Fischer's favourite weapon against the Classical variation of the Sicilian, 1.e4 d6 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 Nc6, was the Sozin, 6.Bc4.
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| Starting position of the Sicilian Sozin |
Black blocks the white light-square bishop with 6...e6
7.Bb3
More popular today is 7.Be3, but the text was Fischer's usual response and the lines often transpose. The position is identical to ones he reached against the Najdorf, except Black has played ...Nc6 rather than ...a6.
7...Be7 8.Be3 0-0 9.0-0
Fischer usually preferred this to the commoner 9.Qe2, which is often played with the intention of castling long. After the text we come to a major parting of the ways.
A)
9...a6 10.f4 Nxd4
An exchanging manoeuvre we have seen before. Black swops off a piece that could assist White's kingside attack.
11.Bxd4 b5 12.a3!?
Fischer played this novelty (at least it is the first time it appears in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database) against Spassky in game four of their 1972 re-match.
The mainline continuation is 12.e5 dxe5 13.fxe5 Nd7 14.Ne4 Bb7 15.Nd6 Bxd6 (15...Qc7!?) 16.exd6 Qg5!? 17.Qe2 (17.Rf2 is also popular) e5, and now 18.Bc3 Qg6 19.Rad1 was slightly better for White in Nigel Short (2655) - Garry Kasparov (2805), World Championship Game 14 (London) 1993, although the game was drawn in 39 moves.
12...Bb7 13.Qd3 a5!? 14.e5 dxe5 15.fxe5 Nd7 16.Nxb5 Nc5
White has sacrificed a pawn for the bishop-pair and active piece-play. Fischer now played 17.Bxc5, but after 17...Bxc5+ 18.Kh1 Qg5 Spassky had plenty of compensation and the game was drawn in 45 moves.
A possible improvement came in Konstantinos Moutousis (2330) - Vladimir Tukmakov (2565), European Team Championship (Haifa, Israel) 1989, which saw 17.Qe3!? Nxb3 18.Qxb3 a4 19.Qd3 Qd5 20.Rf2 Rfd8 21.Rd1, although that too ended in a draw (in 64 moves).
Perhaps White's best chance for an edge is to play the mainline e5 at move 12.
B)
9...Bd7 10.f4 Nxd4
Again this knight-exchange is Black's normal continuation.
11.Bxd4 Bc6 12.Qe2 b5!?
This pawn thrust was very topical in the 1950s and 1960s and is still the main line today.
13.Nxb5 Bxb5 14.Qxb5 Nxe4 15.f5 Bf6 16.Qd3 Bxd4
Fischer - Raymond Weinstein, US Championship (New York) 1958, saw 16...d5 17.Bxf6 Nxf6 with a level game (but 1-0, 58 moves).
Fischer twice faced the text during a 1964 simul tour. After ...
17.Qxd4 d5
... my main analysis engines, Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01, reckon White can gain a substantial advantage with 18.fxe6 fxe6 19.Rxf8+ Kxf8 (19...Qxf8?! 20.Bxd5!) 20.c4.
All in all, 9...Bd7 seems a tough nut to crack. A possible improvement is 16.Bxf6!? Qxf6 17.Rad1 Qg5 18.Qe2, which was played in Konstantinos Klokas (2219) - Bartłomiej Heberla (2513), European Championship (Dresden) 2007. Komodo11.01 reckons White is better, and Klokas did go on to win in 33 moves, but Stockfish12 rates the position as level, and the win had little to do with the opening.
C)
9...Na5!?
As always in Bc4 lines, playing to exchange the bishop is an option, but here it is generally thought to take too much time.
10.f4 b6
The main move, but 10...Nxb3 11.axb3 a6 is a popular alternative, when the main line runs 12.Qf3 Qc7 13.g4 with a dangerous attack.
11.e5 Ne8 12.f5!? dxe5 13.fxe6 Nxb3
This is the most-popular move in Mega20, but the engines reckon a major improvement is 13...fxe6!? 14.Rxf8+ Bxf8 15.Bxe6+ Bxe6 16.Nxe6 Qxd1+ 17.Rxd1 with only a small edge for White.
