Fischer always met 1.e4 c5 2.Nf3 d6 3.d4 cxd4 4.Nxd4 Nf6 5.Nc3 g6 with the main move 6.Be3, to which Black nearly always replies 6...Bg7 (the tempting, to the uninitiated, 6...Ng4? loses substantial material to 7.Bb5+, eg 7...Nc6 8.Nxc6 bxc6 9.Bxc6+ etc or 7...Bd7 8.Qxg4).
Games usually continue 7.f3 Nc6 8.Qd2 0-0 (the precise order of Black's moves can vary) and Fischer always played 9.Bc4, reaching a main Sicilian tabiya.
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| There are more than 22,000 games with this position in ChessBase's 2020 Mega database |
Black plays 9...Bd7
This is easily the most-popular move in Mega20.White usually replies 10.0-0-0, but Fischer had other ideas and played 10.h4!?
A) 10...Rc8 11.Bb3 Qa5!? (the main line today runs 11...h5 12.0-0-0 Ne5 13.Bg5 Rc5 14.Kb1 b5 15.g4 with a position from which White has scored heavily, although my main analysis engines Stockfish12 and Komodo11.01 reckon the position is unclear) 12.0-0-0 Nh5?! (the main line goes 12...Ne5 13.Kb1 Nc4 14.Bxc4 Rxc4 15.Nb3 with what the engines reckon is a very good position for White) 13.g4 Nxd4 14.Bxd4 Bxd4 15.Qxd4. White had a large advantage in Fischer - Heinz Matthai, Canadian Open (Montreal) 1956 (but ½–½, 108 moves).
B) 10...a6!? (a little-played move that is quite liked by the engines) 11.Bb3 Na5 12.Bh6 e5 13.Nde2 Nxb3 14.axb3 Bxh6 15.Qxh6 with a large advantage for White in Fischer - Tibor Weinberger, North Central Open (Milwaukee) 1957 (1-0, 35 moves) and subsequent games.
C) 10...h5. This was not faced by Fischer but has been played by Carlsen and Kasparov. The main line continues 11.0-0-0 Rc8 when 12.Bb3 transposes to the first note in A), but the engines like the little-seen 12.Nxc6!? Bxc6 13.Bb3 with an edge for White.
Black plays 9...Nd7!?
This anticipation of long castling by White is Black's second-most popular move in Mega20.
Fischer accepted the challenge with 10.0-0-0 Nb6 11.Bb3 Na5 12.Qd3 Bd7 13.h4 Rc8 14.h5 Nbc4 15.hxg6 in Fischer - Sharav Purevzhav, Olympiad (Varna, Bulgaria) 1962. This is still the main line today.
A) 15...hxg6?! (this has been played by strong grandmasters, but is probably a mistake) 16.Bg5!? (the engines reckon this is even stronger than the more-popular 16.Bh6) Nxb3+ 17.cxb3! Qa5 18.Bxe7 (if 18.bxc4?! then 18...Qxg5+) Ne5 19.Qc2 with a winning advantage, according to the engines, as in Tom Wedberg - Gennadi Sosonko, Haninge (Sweden) 1988, and other games. They suggest Black can slightly improve with 17...Ne5 18.Qd2 f6 but reckon White has a winning attack anyway after 19.Bh6 Nf7 20.Be3.
B) 15...fxg6 16.Bg5 Nxb3 17.cxb3! Ne5 18.Qd2 Nf7 19.Be3. This line is not so very different from the last line in A). Stockfish12 reckons White is again close to winning, but Komodo11.01 rates White's edge as quite a bit smaller.
Black plays 9...a6
This was popular in Fischer's day but has fallen from favour. The main reply is 10.0-0-0.
A) 10...Qc7 (this is still Black's commonest move) 11.Bb3 b5? (this popular move already loses: the engines prefer the mainline 11...Na5 12.h4 Nxb3+ 13.axb3 but reckon White is much better) 12.Nxc6 Qxc6 13.Nd5! with a winning advantage in Fischer - Edward Stepans*, US Open (Cleveland) 1957 (1-0, 25 moves) and other games.
B) 10...Ne5 11.Bb3 b5 12.h4 gave White the better game - much better, according to Stockfish12 - in Fischer - TC Hartwell, Simul (Ogden, Utah) 1964 (1-0, 42 moves).
