Olafsson Stamps Out Fischer

Fridrik Olafsson was born January 26, 1935 in Reykjavik, Iceland. He won the championships of Iceland (1952) and Scandinavia (1953). He became a grandmaster in the interzonal at Portoroz 1958 and advanced to the Candidates Tournament of 1959. He also played in the interzonal in 1962. He was FIDE president from 1978 to 1982.

The game presented was Olafsson's win against Bobby Fischer at Portoroz. The final position is depicted on the stamp. Both Fischer and Olafsson scored 12/20 in the round robin interzonal. That put them in places 5-6 and into the Candidates Tournament in Yugoslavia the following year. Ahead of them were Tal (13.5), Gligoric, (13), Petrosian (12.5), and Benko (12.5). Fischer was only 15 years old at Portoroz. Olafsson's record against Fischer includes 12 games. Olafsson scored +2 =2 -8. As White he scored +2 =1 -1, all against the young Fischer in 1958 and 1959. Fischer as White scored +7 =1 from 1959-1966.

In the game, the opening is the Queen's Gambit Ragozin Variation. There are game references and annotations playable from the move list. Among the game referred to are players such as Olafsson, Fischer, Korchnoi, Tal, and Petrosian. The notes are not all about the opening. Fischer resigned before being mated or allowing White to queen. He could have gotten to a playable ending that I suggested and analyzed. Today, games finish in one day. Then, long games were adjourned. Perhaps, that could have happened.