Sunday 24 August 2008

The Mythology of Games

Here is a little experiment. Ask other chess players about the famous "Byrne v Fischer" game, and then collate which one they think of. It would not surprise me that the higher the rating the more likely they will think of Robert Byrne v Fischer from the 1963/64 US Championship, rather than the Donald Byrne v Fischer game from 1956.
For the average club player I'm sure the 1956 game is vastly more entertaining, with a Queen sac followed by a king hunt. It is also a more "obvious" game where it is pretty clear what the plans are going to be. The 1963 game is far more subtle, and more importantly, has a degree of gravitas built up around it. Probably the most popular story attached to it, is the claim that GM Rossolimo declared Fischer "lost", only to be surprised by Byrne's resignation. Combine it with the fact it was played in the event where Fischer scored 11/11, and the speed of his victory, and I can see why players are attracted to the "genius" of the game.
Anyway here is the 1963 game in all it's glory.



1 comment:

Anonymous said...

It nice to see some part of our conversation actually did interest you. Obviously as a novice player I liked the Donald Byrnes one more but I think this game is also famous for a classical example of wrong Rook. And the Knight sac on f7 was also good, though perhaps from the opening analysis of Fischer. Anyway the Java Board worked well and thanks for refreshing our memory of such a wonderful game.
Md.Alimuzzaman