I've been playing through Fischer's 60 Memorable Games, and came across this interesting position from Keres-Fischer in Curacao in 1962. Fischer played black and looked to have the game in the bag, but Keres spotted this stalemate and salvaged the game with a draw. The game did not actually finish exactly this way, but it's an interesting stalemate that Fischer noted in his analysis of the game. Hope you enjoy!

WOW!!!, VERY NICE play by Fischer.

ADK

Actually, the play was by Keres. Here's the actual game. The puzzle is actually a "miracle" that Fischer references in his notes. The real brilliant move is Keres' 72. Qe5!! which sets up the draw despite the inevitable pawn promotion.

Check it out. Here's the entire game (I grabbed the PGN from chessgames.com)

The play was by Keres unless I've read it wrong. Have you read many chess books armiller? How does 60 memerable games compare?

Good to see a post showing a cracking stalemate rather than a checkmate. There is definetly a point in a game where you have to decide if to continue for a win or try for the draw. This is something I never really considered before when I first started playing chess. I think learning such a skill would strenghen a lot of tournament players, sneaking those half points. What are peoples experience of this, if any?

*Edit* o.k everyones pointed out it was Keres now - I'm I really that slow at key bashing :)

Its amazing to me, as a player in the 1200's, how far master players can see into the game.  Thanks for posting.

Maradonna, I haven't read many chess books, but this one seems very good. I've just been playing through, not "studying" the games per se. Seems to me like any collection of 60 games analyzed extensively by Fischer himself is pretty valuable. I'm not a tournament level player, but the book is fascinating. I'm in game 39 right now, in which Fischer obtained a lead against WCC Botvinnik at the 1962 Olympiad (but ended up with a draw). Not only is there TONS of analysis with variations, but he quotes Botvinnik's analysis and in some cases disagrees. I should post all this in the chess books forums...

There are only 9 draws, but Fischer frequently discusses how he avoided a draw or squeaked one out from a loss. You're definitely right that tactics like this can help immensely!

Yeah, I'm not a really strong player, so much of what happens when looking through games goes over my head. I don't really study the games either, just watch how things unfold. Funnily, you do start to pick up certain things. I always thought that learning chess would require study (which it does) however, just watching others do it is a great tool, something I had probably underestimated in the past. I also think that these games inspire you get stuck in.

Yeah, when you've finished you should do a wee book review. Having read the forums I'm aware that many people have read books but find that not many books are reviewed. I stuck a post in about the The Life and Games of Mikhail Tal and I felt like a better person for the rest of the day :)