Bobby Fischer Gets Upset

 

     There was some serious political news in 1960. On May 1st Francis Gary Powers, the pilot of an American U-2 spy plane, was shot down while flying though Soviet airspace. 

     The fallout over the incident resulted in the cancellation of the Paris Summit scheduled to discuss the ongoing situation in divided Germany, the possibility of an arms control or test ban treaty and the relaxation of tensions between the USSR and the United States.

     Powers was convicted of spying and sentenced to three years in prison and seven more of hard labor. In February, 1962, however, he and a detained American student were traded for a captured Soviet spy, Rudolf Abel. 

     But, that wasn't the worst news. On September 24, 1960, The Howdy Doody Show, a children's television program, aired for the last time after 13 years on the air. It had been canceled by the NBC network. 

     In other disheartening news Bobby Fischer stumbled a couple of times that year. In June of 1960, he was upset by Argentine IM Bernardo Wexler (1925-1988) in the Buenos Aires tournament which was the worst tournament result of Fischer's career. The story is that Larry Evans bought the services of a prostitute for Fischer and that accounted for his bad results. Fischer tied for 13-16th along with Wexler, Ludek Pachman and Borislav Ivkov.

     Wexler was an Argentinian master who was born to Jewish parents in Bucharest, Romania, and emigrated to Argentina at the age of seven. His chess career began after World War II. He retired as a court official and died in Buenos Aires. 

     That, however,  wasn't Fischer's worst defeat. The U.S. team at the Chess Olympiad in Leipzig, East Germany was made up of Fischer, William Lombardy, Robert Byrne, Arthur Bisguier, Nicolas Rossolimo and Raymond Weinstein. It was there that an engineer and unknown amateur player, Cesar Munoz (1929–2000) of Ecuador, beat Fischer, the last untitled player to do so.

