Fischer's poor result resulted in him howling about how the Soviet players colluded to prevent non-Soviets from winning. He alleged that the short draws Petrosian, Keres and Geller played against each other were prearranged. They were and his accusations resulted in FIDE changing the Candidates Tournament to a series of knockout matche.
Fischer was also involved in a dispute involving Pal Benko and the use of their second, Arthur Bisguier. The USCF didn’t have the money to furnish noth players with a second, so they had to share Bisguier.
Benko and Bisguier showed up at Fuscher’s hotel room hopong he would assist in analyzing Benko;s adjourned game against Petrosian, but Fischer had a hissy fit and refused to let Bisguier help Benko, arguing that since he was in a better position in the tournament, his games should take priority.
The result was a physical altercation when Benko refused to leave tFischer’s room. Fischer filed a formal protest with tournament officials, claiming Benko hit him. The way I heard it told was that Benko slapped him.
Fast forward to 1970. Benko gave his place in the 1970 Interzonal tournament to Fischer because Fischer was the best hope for winning the world championship. Benko had qualified from the U.S. Championship (Fischer did not participate), which was a zonal qualifier.
Getting back to this Benko vs. Fischer game played in the first round at Curacao, Benko opined that losing this game “had a very negative effect on Fischer and in the next round against Geller he lost again...When (the tournament was over) his great performances
(in other tournaments) were overshadowed...”
Benko opened with 1.g3 which is rarely seen in GM play, but he played it in every game until the round 23. Fischer had difficulty handling it and Benko got a space advantage, won a Pawn,
and despite his usual time trouble, he managed to secure a winning advantage. In annotating the game I found Benko’s comments very enlightening.
[Event "Curacao Candidates"]
[Site ""]
[Date "1962.05.02"]
[Round "1"]
[White "Pal Benko"]
[Black "Robert Fischer"]
[Result "1-0"]
[ECO "B07"]
[Annotator "Benko and Stockfish "]
[PlyCount "80"]
[EventDate "1962.05.02"]
{B07: Pirc Defense} 1. g3 {Benko like this move because it is flexible and
allows many opotunities for transposition. He bekeved that it could also "take
the opponent into positions that he's not completely familiar with." He warned
that it "demands sophisticated positional technique."} Nf6 2. Bg2 g6 3. e4 d6
4. d4 Bg7 5. Ne2 O-O 6. O-O e5 7. Nbc3 {Benko played this move (instead if 7.
c4) hoping to catch Fischer by surprise.} c6 {At the time white's setup was
fairly new and today the usual move is 7...Nc6 as suggested by Fischer after
the game.} 8. a4 {The purpose of this move is to prevent black from expanding
on the Q-side.} Nbd7 9. a5 {This gains space on the Q-side. In a later game
against Benko, Tal prvented it by playing 8...a5} exd4 {This is often seen in
the K-Indian. Black accepts a weak P on d6 with the hope of gaining activity
for his pieces. Benko explained that in this position the N on d7 doesn't have
permanent access to the key square c5 because white can always chase it away
by playing b2-b4. Benko also pointed out that black's d-Pawn is a serious
liability because black won't be able to generate any pressure against the P
on e4 because a black N on c5 would play a major role in attack ong it.} 10.
Nxd4 Nc5 (10... Re8 11. a6 Qc7 12. axb7 Bxb7 13. Nb3 a5 14. Re1 Ne5 {with even
chances. Gil Gonzales,J (2355)-Izeta Txabarri,F (2510) Spain 1993}) 11. h3 Re8
12. Re1 Nfd7 {Benko was critical of this move because it eases the pressure on
hisy e-Pawn, which allows him to develop his B to e3. Actually, black does not
have a very good success rate from this position and so the text move is
probably as good as any.} 13. Be3 Qc7 14. f4 Rb8 15. Qd2 b5 {Fischer is hoping
to get some play on the Q-side.} 16. axb6 axb6 17. b4 {"Forcing the c5 -Knight
away from its active perch." Benko} (17. e5 $1 $18 Bb7 18. Ra7) 17... Ne6 $16
18. b5 {Destroying the c6-pawn's guard over d5, and thus giving White's Knight
access to that very fine central post} Nxd4 19. Bxd4 Bxd4+ 20. Qxd4 c5 {
This is a poor move after which the weaknesses in his position, the lag in
development and weaknesses on d5 as a result of this move and his weak d-Pawn,
according to Benko, "guarantee his demise." Instead of this he should have
tried ...Bb7 and ...Nc5} 21. Qd2 $18 Bb7 22. Rad1 Re6 23. e5 {[%mdl 512]
Excellent! This wins material because blacks's P is pinned.} Bxg2 {With the
elimination of the Bs Fischer is hoping to get some plat on the light squares.}
24. Kxg2 Qb7+ 25. Kf2 Rd8 26. exd6 {Benko pointed out that even though he has
won a P, "the game isn't over since the Pawn is blocked and in need of support.
" Also, his K is exposed. He added this bit of wisdom, "Transforming a winning
position into the full point is often very difficult, and this game is yet
another reminder of this fact."} Nf6 27. Rxe6 fxe6 28. Qe3 Kf7 29. Qf3 Qb8 {
Trading Qs was just a bit better according to engines, but Benko observed that
after 29...Qxf3 "white's central K would become advantageously placed (an
exposed K is only bad if there are heavy pieces on the board that can scare it)
. Now white has to deal with his threatened d-Pawn," Instructive commentary!} (
29... Qa8 {was worth a try.} 30. Qc6 Qa3) 30. Ne4 Nxe4+ 31. Qxe4 {[%mdl 4096]
The fact that white has an extra P means he has a won game, but the ending
still requires great skill. The fact that Benko keeps the win in hand despite
his usual time ptrssure is impressive.} Rd7 32. Qc6 Qd8 33. Kf3 Kg7 34. g4 {
A terrific move that gains space on the K-side.} e5 {An aggressive bid for
some counterplay.} 35. fxe5 Rf7+ 36. Kg2 (36. Kg3 {was better. According to
Benko the move played allows Fischer. "to keep a certain amount of hope
smoldering in his chest.".} Qg5 37. Qe4 {and white's Ps assure the win.}) 36...
Qh4 37. Rf1 Rxf1 38. Kxf1 Qxh3+ 39. Qg2 Qe3 40. Qe2 Qh3+ {The games was
adjourned here and this was Fischer's sealed move, but he resigned without
resuming when he realized there wasn't a perpetual check. An instructive game
by Benko.} (40... Qh3+ 41. Kf2 Qh2+ 42. Kf3 Qh3+ (42... Qh1+ 43. Kf4 {Black is
out of checks.}) 43. Kf4 g5+ 44. Kf5 Qh6 45. Ke4 Qg6+ 46. Kd5 Qf7+ 47. e6 {
end of checks!}) 1-0
No comments:
Post a Comment