Fischer-Spassky 1992 (Game 17)

October 10, 1992

Belgrade, Yugoslavia

Bobby Fischer won his second consecutive game of match, prevailing against Boris Spassky’s Siciilian Defense in game 17 of their rematch for the world chess championship.  Fischer had previously played the Rossolimo Variation in games 11 and 13, but steered this particular game into a Closed Variation of the Sicilian.

Some key points in the game were Fischer’s 17.g4 (forcing Spassky to give up the bishop-pair) and 20.Qf3 (halting a planned bishop exhange by Spassky that would have taken away the white king’s best defender).

After losing a pawn to Spassky’s 24…Bxa2, Fischer re-claimed it with 25.Bd2! Bd5 26.Bxd5 Nxd5 27.Rxc5 Nb6.  This set the stage for a stronger white endgame, as Spassky’s weakened pawns at a7 and d4 would prove difficult to defend.  Spassky fought on as long as he possibly could and finally resigned after Fischer’s 58th move.  Fischer now leads the match by a score of 7-3.

For an account of the earlier games, visit www.rookhouse.com/blog and type in "fischer spassky 1992" in the search bar located on the right side.

Also, be sure to check out my book review of "Carl Haffner's Love of the Draw" at http://www.rookhouse.com/blog/?p=270