[Event "GotM #40"] [Site "Reykjavik"] [Date "1972.??.??"] [Round "?"] [White "Spassky, Boris V"] [Black "Fischer, Robert James"] [Result "1-0"] [ECO "B97"] [Annotator "Connaughton, Ken"] [PlyCount "61"] [EventDate "1972.??.??"] [EventCountry "ISL"] {[%evp 0,61,33,9,71,77,111,93,93,36,65,64,94,68,112,23,23,49,39,-27,22,-18,-34, -21,-12,-25,-2,-45,-40,-52,-35,-70,-26,2,-3,-3,2,12,47,40,41,66,66,66,153,148, 258,118,221,242,633,638,705,705,705,641,755,732,732,732,782,787,942,1041]} 1. e4 c5 {Sicilian Defense} 2. Nf3 d6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 Nf6 5. Nc3 a6 {Najdorf Variation} 6. Bg5 e6 7. f4 Qb6 8. Qd2 Qxb2 {[#] Poisoned Pawn Variation} 9. Nb3 {White threatening to surround the Black Queen} Qa3 10. Bxf6 gxf6 11. Be2 h5 { Attempting to discourage White from castling Kingside now that Black's own castling options have been compromised.} 12. O-O {White is however happy to tuck his King away on this wing.} Nc6 13. Kh1 Bd7 14. Nb1 Qb4 {Black would be okay with exchanging Queens since his is a target and the White Queen sits comfortably in a central position.} 15. Qe3 {White would prefer to leave the Queens on.} d5 {[#] Aggressive but perhaps not the best.} 16. exd5 Ne7 17. c4 Nf5 18. Qd3 {White's judgement is good in this phase as he maneuvers better than his opponent.} h4 $1 {Aware of the growing threats, Black decides he needs to develop some counterplay.} 19. Bg4 Nd6 20. N1d2 f5 21. a3 $1 {White has managed throughout the game to answer Black's threats with bigger threats.} Qb6 (21... Qa4 $16 {would have seen Black still under pressure but perhaps not in quite such a dire circumstance.}) 22. c5 {[#]} Qb5 {Again the Queen exchange is offered.} 23. Qc3 {And again it's rebuffed.} fxg4 (23... Rg8 $18 { was the quieter reply, but Fischer was not the quiet kind.}) 24. a4 {[%csl Rb5, Rd6,Rh8] Three Black pieces are now threatened, White has for several moves resisted the temptation of claiming material, always sensing a bigger prize on offer, further down the road.} (24. Qxh8 $18 Nf5 25. Nd4 Nxd4 26. Ne4 {[%CAl Re4d6]} O-O-O 27. Qxd4 $16 {certainly sees White retain an advantage but not as commanding as the one obtained after the text move.}) (24. cxd6 $11 { of course diminish White's advantage absolutely and immediately.}) 24... h3 { Black of course, trying to rescue the game, is going for broke now.} 25. axb5 hxg2+ 26. Kxg2 Rh3 27. Qf6 Nf5 28. c6 {[#] White now has the Queen for a minor piece and a great position. He will now close in on the full point.} Bc8 29. dxe6 fxe6 30. Rfe1 Be7 31. Rxe6 $1 {[#] The exchange sacrifice seals the deal. Black throws in the towel.} (31. Rxe6 Bxe6 32. Qxe6 bxc6 (32... Rd8 33. Qg8+ Bf8 34. Qg6+ $18) 33. Qg8+ $18 {[%CAl Rg8a8]}) 1-0