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Robert James Fischer needs no introduction.  He is a legend and rightly so.  His records are astounding: he won the US Championship at the tender age of 14 and subsequently won that title 6 more times, including the 1963 - 1964 championship with a perfect score of 11-0.  Fisher was the consummate fighting player with a demonic will to win that overwhelmed his opponents.  He was like a force of nature on the chessboard - sometimes a tornado, sometimes an earthquake and once in a great while a fog.

In the early 1970's Fisher went from great to incredible as he topped one amazing feat after another.  His 12½ - 8½ win over Boris Spassky in the 1972 Reykjavik title bout was his crowning achievement, but somehow seemed eclipsed by his incredible results of the year before.  In 1971 Fischer climbed the heights of chess immortality by defeating GMs Mark Taimanov and Bent Larsen in successive matches by the incredible scores of 6-0.  These spectacular victories led to a match with ultra-solid former world champion Tigran Petrosian to determine a challenger to Boris Spassky, the reigning world champion at the time.  After a slow start, Fischer ended up crushing Petrosian 6½ - 2½ to set up his famous title match with Spassky.  In the opinion of many, including myself, Fischer’s win in Game One of his match with Bent Larsen is one of the greatest games of all time.  Much credit must go to Larsen, who seemed to be matching Fischer blow for blow during the game only to falter just near the end.
 

Fischer,R (2760) - Larsen,B (2660)
Candidats sf1 Denver (1), 1971

1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 4.e5 Ne7 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 c5

Larsen has chosen the Winawer Variation of the French Defense - one of the few openings that gave Fischer troubles during his chess career.  The positions reached are very imbalanced.  White has a strong center and a dangerous pair of bishops but Black has speedy development and good play against White’s doubled c-pawns.  It has long been a favorite defense of counter-attackers, with Victor Korchnoi one of its most outstanding practitioners.

7.a4

White hopes to develop his bishop to a3 while also preventing Black from setting up a blockade on the a4 square.

7...Nbc6 8.Nf3 Bd7 9.Bd3 Qc7 10.0-0 c4?!

This is a very risky move by Bent Larsen. Although he manages to drive back one of the bishops he has also voluntarily opened up the a3-f8 diagonal. The Danish GrandMaster hopes to attack and diminish White’s center before the dark squared bishop can become active but Fischer has other ideas.

11.Be2 f6 12.Re1 Ng6

13.Ba3!

A very strong pawn sacrifice that gives Fisher a strong initiative.

13...fxe5 14.dxe5 Ncxe5 15.Nxe5 Nxe5 16.Qd4!

Classic centralization by Fisher. The queen takes the high ground where she can exert influence in all directions.

16...Ng6

Larsen would like to get his king out of harm’s way with 16…0-0-0 but 17 Qxa7 is just too strong; The strange-looking 16…h5!? Is more difficult to refute, but I like White after 17 Rb1 Nc6 18 Qh4, attacking h5, 18 ... Kf7 19 f4 with play similar to the actual game.

17.Bh5 Kf7?!

Safer, but somewhat joyless for black is the ending that arises after 17…0-0-0 18 Qxa7 b6 19 Qa8+ Qb8 20 Qxb8+ Kxb8. 21 Bxg6 (White's best try) hxg6 22 Be7 Rde8 23 Bd6+ Kb7 24 a5 (to open up the Black king position) bxa5 25 Rxa5 Kc6 and now 26 Be5. Kind of a long winded variation, I agree, but all pretty much forced. Only White can win this ending, but Black has definite drawing chances. Bent Larsen loves to take risks and decided his best chances lay in the middlegame.

18.f4!

Fischer quickly plays to blow open the position in order to energize his range-staved pair of bishops. He plans to punch through Black’s wall of pawns with f4-f5.

18...Rhe8 19.f5 exf5 20.Qxd5+ Kf6

21.Bf3?!

21 Bd6! Seems to be more accurate. Black has several alternatives here - let’s take a look at them: First, 21…Qc6, loses very quickly to 22 Qd4+ Kf7 23 Bf3! And Black is going to get crushed by a killer check on d5; Second choice, 21…Qb6 loses to 22 Bc5 Qc7 23 h4! That sets up a devastating check on d4 - the best Black can hope for is the pathetic 23…Re5 24 Bd4; Finally, the apparent best defense after 21 Bd6 is …Qc8, but that leads to a crushing white attack after 22 Bf3! Bc6 23 Qd4+ Kf7 24 Qxc4+ Kf6 25 Qd4+ Kf7 26 Bd5+ Bxd5 27 Qxd5+ Kf6 and then 28 g4! rips into Black's king position with decisive effect.

Analysis Diagram: after 28.g4!

21...Ne5!

Beautiful play by the Danish Grandmaster!  Larsen seizes his chance, basing his defense on a powerful counter-attack.

22.Qd4 Kg6 23.Rxe5!

Brilliant blow is met by brilliant blow!  Fischer had to see very deeply into the position to judge that he could survive Black’s coming heavy artillery barrage along the central files.  He saw that Black’s exposed king would allow for a tactical defense at the critical moment.

23...Qxe5 24.Qxd7 Rad8 25.Qxb7

25...Qe3+?!

Larsen missed the much better 25…Qxc3! forcing the passive 26.Qb1. In that case black has 26 ... Re5! which gives him a good position thanks to his tremendous centralization.  Hmm, there is that word again!

26.Kf1 Rd2 27.Qc6+ Re6 28.Bc5!

Incredibly, Fischer holds his position together.  This move eliminates the mate threats and forces Black to simplify to a difficult endgame.

28...Rf2+ 29.Kg1 Rxg2+ 30.Kxg2 Qd2+ 31.Kh1 Rxc6 32.Bxc6 Qxc3?!

This allows Fischer to create a powerful passed a-pawn that is ready to be escorted up the board by the pair of bishops.  Better was 32…a5 to stop White from getting a passed pawn.

33.Rg1+ Kf6 34.Bxa7

34...g5?

Larsen plays the losing move. 34…Qxc2! would keep the outcome in doubt as seen in the variation 35 Bd5+ Ke7 36 Bc5+ Kf6!  Or 35 a5 Qd3 36 a6 c3 37 Bb7 c2 38 Bb6 Qd6 39 a7 Qxb6 40 a8=Q Qxg1+ and Black should draw.

35.Bb6 Qxc2 36.a5

The passed pawn is unstoppable.  The bishops not only serve as perfect escorts of the a-pawn, but they ably protect White’s king.

36...Qb2 37.Bd8+ Ke6 38.a6 Qa3 39.Bb7 Qc5 40.Rb1 c3 41.Bb6 1-0

Final Position

A marvelous game, fascinating in all phases.  Fischer was a little hesitant pressing his attack but soon hit his stride with the spectacular sequence that started with 22 Qd4.  This one was a real nail-biter that deserves its rank as one of the greatest games of all time.
 

For another view of this game, see:
Robert James Ficher-Bent Larsen, Candidates'  Match Semifinal ( 1) 10.6.07.1971,
with notes by Prof. Nagesh Havanur.

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