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Buenos Aires 1970 – Fischer in Argentina
It is the 45th anniversary of this tournament won by Bobby Fischer and the subject of a long and interesting article in Europe-Echecs (in French):
http://www.europe-echecs.com/art/bue...cher-6107.html
The tourney was from July 18 to August 18 and Fischer went unbeaten and ended up with 15 points out of 17 games against a field that included Tukmakov, Panno, Gheorghiu, Reshevsky, Najdorf, Smyslov and Mecking.
Arthur Bisguier writing in Chess Life and Review says: As a result of various misunderstandings among Fischer, the tournament organizers, and the Argentine airlines, Bobby did not arrive until after the pairings had been made and two complete rounds played.
Chessgames.com takes up the story:
“Once he started, it was clear that Fischer would dominate the tournament. Winning his first two games already put him in first place, since no other player had done as well. Actually Fischer ran off a fantastic streak of six wins before being held to a draw by the veteran Najdorf. Then came five more wins in a row, and Fischer's score after 12 rounds was 11.5-0.5!
After a draw with Mecking and another win, Fischer had 13-1 after completing 14 rounds, and was already certain of first prize, with three rounds to go! Only then did he relax somewhat, drawing with Reshevsky and Smyslov. In the final round Fischer again went all out, scoring his 13th win of the tournament. No one else had won more than seven games. The 3.5 point margin over the field clearly established Fischer in a super class, for this event at least.
In second place was 24-year-old Tukmakov, a brilliant success for the new Russian star who had come to Buenos Aires without a title. He achieved the grandmaster norm, the only player besides Fischer to do so. However, since FIDE permits only one advance at a time, he will be awarded the title of international master. Tukmakov started badly by losing to Fischer in the opening round. That proved to be his only loss, however, and his pace was steady throughout.”
The Europe-Echecs article has analyzed games, photos and recollections by several of the grandmasters, who played.
Bisguier says of the Fischer-Szabo game – just when everyone thought Szabo had achieved an easy drawing position, it turned out he was completely lost. Only the world’s greatest chess players achieve this kind of thing.
Florin Gheorghiu confirms that he was strolling along the tables with Najdorf watching the duel and Miguel whispered, “If Bobby wins again, it’s really magic!”
Buenos Aires 1970
Round 11, August 4, 1970
Szabo, Laszlo – Fischer, Robert J.
A36 English, Ultra-Symmetrical Variation
1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 Nf6 6.d4 O-O 7.Nge2 d6 8.O-O Bf5 9.d5 Na5 10.e4 Bd7 11.b3 a6 12.Rb1 b5 13.cxb5 axb5 14.b4 cxb4 15.Rxb4 Qc7 16.Nxb5 Qc5 17.Qd4 Nxd5 18.Qxc5 dxc5 19.Rb1 Nb4 20.Nc7 Ra7 21.a3 Rxc7 22.axb4 cxb4 23.Rxb4 Rc2 24.Nd4 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 Bb5 26.Re1 Nb3 27.Rb4 Nxc1 28.Rxb5 Ne2+ 29.Kf1 Nc3 30.Rc5 Rd8 31.Bh3 Rdd2 32.Rc8+ Kg7 33.Re3 Nd1 34.Rf3 Rxf2+ 35.Rxf2 Rxf2+ 36.Kg1 Re2 37.Bg4 Rxe4 0-1
_______
The last word on the tournament from Gheorghiu:
After the tournament Bobby and I were to give some simuls. In the evening at the hotel we had not much to do and I had an incredible experience with Bobby. He asked me to note the variations of any opening of my choice. I suggested the Jaenisch Gambit in the Spanish. I took a sheet of paper and he began to dictate, like a machine, with great speed and without the chessboard, a number of variations. Then, at the end, he told me with a big smile, “You probably want to check these..?” Everything was correct!
Then, in an ironic tone, he offered to play some blitz games. “I have been told you do not play badly.” He looked me straight in the eyes with a defiant air, “What rate” I said, “I do not know – 5 minutes or 3 minutes..”. Puzzled, Bobby replied, “What is this 3 minutes or 5 minutes, we are wasting our time. Let’s go for 2 minutes!” Then we played a couple of games and, to my surprise, I put up good resistance. At the end Bobby looked at me with a big smile, “Yes, you did not acquit yourself badly!” For me, it was an extraordinary result because few players could stand up to him at speed chess because he played it better than standard chess. He played like a machine at an incredible speed. The score was close, something like 8-7 in his favour, but the most amazing thing was that it was almost always black that won because white did not have time to realize his advantage.
On August 20, Fischer played simultaneously against 25 players of the “La Plata” student club and won all his games except the one with Carlos Garcia Palermo, 16, who later became a grandmaster.
