Express and News San Antonio, Texas Sunday, January 11, 1959
Championship Chess
Once more we draw upon the games from the Portoroz Zonal Tournament. Here is a short but ferocious encounter abounding in tactical profundity, which strikes a weird imbalance in material and position and leaves the reader “up in the air.”
This is the one draw game of this tournament which ends so speculatively as to cause the reader consternation regarding its outcome. If the game had been continued there is no doubt in my mind someone would have won.
The final position is uneven, almost ragged, or, as the British say, “sticky.” Both players must have been short of time with little desire to pursue the complexities they had created.
Yuri Averbakh vs Robert James Fischer
Portoroz Interzonal (1958), Portoroz SLO, rd 7, Aug-15
King's Indian Defense: Averbakh Variation. Flexible Defense (E73) 1/2-1/2
(a) The King's Indian Defense is well known to Fischer and only against Benko did he mishandle it.
(b) A quasi-sacrifice — 8. PxP QR4 9. PxP, NxP; 10. PxP, R-K1, and black will win back one of the two pawns he is down and create pressure on whites QB3
(c) Avoiding this interesting line of play(illegible) B.
(d) Guaranteeing black a half-open King file. (By “half-open” we mean that the file is clear of black pawns, and black's pieces may operate fully against white pawns or pieces laying along the file. An open file, then, is one which is void of all pawns.)
(e) A quiet move — seemingly!
(f) Barrelling down the open King file.
(g) See note e. white's 9th move prevented the black QB from pinning on N5 and also paved the way for this thrust, ususally premature at this stage.
(h) A retreat would precipitate Q-Q2 and O-O-O and a King side storming by white.
(i) Second gear. Black's 7 … P-QB4 produced the first tactical twist. White sidestepped this, but by his 12th and 13th moves, forced the game into new combinative channels. Here there is no immediate tactic, but white contemplates something like this: 14. P-KR4 P-N5. Then on 15 … PxP, 16. PxP Knight moves; 17. NxB, RxN; 18. B-Q3, Rook moves; 19. Q-Q2; 20. O-O-O and seizure of the open KR file with mating threats. This seems a very distant plan, but actually black's 15th, 16th, 17th and 18th moves would be more or less forced so that achievement is only 4-5 moves away. Therefore, a slow reaction by black on the Queenside would be fatal.
(j) A theme with variations — the semi sacrifice again. 16. BPxP, PxP, 17. NxP, NxQP(illegible); 18. NxQP, NxB1; 19. PxN, QxP ch.
(k) Now necessary.
(l) To relieve the pin which would allow RxB.
(m) There is no quick way to win back the piece, but there are many interesting forceful continuations. 21. P-KB4-B5 or 21. … Q-B3; 22. … P-KR4-B5 or 21. … Q-B3; 22. … P-KR4-5; doubling rooks on the king file 21 … QR-K1; 22. RxP?, Q-B3!— or 22. … RxB. A fascinating game.
This position was reached in the Fischer-Szabo game. Black has temporarily given up a piece but will now win it back and have a healthy pawn to boot. Fischer no pushover as we have seen, has things well in hand. … draw agreed.
