How Bobby Fischer Conquered the French Defense

SammyChess
SammyChess
18,342
0
Published 2024-06-09
🔔 Don’t forget to LIKE, SUBSCRIBE and turn on notifications for more chess content and openings! :)

Buy a chess.com membership: go.chess.com/SammyChess

Follow me…
SECOND CHANNEL:    / @sammychess  
TWITCH: twitch.tv/sammychess
X: twitter.com/SammyChess1

Bobby Fischer was renowned for his opening preparation and made numerous contributions to chess opening theory. As White, Fischer almost exclusively played 1.e4, calling it "best by test". This means he often faced the French Defense, an opening with a reputation for solidity and resilience.

Timestamps:
00:00 Intro
00:12 Game 1
06:11 Game 2
11:59 Game 3
18:24 Game 4
22:15 Game 5
26:48 Game 6
31:25 Game 7

Game 1: Bobby Fischer (2780) vs Pal Benko (2408), Candidates Tournament, 1962
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. e5 Nfd7 5. f4 c5 6. dxc5 Bxc5 7. Qg4 O-O 8. Bd3 f5 9. Qh3 Bxg1 10. Rxg1 Nc5 11. Bd2 Nc6 12. Nb5 Qb6 13. O-O-O Bd7 14. Nd6 Na4 15. Bb5 Nd4 16. Be3 Ne2+ 17. Bxe2 Qxb2+ 18. Kd2 Qb4+ 19. Kc1 Nc3 20. Rde1 Nxa2+ 21. Kd1 Nc3+ 22. Kc1 d4 23. Bf2 Rfc8 24. Bd3 Na2+ 25. Kd1 Nc3+ 26. Kc1 Rc5 27. Qh4 Ra5 28. Kd2 h6 29. g4 fxg4 30. Rxg4 Kh8 31. Qxh6+ 1-0

Game 2: Bobby Fischer (2780) vs Bill Hook (2109), Chess Olympiad, 1970
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Qa5 7. Bd2 Qa4 8. Qg4 Kf8 9. Qd1 b6 10. h4 Ne7 11. h5 h6 12. Rh4 Ba6 13. Bxa6 Nxa6 14. Rf4 Qd7 15. Qf3 Nc6 16. Nh3 Rc8 17. g4 Qe8 18. g5 Ne7 19. gxh6 gxh6 20. Rf6 Nf5 21. Nf4 Ke7 22. Nxd5+ Kd8 23. Ne3 Nxe3 24. Bxe3 Rc7 25. dxc5 Nxc5 26. Rd1+ Ke7 27. Bxc5+ bxc5 28. Rxe6+ 1-0

Game 3: Bobby Fischer (2780) vs Nikolay N Minev (2370), Chess Olympiad, 1966
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 dxe4 5. Nxe4 Be7 6. Bxf6 gxf6 7. g3 Bd7 8. Nf3 Bc6 9. Qe2 f5 10. Ned2 Bf6 11. c3 Qe7 12. Bg2 Nd7 13. O-O O-O 14. Rfe1 Rfe8 15. b4 a6 16. a4 b6 17. Nc4 Be4 18. Rad1 Red8 19. g4 Kh8 20. Ncd2 fxg4 21. Nxe4 gxf3 22. Bxf3 Rg8+ 23. Kh1 c6 24. Nxf6 Nxf6 25. Bxc6 Rac8 26. b5 axb5 27. axb5 Rg5 28. d5 Qc5 29. dxe6 Rxc6 30. bxc6 Ng4 31. Rd4 Qxc6+ 32. f3 Re5 33. exf7 Qf6 34. Rxg4 1-0

Game 4: Bobby Fischer (2780) vs Jim Hughes, Virginia, 1964
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. a4 Bd7 8. Nf3 Nbc6 9. Bd3 c4 10. Be2 Qa5 11. Qd2 O-O-O 12. O-O f6 13. Ba3 h5 14. Rfe1 Nf5 15. Bf1 Rdg8 16. g3 fxe5 17. Nxe5 Ncxd4 18. Bb4 Qd8 19. cxd4 Be8 20. Bh3 g5 21. Bxf5 exf5 22. a5 h4 23. Bc5 a6 24. Rab1 Rh7 25. Rb6 Bb5 26. Rd6 Qc7 27. Rg6 Rgg7 28. Qxg5 hxg3 29. fxg3 Qxa5 30. Rf1 Qc7 31. Rxf5 Rxg6 32. Rf8+ 1-0

