The Brilliant Bishop: Fischer’s Masterful Kingside Attack

The position below is from the Fischer-Panno game (a strong Argentine Grandmaster), played in 1970. White is attacking on the kingside, but how should they continue?

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White's queen, two knights, and the h5 pawn are actively putting pressure. The only piece not involved is the bishop.

1. Be4!
The bishop moves to the b1-h7 diagonal, now aiming at Black’s king. Capturing it would be a big mistake because White's knight on g3 will jump into the weak f6 square. Checkmate is unstoppable.
1... Qe7
2. Nxh7
Another sacrifice that destroys Black’s castle.

2... Nxh7
3. hxg6 fxg6
4. Bxg6 Ng5
5. Nh5
And nothing can stop Nf6, leading to the final attack.

This is one of the best examples of how to attack the king, so the principles we can learn from it are closely related to attacking:

To make the attack stronger, bring more pieces into the action.

Activating the least active piece on the board is always a good idea.

When attacking, open the position so your pieces can break in.

Pay attention to weak squares, especially around the king—notice how a fianchetto castle without the bishop can be very vulnerable.

As Alekhine (4th World Chess Champion) said, a pawn on e5 signals an attack on the king.