Afternoon all. I would like to go over the very first game of the 1992
match between Fischer and Spassky - so
this was played under very
controversial circumstances - Fischer being ordered by the US government to
cease and desist such commercial
activities or activities which could
favor the region commercially. In this
very first game it was quite a
masterpiece and that's why I'd like to
go over it with you. Fischer playing White
kicked off with e4 -  Boris played e5 and
we seen the Ruy Lopez Nf3 Nc6
Bb5 a6 Ba4 - standard Ruy Lopez theory -  Re1 b5
Bb3 0-0 c3 d6 and we're
going to reach a major junction now after
h3 - there's various choices for black
here including Na5 - that's the most
popular - Bb7 - The Knight going back
to b8 was played in the game - this is
the Breyer - Closed Breyer variation  - There is Re8 - Nbd7 -
Nd7 - all right so okay there's
various ideas there's h6 there's even
Be6 has been played a few times
quite a few times before - so we see Nb8
- this retreat which is trying to
work with this system so the closed
Ruy Lopez Breyer variation
and we come up with 10. d4 - on move 10
d4 from Fischer Nbd7 so keeping
control of the e5 square - keeping that pawn
intact -Nbd2 - Bb7 and now
the Bishop comes to lend support to that
e4 pawn so this Knight is then free to
move without worrying about the e4 pawn
Okay - the rook and Bishop protecting
e4 - Black's got a lot of pressure on e4
but the Knight is now free to move to f1
after Bishop c2 so without prompting
there was going to be no prompting anyway - the knight's not
coming to a5 so Re8 and
now Nf1 so the Knight usually in
this kind of position can come to g3
and there is f5 - we see Bf8 - now black
might be threatening exd4 now - that
rook can now add to the pressure on e4
Let's put on actually a (Engine) Kibitzer from here -  we're starting to leave theory so
the immediate threat to address is exd4 from black with pressure on e4
so Ng3 here - just in time here -
works like clockwork this system so
we've got a very nice position for
the white pieces here and for the black
pieces so both sides having their fair
share of central control. Black hasn't
yet compromised any control of f5 by
playing h6 - that will make a knight more
difficult to evict and actually black
can just play g6 here so no real worries
about Nf5 -
furthermore the bishop that can now
fianchetto (Bg7) as well and both
these bishops might be good across the
center sometimes - we see Bg5 from
Fischer
okay and now potentially there's Qd2 and just exchange off (with Bh6) - could be a
useful option to weaken blacks dark
squares - this Bishop is kicked though
with h6 and Bishop now goes to d2 -  if it
goes to e3 there's still some
problems on e4 here with exd4 - 
potentially exd4 is a useful move
here just now - this is very nice for
black for example like this (exd4 followed by c5) -  this is
very pleasant if Black's getting that
dark square Bishop so it looks a little
bit maybe on the odd side to go to d2
but it does preserve control of e4
here - Bg7 - now you might think the
b5 pawn - Does that strike you is the main
strategic target in this game so far?! The
b5 pawn?!  It's one of you know black's
more advanced pawns - there's only two
advanced pawns here - but it's one without
so much support as e5 - There is a
lot of things potentially supporting e5
- this fianchettoed Bishop, the rook, the
knight, the pawn on d6 - but the b5 pawn
sticks out as an advanced pawn and maybe a long-term strategic target from this
position and that's why I think this game is
hugely instructive around the b5 pawn
and it's significance - so watch the plans
now for this b5 - so a4 - okay - threatens
potentially axb5 and leaving and you know
a target for either Bishop d3 or Queen d2
in the future - Black doesn't mind that at the
moment and plays c5 - okay and now a very
very committal decision which can be
double-edged is played here - Fischer
closes the center with d5 and the reason
why this is often controversial is
you're weakening control of dark squares
particularly the c5 square in fact after
c4 - this knight looks to have a very
juicy square on c5  - now as I mentioned
the b5 pawn is an important strategic
target in Fisher's view here as this next
move shows. For the moment this diagonal
to get to b5 is blocked by that pawn and
you know so in some ways it's desirable
to have the pawn on c4 to make sure this
structure is not that easily undermined
and Fischer actually plays the move b4
- very very interesting  - Black has the
option of enpassant - which possibly is one of
the better moves according to engines
here to actually take on b3 - because
I mean let's consider this cxb3 (enpassant) Bxb3
Is b5 looser because of this
diagonal?! Well let's have a look ... Is it
that easy to exploit the b5 pawn here?!
