Najdorf vs. Fischer. Two Brilliant Games, Wonderful Annotations, and Some Thoughts.

Afternoon Everyone. In the comments to my last offering I mentioned that Najdorf had earned Fischer's respect at the Santa Monica 1966 tournament by crushing him. In the same tournament Fischer won a really beautiful game against Najdorf!

Todays little test - can you name everyone in the group picture from the event!?

As mentioned last time, I love Najdorf's annotations, so I dug out the tournament book, and typed my fingers to the bone to give them here. Virtually no analysis - but lots of text. Najdorf's notes are a delight - he makes the games come alive, and explains the ideas behind the player's moves in the context of a real game, over the board, between human players. Such work is an art in itself.

Also took the tournament book of Bled 1961 off the shelf to steal a couple of photos which I will throw in.

I have never made any comments about Fischer before in my posts, because, let's face it, the subject is done to death and then some, very often with an extraordinary lack of objectivity regarding Fischer the chess player. However, the two games here came at a key point in his career, imho, so I will comment in that regard.

O.K. Santa Monica 1966 - aka 'The Second Piatigorsky Cup' was, in my view, a turning point in the career of Bobby Fischer. 

When people write about Fischer, they tend to focus on three things;

1. His status as a prodigy.

2. His extraordinary results in the U.S.A. Championships.

3. The cycle that ended with him becoming World Champion.

The fact is - and you can argue with me as much as you like ( the facts are the facts) for the first 10 years or so of his international career he was just one of a group of very strong players. If anyone had suggested - at the end of Santa Monica 1966 - that he was the greatest player ever, they would have been laughed out of town. His career ran alongside Tal's, and look what Tal had achieved by that time. Lasker won the master title - as it was then, in 1889, and won the World Championship 5 years later.

At Santa Monica 1966 Fischer, from memory, lost 3 games in a row ( not for the first time in big tournaments) Not something you can say about most players who have been described as the GOAT.

Within 18 months or so it was almost impossible to play against him!! He just became extraordinarily strong, and played chess on a totally different level to what was going on around him. If he lost a game it was, with one exception that I can think of,  because he took one risk too many in trying to win.

He always puts me in mind of Robert Johnson - this tournament was his 'Crossroads'.

So, lets - finally - get to his two games with Najdorf from the tournament, with Najdorf's wonderful entertaining, and instructive notes.

Quite a hammering! However, Najdorf - the oldest in the tournament - faded badly towards the end, and Fischer won a true masterpiece against him along the way. I had studied the game before I saw the player's notes to it ( I haven't included Fischer's notes here) and hadn't understood it at all! BTW, I just love Najdorf's note that 'all Black has to look forward to is a draw', when turning down a theoretical draw by repetition. I hope some modern players read that one! ( Like they would lower themselves to read this!!)

Najdorf was clearly not in the 'bad loser' group, who make excuses for losing a game. Top man!!

O.K. I hope you have enjoyed the games, if you didn't know them. All - POLITE - comments and discussions welcomed in the comments. Feel free to insult me as much as you like!!

To finish - the group photo of Bled 1961, without the key so that you can try - as above - to name those in the picture.

Take care everyone. Take care of yourselves and those you care about. CHEERS!