Game 5: Bobby Fischer (2780) vs Roy Hoppe, Davis, 1964
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 Ne7 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 b6 7. Qg4 Ng6 8. h4 h5 9. Qg3 Ba6 10. Bxa6 Nxa6 11. Ne2 c5 12. Nf4 Nxf4 13. Bxf4 Kf8 14. Bg5 Qd7 15. O-O Rc8 16. f4 Nb8 17. Rad1 cxd4 18. cxd4 Nc6 19. c4 Ne7 20. Bxe7+ Kxe7 21. Qxg7 Rcg8 22. Qf6+ Ke8 23. f5 dxc4 24. d5 exd5 25. e6 Qe7 26. exf7+ Qxf7 27. Rde1+ Kf8 28. Qd6+ Kg7 29. Re7 Qxe7 30. Qxe7+ Kh6 31. Re1 Rg7 32. Qf6+ Kh7 33. Re7 1-0

Game 6: Bobby Fischer (2780) vs J Plaster, Houston, 1964
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Nf6 4. Bg5 Be7 5. e5 Nfd7 6. Bxe7 Qxe7 7. f4 a6 8. Nf3 c5 9. dxc5 Nxc5 10. Qd2 Bd7 11. O-O-O Bc6 12. Bd3 Nxd3+ 13. cxd3 b5 14. Nd4 Bb7 15. Kb1 Nc6 16. Nce2 Nxd4 17. Nxd4 O-O 18. Rde1 Bc8 19. g4 Bd7 20. f5 exf5 21. gxf5 f6 22. e6 Be8 23. Rhg1 Kh8 24. Rg3 g6 25. Reg1 g5 26. h4 h6 27. hxg5 hxg5 28. Rh1+ Kg8 29. Rgh3 1-0

Game 7: Bobby Fischer (2780) vs Kermit Pransky, Boston, ?
1. e4 e6 2. d4 d5 3. Nc3 Bb4 4. e5 c5 5. a3 Bxc3+ 6. bxc3 Ne7 7. h4 O-O 8. Nf3 cxd4 9. cxd4 Qc7 10. Bd3 Nbc6 11. Bxh7+ Kxh7 12. Ng5+ Kg6 13. a4 Nxe5 14. h5+ Kf5 15. g4+ Kf6 16. Nh7# 1-0

#chess
All Comments (21)
  • @alexroc172
    Thanks Sammy...another informative and educational mini series!
  • @jurjenvanderhoek316
    Fisher did not conquer the French defense at all in the first game. Black had several chances to force a draw (at 2:55 and 3:30)
  • @user-yf5tv8hi3e
    Pal Benko had perpet option in like 20 moves, not so conquered
  • @will232bc
    I think Benko had a Checkmating Idea had he checked the King on b1 w/ Q. aligned with his knight to then take the c2 pawn-to then bring in more attackers?
  • @yuezhao4576
    Hi Sammy, Thank you so much for your wonderful videos. Just wondering why Fischer did not play h5 before a4 at 33:07. a4 seems useless. Thanks!
  • @vcliburn
    Black had the upper hand for most of the game, and could have won if it hadn't been for that one passive move towards the end. Moreover, at the very least Black had a draw in hand at any time by perpetual check. In other words, black was swindled out of a win. And just for the record, Fischer always had some difficulty against the French, and despite his wins, his games against the French show that. But I still think that Fischer was the greatest chess player of his time...which was long before engines played a major role in top-level training and preparation.
  • @alekhinesgun9997
    33:05 Fischer had to be trolling with a4, h5+ or Qd3 is just crushing instantly. Maybe it was a simul or something. Also as mentioned by someone else, the first game against Benko had Fischer losing and fighting for a draw in the first game so it's not exactly a model game of conquering the French defense, moreso just Fischer doing Fischer things and saving a terrible position
  • @WHAT-gm1xm
    Can make a video on this players game - rashid nezhmedinov , vasily smyslov , victor korchnoi , Rudolf, vassily ivanchuk , borris spassky, louis charles mahe de , geza maroczy