Say Bishop c2 then maybe
Bd3 coming up next or Rb1 to
put pressure
there but black might have sufficient play -
Nb6
and it's difficult to prove it's
actually that much of a target -Rb1 -  a
dynamic move here you know say taking or
we could end up with with significant
pressure on the queen side here - so this is
undesirable but black with Nc4 - I
mean maybe there's enough play here even
if b5 drops for example axb5 axb5 like
this and you know for sacking that pawn
there might be enough play here for
black - there's a target on c3 for example
- the backward pawn - this position even though
White's a pawn up - this is going to be
difficult to win - Blacks got a lot of
play and you know there's a fragmented
structure with this c3
pawn - backward pawn to consider but in
the game we see after b4 a move which
engines really don't like at all and
the move is Nh7 and actually
think well it's solid isn't it
this structure because any axb5
surely black just recaptures (with axb5) and there's no problem with b5 now.  Is there a
problem with b5?! Well let's see white now
plays Bishop e3 in this position which
means actually there's also an option of
Qd2 again as well as Qc1 if
h6 wants to be attacked Qc1 or
Qd2 look interesting - also the
bishops are usefully on this diagonal - I
don't think there's any great punishment
for Nb6 actually ?! Or is there ?! axb5 axb5 Rxa8 - actually this could be quite
punishing Rxa8 - there's no
Queen takes because of the Queen's having
to maintain pressure there (protecting b6 knight) - this kind of position could be a little bit
unpleasant with Qa1 with the idea
of maybe coming into a6 or a5 - so
the bishop eyeing b6 is actually quite
useful in fact pressure on that Queen
side is a bit worrisome here but also
this idea of h6
being attacked - so we're seeing the
move h5 from Boris Spassky and now Qd2
anyway even though there's no target
on h6 and now Rf8 - okay so black
is considering to try and undermine the
pawn chain here with a later f5 that was
the whole point of getting the knight
out of the way
to there- that might be useful - the knight coming to g5 at some point in the future when
it's not so controlled
but f5 you know to try and blow up
White's pawn center and you might think
well where does b5 -  the b5 pawn
stand in all this?! Well this next move is
an absolutely positionally brilliant
indication of things to come.  Fischer
plays -  what would you play here if I
gave you 10 seconds to try and increase
the pressure on the Queen side?! so 10
seconds starting from now ... what would you play here ?! Okay the move Ra3 and
it's preparing to double you know the rooks
behind axb5 which for the moment
doesn't seem as though it should be that
damaging - but let's see Ndf6 is
played
there's discouragement here well f5 is
really there's a lot of control of the
f5 Square from the Bishop on c2 and
the Knight on g3 - if nothing else - so f5 is very
difficult to achieve at the moment - we
see  Ndf6 instead - Rea1 -
White's able to build up and build up
behind this axb5 and in fact after
Qd7 it looks as though ok black
would welcome the capture on a8 and
and what would happen after that ?! But no
the tension is really kept for this axb5
here in a fantastic manner. I
wonder if you can guess how White can
further intensify to make axb5 more
effective here?! What would you play in
this position to make axb5 potentially
much more dangerous
if I give you ten seconds here ?! okay R1a2
and 'Alekhine's gun' is being
created - the Queen can go to the back and
create what's called an 'Alekhine's gun' in
respect of Alexander Alekhine another
fantastic world champion from the past
having this alignment of the
rooks and Queen like this is called an
'Alekhine's gun'.  Fischer constructs now an 'Alekhine's gun'  so Bf8 Qa1 so is
axb5 adding - is it adding effect and
danger to axb5 here?! Yes this is very
very serious now - In fact Spassky's next
move is to reinforce a8 ok - now how does
white increase the pressure here?! Well
for the moment we see Nf1 - the
Knight is not really doing anything on
g3. He is improving this piece for the
moment Be7 N1d2 - where is
this knight going?! Kg7 and now another
fantastic move to add more effectiveness
to the potential of taking taking on a8
multiple times for that b5 to be a
problem here
what would you play as White to try and make sure b5 is going to be a problem in the
future if I give you 10 seconds here?! A
fantastic positional move so based on
this knight which wasn't doing anything
Black gave up on the f5 pawn so
didn't have to stand guard on f5 - the
knight (on f6) blocking in the F pawn anyway so
it's now being rerouted masterfully but
can you guess what happens now if I give
you 10 seconds here and b5 is a
strategic concern here
Okay Nb1 - Nb1 affords Na3
at some point if there's captures
and and then Na3 - would attack b5 from
from a3 and this is very very
difficult for black to parry here
without doing something radical in this
position -  if we give black a normal
move not doing anything significant so
waiting for the consequences of axb5
now - let's imagine just Knight f8
saying well what has white got to say
here?! Let's see if this was played which
it wasn't - axb5 axb5 Rxa8
and now if Bishop takes we can
infiltrate a rook to the seventh rank
and threaten things like Na3
anyway for Nxb5 because the
rooks overloading the Queen here and also
potential of Ng5 - attacking f7 so this
whole 7th rank pressure is very
dangerous so let's go with Rxa8 
instead in this position to exchange
everything off Rxa8 and
now here if Qxa8 we just
take off the Queen and now Na3
and how does black actually defend b5?!
