MARK RUBERY CHESS
The faculty of always doing one’s best in chess, as also in the general affairs of life, is granted to but few. It is largely a matter of temperament; the daring and imaginative man comes to grief occasionally though his successes may be great and striking. This winning gift in chess Tarrasch and Lasker possess almost to perfection. Blackburne never had it, and perhaps Marshall, of great masters, least of all, whilst Steinitz, with an overweening affection for the products of his own brain, lost many important games. No wonder the old conundrum always comes to the front:-- How would the Morphy of forty-seven years ago (given equal advantage of time) fare with the Lasker of to-day? Meanwhile we wait for Paul’s successor. -Yorkshire Weekly Post
Of course we still ask the same questions today, but the player’s names are different and the style of writing is a tad less interesting.
Kasparov was of the opinion that Karpov would have had real chances of defeating Fischer if their title match in 1975 were to have taken place.
Here is a relatively unknown gem from the late American world champion where gives us a glimpse of his immense talent as he was approaching the peak of his powers.
Fischer,Robert James - Schweber,Samuel [C19]
Buenos Aires (4), 1970
1.e4 e6 2.d4 d5 3.Nc3 Bb4 (In his early years Fischer used to struggle against this line of the French although he was quoted thus: “I might yet be forced to admit the Winawer is sound-but I doubt it”) 4.e5 c5 5.a3 Bxc3+ 6.bxc3 Qc7 7.Nf3 Nc6 8.Be2 Bd7 9.0–0 Nge7 10.a4 Na5 11.Re1 cxd4 12.cxd4 Nc4 13.Bd3 h6 14.Nd2 Nxd2 15.Bxd2 Nc6 16.Qg4 g6 17.Re3 0–0–0 18.Rg3 Kb8 19.Rf3 f5 20.exf6 e5 21.Qg3 Nxd4 22.Re3 e4 23.Rxe4! (Essentially a profound sacrifice of the exchange)… Qxg3 24.Rxd4! (The point of this most unexpected combination is that the black queen has nowhere to go. White’s edge in the resulting ending is decisive for a player of Fischer’s technique)…Qg4 25.Rxg4 Bxg4 26.Bxg6 Rhg8 27.Bh7 Rh8 28.Bd3 Rde8 29.f7 Re7 30.f8Q+ Rxf8 31.Bb4 Rff7 32.Bxe7 Rxe7 33.f3 Bd7 34.a5 Kc7 35.Kf2 Rf7 36.Ke3 Kd6 37.g3 Kc5 38.f4 Bg4
39.Rb1 Re7+ 40.Kd2 b6 41.axb6 axb6 42.h3 Bd7 43.g4 d4 44.f5 Re3 45.f6 Rf3 46.Rf1 Rxf1 47.Bxf1 Be6 1–0
Those who think that it is easy to play chess are mistaken. During a game a player lives on his nerves, and at the same time he must be perfectly composed. - Korchnoi