Simul La Plata, Argentina, August 20, 1970
Fischer, Robert J. – Garcia Palermo, Carlos
C31 King’s Gambit Declined, Falkbeer, Nimzovitsch Variation
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.Bb5+ c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6 6.d3 Nf6 7.dxe4 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.Qd4 Be7 10.Qa4 Qb6 11.h3 O-O-O 12.Bxc6 Nxe4 13.Bd7+ Rxd7 14.Qxd7+ Bxd7 15.Nxe4 Bc6 0-1
Also see: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1279196
______
A year later Bobby was again back in Argentina and said this years later during one of his infamous interviews with Eugene Torre on Filipino radio:
Bobby Fischer: Ohhhh.. ya. When I played in Argentina, I played Tigran Petrosian a candidates match and beat him to qualify to play Spassky in Iceland the next year, you know. I played down there.. After I played.... I beat Petrosian down there in 1971, I gave an exhibition tour, a simul exhibition tour. I don’t remember exactly how many I played. I have to check the record, twenty five, thirty simul exhibitions. And before every simultaneous exhibition it was announced that all the players had to give me, uh, their copy of the score. So I had a complete record. They didn't give me the carbon copy, the original copy. I insisted on the original copy. I've got hundreds and hundreds... I don't know, maybe about between six hundred and a thousand, uh, scores. None of these games have ever been published anywhere. And I, only I had the original scores. What the hell are they worth, thousands, millions of dollars.
Eugene Torre: It's a pity because..
Bobby Fischer: These were all stolen too (from his storage locker). And I don't have any copies of them.
Eugene Torre: These games, it's a pity because you could now make now a book. You intended to...
Bobby Fischer: [...] real good book. I'll tell you something else. I don't like to brag, but those were great great simultaneous games. I was in great form. And, uh, they played the openings badly down there, cause you know, they're pretty far from Europe, nowadays of course it doesn't matter. [...] so international... everybody can get, you know, any literature, you know, super fast. But then they didn't get the latest theoretical journals and books on chess. So they didn't know the openings well at all. But if you didn't smash them down in the openings, watch out, cause later on they got stronger and stronger. So.. I knew this. I learned this real fast. So I made a real attempt to make sure I completely got an overwhelming game before they got into the middlegame, so I could, you know, be sure to win. These games were so instructive.
________
I have heard that John Donaldson would like to write a book with Fischer’s Argentinian games but nothing so far.
See entry 7506, Feb. 2012, in Edward Winter’s Chess Notes:
Noting that the Fischer-Petrosian match ended on 25 October 1971, our correspondent lists the following known displays by Fischer
• Buenos Aires, November 1971 (two exhibitions);
• La Plata, November 1971;
• Córdoba, 21 November 1971;
• Tucumán, November 1971
Mr Donaldson asks whether this list can be expanded and whether it is known where the game-scores are now.
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter91.html
It is the 45th anniversary of this tournament won by Bobby Fischer and the subject of a long and interesting article in Europe-Echecs (in French):
http://www.europe-echecs.com/art/bue...cher-6107.html
The tourney was from July 18 to August 18 and Fischer went unbeaten and ended up with 15 points out of 17 games against a field that included Tukmakov, Panno, Gheorghiu, Reshevsky, Najdorf, Smyslov and Mecking.
Arthur Bisguier writing in Chess Life and Review says: As a result of various misunderstandings among Fischer, the tournament organizers, and the Argentine airlines, Bobby did not arrive until after the pairings had been made and two complete rounds played.
Chessgames.com takes up the story:
“Once he started, it was clear that Fischer would dominate the tournament. Winning his first two games already put him in first place, since no other player had done as well. Actually Fischer ran off a fantastic streak of six wins before being held to a draw by the veteran Najdorf. Then came five more wins in a row, and Fischer's score after 12 rounds was 11.5-0.5!
After a draw with Mecking and another win, Fischer had 13-1 after completing 14 rounds, and was already certain of first prize, with three rounds to go! Only then did he relax somewhat, drawing with Reshevsky and Smyslov. In the final round Fischer again went all out, scoring his 13th win of the tournament. No one else had won more than seven games. The 3.5 point margin over the field clearly established Fischer in a super class, for this event at least.
In second place was 24-year-old Tukmakov, a brilliant success for the new Russian star who had come to Buenos Aires without a title. He achieved the grandmaster norm, the only player besides Fischer to do so. However, since FIDE permits only one advance at a time, he will be awarded the title of international master. Tukmakov started badly by losing to Fischer in the opening round. That proved to be his only loss, however, and his pace was steady throughout.”
The Europe-Echecs article has analyzed games, photos and recollections by several of the grandmasters, who played.
Bisguier says of the Fischer-Szabo game – just when everyone thought Szabo had achieved an easy drawing position, it turned out he was completely lost. Only the world’s greatest chess players achieve this kind of thing.
Florin Gheorghiu confirms that he was strolling along the tables with Najdorf watching the duel and Miguel whispered, “If Bobby wins again, it’s really magic!”
Buenos Aires 1970
Round 11, August 4, 1970
Szabo, Laszlo – Fischer, Robert J.
