY
8-+-+-mk-+(
7+-+l+-zp-'
6-zp-+-+qzp&
5zp-zpPzp-zp-%
4P+P+Psn-+$
3+-zPQ+-+-#
2-+-+-+PzP"
1+-+LvL-mK-!
xabcdefghy

27.£c2?? [Better was 27.£b1 ] 27...¥xa4! Game over! If 28.£xa4 £xe4 with the doble threat against the B on e1 and the mate threat on g2. This game showed Fischer at his best! 0–1