Fischer Was Perfect, Others Weren’t

     Larry Evans once said Fischer’s weakness was overconfidence, stating that it "sometimes causes him to forget his opponents are also capable of finding good moves." Evans’ statement notwithstanding, the 1963/64 US Championship Bobby Fischer made a perfect score of 11-0. 

     Fischer’s first loss in a US Championship to Edmar Mednis had happened in the previous year’s tournament. Evans wrote that “Fischer plays about 50 per cent stronger with white than with black,” adding "It is hard to remember when he last lost with white." But, that’s exactly what happened in a long French Defense in his game against Mednis. 

     As a result of his defeat by Mednis, Fischer arrived at this championship determined not to let it happen again. This tournament was a strong one with only William Lombardy missing from the top rated players. 

 

     Fischer’s rating going in was FIDE 2702. For comparison, the other’s best ratings (either FIDE or national) were: Reshevsky 2621, Benko 2582, Evans 2602, and Robert Byrne 2550, Saidy 2490, Weinstein 2488, Bisguier 2499, Addison 2445, Mednis 2473, Donald Byrne 2434 and Steinmeyer 2425. 

Weinstein circa 1960

     Those ratings may not seem too high by today’s standards, but at the time most garden variety GMs were rated 2500-2600 with a few actually below that, so the championship did have some pretty strong players. Based on ratings though, Fischer was still in a class by himself and was expected to win the event, but what was not expected was the way he did it. 

     He had been studying for five or six hours a day according to friends and was well prepared in the openings as evidenced by his surprising Larry Evans with a King’s Gambit. 

     But, enough of Fischer...others were also playing and they produced some interesting games. Here’s one by Raymond Weinstein. I always liked his sharp style which he demonstrates in this game against Robert Byrne. Note that in this tournament Weinstein did not have a single draw! 

 

ChessBase

Raymond Weinstein–Robert Byrne1–0E9963/64 US Championship, New York1964Stockfish16

E99: King's Indian: Classical Main Line 1.d4 f6 2.c4 g6 3.c3 g7 4.e4 d6 5.e2 0-0 6.f3 e5 7.0-0 c6 8.d5 e7 9.e1 d7 10.f3 f5 11.g4 h5 This is very risky especially against a sharp tactician like Weinstein. Safer was the usual ``...Kh8 12.g5 The only chance that offers any hope of gaining an advantage. 12.gxf5± gxf5 13.d3 f4 is only equal. 12...h4 13.d3 f4 14.h1 It's white who has all the chances. f7 15.d2 15.c5 is even better. h8 16.b3 b6 17.cxd6 cxd6 18.a3 c5 19.xc5 bxc5 20.b4 White has the advantage and went on to win in Larsen,B-Tal,M Bled 1965 15.g1 is also promising. h8 16.f1 f8 17.f2 White is slightly better. Vrana,F (2369)-Skreno,V (2189) Banska Stiavnica 2006 15...h8 16.g1 g8 17.b4 Byrne has succeeded in defending himself on the K-side, so Weinstein seeks opportunities elsewhere. h5 18.c5 f8 18...xg5 This is not to be recommnded. 19.xg5 xg5 20.b5 gf6 21.xc7 b8 22.e6 h6 23.cxd6 h5 24.c3 g3+ 25.g1 25.hxg3 hxg3+ 26.g1 h2+ 27.f1 h1# 25...xe2+ 26.xe2 White's position is a winning one. g5 19.c1 d7 20.xf4 Nice! exf4 21.xf4 e7 22.d2 White's active position is excellent compensation for the N. h7 23.e3 h3 24.d3 f8 25.e2 f7 26.g3 e7 27.cxd6 Opening the way for the R to get into play. cxd6 28.c7 e8 29.xb7 White has 3Ps for the N, but more importantly he has a very active position. e5 30.f4 g7 31.xa7 xa7 32.xa7 f8 32...xg5 might work better. 33.b5 xe4 34.xe4 c8 but, here, too, white's advantage is significant. 33.b5 c8 34.b8 b7 35.xd6 there is simply no way black can avoid disaster with so many white Ps coming at him. f5 36.xf8 xf8 37.f3 d6 37...h4 offered a better defense. 38.g3 f5 39.f3 39.exf5 and white has fallen into a trap! xd5+ 40.g1 c5+ 41.f1 h1+ 42.g1 g2+ 43.xg2 hxg2+ 44.xg2 xh2 45.c6+ d8 46.f6+ d7 47.e6+ and white has to take a draw by continuous checks. 39...h4 40.xh3 c5 and at least black can make his opponent work for the point. 38.d4 c8 39.c3 b7 40.e6 h7 41.b6 Byrne resigned. All he can do is make meaningless moves. 1–0

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