MARK RUBERY CHESS
To continue with yesterday’s Hedgehog theme…
In an exhibition game played straight after the Siegen Olympiad, Fischer defeated a 19-yearold Ulf Andersson by using a set-up that was later christened the ‘hedgehog’. This was the first high profile game introducing the system that was to become enormously popular in the decades to follow-particularly with the black pieces.
Fischer, R - Andersson, U [A01]
Siegen, 1970
1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.a3
0–0 6.Qc2 Re8 7.d3 (The pawns on the third rank defend the position like the spine of a hedgehog)... Bf8 8.Nf3 a5 9.Be2 d5 10.cxd5
Nxd5 11.Nbd2 f6 12.0–0 Be6 13.Kh1 (The beginning of a far from obvious plan)... Qd7
14.Rg1 Rad8 15.Ne4 Qf7 16.g4 g6 (A better try
was 16...Nb6 17.Nfd2 Be7) 17.Rg3 Bg7 18.Rag1 Nb6 19.Nc5 Bc8 20.Nh4 Nd7 21.Ne4 (An amazing paradox: with the board full of pieces, practically without coming into contact with enemy army and not straying beyond his own half of the board, White has imperceptibly achieved a winning position-G Kasparov)... Nf8 (Another defence that does not suffice is 21... Kh8 22.d4 exd4 23.Bc4 Qf8 24.Nxg6+ hxg6 25.Rh3+ Bh6 26.exd4) 22.Nf5 Be6 (22...gxf5 23.gxf5 h6 24.f4) 23.Nc5 Ne7 24.Nxg7 Kxg7 25.g5 Nf5 26.Rf3 b6 27.gxf6+ Kh8 (27...Qxf6
28.Ne4) 28.Nxe6 Rxe6 29.d4 exd4 30.Bc4 d3
(30...c5 31.Rxf5! gxf5 32.Qxf5 b5 33.Rg7 Rxf6 34.Bxf7 Rxf5 35.Rg8#) 31.Bxd3 Rxd3 32.Qxd3 Rd6 33.Qc4 Ne6 34.Be5 (Even the great Fischer misses what our silicon friend sees in the blink of an eye via 34.Rxf5! gxf5 35.Rg7 Qf8 36.Qxe6 Rxe6 37.f7 Qxg7 38.f8R#) 34...Rd8 35.h4 Nd6 36.Qg4 Nf8 37.h5 Ne8 38.e4 Rd2 39.Rh3 Kg8 40.hxg6 Nxg6 41.f4 Kf8 42.Qg5 Nd6 43.Bxd6+ 1–0 A few years later Charles De Villiers, many time champion of this country, used the same ‘Fischer plan’ to defeat one of his main rivals.
De Villiers,C - Kroon,P [A01]
Cape Town, 1975 1.b3 e5 2.Bb2 Nc6 3.c4 Nf6 4.e3 Be7 5.a3 0–0 6.d3 d5 7.cxd5 Nxd5 8.Nf3 Re8 9.Be2 Bf8 10.Nbd2 Bg4 11.b4 a6 12.Rc1 Qd7 13.Qb3 Be6 14.Qc2 f6 15.0–0 Rad8 16.Ne4 Qc8 17.Kh1 Bf7 18.Rg1 Kh8 19.g4 Bg8 20.Rg3 a5 21.b5 Nce7 22.Rcg1 c6 23.d4 exd4 24.Nxd4 cxb5 25.Qb1 Nc6 26.g5 f5 27.Nf6!! gxf6 28.gxf6 Bf7 29.Nxc6 Qxc6 30.Bxb5 Nc3+ 31.Bxc6 1–0 ‘In chess, as in much else, good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from poor judgment. Never make the same mistake twice. Make a new one.’ –D.J Morgan