Fischer crushed Tal with a beautiful (and precise) queen sacrifice. Even though Tal went on to win the tournament, this victory made young Bobby Fischer the star of the show.
Robert James Fischer vs Mikhail Tal, Sicilian Defense, Paulsen, Bastrikov Variation (B47)
Bled 1961, Round 2
The Bled tournament of 1961. was an International Jubilee Grandmaster Tournament and a prestigious event not everyone could play. Bobby Fischer was only 18 at the time, which shows how good and how renown he already was at such a young age. He finished in 2nd place with a remarkable score of 13.5/19, and he was out bested by none other than Mikhail Tal who finished in clear first with one point ahead of Fischer. Along with Tal and Fischer, the event was full of the strongest names in ches at the time. Here are the final standings with all the participants:
Mikhail Tal 14.5/19
Robert James Fischer 13.5/19
Tigran Vartanovich Petrosian 12.5/19
Paul Keres 12.5/19
Svetozar Gligoric 12.5/19
Efim Geller 10.5/19
Petar Trifunovic 10.5/19
Bruno Parma 10/19
Arthur Bisguier 9.5/19
Aleksandar Matanovic 9.5/19
Klaus Viktor Darga 9/19
Jan Hein Donner 9/19
Miguel Najdorf 9/19
Fridrik Olafsson 8.5/19
Lajos Portisch 8/19
Borislav Ivkov 8/19
Ludek Pachman 7/19
Mario Bertok 6.5/19
Milan Germek 5.5/19
Mijo Udovcic 4/19
After Bobby’s signature 1.e4, Tal went for the Sicilian Defense and they entered the Paulsen variation. Mikhail Tal made a theoretical mistake on move 6 and gave Bobby Fischer a too big opening edge which Bobby wouldn’t let go of. Tal should have played a6, a move common in many Sicilians because it’s preventing the knights from jumping into b5. Instead he played Nf6, allowing that and immediately got a very inferior position. Fischer kept on increasing his advantage until a marvelous queen sacrifice which won the game!
Game moves:
1. e4 c5 2. Nf3 Nc6 3. d4 cxd4 4. Nxd4 e6 5. Nc3 Qc7 6. g3 Nf6
7. Ndb5 Qb8 8. Bf4 Ne5 9. Be2 Bc5 10. Bxe5 Qxe5 11. f4 Qb8
12. e5 a6 13. exf6 axb5 14. fxg7 Rg8 15. Ne4 Be7 16. Qd4 Ra4
17. Nf6+ Bxf6 18. Qxf6 Qc7 19. O-O-O Rxa2 20. Kb1 Ra6 21. Bxb5
Rb6 22. Bd3 e5 23. fxe5 Rxf6 24. exf6 Qc5 25. Bxh7 Qg5
26. Bxg8 Qxf6 27. Rhf1 Qxg7 28. Bxf7+ Kd8 29. Be6 Qh6 30. Bxd7
Bxd7 31. Rf7 Qxh2 32. Rdxd7+ Ke8 33. Rde7+ Kd8 34. Rd7+ Kc8
35. Rc7+ Kd8 36. Rfd7+ Ke8 37. Rd1 b5 38. Rb7 Qh5 39. g4 Qh3
40. g5 Qf3 41. Re1+ Kf8 42. Rxb5 Kg7 43. Rb6 Qg3 44. Rd1 Qc7
45. Rdd6 Qc8 46. b3 Kh7 47. Ra6 1-0
