Taylor Kingston wrote:
On Oct 23, 2:34 am, "Richard Cavell" wrote:
help bot wrote:
Richard Cavell wrote:
http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1008419

R Byrne v Bobby Fischer

I can't see the winning combination. What's the winning line after
21... Qd7?

As white, I'd play 22. Qf2. What would you do as black?

The try 22.Qf2 loses to the simple move ...Q-h3+,
followed by a quick mate (23.Kg1 Re1+).

24. R (d1) x e1... where's the mate? I don't doubt that Qh3+ is a big
move but I don't see where the mate is.

Fischer did. In fact, he foresaw the devastating effect of the
Alekhine-style, quiet but deadly 21...Qd7 back before he made his 15th
or even 14th move. Amazing how much the top players see while we lesser
mortals strain to see our hand in front of our face. Even GMs couldn't
see it. On page 297 of Fischer's "My 60 Memorable Games," Byrne is
quoted as saying "The culminating combination is of such depth that,
even at the very moment at which I resigned, both grandmasters who were
commenting on the play for the spectators in a separate room believed
that I had a won game."


Who were these alleged grandmasters, and were they drunk
or just distracted?

Fischer gives one other variation: 22.Ndb5 Qh3+ 23.Kg1 Bh6 "and the
curtain comes down." He in fact hoped Byrne would play your suggested
22.Qf2, so that the full combination would be played out on the board.
He called Byrne's resignation "a bitter disappointment."


IMO, after seeing the simplicity of this opening variation,
their is certainly a chance that Fischer had prepared this
in advance. Imagine him playing over an obscure game
in Shakmatny where Ivan Nobody-vitch sprang this combo
on GM Hasbeen-ovic, then noting that Byrne sometimes
plays the same line.

When playing over the game, I had the feeling that
White's "plan" was flawed due to weaknesses on the
light squares; of course, I had no clue how to exploit
them so quickly. This is why I don't play that lousy
opening. Note how Black just copied White's moves,
with impunity. An opening should have some teeth to
it.

-- help bot