It's reached a climax - this 'Alekhine's gun' and the knight maneuver to a3 has reached
a climax here where blacks actually
losing because of this kind of pawn
which was in a way of theoretical
weakness - it was standing out it compared
to the other pawns as a potential target
but this position emphasizes black is
doomed here what can black actually do?!
He can only do something desperate and he is going to
lose that pawn and White's gonna have a
dangerous passed pawn - so that's very
unappetizing so that shows that black is
in a desperate dire straits in this
position and as a result
Boris now plays Nxe4
sacrificing a knight for just a pawn
the moment but now he gets in his f5
and he's going to win that d5 so he's
collapsed white center for sure so two
pawns for the knight - now in this position
it looks as though even Bxf3
might be good and even then f4 for
Ng5 in is black getting a
counter-attack against White's King?! Well
Bxf3 is discouraged now
because Fischer plays axb5 - the
bishop must maintain guard on a8
along with the rook on the Queen here
against this Alekhine's gun for example
Bxf3 - is this actually at
all harmful for White's King safety - if f4
here - Bishop goes back (to c1)  - Ng5
attacking f3 - we have Nd2 Nxh3 now either Kf1 or Kg2
and how black actually proceed with the
attack?! I don't think there's enough here
and this Queen side is is going to be
menacing when white plays Rxa6
and is also Be4 to keep control of
all the light squares so this is no good
at the moment to play Bishop takes f3 - We
see instead axb5 - okay and now here
let's see Fischer has the option it
seems to take off on a8 quite a few
times - if we play Rxa8 Rxa8 - he didn't play this - Rxa8
Qxa8 Qxa8 Bxa8 - well black's improved
his position from the earlier thing we
saw because now Na3 at least he's
got Bc6 there's no pawn on d5 here
and black might actually have some pawn
mobility prospects in this position if
he can get along with say Bishop f6 and
d5 in the future - there looks to be some
potential prospects here and engines
actually evaluate this just about half a
pawn - I think the prospects are with
blacks poor mobility here as it might be
quite tricky if indeed it's at all
possible to win in practice -  So Fischer
perhaps wisely - he didn't exchange off for taking on a8
here - no he puts his rook on the seventh
rank with Ra7 pinning the
bishop so this - What does it carry in
terms of concrete threats ?! Well I think
White is just going to play Nbd2
and got get on with things later
with that nice pressure on the 7th
rank
so Spassky plays what seems to be a very
unusual looking - Kf6
just unpinning the bishop on e7
perhaps better  - well if we look at Kh8 as another example Bh6 is very
dangerous here - this is very very
dangerous indeed - how can black actually
get out of trouble here?! If Bf8
then we can maybe take and then Ng5
and you see that power of the rook on
the 7th rank here - White is actually
starting to threaten Nf7 check - if
Bishop takes we can take on a8  (with Rxa8) so that's
really really dangerous so okay. Spassky 
is keen to try and unpin somehow without
allowing you know Bh6 to be that
effective - so this move Kf6
tries to help we see Nbd2 - okay
now Rxa7 Rxa7
and now Ra8  - so that endgame scenario we've seen earlier -
King's like ready for the endgame if these
exchanges on a8 - Fischer is not having
any of this he's not going into the
ending - he wants to try and expose now
blacks King safety and he plays a very
very energetic move now on the Kings
side the move g4
so this now threatens to take and weaken f5 and then play get something like
Nh4 to weaken that whole diagonal and that Knight of h7 is awkwardly placed here
so Spassky plays hxg4 hxg4
and we see for example here it just
looks far too dangerous to take this
Nh2 might actually be more accurate
than than anything else here
um if Nh4 that's still good but
Nh2 even more accurate
attacking g4 and black is in trouble here
- this temporary pawn sacrifice had
just succeeded in opening up the scope
of you know Bishop and the Knights
coming into the game even more
aggressively so basically in this
position Spassky tries Rxa7
After Qxa7 - he doesn't want to take
on g4 he plays f4 keeping his pawns
intact but it does weaken the e4 square
a bit and it does seem to ask the bishop
to go to an awkward square b6 and
actually the engine likes Bb6 here
Bb6 that is a piece up - Okay there is a 
bit of concern about g4 for example
Qc8 - apparently this this is this
can be dealt with though - a move like Be4
just offering g4 is possible here - if
takes it with check so let's examine