A36 English, Ultra-Symmetrical Variation
1.c4 g6 2.g3 Bg7 3.Bg2 c5 4.Nc3 Nc6 5.e3 Nf6 6.d4 O-O 7.Nge2 d6 8.O-O Bf5 9.d5 Na5 10.e4 Bd7 11.b3 a6 12.Rb1 b5 13.cxb5 axb5 14.b4 cxb4 15.Rxb4 Qc7 16.Nxb5 Qc5 17.Qd4 Nxd5 18.Qxc5 dxc5 19.Rb1 Nb4 20.Nc7 Ra7 21.a3 Rxc7 22.axb4 cxb4 23.Rxb4 Rc2 24.Nd4 Bxd4 25.Rxd4 Bb5 26.Re1 Nb3 27.Rb4 Nxc1 28.Rxb5 Ne2+ 29.Kf1 Nc3 30.Rc5 Rd8 31.Bh3 Rdd2 32.Rc8+ Kg7 33.Re3 Nd1 34.Rf3 Rxf2+ 35.Rxf2 Rxf2+ 36.Kg1 Re2 37.Bg4 Rxe4 0-1
_______
The last word on the tournament from Gheorghiu:
After the tournament Bobby and I were to give some simuls. In the evening at the hotel we had not much to do and I had an incredible experience with Bobby. He asked me to note the variations of any opening of my choice. I suggested the Jaenisch Gambit in the Spanish. I took a sheet of paper and he began to dictate, like a machine, with great speed and without the chessboard, a number of variations. Then, at the end, he told me with a big smile, “You probably want to check these..?” Everything was correct!
Then, in an ironic tone, he offered to play some blitz games. “I have been told you do not play badly.” He looked me straight in the eyes with a defiant air, “What rate” I said, “I do not know – 5 minutes or 3 minutes..”. Puzzled, Bobby replied, “What is this 3 minutes or 5 minutes, we are wasting our time. Let’s go for 2 minutes!” Then we played a couple of games and, to my surprise, I put up good resistance. At the end Bobby looked at me with a big smile, “Yes, you did not acquit yourself badly!” For me, it was an extraordinary result because few players could stand up to him at speed chess because he played it better than standard chess. He played like a machine at an incredible speed. The score was close, something like 8-7 in his favour, but the most amazing thing was that it was almost always black that won because white did not have time to realize his advantage.
On August 20, Fischer played simultaneously against 25 players of the “La Plata” student club and won all his games except the one with Carlos Garcia Palermo, 16, who later became a grandmaster.
Simul La Plata, Argentina, August 20, 1970
Fischer, Robert J. – Garcia Palermo, Carlos
C31 King’s Gambit Declined, Falkbeer, Nimzovitsch Variation
1.e4 e5 2.f4 d5 3.exd5 e4 4.Bb5+ c6 5.dxc6 Nxc6 6.d3 Nf6 7.dxe4 Qa5+ 8.Nc3 Bg4 9.Qd4 Be7 10.Qa4 Qb6 11.h3 O-O-O 12.Bxc6 Nxe4 13.Bd7+ Rxd7 14.Qxd7+ Bxd7 15.Nxe4 Bc6 0-1
Also see: http://www.chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1279196
______
A year later Bobby was again back in Argentina and said this years later during one of his infamous interviews with Eugene Torre on Filipino radio:
Bobby Fischer: Ohhhh.. ya. When I played in Argentina, I played Tigran Petrosian a candidates match and beat him to qualify to play Spassky in Iceland the next year, you know. I played down there.. After I played.... I beat Petrosian down there in 1971, I gave an exhibition tour, a simul exhibition tour. I don’t remember exactly how many I played. I have to check the record, twenty five, thirty simul exhibitions. And before every simultaneous exhibition it was announced that all the players had to give me, uh, their copy of the score. So I had a complete record. They didn't give me the carbon copy, the original copy. I insisted on the original copy. I've got hundreds and hundreds... I don't know, maybe about between six hundred and a thousand, uh, scores. None of these games have ever been published anywhere. And I, only I had the original scores. What the hell are they worth, thousands, millions of dollars.
Eugene Torre: It's a pity because..
Bobby Fischer: These were all stolen too (from his storage locker). And I don't have any copies of them.
Eugene Torre: These games, it's a pity because you could now make now a book. You intended to...
Bobby Fischer: [...] real good book. I'll tell you something else. I don't like to brag, but those were great great simultaneous games. I was in great form. And, uh, they played the openings badly down there, cause you know, they're pretty far from Europe, nowadays of course it doesn't matter. [...] so international... everybody can get, you know, any literature, you know, super fast. But then they didn't get the latest theoretical journals and books on chess. So they didn't know the openings well at all. But if you didn't smash them down in the openings, watch out, cause later on they got stronger and stronger. So.. I knew this. I learned this real fast. So I made a real attempt to make sure I completely got an overwhelming game before they got into the middlegame, so I could, you know, be sure to win. These games were so instructive.
________
I have heard that John Donaldson would like to write a book with Fischer’s Argentinian games but nothing so far.
See entry 7506, Feb. 2012, in Edward Winter’s Chess Notes:
Noting that the Fischer-Petrosian match ended on 25 October 1971, our correspondent lists the following known displays by Fischer
• Buenos Aires, November 1971 (two exhibitions);
• La Plata, November 1971;
• Córdoba, 21 November 1971;
• Tucumán, November 1971
Mr Donaldson asks whether this list can be expanded and whether it is known where the game-scores are now.
http://www.chesshistory.com/winter/winter91.html
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