Monday, December 22, 2014

[uqrrkpaw] Fischer versus e4

Against 1.d4 Bobby Fischer usually played the King's Indian Defense.  His "backup" opening plan was the Gruenfeld.  Both remain popular chess openings, although the King's Indian Defense somewhat less so because of Kramnik.

Against 1.e4 Bobby Fischer almost always played the Sicilian Defense.  The opening best characterizable as his "backup" seems to have been Alekhine's Defense, according to The Evolution of Bobby Fischer's Opening Repertoire.  (So surprisingly not 1...e5.)  This opening is nowadays rarely played at the top levels.  Is it because there have been significant negative developments since Fischer?

Spassky-Fischer 1960 was a special occasion in which he played e5 in hopes of experiencing Spassky's famous King's Gambit, which happened.

The legend is that Fischer avoided e5 to avoid revealing some very strong play for black in the Ruy Lopez that he had discovered which he didn't want other players playing against him.  It is fascinating to imagine that that play might have been the Berlin Defense rediscovered by Kramnik years later.

No comments :