game#1:W. Whisler – Bobby Fischer

W Whisler vs Robert James Fischer
Lincoln ch-US jr 1955 ·
King’s Indian, Samisch (E81) · 1/2-1/2

1. d4

white advances a pawn to the center, opens for the dark-squared bishop, the queen, the knight.

1. ..Nf6

black develops a piece towards the center, preventing white from playing (2.e4 immediately)
2. c4
White finds a different way to have pawns at the center. His pawns can now capture anything that comes to b5, c5, d5, and e5. At the beginning of the game, players usually fight for space.
2. ..g6
Black is going to fight for the center indirectly. Not that if the Bishop comes to g7, and the Knight moves, the Bishop “attacks” f6, e5, d4 all the way to a1.
3. Nc3
White develops a piece towards the center. He strengths the “attack” on b5 and d5. The Knight also attacks controls e4. Thus, White can play pawn e2-e4, something he could not do before.
3. .. Bg7
As previously explained, the Bishop indirectly attacks the centers and the whole diagonal to A1. The squares between the Black King and the White King have been have been cleared. Black is ready to castle. Castling usually tucks the King away to safety and brings the Rook into play.
4. e4
White has advanced 3 of his 4 central pawns. He is now threatening to play e5 in which case the Black Knight would be forced to run away. It is advisable that you should not waste time in the opening stages of the game by moving a piece more than once before other pieces have moved. Should Black, Fischer, castle or prevent the advance of the pawn?

4. ..d6
Fischer decides to “stop” the pawn from advancing. Of course, White can continue with e5 attacking the Knight, but after Black takes the pawn,5… dxe5,6. dxe5 QxQ+, 7.KxQ Ng4, Black has a much better game.
5. f3
White supports the pawn on e4 thus freeing the knight on c3 for other duties, prevents Bc8-g4 (if he had played 5.f4 instead), gives himself the option of playing g4 without worrying that the pawn will be captured. Since Black may castle kingside, White is serving him a notice with this move that he can storm the protection around the Black King with his pawns. Of course, this could leave White vulnerable to attack himself.
5. ..O-O
Black tucks away his King. Notice the difference in piece development between Black and White. White has more space, but he has developed just one piece. Black has less space, but he has developed 4 pieces. I would say that the piece development compensates for the lack of space. I should point out that nothing is permanent yet.
6. Bg5
White has started bringing out his pieces. He could have put the Bishop on e3, but he decides to attack Black’s Knight. He could exchange the Bishop for the Knight, thus reducing the difference between the developed pieces between Black and himself. I think that the reason for this move is to clear the Queenside so that He can castle long (0-0-0), with his King on the Queenside, White can advance his Kingside pawns to attack Black’s King.
6. ..Nbd7
This move looks cumbersome since it blocks the Queen and the Bishop. However, it prevents white from playing e5. In addition, Black is ready to play e5 or c5 himself to break White’s hold on the center. The Knight can get out of the way anytime, so the blockage will last as long as Black wants it to.
7. Qd2
White clears the way so the way so that he can castle. He is also ‘threatening’ to play Bishop to h6 to exchange Bishops, thus eliminating one of the King’s defenders. He would then advance his h-pawn to clear the way for the Rook to join the attack.
7. .. e5
Black cannot sit and watch. He has to contest the center and divert White’s gaze from the Black King.
8. d5
White decides to lock the center so that he can focus on the Kingside attack. Locking the center also delays Black’s counter-attack on the White King if and when he castles.
8. .. a5
Again, Black has to fight on the other flank. Like White on move 5, Black is saving notice that if White castles, he is ready to go after him on the Queenside. White cannot completely ignore what Black is doing. Any disturbance to your opponent’s plans works to your advantage, at least temporarily.

9. h4
White decides to delay castling. He may be safer in the center since the center is blocked. He decides to go on with his attack. This has two advantages. He may be the first one to give Checkmate! (I cannot see it yet!) The second reason is that Black has to stop and look at what’s happening around his King! Should Black bring more defenders?

9. ..Nc5

Black gets the knight out of the Bishop’s way. The Bishop may be needed to defend the King. The defense of the King may come several ways: Bishop to d7 and then e8, or if need be Bishop being sacrificed for a pawn or 2 pawns on g4 (it is not uncommon to sacrifice a piece to protect the King), or if the Knight on g1 wants to join the attack via h3, the Bishop can capture it. Notice that the Knight has gone to c5 where it is also attacking the pawn on e4. The pawn seems to be well-defended at the moment, but for White to carry out his plans, be may have to weaken the defense of that pawn. The Knights can go for that pawn in order to weaken White’s kingside attack. These are just possible considerations.
10. Nge2
The knight is going to join the attack via e2. You see where it is headed? I wonder why White did not play an immediate h5. If Black plays g6xh5, White can play Rxh5. I am not sure if Black should take the Rook with the Knight – exchanging the Queen for the Bishop and Rook. Like I said, it is not uncommon for “sacrifices” or exchanges like this to be made in order to defend a tough position. The imbalance that results from such exchanges helps the weaker side create some counter-play or just to diffuse the attack and play for a draw.
10. .. Bd7
The Bishop makes a “developing” move, clearing the way for the major pieces to come into play. However, the main reason is to create some room for the Queen to get out of the pin that Bg5 has on the Knight on f6. In addition, The Queen-Bishop “Battery” is a common theme in Chess; Queen in front to give Checkmate, or Queen behind the Bishop to take a pawn or a piece. The Bishop also supports Na4, a move that could be necessary to get rid of the Knight on c3 and weaken the cover on e4.
11. Ng3
The Knight is going to join the attack. It is going to support the pawn advance to h5. As previously stated, I would have played h5 and lived with the consequences.
11. ..h5
Black has to play this move to prevent h5. Note that the exchange of the Queen for Rook and Bishop is no longer possible. If White was allowed to play h5, black cannot take the pawn as White would take with the Knight. He could follow that with g4 and Qh2.
12. Be2
A developing move, but it also supports the potential pawn advance to q4 without worry about a piece sacrifice. It also clears the way for the Queenside Rook if and when White castles long.
12. .. Qc8
This move frees Knight from the pin. The Knight is free to move without exposing the Queen to danger. The Queen supports the Bishop from behind in case the Bishop needs to go for a walk in dangerous waters