14.Nc6! Qd6 15.Qxd6 Bxd6 16.axb3 Bxe6 17.Na7 Rb8
White is much better, according to the engines, but went on to lose in 45 moves in Fischer- Viktor Korchnoi, Candidates (Curaçao, Dutch Antilles) 1962.
Black develops the queen with 6...Qb6
Playing ...e6 is automatic for some Sicilian players when faced with Bc4, but ...Qb6 is a popular alternative.
7.Nxc6!?
Fischer beat Pal Benko in 1959 with 7.Nde2 and beat Anthony Saidy in 1966 with 7.Nb3, but by 1971 he was apparently convinced the text, which avoids losing a development tempo, is best. For what it is worth, Stockfish12 agrees but Komodo11.01 prefers the mainline 7.Nb3.
7...bxc6
Mega20 has one game that went 7...Qxc6?? 8.Bb5 1-0.
8.0-0 e6 9.Bf4!?
The main move is 9.Qe2. The text, which seems to have been a novelty, was played by Fischer in a Manhattan Chess Club blitz game against Robert Byrne.
9...Qxb2!?
A brave decision. The engines reckon 9...Ba6 is safer, but slightly better for White.
10.Qd3 Qb4
Later games saw 10...e5!?, but then 11.Rab1 Qa3 12.Rb3 gives White very strong play.
11.Rab1 Qc5 12.Rfd1 e5
The engines prefer 12...Ng4 or 12...d5, but in each case with advantage to White.
13.Bg5 Be7 14.Bxf6 gxf6
White has very good compensation for a pawn, and Fischer went on to win in 26 moves. Although Fischer did not play it, the engines point out White can immediately get a big advantage with 15.Nd5! since 15...cxd5 runs into 16.Bxd5.
Black prepares to fianchetto the king's bishop with 6...g6?!
There are 1,136 examples of this move in Mega20, but White can immediately cause Black serious problems.
7.Nxc6 bxc6 8.e5 Ng4
Fischer faced 8...Nd7 in a 1964 simul, quickly getting a large advantage with 9.exd6 exd6 10.0-0 d5?! 11.Nxd5 etc.
Also good for White is 8...d5 9.exf6 dxc4 10.Qf3, and even better is 8...dxe5? 9.Bxf7+! Kxf7 10.Qxd8.
9.exd6!
The more-popular 9.e6?! is much less clear after 9...f5.
9...Qxd6 10.Qxd6 exd6
Now 11.0-0 and 11.Bf4 are roughly equally popular, and both give White good play.
Black develops with 6...Bd7
7.Bb3 g6
Fianchettoing after ...Bd7 is the main move, but Fischer also faced 7...e6 8.0-0 Be7 9.Be3 0-0 10.f4, which transposes to line B) in Black blocks the white light-square bishop with 6...e6.
8.f3 Na5!?
Fischer faced this move in 1959 (Candidates') and 1960 (Mar del Plata), winning both times.
The main line today runs 8...Nxd4 9.Qxd4 Bg7 10.Be3 0-0, when best might be the engines' 11.Qd3!? as the normal objection to this, the tempo-gaining manoeuvre ...Nd7-c5, does not apply here as Black, if wanting to play this, has to spend a tempo moving the light-square bishop. However, the normal 11.Qd2 may also be enough for a small edge.
9.Bg5 Bg7 10.Qd2 h6 11.Be3 Rc8 12.0-0-0 Nc4 13.Qe2
The engines claim a large advantage for White after 13.Bxc4!? Rxc4 14.Kb1, but the position seems unclear.
13...Nxe3 14.Qxe3
Fischer - Svetozar Gligorić, Candidates' (Yugoslavia) 1959, continued 14...0-0 15.g4 Qa5 16.h4 with an initiative (1-0, 32 moves).
Fischer - Luis Marini, Mar del Plata (Argentina) 1960, saw 14...Qb6 15.Qd2 Qc5 16.f4 h5 17.Nf3 Bh6?! (17...0-0 may be better, but probably still good for White) 18.e5, again with an initiative (1-0, 35 moves).
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