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! 

 

[Event "63/64 US Championship, New York"] [Site ""] [Date "1964.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Raymond Weinstein"] [Black "Robert Byrne"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "E99"] [Annotator "Stockfish16"] [PlyCount "81"] [EventDate "1963.??.??"] {E99: King's Indian: Classical Main Line} 1. d4 Nf6 2. c4 g6 3. Nc3 Bg7 4. e4 d6 5. Be2 O-O 6. Nf3 e5 7. O-O Nc6 8. d5 Ne7 9. Ne1 Nd7 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 $16 gxf5 13. Nd3 f4 {is only equal.}) 12... h4 13. Nd3 f4 14. Kh1 {It's white who has all the chances.} Kf7 15. Bd2 (15. c5 { is even better.} Rh8 16. Qb3 b6 17. cxd6 cxd6 18. Qa3 Nc5 19. Nxc5 bxc5 20. b4 {White has the advantage and went on to win in Larsen,B-Tal,M Bled 1965}) (15. Rg1 {is also promising.} Rh8 16. Bf1 Nf8 17. Nf2 {White is slightly better. Vrana,F (2369)-Skreno,V (2189) Banska Stiavnica 2006}) 15... Rh8 16. Rg1 Ng8 17. b4 {Byrne has succeeded in defending himself on the K-side, so Weinstein seeks opportunities elsewhere.} Rh5 18. c5 Nf8 (18... Rxg5 {This is not to be recommnded.} 19. Rxg5 Qxg5 20. Nb5 Ngf6 21. Nxc7 Rb8 22. Ne6 Qh6 23. cxd6 Nh5 24. Bc3 Ng3+ 25. Kg1 (25. hxg3 hxg3+ 26. Kg1 Qh2+ 27. Kf1 Qh1#) 25... Nxe2+ 26. Qxe2 {White's position is a winning one.} g5) 19. Rc1 Bd7 20. Nxf4 {[%mdl 512] Nice!} exf4 21. Bxf4 Qe7 22. Qd2 {[%mdl 1024] White's active position is excellent compensation for the N.} Nh7 23. Be3 h3 24. Bd3 Kf8 25. Ne2 Qf7 26. Rg3 Ne7 27. cxd6 {Opening the way for the R to get into play.} cxd6 28. Rc7 Ke8 29. Rxb7 {White has 3Ps for the N, but more importantly he has a very active position.} Be5 30. f4 Bg7 31. Rxa7 Rxa7 32. Bxa7 Nf8 (32... Nxg5 {might work better.} 33. b5 Nxe4 34. Bxe4 Bc8 {but, here, too, white's advantage is significant.}) 33. b5 Bc8 34. Bb8 Bb7 35. Bxd6 {there is simply no way black can avoid disaster with so many white Ps coming at him.} Nf5 36. Bxf8 Bxf8 37. Rf3 Nd6 (37... Nh4 {offered a better defense.} 38. Rg3 Nf5 39. Rf3 (39. exf5 { and white has fallen into a trap!} Qxd5+ 40. Kg1 Bc5+ 41. Kf1 Qh1+ 42. Ng1 Bg2+ 43. Rxg2 hxg2+ 44. Qxg2 Rxh2 45. Qc6+ Kd8 46. Qf6+ Kd7 47. Qe6+ {and white has to take a draw by continuous checks.}) 39... Nh4 40. Rxh3 Bc5 {and at least black can make his opponent work for the point.}) 38. Nd4 Bc8 39. Qc3 Bb7 40. Ne6 Rh7 41. b6 {Byrne resigned. All he can do is make meaningless moves.} 1-0