Anish Giri takes on the Fischer Quiz in New York!

by Sagar Shah
12/27/2024 – The World Rapid and Blitz Championships began in New York on 26 December. Sagar Shah is reporting for ChessBase India, while Anish Giri is participating. They are good friends and, before the start of the tournament, Sagar invited the Dutch top player to try his luck in a little quiz about the most famous chess player in New York: Bobby Fischer! How well do you know Fischer's games? How well does Giri know Fischer's games?
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An absolute legend

We give Anish 10 positions from Fischer's games, and we try to find as to how he would fare in this endeavour. Check out this interview to understand how a world-class player views the games of another great player, and in this process learn from one of the absolute legends in the game of chess!

The games

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MoveNResultEloPlayers
1.e41,183,38754%2421---
1.d4958,44955%2434---
1.Nf3286,13156%2441---
1.c4184,60856%2443---
1.g319,87756%2427---
1.b314,59854%2428---
1.f45,95348%2377---
1.Nc33,90550%2384---
1.b41,79048%2378---
1.a31,24954%2406---
1.e31,08149%2409---
1.d396950%2378---
1.g467046%2361---
1.h446654%2382---
1.c343951%2425---
1.h328956%2420---
1.a411860%2461---
1.f310047%2427---
1.Nh39267%2511---
1.Na34762%2476---
1.Nf3 Nf6 2.c4 g6 3.Nc3 Bg7 4.d4 0-0 5.Bf4 d5 6.Qb3 dxc4 7.Qxc4 c6 8.e4 Nbd7 9.Rd1 Nb6 10.Qc5 Bg4 11.Bg5 11. Be2 followed by 12. O-O would have been more prudent. The bishop move played allows a sudden crescendo of tactical points to be uncovered by Fischer. -- Wade Na4 ! 12.Qa3 On 12. Nxa4 Nxe4 and White faces considerable difficulties. Nxc3 At first glance, one might think that this move only helps White create a stronger pawn center; however, Fischer's plan is quite the opposite. By eliminating the Knight on c3, it becomes possible to sacrifice the exchange via Nxe4 and smash White's center, while the King remains trapped in the center. 13.bxc3 Nxe4 The natural continuation of Black's plan. 14.Bxe7 Qb6 15.Bc4 Nxc3 16.Bc5 Rfe8+ 17.Kf1 Be6 !! If this is the game of the century, then 17...Be6!! must be the counter of the century. Fischer offers his queen in exchange for a fierce attack with his minor pieces. Declining this offer is not so easy: 18. Bxe6 leads to a 'Philidor Mate' (smothered mate) with ...Qb5+ 19. Kg1 Ne2+ 20. Kf1 Ng3+ 21. Kg1 Qf1+ 22. Rxf1 Ne2#. Other ways to decline the queen also run into trouble: e.g., 18. Qxc3 Qxc5 18.Bxb6 Bxc4+ 19.Kg1 Ne2+ 20.Kf1 Nxd4+ This tactical scenario, where a king is repeatedly revealed to checks, is sometimes called a "windmill." 21.Kg1 Ne2+ 22.Kf1 Nc3+ 23.Kg1 axb6 24.Qb4 Ra4 25.Qxb6 Nxd1 26.h3 Rxa2 27.Kh2 Nxf2 28.Re1 Rxe1 29.Qd8+ Bf8 30.Nxe1 Bd5 31.Nf3 Ne4 32.Qb8 b5 Every piece and pawn of the black camp is defended. The white queen has nothing to do. 33.h4 h5 34.Ne5 Kg7 35.Kg1 Bc5+ 36.Kf1 Ng3+ Now Byrne is hopelessly entangled in Fischer's mating net. 37.Ke1 Bb4+ 38.Kd1 Bb3+ 39.Kc1 Ne2+ 40.Kb1 Nc3+ 41.Kc1 Rc2# 0–1
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WhiteEloWBlackEloBResYearECOEventRnd
Donald Byrne-Robert James Fischer-0–11956D92Third Rosenwald Trophy8
Robert James Fischer-Boris Spassky-1–01972D59Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match6
Robert James Fischer-Ulf Andersson-1–01970A01Exhibition Game
Robert James Fischer-Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian-1–01971B42Fischer - Petrosian Candidates Final7
Robert James Fischer-Mark Taimanov-1–01971B47Fischer - Taimanov Candidates Quarterfinal4
Boris Spassky-Robert James Fischer-0–11972A61Spassky - Fischer World Championship Match3
Robert James Fischer-Pal Benko-1–01963B09US Championship 1963/6410
Robert James Fischer-James T Sherwin-1–01957A07New Jersey Open7
Robert James Fischer-Lhamsuren Myagmarsuren-1–01967A07Sousse Interzonal3
Boris Gelfand2761Hikaru Nakamura27080–12010E97World Team Championship5

This video course includes GM Anish Giri's deep insights and IM Sagar Shah's pertinent questions to the super GM. In Vol.1 all the openings after 1.e4 are covered.

Sagar is an International Master from India with two GM norms. He loves to cover chess tournaments, as that helps him understand and improve at the game he loves so much. He is the co-founder and CEO of ChessBase India, the biggest chess news portal in the country. His YouTube channel has over a million subscribers, and to date close to a billion views. ChessBase India is the sole distributor of ChessBase products in India and seven adjoining countries, where the software is available at a 60% discount. compared to International prices.
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