Best games of the World Champions?

[andyburnett]

Hi everyone,

If you could only choose one game from each of the World Champions which best embodies their styles, qualities and strengths which games would you choose and why? :\

[Patrick McGovern]

the game played between Donald Byrne and 13-year-old Bobby Fischer in the Rosenwald Memorial Tournament in New York City on October 17, 1956

genius from a teenager

game of the century

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi Patrick.

Fischer did not appear to rate it. It's not in his 60 Memorable Games.

Hard choice. So many games from so many names.
It would take months to decide on one game and even then 90% of the rest of the world would disagree.

[Craig Pritchett]

The later Robert Byrne game played in Fischer's extraordinary 11/11 US ch romp (1963/64) is a real contender for Fischer's "best". Fischer's brilliant demolition of White's quiet opening is, as I maintain in my Everyman book "Heroes of Classical Chess", quite simply "one of the greatest games played in the twentieth century - a magnificent portent". I still remember the thrill I obtained as a kid at the time, when I first played through it and it has never left me.

[Jim Webster]

I think that would be my choice as well.

And without the help of the "silicon monster" in preparation. I think most of the best games are from the pre-computer "dark ages"

[Mike Mitchell]

Karpov-Kasparov, 1985 WCh Match, 16th Game. The second match for the WCh after the aborted 1984/85 match. It's the "octopus knight" game. Kasparov repeats his gambit from the 12th game knowing Karpov and his team will have been trying hard to refute it. Kasparov has done his preparation as well however. What follows is painful for the White pieces. This game still leaves a big impression on me. If only some of the ole K-K magic would rub off on me however...

[Alan Jelfs]

Another old favourite:

Larsen v Spassky, USSR v rest of world 1970. ... Rh1! is truly amazing.

[Patrick McGovern]

Hi Patrick.

Fischer did not appear to rate it. It's not in his 60 Memorable Games.

just shows how many great games he had.

i also agree with Craigs choice, a truly astonishing game by Fisher. what swung it for me was the fact 7 years earlier Fischer as a 13 y/o duffed up an experienced master by great sacrificial chess. he demonstrated a feel for the position as well as fearlessness.

wish we had a scottish version :\

[Geoff Chandler]

Hi

The question was:

If you could only choose one game from each of the World Champions which best
embodies their styles, qualities and strengths.

Discussed this post with Keith Ruxton.

We (well he) decided for Fischer there is a perfect example.

It's from the same tournament Craig mentioned where Fischer P.11 W11 but it is a different game.

This game did not make Fischer's 60 either.
Fischer gives 4 games from this tournament (Benko, Bisguier, R.Bryne and Steinmeyer)
and you may be forgiven due to Fischer's notes that the last round game was v Steinmeyer.
It's not, it's this one.

A.Saidy - R.Fischer Last round game. 1963/64 US Open

So leading by 4 points in the last round this position appears after 23 moves.

[pos]6k1/1p3ppp/p4n2/3p4/3P4/P7/1P3PPP/2B3K1 b - - 0 23[/pos]












How many of us would take the draw and think how we are going to spend the winnings?
Be honest?

Not Fischer.
He wanted to post his P.11 Won 11 for all to see.
That is what the guy was all about. Playing for a win regardless of what the
board or the tournament table said.

Getting a win from here v a strong player is difficult enough (way beyond most of us.)
But Fischer produced a mini-masterpiece.
The point we are making he had no need to, he was 4 Pts. clear in the last round and did this...

[pgn][FEN "6k1/1p3ppp/p4n2/3p4/3P4/P7/1P3PPP/2B3K1 b - - 0 23"]
23... Nd7 24. Kf1 Nf8 25. Ke2 Ne6 26. Kd3 h5 27. Be3 Kh7 28. f3 Kg6 29. a4 Kf5 30. Ke2 g5 31. Kf2 Nd8 32. Bd2 Kg6 33. Ke3 Ne6 34. Kd3 Kf5 35. Be3 f6 36. Ke2 Kg6 37. Kd3 f5 38. Ke2 f4 39. Bf2 Ng7 40. h3 Nf5 41. Kd3 g4 42. hxg4 hxg4 43. fxg4 Nh6 44. Be1 Nxg4 45. Bd2 Kf5 46. Be1 Nf6 47. Bh4 Nh5 48. Be1 Kg4 49. Ke2 Ng3+ 50. Kd3 Nf5 51. Bf2 Nh4 52. a5 Nxg2 53. Kc3 Kf3 54. Bg1 Ke2 55. Bh2 f3 56. Bg3 Ne3[/pgn]

[Craig Pritchett]

Good try, Geoff, er Keith!

But the Saidy game is surely a bit run of the mill (and the game as a whole was not really well-enough defended by Saidy).

If you want real Fischer all-round and especially endgame wizardry, I'd say go for Game 13 (Spassky-Fischer world championship). Yes, it's also in my book! This even had Botvinnik drooling (and he was one of the hardest guys ever to please) and I quote (from my book) "According to Botvinnik, Fischer's 'paradoxical solution' to his technical problems ... was his highest creative achievement ... Nothing similar had previously occurred in chess. Spassky was astounded and soon lost ... Smyslov found a draw for White, but would he have found it at the board, sitting opposite Fischer?"

Of course, choosing these "best" games is ultimately an impossible task. But since I've written a few recent Everyman books on the play of a number of these world champions, here's a few more thoughts on world champs I've platformed.

Browne-Smyslov, Las Palmas 1982. This is the unbelievable game in which, "as if charmed, Black's king and [light square] bishop float across an open board, on which rooks are in play, reaching two faraway white squares (a2 and b3), from which they wreak instant, game-winning havoc."

Kramnik-Anand, Gm 5, Bonn 2008. One of the two fantastic Meran Slav games in which Anand, powered by some of the most deeply conceived modern computer and large team of seconds opening prep (which didn't alone win either game), de facto settled the issue who was the true world champ in those still not fully unified title years.

Steinitz-Chigorin, Game 6,1892. This extraordinary d3 Spanish is so obviously far, far ahead of its time as to make anyone who has any sensitivity for the development of ideas in chess go completely weak at the knees.

Lasker-Capablanca, St Petersburg 1914. The famous Spanish Exchange with the e4, f4,f5 plan that at the time was not just an inspired choice but completely innovative and revolutionary.

You can take your choice between Botvinnik-Capablanca and Botvinnik-Alekhine, both 1938 AVRO. I'd probably give the Capa game the nod but both games are profoundly conceived and brilliant.

In my forthcoming book on Great Romantics, I include Adolf Anderssen, who was a de facto world champion before there was such a title. His "real" immortal or evergreen game was not those somewhat knockabout (if utterly beautiful) games v Kieseritzky or Dufresne in the early 1850s but his utterly sound, even more brilliant and far, far forward-looking 1862 demolition of Rosanes (White) with a Falkbeer Gambit (not the oft-quoted win against Rosanes's Kieseritzky Gambit in the same series of games they played that year, by the way, although that is also outstanding).

Enough!