[Event "Leipzig ol (Men) qual-D"] [Site "Leipzig GDR"] [Date "1960.10.18"] [Round "?"] [White "Robert Fischer"] [Black "Cesar Munoz"] [Result "0-1"] [ECO ""] [Annotator "Stockfish 14.1"] [PlyCount "72"] [EventDate "1960.??.??"] {Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack B77: Sicilian Dragon: Yugoslav Attack, 9 Bc4 sidelines} 1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 g6 {Although it is no longer popular among the top GMs, the Dragon remains one of the most attractive options for amateurs because of its aggressive nature and it allows black to fight for the initiative from the very start. Fischer played 6.Bc4} 6. Be3 Bg7 7. f3 O-O 8. Qd2 Nc6 9. Bc4 {GM John Emms stated: I can safely say that the Yugoslav Attack is the ultimate test of the Dragon. White quickly develops his queenside and castles long before turning his attentions to an all-out assault on the black king. To the untrained eye, this attack can look both awesome and unnerving. Bobby Fischer said, "I play 1 e4 and if we have a Ruy, the position would be balanced. I could never lose." But, then concerning the Sicilian he added "...then I play 6.Bc4 and I'm better. So what can He do?'"} a6 (9... Bd7 {The most popular move.} 10. O-O-O {Also good is 10.h4} Rc8 11. Bb3 Ne5 12. Kb1 a6 13. h4 h5 {Zhigalko,S (2675)-Mchedlishvili,M (2621)/ Tashkent 2014. In this sharp position white has a lot of options.}) 10. Bb3 Qa5 {In my database black has tried 8 different moves here, but none have been too successful. The text is seldom played, but it seems it is no better or worse than anything else.} (10... Na5 11. O-O-O b5 12. h4 Bd7 13. h5 b4 14. Nd5 Nxb3+ 15. Nxb3 Nxd5 16. exd5 {Black held on for a draw in Vogt,L (2460)-Enders,P (2430)/Kecskemet 1988}) 11. O-O-O Bd7 12. Kb1 Rac8 13. g4 Ne5 14. Bh6 {A rather routine move. 14.Nd5 was better.} (14. Nd5 Qd8 15. Nxf6+ Bxf6 16. g5 Bg7 17. h4 Nc4 18. Bxc4 Rxc4 19. h5 Qc7 20. Qh2 Rc8 21. hxg6 hxg6 22. Rd2 e5 23. Nb3 a5 24. a3 b5 25. Qf2 Rb8 26. Nc1 Ra4 27. c3 b4 28. cxb4 axb4 29. axb4 Rba8 30. b3 Ra1+ 31. Kb2 Qxc1+ 32. Rxc1 R8a2+ {0-1 Varnusz,E-Honfi,K/Budapest 1961}) 14... Nc4 15. Bxc4 {This is more or less forced.} (15. Qg5 Bxh6 16. Qxh6 Nxb2 17. Kxb2 Qxc3+ {and black is winning.}) 15... Rxc4 {This is a mistake, but both players were unaware of it. Both players fail to realize that at their turn it would be advantageous to exchange Bs because if black plays ...Bxh6 after Qxh6 white's Q turns out t be poorly placed.} (15... Bxh6 {Playing this first was mandatory because it keeps the chances about equal although black needs to play with caution.} 16. Qxh6 Rxc4 17. e5 (17. g5 Nh5 18. Nd5 Re8 19. Nb3 Qd8 20. Ne3 Rc8 21. Nd4 {also results in equality.}) 17... dxe5 18. Nb3 Qc7 19. g5 {followed by Nd5 with equal chances.}) 16. Nb3 (16. Bxg7 {leaves white with the advantage after} Kxg7 {White has two promising plans. He can try 17. Nb3 followed by g5 and d5 or he can play 17.g5 followed by e5. Either way, he has a promising position.}) 16... Qe5 (16... Bxh6 {was an interesting alternative, but after} 17. Nxa5 Bxd2 18. Nxc4 Bxc3 19. bxc3 {white is better.} ) 17. h4 {Up to this point Fischer's position has been promising, but after this black could have equalized by exchanging Bs.} (17. Bxg7 {Keeps the advantage after} Kxg7 18. g5 Nh5 19. Nd5 e6 20. Nb6 {with the better game.}) 17... Rfc8 (17... Bxh6 {equalizes.} 18. Qxh6 {The Q is not as well placed here as it looks!} Rfc8 19. Rd3 Bb5) 18. Bf4 {Again, exchanging Bs was better.} (18. Bxg7 Kxg7 19. Rhe1 {Now black's most promising continuation is to sacrifice the exchange.} Rxc3 20. bxc3 Be6 21. f4 Qxc3 22. Qxc3 Rxc3 23. g5 {with an unclear position, but in Shootouts white scored 5 wins although the endings involved were tricky.}) 18... Qe6 19. h5 b5 {Black has managed to equalize.} 20. hxg6 fxg6 21. Bh6 Bh8 {And here is where Fischer makes a losing blunder.} 22. e5 (22. Rc1 {This strange looking move was the best bet to save the position.} a5 23. Ne2 Qe5 24. Bf4 {Things gets fancy now although black could play 24...Qe6 and he would have had a solid position.} Nxe4 25. Bxe5 Nxd2+ 26. Nxd2 Bxe5 27. Nxc4 Rxc4 28. c3 {Engines give black a slight edge here, but here, too, in Shootouts white scored 5 draws.}) 22... b4 {After this black has a winning attack.} 23. exf6 (23. Ne2 {this shows why having a R on c1 guarding the P was important.} Rxc2 24. Qxc2 Rxc2 25. Kxc2 Qxe5 26. Ned4 Nd5 27. Rd2 { Black has a winning advantage.}) 23... bxc3 {The only move to keep the advantage.} 24. Qh2 Qxf6 25. Bg5 Qf7 26. Qe2 cxb2 27. Qxe7 Qxe7 28. Bxe7 { The remainder of the game is a mop up.} Rxc2 29. Rxd6 Ba4 30. Bg5 Rf2 31. Be3 Rxf3 32. Bd4 Bxb3 33. axb3 Bxd4 34. Rxd4 Rxb3 35. Rd2 Rcb8 36. Rd7 Ra3 { Fischer resigned. After 22...b4 Munoz's play was nearly flawless as he gave his opponent no chances.} 0-1