C) 10...Bd7. This quiet developing move, second in popularity to 10...Qc7, was not faced by Fischer. The main line runs 11.h4 b5 12.Bb3 Na5 13.h5 Nxb3+ 14.axb3, which the engines reckon is good for White (positionally winning, according to Stockfish12).
Black plays 9...Nxd4
An exchange of knights on d4 is a common motif in the Sicilian, where Black has less space in which to find good places for his pieces.
After 10.Bxd4 the main idea is to develop the queen's bishop, viz 10...Be6, and so immediately challenge what can be thought of as White's Fischer bishop.
Fischer only faced this line once, but it was in an important game.
Fischer - Bent Larsen
Interzonal (Portorož, Yugoslavia) 1958
11.Bb3
Dropping the bishop back, rather than exchanging on e6, is still the main line today.
11...Qa5 12.0-0-0 b5!?
The engines prefer this to the more-popular 12...Rfc8.
13.Kb1 b4 14.Nd5!
An improvement over 14.Ne2 Bxb3 15.cxb3 Rfd8 with approximate equality in Vasily Panov - Alexey Suetin, USSR U21 Semi-Finals (Vilnius) 1953 (½–½, 24 moves).
14...Bxd5
White has the upper hand after 14...Nxd5?! 15.Bxg7 Nc3+ 16.bxc3 Kxg7 17.cxb4.
15.Bxd5!?
This might not be best. Fischer may have feared his light-square bishop would become something of a dead piece after 15.exd5, but later games, including Tal - Larsen, Zürich 1959, suggest this is not the case.
15...Rac8!?
Most later games continued 15...Nxd5 16.Bxg7 Nc3+ 17.Bxc3 bxc3 18.Qxc3 Qxc3 19.bxc3, when White's extra pawn is largely meaningless.
16.Bb3 Rc7 17.h4 Qb5
As often happens in Sicilians with opposite-side castling, the game becomes a race to get at the opponent's king.
18.h5! Rfc8
Not 18...Nxh5?? 19.Bxg7 Kxg7 20.g4 etc.
19.hxg6 hxg6 20.g4 a5 21.g5 Nh5
Not 21...Ne8?? 22.Bxg7 Nxg7 23.Rh6 etc.
22.Rxh5!
Sacing the exchange in this way has become routine in the Sicilian, but it still needs to be precisely calculated.
22...gxh5?
Black is busted after this.
The engines give best-play as 22...Bxd4 23.Rh6 Bg7 24.Qf4! Bxh6 25.Qxf7+ Kh8 26.gxh6 Qe5 27.Qxg6, when White's two pawns and safer king seem to give more than enough compensation for the exchange.
In this line Black can offer a counter exchange-sac with 24...Rc4!? but it seems to fail to 25.Bxc4 Rxc4 26.Rh7!! Qc5 (best, according to the engines, as 26...Kxh7?? loses to 27.Qxf7 and 28.Rh1+ ) 27.Qh2 (not 27.Rh2?? Be5) Qxg5 28.b3, when Black does not have enough compensation.
23.g6 e5 24.gxf7+ Kf8 25.Bde3 d5
This is best, but hopeless, according to the engines. The point is that defending the d pawn by 25...Rc6 runs into 26.Bh6 with a huge attack against the black king.
The game finished:
26.exd5 Rxf7 27.d6 Rf6 28.Bg5 Qb7 29.Bxf6 Bxf6 30.d7 Rd8 31.Qd6+ 1-0
Black plays 9...a5!?
This speciality of Donald Byrne is still occasionally seen at elite levels. The main idea is to accelerate Black's queenside counterplay, but there is also a trap White can easily fall into.
10.h4 Ne5 11.Be2
Not 11.Bb3? a4! 12.Bxa4 (or 12.Nxa4?! Rxa4! 13.Bxa4 Nc4 14.Qc3 Nxe3 15.Qxe3 Qa5+ 16.c3 Qa4, when Black has won two bishops for rook and pawn) Nc4 13.Qc1 d5, when Black has great play for a pawn.
11...d5
This position was reached in several games, including Fischer - Donald Byrne, Western Open (Bay City, Michigan) 1963. That game continued 12.Bf4?! Nc4? 13.Bxc4 dxc4 14.0-0-0, when White was much better, according to the engines, and went on to win. However 12...Nc6 seems a big improvement.
The engines much prefer 12.exd5 Nxd5 13.0-0-0 with advantage to White, but Black is still in the game.
*Sometimes given, for example in Mega20, as Stephans.
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