13. Bh6
Since the Black Queen has moved, there is no reason for the Bishop to stay where it was. He wants to exchange Bishops. Of course it would be a bad idea for Black to take the White Bishop as this would put White’s Queen in a very dangerous position.
13… Kh7
Black forces White to make a decision on what he wants to do with the Bishop. The White Bishop on h6 is doubly-attacked by the Bishop and the King.
14. Bxg7
There was nowhere else to put the Bishop without having a cramped position. May be e3 to exchange the Bishop for the Knight and create doubled pawns for Black; the Black Bishop would come into the game forcefully through h6 after that exchange.
14… Kxg7
Of course, he has to take back.
15. Rf1
I do not understand this move. He probably wanted to play f4 and if Black takes the pawn, he would capture with the Queen and he would have two pieces attacking the Knight? But those moves are not forced or guaranteed. The Knight can just move away. May be I could have castled here.
15… Qd8
The Bishop has disappeared, no more pins, the Queen is back to its original square. It is also attacking the pawn on h4, if and when the Knight on f6 moves, taking advantage of the weakness created by Rook f1 earlier.
16. O-O-O
White castles to put the King to safety and also bring the Queen’s Rook into the game. I think it would have more effective to castle on move 15 and then play the Rd1-f1.
16… Ne8
This Knight move opens the diagonal for Queen to attack the pawn on h4. It also opens the f-file for a pawn move like f5, fighting for the center and bringing the Rook into the game. I would have played Nh7 so that my Queen’s Rook can come into play more easily. The Knight blocks the path for the Rook right now.

17. Rh1
The rook has to go back to protect the pawn on h4.
17… f5
Black is countering in the center. Notice how Fischer has been playing on both flanks. Earlier in the game, he was countering White’s Kingside attack by focusing on the Queenside, after slowing down White’s attack, and helped by White’s inaccurate play, he switches to the Kingside.
18. exf5
It seems this is forced. It cannot be left to Black to make the decision on whether to exchange or not. Say White played, Rd-f1, Black could have played f4, making the Rf1 move useless, and he could move his pieces around to prepare for an assault on the g-file. He could also initiate the exchange fxe4, or he could sit still and prepare for the opening of the f-file. Sometimes you just have to make up your mind and live with the consequences. I would rather have a clearer position than an unclear one any day.
18… Bxf5
Of course has to take with the Bishop. An interesting option is to take with the Knight, threatening to play f4, and move the Rook over to the g-file. However, with the QR “out of play” Black cannot create anything dangerous before White brings any of his pieces to counter any of that. In fact, White could be the one to benefit from such open files.
19. Nxf5+
White gets rid of the Black piece that just made it’s first active move since the game started. Before the exchange, the Bishop was move influential/powerful than the Knight (as things stood). Why not get rid of it?
19… Rxf5
He has to take with the Rook. Similar explanation to move 18.
20. g4
Of course, one of those moves that you don’t really think about. You King is safe on the Queenside, you seem to have access to your opponent’s King on the other side, you want to open files for the attack, and you do it while attacking a piece of greater value, the Rook.
20… Rf4
Black cannot help White open files, just yet. He blocks the path of the White Queen, He doubly attacks the pawn of h4 if and when White exchanges pawns on h5, He can choose to go inside – on the f-file if his King is given a Check…

21. gxh5
White is opening up the Black King position. That is the way to powerfully bring pieces, especially Rooks, into the game.
21… gxh5
Black has to take back.
22. Rdg1+
Of course. The other Rook has to protect the pawn. What if he had played the Rook on h1 instead? The sequence of moves would have been, Rhg1+, followed by Rg5, Rdg1, Rg6 – it doesn’t look too bad to me. It seems like the pawn can be easily recovered if Black takes it with the Rook.
22… Kh8
Kh6 would pin the Rook on f4. Kh7 would allow Be3+, etc. How about going inside, with Kf7? This would allow the White Queen to get to the h-file via Qc2. So Kh8 seems to be the best move.
23. Qc2
It comes anyway(!), but it is not as bad. I think I would have played Rg5, threatening Rxh5, and if the Knight defends it, double my Rooks…
23… Ng7
May be Knight move to e8 wasn’t bad after all. The knight supports the pawn on h5, protects the King from attack (the King can go to g8 if given a check on the h-file.)
24. Qg6
Threatening Mate in one. He can also give a check on the h-file.
24… Qf6
Protecting the Knight, and offering to exchange pieces. Lesson here: exchange pieces when you are under attack… usually this gives you room to breathe, as you get rid of attackers. However, keep in mind that exchanging pieces also gets rid of your defenders! You just have to know what to keep and what to get rid of.

25. Qxf6
There is not much else to do with the Queen.
25… Rxf6
He has to take back! Draw agreed.1/2-1/2

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