Qg4 instead instead King f1
and this this is a nice position for
white so this could have been this is a
very nice position for white in any case
any d5 here there's Qh8 here - the Queen's
really coming in for a kill and a Knight
takes e5 after after Kf7 that's
actually mating potentially so that's
all pretty dangerous so after this f4 Bb6 is possible but
Fischer plays another very very good
move
he just sacrifices the bishop here so
he's trying to get access to this
diagonal against black King so exf4
now Qd4+ might actually be a
very good move here as well as what was
played Nh4 was played first keeping
in reserve this very dangerous check
so White's actually threatening both
Bishop takes g6 and queen d4 check
Spassky protects g6 but then we have
Qd4+ - very awkward for the King
to be there - Ke6 and now a really
powerful move here - well there's two
powerful moves but this is this is very
very good the Knights actually being
attacked here that's actually threatening
that Knight but it wants to go back to f3 or
do something more energetic - if it went
back to f3 for example then you know
maybe Ng5 and Black's living
for a bit longer - this kind of position
is not as good as what Fischer did in
the game
Fischer actually played Nf5 so the
Knight is now threatening Ng7
forking king and queen - something has to
be done about it surely - Does it have to
be taken?! Well if Spassky does take
it - that's not very good at all because
Bxf5 is check mate so it
can't be taken so we see instead Bf8
and now Fischer carries on with just
Qxf4 here so what happens if
gxf5 here you might ask?! Well
that's horrendous surely because of
Bxf5 and just Bxh7
that's a very very nice position with
the black king still exposed and a pawn
up for white - so okay after Qxf4
black tries Kd7 running a
bit - trying to get into safety with
his King but now Nd4 and funny
enough this b5 pawn is called into
question. In this advanced position after this attack
b5 is actually one of the major threats
now to win b5 - it allows this Qe1
check Kg2 and now Spassky you know
the queen is not actually that effective
if it's not supported by these pieces
but look at the difference in pieces
here - these are more powerfully
centralized and have more scope - look at
black's poor bishop on f8 anyway 
Spassky tries Bishop d5 check and now the
most powerful response it seems is
played here.  If white played here a timid
move - a relatively to move like N2f3 this wasn't played - then
actually in this position black has a
powerful resource here even though
White's threatening Bxg6 Black
has Qe5 in this position and what
can white do here ?! This starts to get
very very tricky indeed this position it
might be very difficult to win in fact
if say Kg3 to try and avoid the
pawns mobility and our issues Bxf3 - this isn't so easy if
Nxf3 just take - and look at
this this this pawns an issue here so if
Bxg6 Nf6 this should be
about equal this position so now
Nd5+ is threatened so
actually potentially about equal this
position so just just this check has to
reacted to in the most effective way
possible because of this resource Qe5 potential on the cards - we see instead
Be4 not allowing black that level
resourcefulness so challenging the
bishop which is one of black's best
pieces now to try to help the Queen we
see now Bxe4 Nxe4
and white has very very serious threats 
now including Qf7 check we see
Be7 and now this b5 pawn is taken
here and now d6 is under fire so this
looks as though black is disintegrating.
He's a pawn down now Nf8 now
two pawns down - After Nbxd6
it's over. Ne6 attacking the Queen but
Qe5 now threatens discovery check
to win the Queen on e1 and it's here
that Spassky resigns it's really a
hopeless position here if we move the
Queen for example to d1 then actually
Queen b5 check is forcing a mate for
example King c7 check and Queen c8 mate
so it's pretty hopeless for black's King
safety in this final position even if the
Queen's not being lost so I thought that
this was a wonderfully instructive game
for exploiting b5 for using an 'Alekhine's
gun' and then moreover this Knight
maneuver to a3 making Alekhine's gun
the tension on b5 even more potent and
effective when it did eventually arrive
it was very instructive the way Fischer
didn't go into endgames
which might have given Black some pawn
mobility but instead kept the pressure
along the 7th rank and then later translated
at all combining a King side attack to
win eventually material and and to
arrive at this position a fantastic
instructive game a brilliant start to
the 1992 match - comments or questions on
youtube thanks very much
