Fischer only faced it once, and that was in a simul, but it is still surprising he could not win.
Indeed, towards the end of the game, Black had an edge.
Fischer - Robert McGregor
Houston simul 1964
1.e4 e5 2.Nf3 f6?
This game was played during an exhibition tour Fischer took across the United States after winning the 1963-64 US championship with a score of +11=0-0.
3.Nxe5 Qe7
Hopeless is 3...fxe5? 4.Qh5+ g6 (or 5...Ke7 6.Qxe5+ Kf7 7.Bc4+) 5.Qxe5+ etc.
4.Nf3 d5 5.d3 dxe4 6.dxe4 Qxe4+ 7.Be2 Bf5
Emanuel Schiffers - Mikhail Chigorin, match 1897, saw 7...Nc6 8.0-0 Bd7 9.Nc3 with an edge for White.
8.Nd4 Nc6 9.Nxf5 Qxf5 10.0-0 Bd6 11.Bg4 Qb5 12.Nc3 Qc4?
This loses a tempo compared with 12...Qa5 13.Re1+ Nge7 14.Be6.
13.Be2?
Much better was 13.Re1+ Nge7 14.Be6, when Black's king is stuck in the centre.
13...Qf7 14.Bb5 0-0-0
Black threatens to win the white queen with …Bxh2+.
15.Qg4
Saving the queen but giving Black a tempo for a kingside pawn-storm.
15...f5 16.Qh3 Nge7 17.Ne4 h6 18.Nxd6+ Rxd6 19.Bf4 Rd4 20.Be3 Rb4!?
Pawn-grabbing against Fischer is a brave decision, but the threat to win a pawn works out well for Black.
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| How should Fischer meet the threats to his light-square bishop and b pawn? |
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21.Bxc6?!
Better seems to be 21.a4, as given by Stockfish10 and Komodo10, and if 21...Rxb2, then 22.Bc5!, eg 22...Rxc2 23.Bxe7 Nxe7 24.Qd3, when Black has to give up the exchange with 24...Rc6 as 24...Rc5 runs into 25.Qd7+ Kb8 26.Rae1, winning the knight.
21...Nxc6 22.b3 Re4 23.Rfd1 Rd8 24.Rxd8+ Nxd8 25.Rd1 Qe6 26.g3?!
Probably better was 26.Qf3 or 26.Kf1 as the text weakens the white king's position.
26...Rxe3?! ½–½
Black's last forced a draw (27.fxe3 Qxe3+ 28.Kf1 Qf3+ 29.Ke1 Qe3+ etc) but the engines reckon Black has a comfortable edge after 26...Nc6 or 26...g5.
I read somewhere that 2. ...f6, when played in a simul, should never be adorned with a "?". The rationale being that the simul giver will assume their opponent is the worst kind of rabbit and won't give that game any serious thought until it is too late ... and it seems to have worked here! Martyn
ReplyDeleteHa! I am fairly sure I have read that McGregor was a decent club player, and played Damiano's defence precisely for the reason you give, but can no longer find the reference. It almost tempts me to give the defence an outing in a serious game … but unfortunately a simple move such as 3.Bc4 or 3.Nf3 might be even better than 3.Nxe5.
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